Holding Pattern

I've been buying new plants at the worst time of the year to place them in the ground here.  Last week I received my most recent order from Annie's Annuals & Perennials.

On a sale offer, I ordered 2 Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' and 2 Agave 'Blue Glow' in 4-inch pots, knowing that they'd be tiny but, given local prices for even moderately-sized specimens, I considered it a prudent move

I usually make exceptions for succulents when planting during the hot, dry summer months but these are just too small to be planted out now.  I expect they'll need a good year or two in a pot before they can be safely added to any border.

This is the larger of the 2 'Blue Glow' Agave pups set next to some of the more mature specimens in my south-side succulent bed

And this is one of the Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' pups shown in relation to a more mature 'Vanzie' specimen in my south-side bed.  (The Agave ovatifolia on the north end of my garden is nearly double the size of the larger 'Vanzie'.)

With the exception of the 4-inch succulents shown in last Friday's post, I've potted up the recently acquired plants pending the return of cooler temperatures when fall arrives.

In addition to the 4 new Agaves, I potted up 3 new Mangave 'Blue Dart' received as bare-root plants

In addition to the Fibiana imbricata (false heather) and Agastache 'Black Adder' obtained in an earlier Annie's order, I've added Agastache 'Morello' and Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', obtained locally, and 2 seedlings of Polygala fruticosa pulled from my own back border.  The Lomandra is destined for a spot in front of our backyard fountain.  The placement of the Polygala is yet to be determined but, as the plant is so vigorous, I've decided to work with it so long as I can place it where I want it as opposed to where it's self-sown.

I made a few exceptions for plants I thought might be better able to make it through the remainder of the summer in the ground.

As the succulent cuttings are taking their own sweet time filling in here, I added 8 Lantana plants from 6-inch pots to give this bed along the back patio some color

I've been gradually adding more succulents to this bed to replace groundcovers (like Cerastium tomentosum, aka snow-in-summer) that struggle to survive in this bed on the northeast side of the house.  The latest additions are Aeonium 'Lily Pad' and Echeveria 'Mira'.

 

I was drenched in sweat just planting the Lantana yesterday morning, even though the temperature had only reached 83F/28C by the time I'd finished around 10am.  I'd completed a brisk walk of two rounds of my neighborhood before I started so that may have been a contributing factor.  On my walk, I snapped a few quick shots of a neighbor's blooming Agave 'Blue Glow'.  Its progress from the first sign of the developing bloom stalk to its flowering stage has been very fast, at least by comparison to the blooms I got from Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' several years ago.

This one isn't tall enough to tumble over onto someone's car

Fellow blogger Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden has reminded me that those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have just fifty days to go until the Autumnal Equinox.  If only summer would pay attention to the calendar!

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party