Friday, October 21, 2022

Busy taking care of the little things

While my husband finished up his work rehabbing our irrigation system, I got rolling on the garden projects I'd long had on hold.

Replacing our main water line turned out to be just the first step in dealing with our irrigation system.  My husband ended up replacing several valves, as well as numerous sprinklers, too.  He blamed soil and asparagus fern roots for plugging up the system's operation.  The bricks are meant to protect that from happening again.  Now I need to replant the area to hide the homely plumbing without interfering with it.


Our temperatures have been up and down.  More often than not, I've confined my activities in the garden to the early morning and late afternoon hours.  In addition to nearly daily efforts cleaning up after the raccoons, I've focused on planting and pruning.  While I've purchased a handful of plants recently, the majority I've planted are those I set aside in pots to wait out the dog days of summer.

The area here, on the north end of the back garden, formerly had 3 failing plants: Lycianthes ratonnetti, Mahonia 'Soft Caress', and Plectranthus ecklonii.  The rabbits contributed to the demise of the first 2 but water limitations didn't help any of them.  I replaced these with: an Agave 'Blue Glow', 3 Mangave 'Blue Dart', 5 Echeveria 'Blue Atoll', 3 Echeveria peacockii, and 3 Echeveria prolifica.

I'd had a variety of annuals serving as fillers in this bed alongside the backyard fountain.  I recently added 3 Echinops ritro ruthenicus and one Eryngium planum 'Blue Glitter' (top photo), as well as 3 Conoclinium coelestium (aka blue mistflower) and another Cistus 'Little Miss Sunshine' (bottom photo).  The assorted cages are there to prevent the masked demons from harming the plants before they're well rooted.

In the garden border just across from the last one, I planted a new-to-me Echium gentianoides 'Tajinaste' and the Fabiana imbricata (aka false heather) I've had sitting in a pot since late June

I'd planted a small Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light' in this bed adjacent to the house in the back garden last November.  A week ago I added 2 pups (one very small and one much larger) of the non-variegated form of the same species taken from my front garden.  I'm unsure whether I'll fill in around them with other plants or simply allow the existing Campanula to do so.

On the south end of the garden, I planted 2 severely root-bound Mangaves I'd had in pots next to a Mangave 'Mission to Mars' I'd moved there last year, edging the area with the groundcover Ruschia lineolata 'Nana' (aka dwarf carpet of stars).   Clockwise from the upper left of the collage are: Aeonium 'Jack Catlin' (first 2 photos), Mangave 'Tooth Fairy', M. 'Mission to Mars', and M. 'Painted Desert'.

As planned, I used Aeonium arboreum cuttings to replant an area at the end of one of the raised planters in my cutting garden ("before" photo on the left and "after" on the right).  The concrete pig was a gift from my husband many years ago so it stayed.  I added more Ruschia around the cuttings as groundcover.  Maybe it'll choke out the mint (left by the prior owner) but I doubt it even though I spent hours trying to dig it out (again).

More Aeonium cuttings and Ruschia went in here along the house in the area severely disrupted by our recent pipe replacement project.  I decided not to plant anything too precious here given the periodic need to access the irrigation controller.

As I wasn't happy with this section of the bromeliad-succulent bed I replanted after the new pipe was laid, I replaced the 2 tiny agave pups I'd originally placed here with one only slightly larger Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'

I put off pruning many plants during the hot summer months too but that activity is also now at the top of my agenda.

The Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' (aka gold breath of heaven) in the foreground is showing small signs of life after I cut out its dead foliage.  I'm inclined to replace it with another one to mirror its twin on the other side of the flagstone path but, while I'm trying to find one, I'm giving the original a chance to attempt a comeback.

A gardener trying to be helpful decided the shear the sides of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' next to the Agave 'Jaws', leaving the shrub looking like it'd had a punk-style haircut.  My followup pruning effort left it with a more rounded form, which I hope will look more natural as it produces new foliage.

I'd allowed Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike' (to the right of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream') to loom over the surrounding plants.  I cut several feet off the top yesterday to bring it more into proportion with its companions.

That's it for me for this week.  We're expecting temperatures to fall back into the pleasant zone over the next ten days.  There's even a small chance of rain on Saturday but I'm not putting much faith in that forecast.  I'll end the week with a pretty photo taken of the Port of Los Angeles yesterday morning.  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.



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

16 comments:

  1. Your new additions fit in nicely even with their temporary enclosures. Things you have to do to protect your plants! Gardening season has officially closed today. 32F today and snow tomorrow. A very busy day bringing everyone in and winterizing hoses and water tanks. Looking forward to a bit of a rest and some moisture. Hope you get some too.

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    1. Snow already! Best wishes with your final winter preparations, Elaine. I love the look of snow but I don't envy you the extra work required to get ready for it.

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  2. You've been busy! Everything looks wonderful.

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    1. Thanks Loree. I'm a little tired of all the plant cages but, while there seem to be far fewer rabbits at the moment, the raccoons continue their relentless onslaughts.

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  3. You got a lot done, Kris. Putting me to shame, that's for certain.
    My favorite are turned out to be the "north end of the back garden": I'm a sucker for A. blue glow and the accompanying Echeveria, all sharing a blue 'note': so adorable!
    I purchased a roll of chicken wire to set up DIY rabbit protection though to be honest, I've long accepted their presence in the garden. Not much I can do about raccoons trampling through my plants, leaving little gifts behind, or the coyote that walks through the garden, thoroughly failing in its hunting duties.
    chavli

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    1. Those succulents were originally intended for another area. I think I need some more to fill out that north end area. Luckily, I have a plant shopping trip planned with a friend in 2 weeks ;)

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  4. I love the Mangave 'Painted Desert'. It looks exceptional, like a soft, muted rainbow. I wish I could grow plants like that!

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    1. I imagine you'd need to give Mangaves - and many of the succulents I grow - winter protection, LL. Even so, I'm always surprised by the range of plants you can grow in your climate.

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  5. Very pretty last photo--sea and sky.

    All those "little things" add up to a whole lot! I so admire your organization skill. Haphazard is the word for my garden.

    Wow your 'Wilsons Wonder' is dense in growth. Motivates me to cut back the Leucodendrons here a little harder. Gardener tried to cube it? Naughty man.

    Weather in the 70's ahead---ahhhhh! Heaven.

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    1. I can't tell you how upset I was when I saw what the gardener had done to that 'Wilson's Wonder', not that I probably should have been surprised. I've come to accept their treatment of the other 'Wilson's Wonder' planted between the driveway and the house as hedge material, although I try to keep ahead of their schedule by trimming it out of the way of my husband's truck on a regular basis. They've never touched this one before, though. I guess I should count myself lucky they didn't shear Agave 'Jaws' in the process. The crew turns over so often that discussions about what NOT to cut are fruitless.

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  6. Your planting and pruning are paying off. Even your sections with the cages look lovely. We've had raccoons occasionally, but mostly the other, long-eared demons. ;-)

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    1. We all have our critter problems it seems, Beth :(

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  7. Sempre bello vedere il tuo giardino con la messa a dimora di piante per il clima caldo! Buon lavoro e buone piantagioni!

    Qui ci prepariamo all'inverno :)

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    1. Summer maintains its grip on us for much longer than in many areas in the Northern Hemisphere, Gabriel. Our temperatures are coming down at last - and we even got a touch of rain - but we will never get as cold as you do in winter.

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  8. You are gearing up activity while I am gearing down here. Quite honestly, I don't know what to do with myself! It always takes a while to adjust to life within doors. Your freshening up the garden looks great, enjoy the season ahead! Eliza

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    1. I can only imagine that adjustment, Eliza. Time to pay another visit to SoCal maybe?

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