Friday Potpourri

"Potpourri" sounds better than mishmash, doesn't it?  I've spent a lot of time in the garden this week but not much of what I've done was photo-worthy so this post is comprised of a number of relatively unrelated topics.

Although areas throughout Southern California faced temperatures ranging from the 90s into the 100sF, we were lucky to have temperatures in the mid 80sF (30C) so I pursued a variety of tasks associated with my annual end-of-summer cleanup.  I deadheaded and pruned a few large shrubs, thinned messy clumps of ornamental grass, spread yet more mulch, and pulled a lot of weeds, including the skeleton of a tall Daucus carota which had somehow been buried among larger plants.  As it'd already dropped its seed, I imagine I'm going to confront a massive number of seedlings in the area next year.  

Only two small projects were worth sharing in photos.

Last year I removed masses of Aeoniums I'd used to edge this bed.  Unfortunately, the plants I put in their place didn't tolerate the dry conditions well so I've edged the area once again with Aeonium cuttings.  I mulched the bed too but plan to fill the interior of the bed with Osteospermums once temperatures drop to supplement the Hippeastrums already planted there.

This is what the bed looked like in January 2021 after I'd let the Aeoniums take over.  My hope is to strike a middle ground with the succulent edging this time.

This is a view of the same bed from the other side

I also cleaned up this bed that runs along the back of the house.  I thought I'd taken a before photo but couldn't find it so I hope you'll take my word for it that it's much tidier now.  The mulch helped.  The small Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light' that was scorched in a sunnier spot was moved into this bed, which gets only morning sun.

I also spent time cleaning up and repotting the orchids in my lath house, or most of them anyway.  (I ran out of orchid bark.)

Clockwise from the upper left are an Epidendrum with 2 pots of Cymbidiums, a third Cymbidium, a noID orchid, an Oncidium, and a Phalaenopsis.  As many orchids like to be crowded, it may take awhile for some of these to bloom again.

Despite another round of warm temperatures, I suddenly realized that the towering dahlias in my warm season cutting garden aren't likely to last much longer than another month so I also applied myself to ordering seeds and bulbs in preparation to plant a cool season cutting garden in November.

The 2 dahlias that have yet to flower, 'Hometown Hero' and 'Belle of Barmera', have buds at last.  Talk about keeping me waiting!

Speaking of dahlias, have you heard about the discovery of a "daffodahlia" at a floral farm in Enumclaw, Washington?  When a friend forwarded photos of this extraordinary bloom to me, I was initially suspicious that the photos were AI creations but a little research suggests that the flowers are real.  They're not actually intergeneric hybrids of a Dahlia and a Narcissus but rather dahlia flowers that have developed daffodil-like ruffles.  You can find photos here.  Whether the flowers represent a natural mutation or are products of a virus or disease isn't entirely clear but an initial review by personnel at Washington State University found no evidence of disease or virus among the various plants sporting the unusual ruffles, which were present among various plants from the same stock.  The owners of the flower farm, Cattle & Cut Flowers, plan to experiment by collecting seed, cuttings and tubers from the affected plants to see it they can replicate the flowers in future plants to create a stable mutation.  It's a very interesting discovery for dahlia addicts like myself!  There are dahlias resembling anemones, chrysanthemums, and waterlilies so why not one that looks like a daffodil?  If interested, you can follow the farm's progress on its Instagram page @cattleandcutflowers.  Sunset has already published an article with opinions of all sorts, which you can find here.

Earlier weather forecasts suggested that our marine layer would fade out this coming weekend as the current heatwave continues but, even as our inland valleys are yet again experiencing record high temperatures, the morning marine layer here appears to be strengthening rather than declining.  It didn't lift until nearly noon yesterday, even delivering a hundredth of an inch of measurable precipitation.

The marine layer was so thick it blocked out most of the usual views

Another advantage of the marine layer is that the moisture makes the plentiful spider webs visible before you walk into them

Lastly, to send you off into the weekend with a smile on your face, I thought I'd share some photos of Meeko.  As of tomorrow, she'll be eight months old which is equivalent to fifteen years of age in human terms.  She's recently taken after Alice in Wonderland, seeking adventure through a looking glass.

These photos show Meeko staring into the mirror in our main bedroom

Then she attacked the cat in the mirror!

She's continued to fight off the intruder on a periodic basis.  Oddly, the cat in the bathroom mirror no longer bothers her.

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