My garden has gotten away from me. Not only do I have all sorts of empty spaces in need of tending but I've got weeds all over the place, the cutting garden requires assistance with its seasonal transition, and the back slope somehow exploded out of control. I've been tackling the weeds and deadheading flowers here and there in the back and front gardens when I have a few minutes but this week I focused on the cutting garden as the dahlia tubers were ready to move out of their temporary pots and spread their roots.
I cleared most of two of the raised planters to make room for eleven of the sprouted dahlias. Two other tubers were transferred to barrels in the cutting garden as well.
 |
| I left some of the Calendulas in place at each end of this bed and supplemented the soil before transplanting 6 dahlia tubers here. The infant dahlias include: 'Creme de Cognac' (2), 'Kelsey Ann Joy', 'La Luna', 'Miss Brandy', and 'Summer's End'. I sowed seeds of 4 varieties of Zinnia elegans in this bed too. |
 |
| I left 3 foxgloves and a handful of larkspur in place in this bed. I added the following 5 sprouted dahlias: 'Blue Bell', 'Cafe au Lait', 'La Belle Epoque', 'Mikayla Miranda', and 'Molly Raven'. I've added 3 varieties of zinnia elegans to this bed. |
 |
| Last year, this bed was crowded with larkspurs (Consolida ajacis) but, for whatever reason, few seeds germinated this year. The foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) I planted months ago as plugs haven't grown much so I removed all but 3 to make room for more dahlias. |
 |
| Dahlia 'Caproz Pizzazz' found a home in the barrel on the left after I removed all its contents other than the red Pelargonium peltatum. The middle barrel received a Dahlia 'Labyrinth'. The third barrel contains one of the foxgloves that has done well and the Argyranthmum 'Mount Everest' I moved from the first barrel to make room for the dahlia I planted there. |
As the sweet peas have finally taken off, I'm going to give them another three or four weeks before I clear that raised planter to receive three or four more dahlia tubers. I expect to give away a lot of sweet pea posies within the next few weeks.
 |
| Like last year, because the sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) took so long to vine, I failed to thin the plants so they're overcrowded once again |
I've ignored the back slope for close to a month. I was shocked when I headed there earlier this week. Even walking down the concrete block stairway presented a challenge. I spent a couple of hours clearing the pathways and cutting some of the overgrowth but several additional hours of attention is needed before it gets too hot and the fire ants make work even more difficult. Although the hedge that lines the neighbor's wire fence gets routine irrigation, the rest of the area is dependent on rainfall and we've had little of that this year so I didn't expect exuberant growth. I've done no hand-watering of the area at all in almost a year.
 |
| This is a view of the slope looking up from the lower area (in front of the lemon tree) after my initial cleanup effort. The Arctostaphylos bakeri 'Louis Edmonds' in the middle of the bed to the right of the stairway has leapt in size since last year despite our low rainfall. |
 |
| Clockwise from the upper left: The Aeoniums fleshed out nicely; the Centranthus ruber is a buoyant as ever; one of the top heavy artichokes collapsed under its own weight once again; and the hybrid 'White Lady' Pelargoniums have spread themselves about |
The saddest discovery was this:
 |
| Ceanothus arboreus 'Clifford Schmidt' appears to have died while I wasn't paying attention. It was in full bloom in early April! I love this plant and can't entirely account for its sudden demise. The lemon tree on one side and the Pittosporums on the other are fine. However, I'd had a peach tree that had given it some shade cover removed in November and I speculate that the sun exposure combined with low rainfall and no hand watering may have been contributing factors. I'll cut it back to see if it recovers but I'm not hopeful. |
On the good news side of things, the Agapanthus in my garden are marshaling forces for their annual stampede and the first Shasta daisies are making an appearance, as well as the first gladiolas. Even the lilies are gearing up to put on a show. Hopefully these plants will fill the floral gap until the dahlias and zinnias get around to flowering.
 |
| A noID Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) with fringed flowers |
 |
| Gladiolus nanus |
 |
| A noID white gladiola popped up in with the bed with the sweet peas |
 |
| Two varieties of lilies among many that have produced bloom stalks. The taller ones are Lilium 'Zelmira' and I think the smaller ones are 'Orange Planet'. There are at least 5 more varieties gearing up to bloom elsewhere in the garden this summer. |
Best wishes for a pleasant weekend!
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Sorry to hear about the ceanothus. How old was it? I've heard that they have a reputation for dying suddenly. We have a beautiful one that Michael trained into a tree and every year I keep thinking it is going to die after blooming so stunningly a few years ago. The blooms have been sporadic since then.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my spreadsheet, I've had that Ceanothus for 10 years now. I purchased it as a small plant and it took several years to develop. It bloomed heavily during the 2 good rain years preceding this one and lighter this year but it still put on a decent show. But 3 other Ceanothus we inherited with the front garden suddenly declined a few years after we moved in. We ended up removing them years ago - or so we thought! Two have recently shown signs of coming back!
DeleteIn my experience ceanothus like many of our natives are prone to fungal disease pathogens in times of erratic temperatures, particularly if watered once established. Perhaps there is water you aren't aware of? Being at the bottom of the slope, even small amounts might be collecting there...
ReplyDeleteAs the Ceanothus is at the bottom of a fairly steep slope, it receives whatever drainage from the main level of our back garden reaches it. However, your point about a mystery source of water may be correct. The area is closely adjacent to our property line where my neighbor has a small cutting garden. Coincidentally, I heard a gushing flow of water there the day before yesterday. It didn't run long (I monitored it as I was concerned something was wrong with their irrigation system) but that could be an issue even though the flow appeared to be downward rather than sideways. I guess I won't plant another Ceanothus there...
DeleteNo rest for the gardener! So sorry to learn of the ceanothus death.
ReplyDeleteThings usually slow down at the peak of summer - mainly because I can't bring myself to do much other than deadhead flowers ;)
DeleteI'm always amazed at the amount of work that goes into your cutting garden. Your investment in blooms is remarkable. I couldn't do it!
ReplyDeleteI also have a few lily coming up in the garden but definitely no Leucospermum: those are gorgeous blooms, photo bombing in the last shot on the right.
Chavli
Luckily, Leucospermums (and Grevilleas) do especially well in this climate. I'm glad I "invested" in them!
DeleteDang, I hope your ceanothus recovers. I had one die suddenly much like that. I think too much sun was to blame. I absolutely can't wait for your summer blooms - it's going to be magnificent! Love that surprise white gladiola, it's really pretty. The pathway up the slope looks great after your clean-up. I feel the same, weeds are popping everything is going May crazy. And now a scorcher :(
ReplyDeleteI'm not counting on the Ceanothus's recovery but I'll let the tree service remove it in October or November if it shows no sign of recovery before that - we had 3 inherited Ceanothus in the front garden die back suddenly years ago, removed them years ago but 2 of them have recently reappeared!
DeleteI planted a few purple gladiolas in the cutting beds years ago, which periodically reappear despite my attempts to remove them, but I swear I can't recall ever planting any white ones and my spreadsheet doesn't show any either, not that it's a perfect record.
Nature bats last. So much loveliness everywhere in your garden--enjoy the journey. Lilys soon! Dahlias soon! Your cup runneth over. :)
ReplyDeleteSo sad about 'Cliff'! He was gorgeous. No gopher mounds?
No evidence of gopher activity down there at all. I think this is another case of Ceanothus suicide :(
DeleteMy goodness, you have been busy! This is a busy time of year but your garden is quite work intensive, specially your cutting garden. But all your hard work pays off, it is all so beautiful. I have had ceanothus suffering from sudden death but I always thought it was frost. Maybe they are tricky.
ReplyDeleteOnce Ceanothus is well-established, the most common cause of death cited in my climate is excess water. I initially dismissed that as a cause because the area 'Clifford Schmidt' is in hasn't been irrigated by me in years now and we had very little rain this year. However, the 2 years prior we received heavier-than-usual rain and then, whatever it is the neighbors on the other side of the adjacent property line are doing to irrigate their raised planter may be spilling over that line. It's a fluke that I even noticed their gushing water this week but the anonymous commentator's question about water I wasn't aware of brought that memory to mind. The abrupt loss of shade due to the recent removal of a very large (if unproductive) peach tree might have also been a factor as we've had 2 moderate heatwaves already this year. Although I deeply regret the loss, I probably won't replace the Ceanothus, at least not in that location.
DeleteI sympathize about weeds but your garden looks just lovely, Kris!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Although it's hard to believe that I have so many weeds such a trivial amount of rain this year.
DeleteNo rest for the weary! Sorry about the sudden demise of your Ceanothus, always a shock to see a favorite die. I am very envious of your abundant sweet peas. I fear I'm going to have another sad year as germination was not that great. And I even tried a new spot for them with extra compost! I am suspecting that I need to invest in some fresh inoculant. Eliza
ReplyDeleteMy sweet peas were in a state of stasis for months, Eliza. I sowed the seeds in early November and they germinated relatively quickly, but I didn't see any real vine growth until March. I saw the first few blooms in late April and now they're going crazy. So don't give up!
DeleteYour slope clearly wants you to stay away!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that maybe I could've done something about the Ceanothus if I'd witnessed its decline earlier but, in all probability, it would've died anyway.
DeleteI don't know if this is helpful or not, but FWIW, you probably wouldn't have been able to save the Ceanothus even if you had noticed it struggling earlier. Usually by the time you see something starting on those, it's too late, and they go downhill quickly.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jerry. I expect you're right. At least it assuages my sense of guilt for paying too little attention to the back slope.
Delete