Making a start

I had all sorts of plans for work in my garden before I left to join the Puget Sound Garden Fling.  However, shortly after I returned, I was downed by a bout of COVID.  Once that was behind me, late summer's intense heat blossomed into a full-blown heatwave, sidelining my plans still further.  I managed to get in a few chores, like spreading mulch, but I've only made an impact in cleaning up two areas, neither of which was on my original list.  Still, it feels like progress in the right direction.

Before the heat soared, I took an initial stab at cleaning up my street-side succulent bed.

This is what the street-side succulent bed looked like in early July.  The mass of pink in the middle of the bed are flowers of Oscularia deltoides, a low-growing succulent with gray leaves and dark pink stems.

Sadly, by mid-August the plant was a mass of dead brown flowers.  When I examined it closely, there was more dead material than fresh foliage so I ended up pulling it all up, collecting a relatively small number of cuttings.

After the Oscularia and a couple of clumps of burned up Aeoniums were removed, work was suspended due to the extended heatwave.  I took this photo on September 11th, showing new sun and heat damage to the agaves.

Both the 'Blue Flame' Agaves on the right and the mass of Agave attenuata on the left had more damage than I was prepared to live with

Agave 'Blue Flame' doesn't let go of it's dead foliage willingly and conducting surgery on damaged foliage is even harder.  The dried-out leaves of Agave attenuata are easier to remove but the plant produces even more pups than 'Blue Flame' and these were encroaching on its neighbors so I ended up removing one large pup and three small ones.

Wide shot of the bed taken yesterday after I'd cleaned up the agaves

Closer look at the 'Blue Flame' Agaves.  The rosette hanging over the rock wall should probably go later this year before it falls into the street but I left it in place for now.

View from the back of the bed.  Removing 4 pups of the Agave attenuata gave the Yucca rostrata and the Aloe lukeana more room to spread out.

The largest Agave attenuata pup (left) is sitting in an empty pot to allow it to develop some roots before I give it away.  The smaller pups were damaged and I tossed them.  I potted the Agave 'Mateo' pups on the right after I rescued them from the pot containing their parent, which had been nearly buried under the Oscularia.

I'll plant cuttings of the Oscularia deltoides soon but it'll be a few years before the plant makes a statement like it did earlier this year.  I plant to remove and replace all or most of the remaining heat-scarred Aeoniums with fresher rosettes once I can be reasonably certain that the heatwaves are behind us.  Fall can't be counted on to arrive on September 22nd in our part of the Northern Hemisphere.

The other area I tackled was a bed in the northeast corner of the back garden.

This photo was taken in late June for my July wide shots post.  The area directly surrounding the smaller of the 2 strawberry trees (Arbutus 'Marina') was the focus of my efforts this month.

This is a view of the same area from the opposite direction, also taken in late June.  It may be difficult to see but there are 2 very large shrubs growing underneath the strawberry tree, both of which into its upper canopy.

Sonchus palmensis (aka giant dandelion tree, left) should've been cut back in late June when the flowers were spent but I never got around to it and I hate to think how many seedlings it may produce next year.  Melianthus major (right) develops tall branches and even taller flower spikes.  The photo shows its seed pods.

I cut back the Sonchus and the Melianthus to about a foot in height, lightly pruned the nearby Leucadendron 'Jester' and the Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi', and pulled up the ivy that relentlessly climbs into the area from the back slope.  The heatwave arrived before I had a chance to pick up more mulch to cover the bare soil and replant some succulents so those tasks remain on the "to-do" list.

"After" closeup of the area in question

Shot of the same area from the back patio

Given that the heatwave stretched out for six days, peaked at 108F (42C), and night temperatures barely cooled, I expected more damage than I've seen thus far.  I deep watered my cutting garden three times during the heatwave.  While a lot of blooms and foliage shriveled in place anyway, everything but a few recently planted zinnia plugs survived.  A few newly acquired plants in pots are in poor shape and a variety of annuals, including most of my Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum), croaked.  But most of the trees and larger plants should be fine once they grow new foliage to replace what was toasted.

The small Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light' in a sunny bed in the back garden (left) looks like it'd prefer to be moved to a shadier location.  The leaves of the large Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' planted alongside our south patio (right) was burned on one side but I expect I can prune out the damage. 

 

Phormium 'Apricot Queen' received a bad sunburn but should recover

I've got a lot of self-seeded Polygala myrtifolia (sweet pea shrubs) so this one won't be missed.  I've already dug it up.

Large patches of the creeping thyme planted between the flagstones burned so I'll be looking for flats of thyme to replant the affected areas this fall

I didn't even notice that this Yucca gloriosa had a bloom stalk until 2 days ago.  Many of its buds are singed and it remains to be seen whether it'll look presentable when they open

In other cases of severe heatwaves, the lemon tree at the bottom of our back slope has dropped all its fruit, setting its production back a year or more.  I was surprised that there was so much fruit left on the tree this time.  I've yet to test the fruit's quality, though.

Some plants show no signs of heatwave-related damage whatsoever, at least thus far.  That includes all the 'Cousin Itt' Acacias, Leptospermums, Leucadendrons, Leucospermums, Callistemons, Coleonemas, and other large, well-established plants I can't bring to mind at the moment.  A couple even seem to have thrived in the heat.

While many agaves showed sunburn damage, the 3 'Blue Glow' Agaves shown above had their own sunscreen in the form of a Chondropetalum tectorum, aka a small cape rush.  The rush itself is flowering abundantly too.

And I'd swear that this Vitex trifolia shot up another foot in height during the heatwave

The heatwave also brought three unexpected visitors to our garden.  Although their visit was brief, it created something of a stir.

Meeko and I caught sight of the 3 from inside the house at about the same time.  By way of explaining the poor quality of this shot, I caught them in action through the window with my phone's camera.  All 3 appear to be juvenile peafowl but I can't be certain of their genders as their tail feathers haven't developed.  At least one appeared to be a female.

When I went out to chase them down, I captured Meeko watching them from inside the house, looking interested if possibly also a little peeved

I should acknowledge that, even though the heatwave stretched into the coastal areas this time, delivering six days of temperatures over 100F (38C), we got off much easier than people living in the inland areas of California, which saw record temperatures in many cases.  In fact, the entire US Southwest has had to deal with a difficult summer.  I'm hoping that the heatwaves are over for the summer season but I know we can't count on cooler autumn weather yet.  Although my fingers are itching to cut back all the burned foliage in my garden, it's probably best to wait awhile until we're sure the cooler temperatures are going to last.

My best wishes go out to anyone dealing with wildfires or smoke or flooding from hurricanes and tropical storms.  I hope everyone has a safe weekend.

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