Jumping from one project to another

Summer is usually my slowest season in the garden, limited to simple tasks like deadheading flowers and watering.  That's because it's usually hot as Hades by July and August.  But, thanks to a persistent morning marine layer, we've been remarkably lucky so far this month, at least by comparison to other areas.  The marine layer is much less common later in the summer season than is our "June Gloom."  When it continues beyond June, it's called "No-Sky July" but that's bit of a misnomer as the marine layer usually breaks up by early afternoon, if not earlier; however, even then it keeps our afternoon temperatures down to a comfortable level.  And, when temperatures are comfortable, it's hard to justify lolling about, especially when I have so many projects that need to be tackled.  

Many of the areas we had cleared of big shrubs in early May remain bare.  I planted the narrow bed adjacent to the garage with succulents in early June using a lot of cuttings and divisions I had on hand but I wasn't satisfied with it.  I added more succulents in late June.

It's less bare now but I'm still not entirely satisfied.  I moved many of the original plants around and added others I picked up at OC Succulents (as shown in this post).

I spruced up a nearby urn at the same time.

I added 3 'Little Gem' Cremosedums to the pump up the mix of succulents here

On the other hand, I continue to drag out the process of filling in the empty midsection of the bed adjacent to the back of the house, even though it's readily visible from the living room.  One of the four large Calliandra shrubs (aka red powder puff shrubs) had occupied a stretch nearly five feet wide in that bed.  I subsequently removed three Ageratum corymbosum shrubs that occupied a few additional feet there myself, leaving the space looking sadder still.

These photos show the Ageratum at its peak.  I loved both its "ever-purple" foliage and its flowers but the plants didn't look great during the summer months.  They also deposited lots of very dry leaves that collected next to the house.  Unfortunately, even the best of the 3 plants was too old and woody to transplant.

I took cuttings of the Ageratum in the hope that they'll root so I can plant them elsewhere, further from the house.  The plants originally came from Annie's Annuals & Perennials and the company that purchased Annie's mail order business has yet to start mail order operations.

This is what the midsection of that bed looks like at the moment with all those shrubs gone.  I cut 2 good-sized pups of Agave attenuata from elsewhere in my garden to plant there, with the intention of adding more succulents in and round them.  I'm also planning to divide some Arthropodium cirratum (Renga lilies) to mirror others already in place at both ends of the long bed.

I'd hoped to address that bed this past week but I got distracted by other projects.  Barring a surge in our temperatures, I hope to get back to it this coming week.

In the meantime, I turned my attention to a few other tasks.

I removed a mass of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde' that had been growing in front of several Agave bracteosa (aka squid agaves) in the back border, filling the empty space with creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin').  The thyme won't obscure the view of the agaves as the succulents did.

At the rear of the same border, I chopped down the Salvia africana-lutea and had my husband dig out its stump when it didn't cooperate with me.  Although I liked the Salvia, it grew too big for the space and was crowding the even larger Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' next to it.  I'd already removed the flammable Mexican feather grass (Nasella tenuissima) there.  I still need to replenish the soil and replant here, although I've already thrown some succulent cuttings in there.  I plan to add more succulents to hold the soil in place before our rainy season starts (which means I still have lots of time!).

I also removed the Mexican marigold (Tagetes lemmonii) in the front garden, shown here when it was still in good shape in June 2024.  The shrub declined significantly in 2025 and wasn't blooming much at all anymore.

As the Tagetes had hidden the plants behind it, most notably a newish Leucospermum 'California Sunshine', I elected to fill the space with more of the Gazanias already there, at least for now.  I'm thinking of planting another Mexican marigold in the back garden when cooler temperatures return in the fall.

My husband completed his renovation of my lath (shade) house last week.  On Wednesday, I cleared out all the plants that had cluttered the small south patio (as shown on the left), leaving the area open once more (right).  I'm still in the process of reorganizing those plants inside the lath house and repotting many of them.

Like the lath house renovation, the schedule for attacking the agave overcrowding issue in the south-side garden was set by my husband.  I'd shown him the troublesome issues with the 'Blue Flame' Agaves, (and my feeble effort to remove one rosette), although I posed it as a future project.  However, having completed his renovations to the lath house, he decided he was ready to roll on removing the agaves.  As there was no way I felt I could handle the removals on my own, I accepted his schedule.

These are before and after photos of the first section, which we tackled together last week.  He did the heavy work using an electric saw and a shovel, while I toted the debris to our recycle bins.  I'd estimated that there were 6 large rosettes of the 'Blue Flame' Agaves to remove.  Below those, we discovered another half-dozen mid-sized rosettes and a dozen or more smaller pups.  'Blue Flame' really is a thug!

This week, while I was working on other projects, my husband decided to go after the remaining 'Blue Flame' Agaves (shown here in a "before" photo on the left).  Given their thuggish behavior, he argued in favor of removing them all at once in lieu of the 2-3 I'd originally targeted.  I agreed and he did the job on his own, although he's awaiting delivery of a Root Slayer we ordered to take out the remaining 'Blue Flame' carcass.  

I've no idea (yet) what I'm going to do to fill the holes in my south-side garden.  There's still the bloomed out Agave 'Blue Glow' to remove to so that has to be taken into consideration.  I already have an Agave 'Sun Glow' on hand, which will definitely end up somewhere in the mix but I may try smaller succulents and other plants there in the interest of easing the maintenance challenges I've had with this bed in recent years.  Depending upon the plants I select, I may need to delay some of the replanting until fall in the interest of ensuring the long-term survival of the new plants.  After all, I can't depend on our summer temperatures staying comfortable and we're unlikely to see any rainfall until October or November.

On the good news side, I recently received a box of plant prospects from my blogger friend, Gerhard Bock.  I've known Gerhard for years now and he's visited my garden on a couple of occasions.  He's an altogether great guy, an accomplished gardener, and very generous.  If you're not familiar with him, you can find his blog at Succulents and More here.  He can also be found on Instagram here.  I admired his low-growing Artemisia pedemontana, which I'd never seen before, and he responded by offering to send me cuttings.  But he sent more than that!

He sent expertly packaged cuttings of the Artemisia, some rooted and others ready for rooting in water.  I potted up the rooted ones immediately upon delivery.  Those I plopped into a glass of water are already about ready for potting too.  He also sent me seeds of his Mexican tulip poppies (Hunnemannia fumarifolia), which I'd also admired in photos on his blog.

Even more exciting, he included 5 different varieties of Echinopsis pups.  He's had wonderful success growing these flowering cacti as you can see for yourself in his blog post here.

So, even with unfinished projects nipping at my heels, my week is ending on a positive note.  In addition to Gerhard's gifts, the garden delivered two nice surprises.

One of my Epiphyllums apparently enjoyed its vacation in the front garden as it's produced a bud.  I'm guessing this is 'Monastery Garden' but these plants aren't labeled so I won't be certain until I see the flower open.

This is the first bloom of the 3 stalks from the 3 Lilium 'Zeba' bulbs I planted earlier this year.  I fell in love with this lily during last year's Puget Sound Garden Fling.  A commentator on Instagram identified it by name for me and I ordered the bulbs when I returned home, receiving them months later from Holland.  I wasn't absolutely sure they were the right bulbs until this flower opened on Wednesday.

Best wishes for a pleasant and comfortable weekend!

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