I've made stabs at tackling my still hefty list of garden chores this week but I've tended to drift from one project to another without crossing any off in their entirety. The biggest project, a renovation of the front slope on the southwest end of my garden is far from complete, although I did manage to get additional rock in there on Wednesday, which was one of the bigger hurdles. I'm hoping to start replanting the area after Christmas. In the meantime, I got started on some of the smaller jobs.
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With 2 years of heavier-than usual rain until early spring this year, western sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) managed to take over much of one border in my north-side "dry" garden. The plants originally crept in under the fence we share with a neighbor. The best "before" shot I have is the one on the upper left but the ferns had actually spread through the entire space. The fronds pull up relatively easily (some shown piled up on the upper right) but they filled 2/3rds of one green bin and I've no illusion that I got up all of the rhizomes; however, at least now I can reach the other plants in the bed to prune them (as shown in the 2 lower photos).
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| I cut back the mostly bare stems of Cotinus coggygria and pruned the Cistus 'Grayswood Pink' in the foreground but the 2 larger Cistus shrubs in the background will take another couple of hours |
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| I cut back the large Osteospermums seated in front of the Callistemon viridiflorus but I've barely made a dent in the rampant ivy and honeysuckle |
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| Because it's been so dry, watering the raised planters in the cutting garden is at least a bi-weekly chore. The Anemones and Ranunculus are off to a good start but, since the sweet pea seeds germinated, they haven't done much of anything. The same thing happened last year so I'm not worried but maybe a bit of fertilizer is in order. The larkspur seedlings also appear to be in stasis. |
I've potted a variety of Hippeastrum bulbs this week. I belatedly discovered that I hadn't placed orders for any new bulbs earlier this fall as I'd intended so I scrambled to catch up. Luckily, I was able to take advantage of some sales! I also planted out my rooted cuttings, as well as various annual plugs to fill in empty spots. I'd held off on both activities, waiting for rain to start, but as there's been none of that I decided I might as well go ahead. There's currently a thirty percent chance of light rain on Christmas Eve but that's too far in the future to lay bets on yet.
I've done very little holiday decorating this year. With an energetic and kittenish cat, I reluctantly decided to skip a Christmas tree this year, for just the second time in my life. My husband, a Scrooge when it comes of the year-end holiday season, was just fine with that but I found myself missing the the usual holiday trappings so I threw together a few.
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| I bought a wreath from the local garden center and just added a bow and a tiny gnome |
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| I pulled this gnome out of the garage, cleaned him up and gave him a dried Protea bloom to hold as he sits next to the front door |
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| I put up this faux tree I've had for years and decorated it with a dozen little birds and a squirrel. There's no electrical socket nearby this area in the entry way but I borrowed a tiny string of battery-powered lights from elsewhere and wove it in. |
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| I'd purchased a faux birch tree with built in lights and tucked it in next to our grandfather clock. Another little display sits on an end table next to the couch in the living room. |
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| I have 4 snow globes, which I distributed to various areas of the house |
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| I made an attempt to decorate the large Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' on the south patio outside the living room window but I couldn't pull it off. There are too many bare branches on that plant and I didn't use enough in the way of ribbons or ornaments to make an impact. |
Another round of Santa Ana winds brought temperatures into the upper 70sF (25C) this week but they're supposed to drop back into the low-to-mid 60sF (17C) this weekend. Whatever weather conditions Mother Nature serves up for you this weekend, I hope your weekend is an enjoyable one.
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| View from the back garden yesterday with a blanket of clouds covering the Los Angeles harbor |
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I think the fern might be Nephrolepis exaltata, aka sword fern. The Western sword fern has similar foliage but is more rosette-forming and less run-all-over-y. I think the coprosma looks lovely; birds are my favorite outdoor tree decorations :) And I call your bigger gnome "Waiting for Spring/Rain".
ReplyDeleteThat's a VERY good name for the big gnome given the circumstances!
DeleteThanks for the input on the fern. I'd just assumed that it's a western sword fern (Polystichum) because that one's native to my area. I've stared at online references to both it and the Boston fern (Nephrolepsis) and remain unsure which plant it is. It's taller and straighter than the Nephrolepsis seems to be but then I'm no expert when it comes to ferns.
Ha, I love the grumpy gnome. It looks like he's begrudgingly holding that Protea for his cheerful wife. You've been busy getting things done, I feel like I'm not quite getting anywhere. I hope this next storm does bring a good rain to you. I didn't put up as much Christmas as I usually do this year, and I miss it. 2025 I'll do it right!
ReplyDeleteI got the grumpy gnome during a closing sale of one of my favorite plant nurseries years ago. I think he was supposed to be holding a fishing pole, which was missing when I bought him ;) Every year I give him something else to hold. Christmas has always been a big deal for me but I just wasn't able to get in the spirit this year.
DeleteI'm so glad to see you did some holiday decorating, it's good for the spirits! Hopefully there will be no kitty damage. FWIW I second Anon's fern ID, at least the nephrolepis part (I'm not smart enough to go beyond that).
ReplyDeleteSo I have a question... whenever you show your raised cutting beds I wonder about the hoops over them. I can't remember you ever using them. Lord knows you wouldn't need frost cloth, do you use them for shade cloth? I'm curious.
Your Wednesday post prompted me to open a couple of my Christmas related boxes so thanks for that, Loree. As to the hoops over 2 of the 3 raised planters, they originally held together the wood-fired "snorkel spa" that came with the house if you remember that. My husband used the spa's wood top to build our back patio table but he'd no idea what to do with those hefty metal bands. I stuck them in the raised planters, thinking that I might be able to use them to support temporary covers for what were initially vegetable beds. When the vegetable beds became cut flower beds, that purpose became less tenable, although I should probably try it during the early germination process when the local critters are most likely to dig there (in lieu of the "hardware cloth" I've tried the last 2 years). I tried growing excess sweet pea seeds up those bands last year but that didn't work out all that well...The bottom line is that the metal bands seem like they should be useful for something so I haven't gotten rid of them while awaiting inspiration to strike ;)
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