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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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').
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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| Photo of plants now filling the area formerly occupied by the Calliandra |
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| The "new" plants include: a mix of Aeoniums (A. arboreum, A. 'Jack Catlin', A. 'Kiwi', and A. 'Kiwi Verde'), Agave attenuata, and Agave bracteosa |
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| 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:
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| View of the replanted bed from the north end looking south |
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| View of bed's mid-section |
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| 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.
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| 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
The removal of the old hedge in front of the windows was a blessing! It looks so much better now, and will continue to improve as it fills in. Lowering the shade inside the living room to hide the back of the television is a good solution. Maybe you'll find a decorative, outdoor screen that would do the job. Chavli.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea, Chavli. I've been wondering if I could convince my husband to build a screen to attach to the back of the TV itself but I'm not sure he needs another project at the moment.
DeleteI like your revamp, lighter and brighter! Feels very fresh and breathable. I'm in a lull at the moment in the garden - lots to do, and feeling apathetic. I'll just keep weeding until the mood strikes. I hope you have a nice weekend, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracy. I'll be in the garden giving my dahlias a dose of bloom booster ;)
DeleteI think your new plantings look fabulous, Agave attenuata is always a good choice. The other day I was thinking "how can this be happening in our country?" (for like the 7,000 time) and also thinking about the fact there are people who actually think what's happening is wonderful. I just do not understand.
ReplyDeleteI've a hard time understanding how some portions of the public can accept the abject cruelty of the federal government's current actions but maybe they're better than I am at filtering the news. I think the number that close their eyes to it is shrinking on a steady basis, though. I wonder when members of the Senate are going to clue in to what that means to them.
DeleteGoodness, that's a lot of work but worth it, it all looks great. People round the world are sharing your horror and dismay.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chloris. Polls indicate that US opposition is steadily growing but there are still people behind the scenes pushing the deluded madman forward with his bulldozer. However, I believe that people reap what they sow. I hope karma is going to deliver its effect sooner rather than later in this case.
DeleteA shrub that has outgrown its space and as a result has been for practical reasons pruned into an unnatural is never really right. The area works far better now, tho the attenuata will slowly tilt and grow outward into the path, eventually.
ReplyDeleteAnticipating many beautiful Dahlia-centered floral arrangements to come soon. :^)
Wondering when a lot of rural "red" voters lose their Medicaid coverage and their local hospital that will close for lack of Medicaid-covered patients, that they will actually know who did this to them.
Agave attenuata is also a prolific pupper but still muc more manageable than 'Blue Flame' ;) If the "zero zone" becomes a real thing (i.e. applicable to existing gardens), then the entire area wii end up paved so I didn't want to invest a lot in the plants there.
DeleteThe party in power appears to believe its dedicated voters are morons with short attention spans, fooling them into believing that the delay in implementing the cuts that most affect the GOP's doing doing. I certainly hope they're wrong about that.
Your "before" and "after" comparisons are amazing. At first I felt sad that you had to remove the shrubs, but reading about the reasons, and then seeing the results, made sense. Your views will be great...and then to have the Dahlias right there...can't wait for updates on your blog!
ReplyDeleteThe dahlias are getting closer to blooming every day, Beth. It's now just a question about which one is going to bloom first :)
DeleteYour new planting will soon knit together Kris. Sounds as if the dahlias are coming on nicely and should be soon featuring in your vases. What is going on in the world at large is indeed distressing 😢 Can you please explain what ICE agents are without raising your blood pressure too much?
ReplyDeleteICE is the acronym for the federal US agency of Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Its agents are being sent out in large groups to locate, detain, and ultimately deport people the agency determines are in the US "illegally." While the current president's original stated purpose was to remove people who'd committed criminal acts, 70% or more are people who never committed crimes beyond either entering the country without obtaining legal papers authorizing entry or overstayed their original visas. Many, many of these people have lived here for decades, never committed crimes that resulted in conviction or incarceration, and perform work that many US citizens won't do, like picking crops, cleaning homes, washing cars, and caring for elderly and disabled people. They make valuable contributions (and generally pay taxes) to our communities. Los Angeles County has been one of ICE's most visible targets.
DeleteThanks Kris. I should have been able to work that out but couldn't at the time 🤔 Not the same but a lot of the workers who work in similar occupations over here are no longer welcome after Brexit.
DeleteThat was quite an effort to get that all replanted. I hope everything succeeds and looks splendid soon. The back of the TV doesn't seem so bad if that is it behind the blue wall divider. I bet you get a lot more light into the house now. And, Meeko is going to have a lot more to watch.
ReplyDeleteI had to look back at my photo to ensure I knew what you meant by the "blue wall divider." It's actually a pull-down off-white window screen but the glass does make it look blue from the outside. Meeko has a pretty good view of the entire back and south-side garden areas. She'd dearly love to chase down the lizards more directly, though ;)
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