Before it gets hot...

I visited South Coast Botanic Garden earlier this week, primarily as another exercise in the use of my new camera but also because it's only going to get hotter as the summer progresses so the clock was ticking if I wanted a pleasant stroll.  Even though the garden wasn't at the top of its game, I took a lot of photos (practice!) so I'm going to split them into two separate posts.  I'll post the second half next Friday.

I left the house later than I'd planned, arriving around 10am, but the marine layer was still firmly in place.  I didn't expect it to be crowded on a Wednesday morning, even though Juneteenth is a federal holiday, but the parking lot was nearly full and the garden was packed with families.  The schools are out and summer vacation season is clearly already in gear.

The garden is still touting its BLOOM event, which kicked off in April and runs through the end of this month.

This Bloom Watch poster listed the following top picks among the flowers in the garden: Fuchsia, Sparaxis, Opuntia x 'Beaver Rita', Lathyrus odoratus, Collinsia heterophylla, mixed Ixia, Eschscholzia californica var maritima, Datura wrightii, and Layia platyglossa.  According to the poster, most of these flowers were to be found in the Amphitheater Lawn so I headed there.

Most of what I found there were members of the Clarkia genus, aka farewell-to-spring

There was a large display for use as a photo opportunity

The beds formerly filled with bulb flowers had neatly braided foliage.  I've read that this isn't ideal but I have to admit that it looks a lot better than my messy bulb foliage, which I usually end up cutting back earlier than I should. 

The Banyan Grove, one of my very favorite spots in the garden, was nearby so I checked out its current status.  It's intended to become a central part of the new children's garden currently under construction so I wasn't sure what to expect.

This was one of many banners advertising the plans for the area.  It was affixed to the construction fence.

As was the case the last 2 times I visited, the main section of the Banyan Grove is blocked off.  It looks like the bulk of the earth moving activity may be finished but I didn't see any sign of building activity.  The signs still claim that the children's garden will open in 2024.

On the other side of the tram road, the Ficus petiolaris (left, often called the "ghost tree") and the variegated Ficus benjamina (right) appear unaffected by the building plan

Fortunately, not all the Moreton Bay fig trees (Ficus macrophylla) were cordoned off

The Moreton Bay figs were always popular with kids when I conducted tours of the garden as a docent years ago and I was pleased to see that they still have a chance to clamber over those massive roots even as changes are in progress

Of course I had to check out the Desert Garden too.

View facing the front of the main section of the Desert Garden

One of several huge Agave shawii surrounded by barrel cacti (Echinopsis grusonii)

Euphorbia xanti (aka Baja spurge) always delights me when it's covered with pink and white flowers like this

The California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) seemed right interspersed among the Aloes but the Buddleia was a surprise

I'm not especially impressed by Alluaudia procera (aka Madagascan Ocotillo) in its leafless state during the winter months but it's attractive when it greens up and blooms

I also checked out the Living Wall, in the area opposite the Desert Garden.

The Living Wall looks great, although it seems to be covered in far fewer succulents than was originally the case.  It's heavy on ferns and includes Ficus elastica (rubber tree plants) and what looks like it might be small-leaf Scheffleras.

I took random photos of plants in various areas that grabbed my attention as I continued my stroll.

I loved this tree, Calodendrum capense, aka Cape chestnut

Jacarandas are slowly coming into bloom all over my area.  They seem a little late to me, but perhaps that's attributable to the cooler temperatures that have accompanied the marine layer.

Seeing these Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppy and California tree poppy) reinforces the fact that I was foolish to plant one on my back slope

Other flowering plants, clockwise from the upper left, included Brugmansia, Justicia carnea, Lathyrus odoratus (planted much later than mine), and Plumbago

That's it for part one of my visit.  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.  Wherever you are, I hope it's not too hot!

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

Late Arrivals

Given the name of my blog, it seems entirely appropriate for me to follow up Friday's Bloom Day post with another one featuring stragglers that appeared following last week's deadline and those I simply missed in the course of my earlier survey.

The late arrivals are too pretty not to share, and as summer delivers warmer temperatures, I can't guarantee that they'll be around in mid-July.

By process of elimination, I've concluded that this is Epiphyllum 'King Midas', which I found in my lath house shortly after I'd published my Bloom Day post.  It should be more peach than pink but I suspect it'd already faded by the time I photographed it.

More daylilies have bloomed.  Hemerocallis 'Cordon Rouge' is on the left and H. 'Sammy Russell' is on the right.  The latter came with the garden.

The true lilies have been taking their time about blooming.  I've been watching Lilium 'Orange Planet' from my office window for weeks.  It finally opened its first blooms yesterday morning.

I didn't even notice the Lilium 'Montego Bay' below and behind 'Orange Planet' was blooming until I leaned in to get a closeup of 'Orange Planet'

This is Rosa 'Golden Celebration'.  It's heavy flowers tend to take a nose dive, hiding themselves in its foliage.

There were other flowers I just overlooked.

The small flowers of Oscularia deltoides seem to open all at once when I'm not looking, almost completely covering the plant's foliage.  This plant also managed to swamp the Agave 'Mateo' in a large pot alongside it before trailing down into the street side succulent bed below.

I noticed the silver foliage of this Helichrysum retortum before I noticed its papery flowers

Despite the vivid maroon color of the flowers of Pelargonium sidoides, they're easy to miss due to their small size

Low-growing Pennisetum orientale (aka Chinese fountain grass) is dormant during the winter months and always manages to surprise me when it reappears

I planted this intergeneric hybrid of Stachys and Lamium, called Stachys 'Lilac Falls', in 2016 and subsequently believed it'd died off but 2 good years of rain brought it back.  It only grows a few inches tall but it can spread 2-3 feet wide.

I've spent much of the past week in garden clean-up mode, pulling endless weeds, cutting back dead bulb foliage, deadheading flowers, pruning - you get the drift.  Some plants are committed to world domination so I've also spent a lot of time thinning those out.  None of that was worth photographing but I thought I'd show you an updated view of the area on the south-side of the house I addressed when we removed an overgrown 'Blue Flame' Agave.

This is the view from the dirt path behind the bed.  The Aeonium cuttings are filling out and coloring up nicely and the dark Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' in the background is looking its very best.  I cleared a LOT of weeds around the Dasylirion longissima to the left of 'Zwartkop'.  I think that tiny Agave ovatifolia in the middle of the bed may have grown a smidgen larger..  There were some California poppies in the bare area but most of those have already died back.  I can still walk into the bed but I'm not sure how long that will last.

Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman' is in full bloom, filling much of the previously open space

The Acanthus mollis I've tried to remove several times is blooming in the middle of a Vitex trifolia.  Note the 2-headed Acanthus flower stalk - that's the first time I've seen that.

Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' is done blooming for the season but it's gaining girth rapidly, which may become an issue

As temperatures continue to climb, further garden cleanup activities are likely to be confined to the early morning hours.  The insect population appears to have already upped its game as I'm now covered in bites from something or another.  But the birds and the lizards are keeping me company while I work.

The western fence lizards have come out in droves

I found ravens having a conference in my cutting garden yesterday morning.  Most immediately flew away but these 2 continued their conversation from a distance atop a peppermint willow.

Best wishes for a happy hump day!

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

In a Vase on Monday: Purplish

One of my favorite plants is Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), native to New Zealand.  It has strappy evergreen leaves, tolerates dry shade, and produces sprays of beautiful flowers in early summer.  Much as I love it, I've found it difficult to use in floral arrangements (probably because I'm prone to cramming too much into my vases).  The plants have bloomed heavily this year and I was determined to use them in an arrangement that shows off the small flowers.

Resisting my usual predilection for stuffing vases, I used only 4 elements, 3 of which are tall and wispy

Back view: The small Arthropodium flowers have white petals with fuzzy purple and yellow stamens

Top view: I played off the purple in the Arthropodium's stamens using the flowers of Centaurea 'Silver Feather'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Dahlia 'Vancouver', and Leucanthemum x superbum

Staying with the purplish theme, I cut a flowering artichoke for a second arrangement, although it ended up being the only thing that went into the vase.

The artichoke is Cynara scolymus 'Purple Romagna'.  It's a full 12 inches in diameter and extremely heavy.  It's also more prickly than any of my agaves and I got stabbed repeatedly just cutting its stalk.  I used one of the only vases I had that could hold it without tipping over and it left no room for additions.

Our marine layer is slowly fading.  It was absent entirely at our elevation on Saturday morning and temperatures soared accordingly.  Unfortunately, heat, wind, and dry conditions contributed to a wildfire in north Los Angeles County on Saturday, approximately a hundred miles away.  It's already burned more than 12,000 acres and prompted evacuations, and it's still largely uncontained.  Luckily, here along the coast, our morning marine layer returned yesterday and it looks as though it'll hang around for most of this week, even if it's lighter and likely to clear earlier.

For more IAVOM creations, drop in on Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

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

Bloom Day - June 2024 (Early Edition)

I got a new camera earlier this month and started taking photos to test it out.  Many of those photos ended up in this post for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, a monthly event hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  With our morning marine layer still firmly in place, heat hasn't had any effect on the flower power of my garden so there's still a lot of color even though some of my summer bloomers, like the lilies, seem stuck in suspended animation.  Reverting to my old format, I'm starting with the garden's stars this June.

Achillea 'Moonshine', leading the summer parade of flowers as usual

The blue Agapanthus that came with the garden started flowering weeks ago but the white ones are only just getting making an appearance

I finally managed a decent shot of the flowers of Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lilies)

This Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) on the back slope also came with the garden

Centaurea 'Silver Feather' has sprawled all over the place but the flowers are pretty

Dorycnium hirsutum (aka hairy Canary flower, syn Lotus hirsutus) is demure but prolific

Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles' was looking terrible at the end of last summer.  I removed a dead section and it's looking pretty again, at least for now.

Hymenolepis crithmifolia (aka Coulter bush, syn H. parviflora)

The first flowers of our Magnolia grandiflora sit at the top of the tree but the new phone nevertheless captured these without a special lens

Tagetes lemmonii (aka Mexican marigold)

Of course, I can't ignore the genera that are the backbones of my garden.  (Note: All cultivars are listed clockwise from the upper left unless otherwise noted.)

Alstroemeria: 'Claire', 'Inca Husky', 'Inca Lucky', 'Inca Sundance', 'Inca Vienna', 'Indian Summer', and noID pink variety

Left to right: Arctotis 'Large Marge' and 'Pink Sugar'

Cuphea: 'Honeybells', 'Vermillionaire', and 'Starfire Pink' (latter in wide and close-up shots)

Gaillardia (aka blanket flowers): 'Arizona Sun', 'Mesa Bright Bicolor', and 'Spin Top Copper Sun'

Gazania rigens: 'Yellow Flame', noID orange, 'Otomi', noID red-orange, 'White Flame', and 'New Day Yellow'

The large-flowered Grevillea: 'Moonlight', 'Peaches & Cream', and 'Superb' (latter in close-up and wide shots)

The small-flowered Grevillea: G. alpina x rosmarinifolia, G. 'Poorinda Leane', G. sericea, and G. 'Scarlet Sprite'

Hemerocallis: 'For Pete's Sake', 'Persian Market', 'Space Coast Sea Shells', 'Strawberry Candy', and 'Spanish Harlem'

Leucospermum: 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' (both top shots), 'High Gold', and 'Spider Hybrid'

Osteospermum: '4D Pink', 'Coral Magic', 'Double Moonglow', and 'Purple Spoon'

Pelargonium: Top - P. hortorum 'Dynamo Hot Pink', P. hybrid 'Orange Fizz', and P. hybrid 'White Lady'
Middle: P. peltatum 'Dark Pink' and 'Burgundy'
Bottom: P. peltatum 'Pink Blizzard' and P. peltatum hybrid 'Flamingo Pink'

Salvia: S. canariensis var candidissima, S. discolor, S. lanceolata, S. clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman' (in wide and closeup shots), and S. 'Mystic Spires'

There were a few surprises.

Hippeastrum getting a late start: noID variety and 'Dancing Queen'

This is Phormium 'Apricot Queen', which has never bloomed before.  Only one other of my Phormiums has ever bloomed but I've noticed there are flower stalks on Phormiums all over the neighborhood, presumably the result of 2 years of good rain.

Sollya heterophylla (aka bluebell creeper) is finally developing a presence in my back garden

Other unexpected blooms included: Echium gentianoides 'Tajinaste' (I'd forgotten the plant entirely), a barrel full of Nemesia and Violas (which I'd thought would be gone by now), Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin' (blooming plentifully here but nowhere else as yet), and the first flowers of Feijoa sellowiana (aka pineapple guava)

I discovered an even bigger surprise late yesterday afternoon as I was finalizing this post.

Iris germanica 'Gypsy Lord' had produced a single bloom in late May but it faded quickly and had shown no signs of producing more

I've collapsed the best of the rest into color collages.

Blue flowers include: Anchusa capensis 'Blue Angel', Campanula portenschlagiana, Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia', Lavandula dentata, Limonium perezii, Polygala myrtifolia, noID Scaevola, and Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud'

White flowers include: Acanthus mollis, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Agonis flexuosa, Pandorea jasminoides, and Trachelospermum jasminoides

Pink flowers include: Argyranthemum frutescens 'Comet Pink', Centranthus ruber, Cistus 'Sunset', Digitalis purpurea, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Lantana camara 'Irene', Oenothera speciosa, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

Flowers in the yellow family: noID Calibrachoa, chartreuse Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid', Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass), Lonicera japonica, and Santolina chamaecyparissus 'Nana'

Red flowers include: Daucus carota 'Dara', Fuchsia 'Voodoo', and Lobelia laxiflora

For more GBBD posts, check Carol's blog at May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of the month.

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