"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.
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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. |
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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. |
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This is a view of the same bed from the other side |
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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The marine layer was so thick it blocked out most of the usual views |
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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.
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These photos show Meeko staring into the mirror in our main bedroom |
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Then she attacked the cat in the mirror! |
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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
The marine layer photos are lovely and I bet you appreciate not walking into cobwebs... I do it too often and it creeps me out.
ReplyDeleteIt's hilarious when cats discover their image in the mirror; I wonder what goes through their mind. I once had a cat that hissed at a natural looking cat sculpture... cats are a laugh a minute.
Chavli
Meeko is fun, although also exhausting at times, Chavli. She's a huntress at heart. Last week, she managed to bring in a small bird (how it got into her catio I still can't figure out) and, a couple days later, a small rat! In the latter case I heard a bump in the night at 5am and found her with a creature with a long tail in our guest bathroom. I pulled her out and shut the door until my husband could give me assistance with the rat's removal later that morning. I managed to release both the bird and the rat alive but she did some damage to the rat's tail and the cleanup in the latter case wasn't pretty. I can now understand why isn't so difficult to clean up blood at a crime scene! My husband has reinforced all possible exterior entry points into the catio (I hope).
DeleteHa ha ha, Meeko is hilarious! Both of your new beds look so fresh & tidy, your maintenance efforts have definitely paid off. I hadn't heard about daffodahlia, that will be an interesting follow. A morning of marine layer sounds pretty great about now.
ReplyDeleteThe marine layer is a major boon for us, Tracy. Without it, I suspect our temperatures might have zoomed up to 108 again too. Climate scientists theorize that it'll disappear altogether in the future but I hope I'm gone before it is.
DeleteThat first marine layer shot is gorgeous! I too saw those photos of the daffodahlia and thought AI was to blame. I hope the farmers manage to replicate it and profit from their work. Meeko (whom I can't help but think of as Marimekko) is a doll, she's obviously right at home with you.
ReplyDeleteIf only Meeko could get her head around the acceptable spots to sharpen her claws and which surfaces are off limits! I'm currently covering furniture with 2-sided sticky tape and plastic counters with plastic "scat mats," which is getting old. The vet suggested treats for proper scratching behavior but that hasn't worked yet ;)
DeleteI, for one, like a good foggy day for gardening as long as it isn't so cold that it penetrates through my clothing. Everything seems quieter, less hurried. Our Linnaeus was initially interested in fighting the mirror too, but now passes them by without a glance. He is much more interested in the birds, chipmunks, et cetera out in the yard. Meeko is a cutey.
ReplyDeleteMeeko likes to chase the birds and squirrels she sees through the window (and me if I'm outside) but she's not allowed outside beyond her catio because of the prevalence of coyotes here. Unfortunately, we discovered that her catio wasn't entirely critter-proof and last week she brought in both a bird and a small rat. I managed to release both "gifts" she brought in alive, although the rat's tail wasn't in great shape. The catio has since been fortified. I got her a battery-powered thing with a fur coat but she quickly loses interest and wants the "cat dancer" toy that requires my continuous interaction. Except for brief rounds chasing ping pong balls, the other toys I've tried have been flops.
DeleteLinny isn’t allowed out for the same reason- bobcat, coyotes, and a busy country road. He accidentally got out one evening earlier this week and I was heartbroken. After a half hour of panicked calling he showed up just before dark and wandered back inside. Whew! We need a catio, but not sure how best to implement that and we have other construction priorities at the moment.
DeletePipig got out 3 times over the course of her years with us. I was a wreck each time but she eventually grew out of the escape attempts. I'm hoping Meeko will outgrow that behavior too but it's exhausting at the moment! The catio provides her some access to the outdoors but unfortunately it's not a panacea. She's microchipped though, which is a first for me. The local shelter required the chip but it has to be registered to work (which I did); however, it provides no protection from the dangers you identified.
DeleteA lot of the work we do as gardeners isn't photogenic so thank you for talking about the not-so-glamorous aspects of gardening!
ReplyDeleteWe have two more days of triple digit temps. Grrr.
That's been the situation in our inland areas here too, Gerhard. Woodland Hills, where I grew up and where my brother currently lives, hit 113F last week. I realize how lucky we are to have the benefit of a morning marine layer. Climate scientists believe it'll die out as a byproduct of our ever-warmer temperatures worldwide but I'll treasure it for as long as it lasts.
DeleteMeeko is adorable, kitten antics are the best. :)
ReplyDeleteYour morning mists are beautiful, cloaking the landscape and spiderwebs. What a godsend they are, compared to your inland counterparts. Eliza
Yes, 86F here translated to 113F in Woodland Hills, where I grew up, Eliza. When I was in high school, long before climate change became a common topic of conversation and I started paying fervent attention to temperature readings, I recall complaining that every summer there seemed to get hotter and hotter.
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