A tropical storm blew through Southern California late last week. It prompted flash floods and mudslides in the foothills and mountain areas to the east of us, as well as other parts of the US Southwest. My own area received only a trivial amount of rain (0.03/inch) but the winds pulverized my cutting garden on the northeast side of our house. I was shocked to see what it did to my tallest zinnias, flowers I was sure I'd be cutting as giveaways for neighbors into late October or early November. The winds didn't treat my dahlias well either. I've already pulled out many of the zinnias and cut back several of the dahlias. I made use of the less damaged flowers to fill this week's vases.
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| I cut my flowers on Saturday this week as I was already in the process of cleaning up my cutting garden. All the 'Mikayla Miranda' Dahlias that remained presentable following the storm are shown here. |
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| Back view: I used stems of Vitex trifolia as my foliage filler. The shrub flowers but mine has yet to produce many this season; however, its purple and olive green foliage is its main attraction. |
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| Overhead view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', Digitalis purpurea (still producing periodic blooms!), Symphyotrichum chilense (which I tried to eradicate a few years ago), and Vitex trifolia |
My second arrangement is a compilation of the least damaged of my pinkish dahlias.
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| Before the winds kicked up, there were half a dozen of the tall 'Cafe au Lait Rose' Dahlias suitable for cutting. On Saturday, there was but one left and even it looked a little ragged from the back. |
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| Back view: I used 4 stems of 'Benary's Giant Wine' Zinnias to fill out the vase. Relatively few of those zinnias are left now. |
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| Overhead view |
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Top row: Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', noID Pelargonium, and Dahlia 'Molly Raven'
Middle: Dahlias 'Care au Lait Rose' and 'La Belle Epoque'
Bottom: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Wine' and 'Queeny Red Lime' |
Although the 'Benary's Giant Wine' Zinnias took the hardest hit, a lot of the 'Queeny Red Lime' Zinnias were also knocked over. I crammed many of these flowers into a small vase. Much of the damage was due to the fact that the cage supporting the five foot tall 'Cafe au Lait Rose' Dahlia shifted in the wind.
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| I added a couple of 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose' Zinnias and the Rumohra adiantiformis fern fronds from one of last week's vases to the 'Queeny Red Lime' Zinnias |
Temperatures fell following the storm, although humidity levels soared. Our marine layer moved in again yesterday and it was gloomy throughout the afternoon. There was a forty percent chance of showers but none materialized. There's another chance of rain on Tuesday but I'm not counting on it. Meanwhile, the increased humidity seems to have encouraged another flush of bloom from Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid'. Hopefully, the Callistemon flowers and some dahlias will still be available for cutting next week.
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| When it get hot, these Callistemon blooms tend to quickly turn turn a buff brown color |
The temperatures are expected to remain in a comfortable range of the low-to-mid 70sF (22-24C) for the balance of the week but I've been fooled by forecasts before.
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All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I'm sorry to hear a tropical storm blew through your cutting garden. You work so hard on it all year... it's devastating. To your credit, neither vases show any sign of what occurred outside. I Love that first vase, holding one of my favorite Dahlias in your garden: those purple and violet hues are so fabulous. And I can't believe you found yet another blooming fox glove!
ReplyDeleteChavli
That one foxglove, occupying a half barrel with the accompaniment of another smallish plant, has been absolutely remarkable, Chavli! It just keeps putting up new bloom spikes. They're shorter and don't last as long as they did earlier in the year but I've got to respect the plant's sheer persistence. Extra water and half a day of shade are probably contributing factors.
DeleteOh that's tragic, Kris, but presumably it's a downside of your climate and like everything else you have to learn to live with it. I am glad you were able to rescue some things (and your neighbours must be very grateful for your blooms too), and your dahlias and zinnias are gorgeous today - such beautiful colours! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteWe don't often get these off-course monsoonal storms, Cathy. When we do, they usually come with some real rain but that wasn't the case here, even as other areas were battered. I'm glad I gave away as many zinnias as I did a few weeks ago when the flowers were massively abundant. I may become more stingy with them for the balance of the season given that the flower power elsewhere in my garden is at a low point.
DeleteNo one would have a clue there was a storm with those arrangements. Beautiful, I like the Vitex addition. I hope you do get some raindrops on Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteThe 2 online weather forecasters I follow have already dropped their predictions dramatically, Tracy. Yesterday, AccuWeather gave us a 80+% chance of rain on Tuesday but today it's dropped to 25% :( It remains humid, though!
DeleteUnfortunate wind made for fabulous arrangements. Lemons turned into lemonade. Lovely blend of colors in both.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't get the wind here, the .14" was lovely. No wind to ruin my Zinnias, I did it myself by planting them too late. Lessson learned, (I hope).
Yesterday just the odd sprinkle. The cloud cover made it possible to garden, finally!
I walked the neighborhood in the late afternoon on Wednesday and some wind gusts nearly knocked me over, although I didn't think to check my cutting garden then. The damage to the tall zinnias may have been facilitated by the degree to which the leaves had dried in the heat and the effect of the mildew; however, even flowers that looked fine Wednesday morning were desiccated the following morning.
DeleteThe chance of rain yesterday was 40% but we saw not even a sprinkle. The rain originally predicted for Tuesday has also evaporated.
So beautiful! I especially love the Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda', and Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait Rose'.
ReplyDelete'Mikayla Miranda' is one of my favorite dahlias. The plant has been quite abundant with its blooms until now. Unfortunately, the grasshoppers seem to like the flowers too - they've been nibbling them on a regular basis.
DeleteOh, sorry to hear about the Dahlias and the Zinnias, but they certainly contribute to beautiful arrangements! As Hoover Boo described, lemons turned into lemonade. Our temperatures (70-76) will be similar for the next 10 days, which seems to please most people. This September has been a beauty. :)
ReplyDeleteOur temperatures were expected to slip down into the 70s starting today but I guess Mother Nature wasn't notified as it's in the upper 80s now, Beth ;)
DeleteHow heartbreaking, Kris. Your cutting garden has been having a rough time this year, it seems. I hope the temps stay in the more comfortable range going into the fall, and a bit of rain would help, too. Eliza
ReplyDeleteWind is insidious, having been through a few events (HA!) here. The purple toned confection is delicious! I hope some water falls from the sky..but not too much! A.melia
ReplyDelete