After spending a little too much time with pruners in my hands, I took a break to replant two containers that had seen their best days. Replanting them provided an instant mood boost. One can only spend so much time chopping things back.
The barrel that contained Rudbeckia hirta from summer through fall needed to be changed out. Although the Rudbeckia might have sprung back into flower come late summer, I plant the barrels under the Magnolia tree specifically to provide a splash of year-round color. Admittedly, the garden centers don't have much variety in annuals at this time of year when they're still recovering from the holidays but I made do.
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| The primary element was labeled as Delphinium grandiflorum but it looked a lot like Consolida ajacis and I wondered it it was mislabeled. While both plants are called larkspurs, it seems that the plants native to Siberia and China are classified as Delphiniums. However, it has me wondering if botanists will be reclassifying them or Consolida ajacis one day. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the barrel includes: Delphinium grandiflorum 'Diamonds Blue', Nemesia 'Nessie Plus White', Viola 'Colossus Lemon', and V. 'Sorbet XP Neptune' |
The other container I replanted was the urn positioned in the bed in front of the garage that I walk by several times a day. The Ptilotus 'Joey' was pretty for several months and then it wasn't. It turned out to have a very shallow root system. The trailing Verbena I'd planted to complement it never did well even if the butterflies enjoyed it for a short time. This time, I decided to plant the urn with succulents, which should hold up longer.
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| I wanted a taller Mangave but decided to replant one a friend gave me years ago instead of buying a new one. It was very overcrowded in its relatively small pot and I ultimately had to break the pot to free it. I purchased 2 small Graptosedums to complement the Mangave and split them into smaller pieces, adding a few other cuttings from my garden. |
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| Closer view from the top |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the urn contains: Crassula multicava, Graptosedum 'California Sunset', Mangave 'Kaleidoscope', and Portulacaria afra |
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| I removed 5 small pups from the larger Mangave, which I'll try to root. 'Kaleidoscope' is a prolific pupper. |
That's it for me this week. I'm off to the dentist this morning...
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
If one is going to own a prolific pupper then Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' is an excellent one to have: such great colors and it goes so well with your urn. Chavli
ReplyDelete'Kaleidoscope' IS one of the most colorful Mangaves. Hopefully, it'll appreciate having more room to spread in the urn than it had in its original pot.
DeleteLove the mangave urn!
ReplyDeleteThanks Loree.
DeleteHope the dentist is non eventful. I love the Graptosedum addition in the urn, what a nice refresh!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracy. That's my favorite Graptosedum.
DeleteNice combos. Looking forward to seeing how that succulent one fills in. Best wishes for things to go well at the dentist. I was in for my first cavity in decades a few months ago. I'm sort of amazed at how they construct the filling with a 3D printer to be the same color and shape, and then use computer imaging to put everything into place.
ReplyDeleteHa! I didn't know dentists were using 3D printers to make fillings but it makes sense. I've only had 3 fillings in my life and none in the last 15+ years. Once I got the 2nd one, I finally started paying more attention to my dental care and it's paid off ;)
DeleteGreat combinations--you always have a way with groupings and arrangements of plants. Hope the dentist appointment went well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. The dentist visit was fine :)
DeleteThe flowers will definitely offer a happy bright spot to your wintery garden. :)
ReplyDeleteDoes the urn have drainage holes in it? I have something similar, which I would like to add some plants to but I worry that without drainage, they may not survive.
The urn is deep but it does have drainage holes, Jo. I added perlite and pumice to the potting mix to help with drainage too.
DeleteMangave 'Kaleidoscope' is a beauty, I like the new look. When the grapto grows, it will flow nicely.
ReplyDeleteWe spend more time doing chores in the garden that doing fun stuff like creating something new. Glad you indulged yourself! Eliza
I've got quite a lot of holes to fill in the garden so there's some retail therapy in my future too, Eliza. Unfortunately, even in SoCal, the garden centers won't be well-stocked until February or March.
DeletePretty is good right now. Blue and white make for elegance when a lot of the garden is taking a brief rest thanks to the relatively cold weather.
ReplyDeleteI'm chopping and chopping before the rain comes back (hopefully!).
Best wishes with the chopping, HB. I really should be pruning the Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' now but haven't had the energy. I'm waiting to prune the Leucadendrons until their "flowers" fade.
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