In a Vase on Monday: Getting ahead of the heat

Our morning marine layer is still in place but it's retreating earlier and earlier each day.  Yesterday, we were socked in at 6am but the sunshine cut through the gloom well before 8am.  I dashed out the door before breakfast (albeit after feeding the cat) to cut flowers.  Our temperature hit 89F (31C) on Saturday but, although Sunday ended up a few degrees cooler, it was still on the toasty side.

I'd already decided to cut a stalk of Lilium 'Friso' and planned to accent it using stems of Daucus carota 'Dara' but I struggled a bit to find plant material that'd help the lily stand straight in its vase.  I settled on Myrtus communis, which is just now producing its first flowers.

'Friso's' flowers tend to point downward and the stalk wants to lean in one direction or another under its own weight

Back view: The Daucus flowers are especially prolific this year, all self-sown

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Grandaisy Dark Pink', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Daucus carota 'Dara', noID ruffled Leucanthemum x superbum, Lilium 'Friso', and Myrtus communis

Much as I love lilies, my second floral arrangement turned out to be my favorite this week.  I still don't have many foxglove stems in bloom but, given the warmer temperatures, I thought it best to cut what I had before they fried.

I used a small piece of plastic-coated hardware cloth to support the flowers I cut, which works well

Back view

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Ageratum corymbosum, Consolida ajacis, Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', Digitalis purpurea, Pelargonium peltatum 'Lavender Blizzard', and Polygala myrtifolia

We're headed into the 4th of July holiday.  The reminders that fireworks are illegal here given the high risk of wildfires and numerous warnings that violators will be prosecuted and fined finally seem to have made a difference.  The fact that Southern California was devastated by a series of wildfires earlier this year may also have had an impact.  We usually hear "practice" fireworks every day and night for a month or more prior to the holiday but there's been far less of that this year.  We've heard a couple of what I assume were authorized public displays (presumably overseen by fire department personnel) but that's it.  We'll see what happens this coming Friday!

For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Plant shopping therapy

As the chaos in the political environment and the world as a whole continues, we all have to find respite on occasion to maintain our sanity.  I usually seek that peace by working in my garden but at times I need to take a break even from its demands.  After I complained to a neighborhood friend that our local garden center didn't currently have much of a selection of small succulents to help me fill out one area, we decided to pay a visit to a nursery specializing in succulents located just half an hour away. 

I hadn't been to OC Succulents' Torrance location in over a year and my friend wasn't acquainted with it at all.  It can't claim any of the vibrant display spaces many garden centers create to bring in customers but it definitely offers a wide selection of both succulents and indoor plants.

A shot of a small section of the indoor plant area

As neither of us were looking for houseplants, we headed directly into the greenhouse area offering small succulents.

Better prices are available if you have a wholesale license, which we did not.  This area also included plants in larger pots, which were individually priced.

The smaller plants aren't labeled by species; however, the plants larger than those in 2-inch pots are identified by name on checkout receipts

After taking a close look at display tables, we grabbed flats and started making choices.

Aeoniums, clockwise from the upper left: 'Garnet', 'Lily Pad', 'Mint Saucer', and 'Zwartkop'

Clockwise from the upper left, Echeverias I was able to identify with relative confidence by eye included 'Afterglow', 'Lola', E pulvinata 'Ruby Slippers', 'Red Ruffle', E. runyonii, and 'Sahara' 

My best guesses for the Echeverias I couldn't reliably identify (even after consulting an ID app included E. elegans, E. gibbiflora, no clue, and E. secunda

Graptoverias 'Amethorum' and 'Fred Ives'

They had a large variety of Sansevierias (aka snake plants) in stock too.  After a couple of recent houseplant losses, I briefly considered the 2 Sansevierias on the right as a possible replacement for an unhappy Dieffenbachia as snake plants are nearly indestructible but I put that decision off for another time.

I headed outside to look at some of the larger (and more expensive) plants while my friend continued her search inside the greenhouse.  

I was specifically interested in checking out the Mangaves.  Unfortunately, I didn't see any of the newer cultivars I've admired when viewing other bloggers' posts.

They had a lot of agaves but for some reason the only one I photographed was Agave bovicornuta (upper left).  The Mangaves shown here are 'Lavender Lady', 'Mission to Mars', and 'Snow Leopard'.

There were lots of cacti species in large containers but I only photographed these 3: Hildewintera aursipina, Echinocactus grusonii (golden barrel cactus, now classified as Kroenleinia grusonii), and Pilocereus azureus.  I didn't see any of the Echinopsis with flashy flowers but then I didn't ask about them and maybe they're already past their bloom stage.

We couldn't miss these palo verde trees in full flower (Cercideum 'Desert Museum'). My friend told me she'd spotted several in the vicinity of our neighborhood when she walked her dog.

A lineup of pricey Aloe 'Hercules'

Both my friend and I left with a flat of plants.  I can't say that either of us found anything new or unusual but, for me, they'll do to fill several empty spots.

Based on the information printed on my receipt, the yellow-orange succulents on the left are Cremosedum 'Little Gem'; the blueish ones to the right are Graptoveria 'A Grim One'*; the next 3 are Echeveria 'Lola'; those on the far right are E. 'Metallica Hybrid'; the pinkish ones on the lower right are Graptosedum 'Rosa'; and the 3 tiny ones on the lower left are a guess identified by my plant app as E. 'Chroma'.
*I looked for an explantion for the cultivar name 'A Grim One' and learned that it was bred by Bob Grim of San Jose, California. 

As it's been a busy week for me, I haven't yet gotten around to planting my new succulents (or the second flat of 'Elfin' thyme I picked up elsewhere) but, assuming the temperatures remain comfortable, I'll get to that this weekend.  As it is, I've a long list of other garden chores I've yet to tackle and, to complicate matters, it appears that the raccoons are loose in my nighttime garden looking for grubs, leaving things torn up for me every morning.

I hope you're able to enjoy time in your garden as well but, if you're in the Eastern or Midwestern US, take care doing anything outdoors in that intense heat!

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Weedy Wednesday: Medicago lupulina

Cathy of Words and Herbs periodically publishes posts under her Wild & Weedy Wednesday meme during the summer season.  (Here's her last post on the wildflower known as ragged robin.)  As I got caught up addressing my struggle with a relatively handsome but excessively vigorous weed, I decided it was an optimal time for me to share my experience with Medicago lupulina, known by a variety of common names including black medick, hop clover, lesser trefoil, and nonesuch.  Curious about the "nonesuch" name in particular, I looked for an explanation and discovered that it was regarded as a superior plant (i.e., "without equal") offering high nutritional value for feeding livestock.

I'm sure I've seen it before but, if so, I can't recall it ever taking over a particular area of my garden as it has this year.  I yanked out a mass of it when I initially discovered it a month ago, only to find it appeared to have redoubled its effort to achieve world domination last week.

It's said to grow up to 2 feet in height but it was less than a foot tall year; however, it covered an area 5-6 feet in diameter here

Spreading via creeping stems to form mats, its tiny leaves resemble those of clover, although what stood out to me were its distinctive but equally tiny yellow flowers.  It reportedly thrives in dry soil (bingo!) and full sun, although the area here lies in partial shade.

Complicating matters, it was growing alongside and tumbling over Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Mexican or Santa Barbara daisy), which is virtually a weed here too

This is a closer look at the leaves and flowers.  The plant is in the legume/clover family and, like other plants in that family, can be helpful in fixing nitrogen in the soil.

The plant's native to Europe and temperate areas of Asia but it's a well known weed in lawn areas in the US.  The area most densely covered by the weed is in one formerly covered by lawn, which we removed in or around 2016 but perhaps that's where it gained its initial foothold.  I'm not sure what prompted it run amok this year but then a lot of weeds seem to be running roughshod through my garden this year despite our low rainfall.

The plant's effort to encompass this Phormium 'Maori Queen' forced my hand

Unfortunately, not only do its stems creep but it also develops a long taproot, making it difficult to remove.  I did my best to uncover the Phormium shown above and the other plants in the same bed.

Whether I got out all those tap roots is questionable but it looks clear for the moment.  Almost all the Erigeron went too as the 2 plants were intertwined.

Much of the area between and surrounding the flagstones had been planted with creeping thyme but I tried to weed out stems that crept into the thyme while leaving it in place where I could

I'm by no means done with its removal.

The areas in more sun between the flagstones still contain a large number of taproots that don't want to let go.  I may have to remove the stones to get at those roots.

Medicago has also taken hold in parts of my cutting garden in the gravel paths adjacent to the base of the raised planters.  It's nominally easier to pull out there, probably because the soil is moister.  It's generally described as a summer annual so whatever I don't manage to remove may die out at the end of the season but I'll continue my effort to eradicate what I can.  The plant's said to have medicinal properties as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory but these claims aren't well substantiated.  Historically, it was also reputed to have been used as a laxative and an aid in blood clotting and resolving digestive issues but I don't recommend experimenting with it even if it's not considered toxic!

Do you have any experience with this weed?  If so, what approaches did you use in removing it?

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: More lilies

The Agapanthus, commonly known as Lily of the Nile and African Lily, are nearing full bloom throughout my garden.  They're not true lilies and, according to Wikipedia, the genus consists of only six to ten species (depending upon the expert consulted). Agapanthus were once classified in the family Liliaceae but was removed in 1985 and has bounced around since then.  If I've read its history correctly, they're currently situated in the expanded Amaryillidaceae family.  

The vast majority of my Agapanthus came with the property.  They're so easy to grow here that you often see them planted in places like gas stations, where they get little to no care.  Because they're so ubiquitous, Californians often dismiss them, although the evergreen plants are attractive year-round in my climate, the flowers are pretty, and they bloom for a relatively long period.  I suspect mine could benefit from dividing and thinning but I can't even bring myself to consider getting around to that anytime soon.  I cut seven stems in varying colors as a start for today's first arrangement.

You can't ignore those beautiful blue flowers.  Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) make perfect companions.  They also remind me of a friend who passed away 6 years ago following a bout with cancer.  She bought the daisy plants for me following the loss of my mother and I think of both of them every year when the ruffled daisies bloom.

Back view, once again using the tall vase my husband recently gave me

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, Agapanthus in dark blue, light blue, and white; Consolida ajacis (larkspur) in dark blue and lavender; Globularia x indubia (globe daisy); and noID Leucanthemum x superbum

The true lilies also continue to roll out in my garden.  I couldn't help myself from cutting a stem of one of the new ones I planted as bulbs this year.

I pre-ordered Orienpet Lilium 'Zelmira' bulbs sometime last fall and completely forgot about them until they arrived like a surprise

Back view: I was initially at a loss for companions for the peachy-pink lily until I noticed the variegated foliage of Leucadendron 'Jester' growing in the shade.  It's softer in color than another 'Jester' I have growing in full sun.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Leucadendron 'Jester', Cenchrus orientalis (formerly classified as Pennisetum orientale, aka oriental fountain grass), Grevillea 'Poorinda Leanne', and Lilium 'Zelmira'

Lilium 'Orange Planet' is still going strong.  The tallest stalk produced twenty buds in total.  I've cut off the spent flowers but there are still eleven open flowers and one bud on that stalk.  The smaller stalk I cut for a vase last week still had five open flowers yesterday, although I had to cut the stem down to four flowers to fit it into a more diminutive vase for the kitchen island.

The Orienpet Lilies have a long vase life!

By my count, there are five more lily varieties to show off in future vases, although I don't know if I'll manage to do that before their season comes to an end.  The bulbs don't last forever in the ground here.  Gophers have consumed some of the bulbs, including three Lilium 'Purple Prince' that disappeared following their first year of bloom.  In most cases, the critters take only one bulb at a time but I guess they really liked 'Purple Prince'.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, our gracious host.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Are you ready for the summer season?

It's hard to predict exactly what summer is going to throw at us and I can rarely say I'm entirely ready for the season but I do my best to prepare in advance.  It's fairly certain that it'll be hot and very, very dry.  Part of getting ready here involves letting go of the cool season flowers in my cutting garden in favor of plants that can tolerate summer's intense heat.  My cool season annuals and bulb blooms were going strong in April but I potted up my dahlia tubers to get them started in mid-April.  By late May, I'd pulled the snapdragons and bulb blooms and planted out many of the dahlias to give their roots the opportunity to spread; however, the sweet peas had only just gotten rolling in mid-May so I left that raised planting bed alone for a time.

I sowed my sweet pea seeds in early November but I didn't see flowers until early May and it was late May by the time they all got going.  This photo was taken on June 10th.

When the heat turned up again late last week, I could see that the end of the sweet peas was near.  Aided by our persistent morning marine layer and the warmer afternoon temperatures, the vines' foliage was exhibiting the first signs of mildew and the flower stems were getting shorter.  Their vase life was also shorter.  So this week, I bit the proverbial bullet and pulled out the vines, as well as the other flowers in the same raised bed.

It's a messy, annoying process, especially when I try to save the last of the flowers to give away

I handed off 2 bottles of sweet peas to visitors on Tuesday.  I put 5 more bottles of sweet peas plus one bottle containing the last of the Nigella flowers and 2 others with Calendulas on the street for the neighbors to take.

Digging up the roots of the sweet peas and other flowers and supplementing the soil took almost 2 hours.  A few gladiolas are attempting to return and I've left them in place for the time being.

I planted 5 sprouted dahlias here late Wednesday afternoon.  They included: 'Brown Sugar', 'Catching Fire', 'Fairway Spur', 'Lady Darlene', and 'Summer's End'.  Yesterday morning, I also sowed seeds of Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral' and Z. e. 'Senorita'.

All the dahlias I have room for are now in place.

This bed was planted with 6 dahlias in late May, including 'Creme de Cognac' (2),  'Kelsey Annie Joy', 'La Luna', 'Miss Brandy', and 'Summer's End'.  Several Calendulas remain at each end of the bed.  I sowed Zinnia seeds here too.

This middle raised planter was the first one I planted in late-May.  It contains 5 dahlias, including: 'Blue Bell', 'Cafe au Lait', 'La Belle Epoque', 'Mikayla Miranda', and 'Molly Raven'.  The last has struggled a bit since I transplanted it but appears to be hanging on.  The Zinnia seeds I sowed here are developing well.  I've left the larkspur (Consolida ajacis) and foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) in place for now.

Four dahlias landed in half-barrel containers, 2 of which sit in the cutting garden and one in the front garden.  The first barrel includes Dahlia 'Caproz Pizzazz'.  The second contains 2 'Labyrinth' Dahlias and the third contains Dahlia 'Excentric'.

A wide shot of the cutting garden at present

I gave six dahlia tubers to a neighbor back in April but potted up others with the plan of giving away some of those that sprouted, knowing I didn't have room for all of them.  I didn't expect all of them to sprout but was surprised when all but one did.  All of these were divisions of tubers I dug up last year.  I have five "leftover" sprouted dahlias.  I've tapped three friends who are interested in taking them and arranged a hand-off meeting next week.

Only one potted tuber (a 'Brown Sugar') has failed to sprout yet.  The "orphans" that have sprouted include 'Catching Fire' (2), 'Creme de Cognac', 'Labyrinth' (still tiny in the biggest pot), and 'Summer's End'.  

Meanwhile, my efforts to fill in the empty spots in my garden continue as the window for planting anything new is closing due to our higher temperatures.  I planted out a flat of creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin') between paving stones on the south end of garden last weekend; however, temperatures in the upper 80sF (30C) toasted some of what I planted.  Hopefully, what I planted in the same general area outside our "catio" will fare better in handling the heat.

I don't have a "before" shot of this area but it was formerly occupied by 5 clumps of Nassella tenuissima (Mexican feather grass), removed because they can be flammable.  Once again, I spent a large amount of time digging out masses of the bulbous roots of Asparagus fern, as well as the remains of a Wisteria that came with the house.

Clockwise from the upper left, the new contents in this area include: Aeonium 'Jack Catlin' (cuttings), Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky' (2), Crassula mascosa 'Princess Pine' (3), Agave attenuata (cutting, already sunburned), Daucus carota 'Dara' (self-seeded), Hippeastrum 'Elvas' (transplanted), and Neoregelia 'Guinea x Pepper' (3 divisions of potted plant)

I've still got a lot I'd like to get done before it becomes hotter yet.  How about you?  Are you ready for summer?

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party