I've made progress here and there with my annual fall cleanup but there's still plenty to do - and seemingly never enough time to do it. I have a habit of getting distracted by the little things that need doing. Fortunately, little things do eventually add up. Just yesterday morning I managed to fit in two small pruning jobs and a bit of weeding before breakfast.
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| I cleared out the dead plants in my back border and pruned the 'Pozo Blue' Salvia that was dominating the space shown on the left. I also cut back the dead artichoke stalk (Cynara scolymus 'Romagna', which promptly produced fresh foliage (upper right). Two overgrown Artemisia californica received a hard pruning (middle right) and the feather grass (Nassella tenuissima, lower right) got another grooming session. |
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| I finally dug out the large clump of Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles' that dominated another section of the back garden, replanting the area with 2 small replacements. I originally had 3 of the plants in the area but hope than 2 will be more manageable in the long run. |
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| Two 'Winnifred Gilman' Salvia clevelandii in the south-side garden also got a hard pruning |
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| I finally tackled the Phormium 'Apricot Queen' that was so severely burned during September's heatwave in the north-side garden (before photo on the left and after shot in the middle). The smaller Phormium 'Yellow Wave' (right) wasn't as affected but it got a cleanup too. |
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| After years of frustration with the pom-pom tree (Dais cotinifolia, left) I planted in the same north-side bed in 2019, I cut it down and dug it up. I got it from Annie's Annuals & Perennials with the assurance that it could be grown as a shrub but it was determined to be a tall, skinny tree that never showed a single sign of flowering. I also removed a lot of self-planted western sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) but I need to pull many more, as shown on the right. |
A few of the pruning tasks I'd undertaken earlier have already produced positive results.
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| Melianthus major (left) and Sonchus palmensis (upper right) are greening up again and the Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' cuttings I took a month ago (lower right) are doing well |
Getting to the jobs already on my docket is complicated by the fact that I keep buying new plants.
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| Clockwise from the upper left are: Rex Begonia 'Spirit of Sumatra', Cordyline 'Can Can', Peperomia 'Ginny', and 5 Eustoma grandiflorum (aka lisianthus) and 2 Evolvulus glomeratus 'Beach Bum Blue' intended to go into the ground as soon as the temperatures cool |
The biggest jobs ahead include clearing out my cutting garden and preparing the cool season garden to come and cleaning up the back slope, which is currently in rough shape. In the near term, I also need to harvest the persimmons.
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| Both persimmon trees, Disospyros 'Fuyu' on the top row and D. 'Hachiya' on the bottom, are ripening fast. In the past, I've picked the fruit to give away as early as September and as late as mid-November. There's no evidence that the squirrels (or rats!) are getting to them yet but I probably need to harvest the fruit within the next 2 weeks. |
There's a lot of pruning yet to tackle but I'm contracting some of what I normally handle myself to my trusted tree service this year. That work is currently scheduled for November 19th.
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| In the meantime, the strawberry trees (Arbutus 'Marina') are dropping scads of spent flowers. I've swept those that fall on the pavement and dumped them in my compost bin but the rest pepper the beds surrounding them. |
I have a tendency to focus on what needs to be done rather than what's looking good.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
No ads, wouldn't that be nice. Let's add no political texts to that, I've gotten 3 just since I've woken up. No amount of STOP's is helping. You've been so diligent in clean-up. You've inspired me to get out there today and focus solely on that!
ReplyDeleteA hard stop on ads (of all kinds!) for the 2 weeks prior to the election would almost surely enhance the level of civility. It won't happen but it's nice to dream, Tracy. I'm going to face up to my cutting garden today, starting with the overgrown and bloomed out dahlias.
DeleteIndeed the little things do add up, and the details matter! So those spent flowers the strawberry tree is dropping, that's fruit that won't develop? Do you get fruit dropping too? This weekend we're building the shade pavilion greenhouse, it seems impossible that it's already the last weekend in October, time just keeps moving faster! As for the ads, I like your idea of a hard stop, that would be amazing. And no more polls. I am sick of hearing about the polls! (and trying not to worry about what they say)
ReplyDeleteI think the branches of the strawberry trees would break if every one of those tiny flowers produced fruit - and since the fruit, when ripe, is messy and not at all tasty, I'm glad the trees aren't laden with it. Hummingbirds love the flowers but I haven't seen a single critter that seems to like the fruit. It's an interesting question as to why some flowers produce fruit and others don't, though - maybe they have to be pollinated?
DeleteAs to polls, YES!, those should be halted early too! I swear someone somewhere runs one every single day and every darn news outlet seems to feel compelled to share it :( There can't really be that many undecided voters out there any more, can there? I can't help suspecting that those that claim they're still undecided either really don't want to disclose their choices, or they crave attention, or, as Jon Stewart said recently, they got kicked hard in the head and can't think clearly anymore.
Oh, yes, you have been busy. You're amazing! Your Dahlias and other cut flowers are beautiful, the potted plants are healthy and impressive, and the fruit looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteAs there seems to be a particularly heavy crop of persimmons this year, it's too bad that neither my husband nor I like them! Fortunately, I've got friends and neighbors who do.
DeleteOh it seems that the list of gardening tasks is never ending Kris but buying new plants is a must even though the planting of them is yet another task 🤣 We have a similar build up to our general elections with all the political parties being allocated 5 minute television slots for what are called party political broadcasts. On the plus side it's restricted to just one party and just one broadcast an evening. How many ads are you subjected to?
ReplyDeleteThe UK's approach is wonderful by comparison to what we're subjected to, Anna! I could live with your country's approach. On the major TV stations here, I'd say there are at least 2 politically-oriented ads during every commercial break - it's maddening! And most just spew vitriol. That doesn't even count the junk emails and spam phone calls!
DeleteThat sounds awful Kris 😢
DeleteIt is, Anna! Actually, I heard 5 political ads during one commercial break this morning, 2 of which were repeats of the first 2 (competing) ads. It's enough to turn you against all politicians...
DeleteYou've accomplished a lot, Kris! I esp. like your new peperomia, the variegation and leaf shape is pretty. Eliza
ReplyDeleteAs summer wants to hang on here, I'm thinking I may need to put the sunscreens up to protect those new plants. Of course, as soon as I do, the cooler weather may finally arrive and stick - but then that'd be a positive kind of jinx ;)
Delete"I have a tendency to focus on what needs to be done rather than what's looking good". That is the eternal gardener's dilemma, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI wish I was a glass half-full person with respect to the garden and most everything else in life, but unfortunately I'm not wired that way.
DeleteHelichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles': Your post is a reminder that I really need to get another one. I had two, and I had to remove both of them because they got too woody.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks so good!!!
I bought 3 'Icicles' in 6-inch pots close to 2 months ago but held them aside awaiting cooler temperatures. It was never cool enough and, even kept in partial shade and watered regularly, one croaked. I haven't seen any more in my local garden center but I decided 2 plants are enough in that spot anyway - they should meld together eventually as the original 3 did :)
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