Wide Shots - April 2023

April is possibly the most floriferous month in my garden and I enjoy all the time I spend there during this time of year, even if just collecting photographs to track the garden's development.  You'd be surprised at how often I come back to these quarterly wide shot posts when looking for information about what I did and when I did it, and how the garden fared under varying weather conditions.

As usual, I'm starting in the back garden and moving in a semi-clockwise direction around the house.

This is the view from the back door looking toward the harbor.  As you can see, ample rainfall has made the back garden very colorful.  However, the condition of the Echium webbii to the left of the fountain perplexes me.  It's bloom cycle is starting on schedule but some foliage tips are dying back.  Could this be a reaction to too much water?  Our irrigation system hasn't run more than once or twice since December.

This is the view from the main patio looking north.  I cleaned out some sad foliage from the bed on the left last December and I've yet to replant it.  I should probably pull up and replant many of the Aeoniums edging the bed but all I've done thus far is to nip those encroaching on the flagstone path.

This is the view from the north end of the back garden looking back in the direction of the main patio.  The area on the left is fuller since I augmented the succulents first planted in late 2021 with more succulents after removing the untidy masses of ornamental grass earlier this year.  So far, it doesn't seem that anything was damaged by the heavier rainfall we've had this year but I expect my sandy soil helped there.

This is the view from the main patio looking south.  The 'Lady Jane' species tulips are gradually finishing up but the Freesia, Narcissi, and Scilla peruviana are still going strong.

This isn't a wide shot but I had to capture the riot of color at the south end of the back border

This is a shot of 2 of the back garden borders from a different angle, photographed from the south-side patio looking northeast.  There are wire cages around a variety of plants throughout the garden to protect them from voracious rabbits.

Another view of the borders from the back garden's south end looking north

And this is an angle I've seldom used, photographed from the dirt path behind the back border looking toward the house

The south-side garden is up next.

This is the south-side garden looking west.  Leucospermum 'Goldie' is blooming but I've seen nothing yet from L. 'Sunrise'  (just outside the frame on the right).  I may have delayed its bloom by pruning later than I should have last year. 

This shot was taken from the small patio on the south side looking south.  The Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' shrubs in the foreground on the far left are producing new foliage after their severe pruning in early December.  This has been slower than the last time I cut them back like that but perhaps the colder temperatures are a factor.

This is the same area, photographed from the front garden looking east.  The bloom stalk on the Agave 'Blue Glow' in the background has stopped growing taller and it's now fleshing out.

The last photo was taken from the main level of the front garden but before we check out that area, we'll drop down into the front garden's lower level, home to my lath (shade) house.

This is a view of the area facing east.  The shadows on the ground were created by the lath house roof.

I took this photo from alongside the lath house looking north toward the house.  The moderate slope I replanted with succulents in 2021 after a gopher wreaked havoc in the area continues to fill out.  Most of the plants I installed there were small and many were cuttings.

Walking up the path to the front garden's main level brings us back to the arbor where I took the last photo of the south side garden.

We're looking north in the direction of the driveway, although the view is largely obscured by plants, including my largest Grevillea 'Superb' on the right.  The Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itts' on either side of the flagstone path need to be cut back but I'm waiting for the shrubs to finish blooming.

This is another view of the same area, photographed from the area next to our Magnolia tree.  I removed the ornamental grasses (Sesleria 'Greenlee's Hybrid') from the area on the left side of the flagstone path earlier this year and planted a low creeping thyme, which has yet to spread.

I photographed the area under the Magnolia grandiflora from the front door looking southwest

View looking east from the driveway to the house.  You may notice that our living room chimney is once again covered by a tarp.  My husband's repairs in January held up against the rain in February but gave in at one spot to the heavier rain in March.

View of the area on the south side of the house.  I've been cutting back and pulling out some of the shrubs growing in the bed bordering the driveway.

Partial view of the area on the north side of the house.  The climbing rose 'Joseph's Coat' planted against this chimney hasn't done much of anything yet this year.

View from alongside the chimney looking southwest in the direction of the street

I took this photo standing next to the hedge that fronts the street, looking east across the driveway at the house

This is the succulent bed that occupies the far corner of the area on the northwest side of the garage.  It's the bed I hope to overhaul (again) later this year.

On the other side of the garage is my cutting garden.

The seeds I sowed and bulbs and plugs I planted in this area have seemed particularly slow to develop this year.  The sweet peas and larkspur appear to be getting close to bloom stage and new bloom spikes are developing on the foxgloves.  The Nigella seedlings are usually slower to bloom but they're plentiful even though I've thinned them twice.

On the other side of the fence you see in the background of the previous photo is my north-side garden.

This is the north-side garden looking northeast.  I gave the mass of rosemary on the left (adjacent to the fence that separates the area from the cutting garden) a severe pruning in March and cut 2 out-of-control Abelia ('Hopley's Variegated') shrubs to the ground.  I'm not sure the latter will recover.

I took this photo of the same area from its northwest corner looking southeast.  The bloom stalk on the Agave vilmoriniana is advancing nicely.  The persimmon tree is leafing out (far left).

 

Continuing along the gravel path that divides the north-side garden leads us to the concrete block stairway that runs down the steep back slope.

View of the back slope looking downward.  It's very green now.

This photo was taken at the bottom of the slope near the property line looking back up to the top.  This area will be looking its best within weeks and I'll provide a closer look at it then.

 

 

The last area I want to share is visible from the street that runs through our neighborhood.

I tidied up this area and planted plugs of pink Lampranthus last week

 

As I was finishing up my photos on Saturday, I noticed a lot of activity in the Port of Los Angeles, visible from my back garden.  There were three cruise ships in port at the same time.

Apparently, the ships were all scheduled to exit the port within the same one-hour window.  Celebrity Solstice left first but, instead of going straight out Angel's Gate, it pulled over to the right, parking along the shore.  Meanwhile Discovery Princess sailed out the same channel, backing up perpendicular to the Celebrity ship, before proceeding out the gate.  After it exited, Celebrity turned around and followed.  This is only the third time I've seen this maneuver. 

Emerald Princess, shown here still at dock, left the terminal and headed out once Celebrity Solstice was in route.  All 3 were destined for Mexico, Discovery to Cabo San Lucas, Solstice to Ensenada in Baja California, and Emerald to Puerta Vallarta.

That's it for my quarterly wild shots.  I'll be back with another round in July.  It'll be interesting to see how the relatively lush garden that's emerged from our higher-than-usual rainfall fares once summer arrives.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party