Another project ticked off the list (mostly)

I finally tucked back into clearing and planting up the long, narrow bed adjacent to the house that runs outside our dining and living room areas.  It was never a showpiece but it's highly visible from inside the house, as well as every time I walk out the back door.  From the time we moved in, it'd been dominated by a large red powder puff shrub (Calliandra haematocephala), which was sheared every couple of months to prevent it from overwhelming the walkway.  It seldom produced any flowers as a result but it did serve to hide the back side of the TV in the living room from sight.

This isn't the best photo but it's one of the few "before" shots I have.  The bed is approximately 3 feet wide and 25 feet long.

The regular shearing of the Calliandra caused dry, dead foliage to constantly build up inside, below, and around the shrub so I included it among the twenty-plus shrubs we had removed in early May in an effort to minimize our exposure in the event of a wildfire, along with the other three Calliandra shrubs planted elsewhere against the house and garage.

View of the bed after the Calliandra had been removed

I subsequently removed the Ageratums with the purple foliage myself but that's where I left things until this week.

Ageratum corymbosum in better days

My main hang up over moving ahead to replant the area was some apprehension about handling the merged mass of two plants, a large clump of clump of Renga lilies (Arthropodium cirratum) and a valued hellebore (Helleborus 'Phoebe').

Poor photo of the mass of plants in question

After trying and failing to dig up the hellebore in one piece, I focused on digging out the clump of Renga lilies, which proved to be far easier to remove.

I got 9 divisions from that one clump of Arthropodium.  I removed the scruffy bits and potted all the divisions in 7 one-gallon pots.

This photo shows the one remaining Arthropodium that'd been part of the clump, the droopy Helleborus 'Phoebe', a mass of Liriope muscari (aka lily turf), and a noID fern, all left in place

Then I started replanting, using cuttings and divisions taken from other plants.

Photo of plants now filling the area formerly occupied by the Calliandra

The "new" plants include: a mix of Aeoniums (A. arboreum, A. 'Jack Catlin', A. 'Kiwi', and A. 'Kiwi Verde'), Agave attenuata, and Agave bracteosa

In addition to the Liriope and Helleborus, I've left some other established plants in place, including the Arthropodium clumps shown in the left photo and other Agave attenuatas, a few Aeonium 'Sunburst', a mass of Campanula portenschlagiana, and various Narcissus and Freesia bulbs (currently invisible)

While the Renga lily divisions all have nascent roots, I'm giving them time to develop larger root masses before I add a few back into the bed.  I don't anticipate adding more three of those plants.  The rest will probably be planted out in the front garden.

Here are views of the bed at present:

View of the replanted bed from the north end looking south

View of bed's mid-section

View of the bed from the south end looking north

Much as I love my garden and as helpful as it is in offering me a way to de-stress, I've been having a harder time focusing on it of late, despite our remarkably pleasant below-average temperatures.  Even though I've significantly reduced my news consumption I can't help feeling distressed, angry, and sad about what's happening in the war zones overseas and the cruel treatment of people at home under the so-called leadership of those in political power.  The treatment of law-abiding immigrants collected by masked ICE agents based primarily on race, without regard to their contributions to our community, and the fear the agents generate even among US citizens, make me sick.  All the independent surveys I've viewed over the last few weeks show that I'm far from alone there but either those in charge don't care or they're choosing to listen only to the sycophants who insist on feeding their delusions to serve their own short-term goals.  It'd be pitiful if it wasn't so immoral and disgusting.

Rather than spend my time on constructive tasks, I've been roaming my cutting garden counting the buds on my dahlia plants.  My last count was 23 buds but about half of the plants have yet to show anything.  They buoy my spirits, even if only briefly.

The most promising buds are those produced by Dahlias 'Creme de Cognac', 'Labyrinth', 'La Belle Epoque', and 'Mikayla Miranda'

May you find pleasant ways to spend your time this weekend.

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