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