Foliage Friday

I noticed a post on Instagram last week referencing (hashtag) "Foliage Friday" - or maybe it was "Friday Foliage."  As I have a fondness for alliteration and as Pam Penick of Digging retired her Foliage Follow-up meme years ago, I thought that would make a good title for one of my occasional foliage posts.  In May, when the focus on flowers is at its spring peak, a foliage cleanse seems all the more important.

I collected photos of my current foliage fixations.

These shots feature Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' in my back and front garden areas.  The shrubs add a touch of sunshine on the gloomiest days.

I planted dwarf Japanese maple, Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa', along the fence in my cutting garden in February 2011.  While it's said to grow up to 6 feet tall and wide, mine is less than half that size, which is just fine.  I've never pruned it.

In contrast, managing the size of this coral bark maple, Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', is a challenge.  The goal is to keep it just below the top of the garage roof, while also containing its girth within my cutting garden.  In my climate, Japanese maples want protection from intense sun, as well as wind.  They've done well in the cutting garden, while I've lost those I've tried to plant elsewhere.

Refreshed by winter's rain, the ordinary green Aeonium arboreum are looking their best

The huge rosettes of Aeonium canariense are doing well next to the garage

I like Aeonium 'Zwartkop' best when its bare lower legs are hidden by other succulents as is the case here

I cut back these 3 Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' hard in January and sprayed Neem oil to address a problem with thrips.  They've been slow to fill out, possibly because our temperatures have been lower than usual, but thankfully the foliage looks healthy.  Long before year-end, the shrubs are likely to fill the entire space with those empty spaces no longer visible.

This is the most sculptural of my artichokes, which according to my records is Cynara 'Purple Romagna'.  The chokes are a lovely deep purple.  My only issue with it is that it's the thorniest artichoke I've ever seen.  I prune away the leaves at the back of the plant so they don't stab me or the gardeners who trim the hedge behind it 4 times a year.

This is Dais cotinifolia, aka pom-pom tree, which I planted in February 2019.  Supposedly, it accepts pruning to create a bushy shrub but it's refused to fill out so it's living on borrowed time.

I love to watch the persimmon trees leaf out each year.  This one planted against the fence is Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu'.

The persimmon in the background of the north-side garden is Diospyros kaki 'Hachiya'.  The bright spring green color of its leaves makes me happy.

This is one of 2 Echium wildpretii I planted in a relatively dry area in front of the garage in April 2022.  They've remained relatively small and show absolutely no intention to bloom.  I love the plant's shape but, if it doesn't do well after 2 years of exceptional rain, I'm unlikely to plant it again.

My Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' tree, planted in May 2021 to replace the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) that died, is doing okay, although it's yet to produce the fall leaf color its name suggests.  It's still loosely tied to the support provided when we planted it because the wind in this area can be brutal.

I still haven't gotten around to pruning the ginormous Leucadendron 'Chief' shown here nearly enveloping the smaller Leucadendron 'Ebony'

I did lightly prune this Leucadendron 'Jester' and appreciate the fresh foliage that generated.  Luckily, its bare legs are hidden by the Lobelia laxiflora in front and the large Melianthus major behind it.

The tree-sized Leucadendron 'Pisa' is doing its spring thing with masses of chartreuse yellow-green bracts.  These are congregated at the tips of the tallest branches because the branches don't respond well to pruning into bare wood.

I affixed signs in English and Spanish asking the gardeners not to hedge prune my Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' this year.  My 2 plants deserve more space than I allotted them but I think this one benefited from the gentler pruning job I did.

Mangave 'Mission to Mars' responded well to the rain, gaining some girth.  It's book-ended by Aeonium 'Jack Catlin' cuttings that formed nice clumps.

Mangave 'Red Wing' is happier in the ground than it's been in pots

This isn't the best photo but the plants grabbed my attention for 2 reasons.  First, 2 of my 3 'Tom Thumb' Phormiums survived gopher activity in the area.  Second, the fern was a surprise.  In general, ferns do not survive in my garden.  I'm not even sure which one of several I tried in this area this one is, especially as I don't think I've seen it in years.  My best guess is that it's Rumohra adiantiformis (aka leather leaf fern) but it could be Asplenium x 'Austral Gem'.

Coincidentally, another opportunity for alliteration presented itself this week: peacock plumage.  In the dozen-plus years we've lived here, peacock sightings have been infrequent.  Although the birds have been prevalent in our peninsula since at least the 1920s (you can find a brief history here), we'd only seen juvenile males occasionally when they're kicked out of the family nests, but they never hung around our immediate area for long.  However, that's changed this year.  Some were spotted a couple of months ago about a mile away on the grounds of the former Marymount University (now owned by UCLA).  Not long afterwards, an adult male moved into our neighborhood.  At least three peahens were spotted a week later and the assumption is that nesting is in process.  They'd steered clear of our house, though, preferring to hang out near homes with pine trees, where I'm told the females like to nest to stay safe from coyotes.  That remained the case until Wednesday morning.

The peacock's cries were unusually loud.  My husband said it sounded like he was in our front garden, which is exactly where I found him, lounging casually in our Magnolia tree.

As I took photos from different angles, he grew uneasy

My strategy worked.  As I followed him, he flew onto the house roof, then onto the garage roof, and then into my newly renovated succulent bed before finally headed up the street in the direction of his usual haunts.  Peacocks don't like paparazzi.

Best wishes for a peaceful weekend.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party