Cat-proof Christmas Decorations

I skipped a Christmas tree last year for just the second time in my life.  It was a precautionary measure.  Following the loss of my seventeen year-old cat, I'd adopted a six-month old cat from a local shelter in late August.  Meeko wasn't as well-socialized as Pipig by a long shot and both my husband and I were concerned that she'd wreak havoc with a six-foot pine tree so we took a pass on that.  Meeko is calmer now but we were still concerned so I dressed this year's tree more simply, leaving the most fragile and treasured ornaments in their boxes.

My husband took the precaution of laying plywood under the tree and screwing the tree stand into the wood.  I used mostly unbreakable ornaments and skipped the usual ribbons.

There were only a few glass ornaments, none of which were precious and all of which were placed in the upper levels of the tree 

Meeko hasn't brought the tree down but her initial reaction, even before I'd rigged up the lights and added ornaments, was concerning.  As soon as she saw the tree standing in the living room (or possibly when she smelled it), she growled and her fur and tail fluffed up.  She took refuge in my home office and wouldn't come out, even hours later.  I considered locking her in my office or her catio overnight but I left her on her own and crossed my fingers.  She was still growling at the tree some the next morning but she felt safe enough to walk through the living room, although she did subsequently throw up her breakfast.  However, since I decorated the tree, she's become more comfortable with it.

All is well so far.  I caught her playing with a string of lights at one point but I tucked that string up a little higher and that hasn't been a problem since.  She also tried to get to the water in the tree stand but my husband fitted two pieces of cardboard over the water and clipped them together after she kept working to pull those covers off.  Somewhat to my surprise, I haven't seen her bat at a single ornament, nor try to climb the tree.  Maybe next year I can dress up the tree in my normal fashion.

I've kept the other indoor decorations relatively low-key too.

I had to use a step-ladder to put these wood pieces up above the door on the south end.  Meeko is an adept climber but even she can't reach that narrow ledge.

My Santa on a bike is also safe atop our grandfather clock

I did put up my faux tree in the front entryway again this year, using wood and plastic elements

Led by a Santa-like angel and Ms Ladybug, the ornaments set a garden theme

Even the outdoor decorations presented challenges this year.

My husband inevitably ends up with a crick in his neck when he strings our usual lights along the roof's edge.  To avoid that impact, I purchased a light projector.  It was easy to set up, aiming the lights at the Magnolia tree.  It was hard to capture its effect with my camera but I'm relatively pleased with it.  Blue, green, and red lights rotate both separately and together, admittedly looking a little like light bugs crawling the tree's trunk. 

With the pergola attached to the front entry removed, there's no longer anything to support the wreath (much less the garlands) I usually put there.  I tried setting up 2 poles on either side of the entryway to support smaller 20-inch wreaths but the poles weren't the same height and one was wobbly to start with.  This one ended up to the right of the door, decorated with a single bow and several cuttings of Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'.

The second wreath ended up mounted over the window in the lath house with just a painted ornament and a small bow.  It could use more red but I no longer have any plants with red berries and I couldn't find my faux red berries.

The truth be told, I haven't thrown myself into the holiday season the way I usually do.  I don't blame that on Meeko or the changes made to the garden, though.  It's been hard to get in the spirit given the political nightmare that's virtually impossible to avoid and the misery spread by the inhabitants of the White House.  I'm hoping to see members of the party in power act rationally in the face of the issues of serious concern to the bulk of US citizens and develop the backbones to take action.  It's hard for me to believe they'll have many supporters if current circumstances continue, much less get worse every day.

I've got plans to attend the "Dino-mite" exhibit at South Coast Botanic Garden with a friend this weekend.  By the sound of it, it's not at all Christmas-y but it may be a good diversion.  I hope you find some fun in the weekend too.

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

Wordless Wednesday: Coming in for a landing?

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

In a Vase on Monday: A Burst of Sunshine

Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' called to me this week.  This Grevillea is another year-round bloomer but it produces nowhere near the number of flowers as its cousin 'Superb' so I don't often cut the flowers for a vase.  However, we've woken up to a dense marine layer for a few days now and I needed some sunshine to bring inside.

I couldn't bring myself to cut more than 2 stems of 'Peaches & Cream' but I filled in with yellow and white daisies, a few stems of an early blooming Narcissus, and some orange berries to echo the peachy tones in the Grevillea's flowers

Back view

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mount Everest', A. f. 'Beauty Yellow', berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', and Narcissus tazetta 'Geranium'

I pulled together a few stems for a second smaller vase for the kitchen island too.

As there's not much to this one, I'm sharing just this photo of the vase in place, the overhead view shown below, and a collage showing closeups of the flowers.

 

Overhead view

From the upper left: noID Alstroemeria, Antirrhinum majus, Boronia crenulata 'Shark Bay', and a noID Dianthus barbatus

The marine layer delivered two-hundreths of an inch of precipitation over the past two days but there's still no prospect of significant rain in the forecast at least until January, and I'm not prepared to bet on that.  It's too bad Santa can't deliver rain!

For more IAVOM creations, stop in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

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

Bloom Day - December 2025 (Early Edition)

It's holiday season and blog posts need to be crammed in wherever I can.  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, the long-running meme established by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, officially falls on December 15th but I took photos over the past week to fit it into my schedule.  My garden isn't showing off at its best this month but then that's to be expected, even in sunny Southern California.  It's been especially sunny and warm this week, with temperatures reaching into the low 80sF (27C) here along the coast.  Meanwhile, despite the monumental rain that's deluged the Pacific Northwest, there's been no rain here since late November and there's nothing showing in the extended forecast either.

As this month's lineup looks a lot like the one I showed in November, I'm going to start with this month's surprises.

This is Dermatobotrys saundersii (aka tree jockey).  Native to coastal forests in southern Africa, I picked it up as a small plant at a sale held by Huntington Garden many years ago.  I cut it back earlier this year after a poor showing in recent years and it's come back.  In the past it's bloomed in or around October but this year its bloom followed our rain in November.

My daylilies didn't do well in general this year but these 2, Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' (left) and 'Spanish Harlem' (right), are blooming for a second time this year.  I'm getting one bloom at a time from each but I still appreciate them.

I planted Lachenalia viridiflora bulbs in a pot years ago but I'm delighted each and every year they pop up with their turquoise blooms 

Other plants that surprise me whenever they choose to show up include, clockwise from the upper left: Erigeron 'Wayne Roderick', green Eustoma grandiflorum, Hypoestes aristata (aka ribbon bush), and Vesalea floribunda (aka Mexican abelia)

Next up are the flowering plants making the biggest impact at the moment.

The 3 Camellia sasanqua shrubs that came with the garden are the most floriferous plants at the moment.  The shrub shown on the left and in closeup on the upper right may be 'October Magic Rose'.  The other 2 shrubs, represented by the closeup on the lower right, may be 'Early Wonder'.

Hybrid Aloe vanbalenii x ferox is just getting started.  There are several other species of aloes following close behind this one.

Argyranthemum frutescens springs into action during our cool season.  'Mount Everest' is on the left and 'Beauty Yellow' is on the right.

Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre', shown on the left and in closeup on the upper right, is always the last of the Australian fuchsias to bloom.  Meanwhile, C. 'Ivory Bells', shown lower right, the first to bloom, is still in full flower.

Crassula ovata (aka jade plant)

Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' and C. 'Vermillionaire'

The flowers of Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' (aka 'Little Grape') are tiny but abundant

We recently removed one of the 2 Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' shrubs in my north-side garden but one remains, for now at least

The Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geraniums) bloom off and on all year but they're happiest during the cool season

Polygala myrtifolia (aka sweet pea shrub) also blooms year-round but prefers the cooler season

I continue to be thrilled with the blooms produced by Protea 'Claire'

There are a few plants already gearing up for a big display next month too.

The Aeonium arboreum are getting a start on their annual takeover of my garden.  I refer to them as my "Triffids," although unlike those fictional plants, they're not carnivorous.

The flowers of Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane' are still tightly in bud

while the first flowers of Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' have begun to open

I'll close as usual with the best of the rest, organized into color-related collages.

Clockwise from the upper left: Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet), Duranta erecta 'Sapphire Showers', Evolvulus glomeratus 'Beach Bum Blue', Felicia aethiopica, Lobelia erinus, and Salvia 'Mystic Spires'

 

From upper left: noID Gazania, Pelargonium x hortorum 'Bird Dancer', Pentas lanceolata, and Xerochrysum bracteatum

From upper left: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Dietes grandiflora, Narcissus papyraceus, and Fuchsia 'Windchimes White'

Top row: Chrysocephalum 'Desert Flame', Haemanthus albiflos, and Rudbeckia 'Juliana'
Middle: Aloe lukeana, Grevillea 'Superb', and Leonotis leonurus
Bottom: Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', and Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Coral'

That's a wrap for Bloom Day and for this week.  Enjoy your weekend!  For more GBBD posts, check in with Carol at May Dreams Gardens on Monday, December 15th.

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

Sideline projects: Mangave pups

Rather than tackling some of my larger projects, I've been puttering around taking care of small ones, while completing ignoring preparations for the upcoming holidays.  I'm having a hard time getting in the mood for the latter this year.

Cleanup and division of two bloomed-out Mangaves were relatively easy tasks.  It seems that some of these plants bloom all too soon and the process leaves the mother plant looking disfigured.  However, all also seem to leave plenty of pups behind to replace themselves.  Even though it bloomed recently, I attended to the Mangave 'Pineapple Express' first because it presented the biggest eyesore.

It bloomed back in October.  The flowers weren't anything to get excited about in my view but the hummingbirds appreciated them.  The clump eventually produced 3 bloom stalks as some of pups surrounding the mother plant also flowered.

The photo on the left was taken immediately before I got started.  The photo of the right shows the mother plant after I'd dug it up.

I immediately replanted the largest pup shown on the left as it had plenty of attached roots.  It was replanted near the other 2 'Pineapple Express' plants I'd installed 3 years ago as part of a trio.

These are the other pups I harvested in a variety of sizes

As I hadn't found suitable grasses to hide the bare branches of the Ceanothus hedge I'd pruned months ago, I decided to plant 5 of the largest Mangave 'Pineapple Express' pups in that area.

The remaining pups went into temporary pots.  I'm not sure the smallest ones on the right will amount to anything but, if they develop better than expected, I'll give them away.  I'm hoping to use the larger pups elsewhere in my own garden once they're well-rooted.

The second bloomed-out Mangave was a 'Silver Fox', given to me by a friend as a pup several years ago after my original 'Silver Fox' bloomed-out.  It flowered back in February but was largely hidden by surrounding plants so it hadn't scream for attention.  I took care of it yesterday.

These are photos of the plant in flower in February.  For a relatively small plant it produces a tall stalk.

This is the empty spot left behind after I'd cut back some of the surrounding plants.  I haven't decided whether or not to return one of the pups to this spot - if I do, I expect it'll just get swamped by its neighbors again.

The mother plant was a tangled mess of pups, and more difficult to divide than 'Pineapple Express'

These were the pups I held onto.  Tinier ones went into the recycle bin.

I potted all of them up for now, even the largest one that had a decent root system

This week, I also pruned the twiggy 'Hachiya' persimmon (Diospyros kaki), which took a good hour or more.  It's less than a perfect job as I wasn't comfortable putting a ladder up on uneven ground.  It'll do for now but next year I think it'll go on my tree service list.

It's still pretty twiggy even though I filled half a green recycle bin with sticks.  The branches are brittle, which complicated matters and the sloping ground didn't help.

I'm waiting for the 'Fuyu' persimmon to drop most of its remaining leaves before I tackle pruning it.  It's branches are also brittle (and tall!) so I'll settle for doing the best I can to thin this one out too.  You may note that one of the 2 Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl' shrubs is already gone here - my husband got it out in a flash yesterday as its roots weren't deep.

This is the remaining Leptospermum.  I'll leave it for now as it still has plenty of flowers. New information suggests it won't tolerate being cut to the ground or even a few feet.  Its tilt, probably the result of growing up tightly against the former fence, also bugs me.

I really do intend to get going on removal of the mass of ferns in that part of the garden sometime soon but I may attend to pruning the 'Fuyu' persimmon and the redbuds (Cercis occidentalis) first.  Sometimes I wish we got snow, putting garden work on hold for a time, but maintenance is a year-round activity here and, right now, virtually every part of my garden is calling for attention.

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