View from my office window

I inevitably spend a fair amount of time sitting at my home office computer over the course of a week.  There are two large windows to my right, which means I often find myself staring at the view of a particular section of my garden.  The activity at the three bird feeders frequently draws my attention, and if their chirping doesn't do that, the cat's chattering at the birds from her seat at the window does.  As I write this, the birds are staring at me, seemingly wondering if I'm going to refill their feeders before they're entirely empty.  However, what's repeatedly had me staring out the window this week hasn't been the birds so much as the mix of colors around the feeder.

This is the view in question.  What grabbed my attention on this occasion was the gladiola at the center of this shot.  Its bold color drew my eye but what really stood out was that it's blooming in early February!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day falls on Sunday which, if forecasters are to be believed, could be the start of several rainy days for us.  I've already been gathering photos for an early Bloom Day post targeted for Friday but, instead of burying the floral display outside my window within that post, I thought I'd share the details with you in this much shorter one.

This was one of a mix of Gladiolus nanus bulbs I planted in March 2025 for early summer blooms.  I hadn't expected a yellow and coral flower in the mix.  Last year it bloomed in late June.  I believe this is a variety called 'Las Vegas'.  Yesterday, I ordered 10 more bulbs of this specific variety as it's perfect for this bed, especially if it makes a habit of flowering in tandem with the plants around it.

The Arbutus 'Marina', pruned hard in late November, is back in bloom with its coral-pink flowers, beloved by hummingbirds

The hummers also appreciate the flowers of Lantana camara 'Irene'

I haven't yet cut back all the colorful bracts of Leucadendron 'Blush'

and I apparently missed trimming back a few of the stems of Leucadendron 'Jester'

Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' is just starting her bloom cycle

Lobelia laxiflora, cut back in December, is also mounting its return

There's a good chance of light rain during the wee hours tonight before the larger rain system in the offing for the coming week moves in.  The cloudy gray skies I see out the window lend some real credibility to that claim.  I don't expect it to be much but, as our last rain fell in early January, whatever we get will be welcome.  I'll end this post with a wider shot of the garden beds in view outside my office window before I take my camera out to capture photos of other parts of my garden in preparation for Bloom Day - and fill up the bird feeders of course.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Spring explosion

Admittedly, Spring arrives early in coastal Southern California but it feels especially early this year.  I call it Spring when I spot new flowers whenever I walk through my garden, which is generally at least two times a day.  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is just around the corner and maybe when I tabulate what's flowering for my post, I'll discover that this year isn't an anomaly but, at the moment, it feels like one.  Finding flowers to fill my vases wasn't at all difficult - what was difficult was deciding what to rule out this week.

As much of the US is still shuddering in the face of very cold weather, it's remained warmer-than-usual here.  Unfortunately, we still haven't had any rain and even our marine layer, when it's appeared, has been light, usually clearing at my elevation by the time the sun rises.  However, there are two decent chances of rain on the horizon within the next ten days.  I focused on the Hippeastrums that might be marred by rain, should it actually show up.

Hippeastrum 'White Nile' got the starring role in this arrangement.  I hadn't originally planned to pair it with snapdragons but they've taken off in the past week and, all too soon, the sweet peas are going to demand some of the space the snaps currently occupy so cutting them seemed a good idea.

The back view is much like the front

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: dark and light pink Antirrhinum majus, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', green Eustoma grandiflorum (aka lisianthus), Hippeastrum 'White Nile', and Narcissus papyraceus

The second Hippeastrum is flashier than the first, although I was happier with how the first arrangement came together than I am with the second.

Hippeastrum 'Flamingo Amadeus' is dramatic but I had a harder time finding other flowers that provided the right contrast with that orangy-pink color.  More white might have been better.

Back view

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', white Freesia, Grevillea 'Superb', Hippeastrum 'Flamingo Amadeus', and Leucospermum 'Spider Hybrid'

For more IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

February's Foliage Standouts

Tired of burying my head and hands in the weeds, I took some time to appreciate the foliage in my garden before the flowers take over with their early spring blast, which is already gearing up, encouraged by weeks of warmer than usual temperatures.

I'll start with a few succulent vignettes before focusing on individual stars that deserve closeups.

This grouping in my north-side garden includes Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue', A. 'Kichijokan' (in the small pot), A. parryi var. patonii, A. pygmaea 'Dragon Toes', and A. victoriae-reginae

Also in the north-side garden is this combination of Agaves and Mangaves, most notably Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze' and Mangave 'Lavender Lady'.  The smaller Mangaves include 'Purple People Eater' and 'Catch a Wave'.

This mix in the succulent bed in front of our garage includes Agave attenuata, A. 'Blue Glow', Phormium 'Rainbow Sunrise', and very red Aeoniums, which may be 'Velour'

On to the closeups!  I'm proceeding alphabetically for lack of a better plan.

Acanthus mollis goes entirely underground in the summer months here, which wasn't the case in my former, very shady garden just 15 miles to the north.  It's always a welcome sign when the 3 plants I have materialize once more following our winter rainy season.  Two of the plants are in the front garden and the third is in my south-side garden, half-buried under a large Vitex trifolia.

This mix of various Aeoniums is a personal favorite, with the red color of some of the Aeoniums playing off the red bark of Arbutus 'Marina' and Phormium 'Amazing Red'.  That Phormium was planted in 2014 but hasn't looked this good in years.

This clump of Aeonium, which I think is comprised of more cuttings of the 'Velour' cultivar, looked near death on the dry back slope during the summer.  It was restored by the rain.

This is Agave angustifolia 'Marginata', which I recently cleaned up after is was covered in leafy debris.  A mimic, Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata', can be seen poking out of its spot inside a nearby stump to the agave's right (commonly used as a toilet by the local raccoons).

This clump of Agave attenuata on the back slope was planted from pups taken from the front garden years ago.  I removed some of the rosettes in the late fall but it's still a dense clump.

The foliage of 5 Drimia maritima (aka sea squill) bulbs emerged on the back slope following our progression of rainstorms.  Choked by ivy and self-seeded alyssum (Lobularia maritima), the sea squill occupies an area along our fuzzy property line with the next door neighbors on our south side.  There's no fence between us but the land does drop off relatively sharply on their side.  Much of the ivy, the Yucca, and the ornamental pear trees are on the neighbors' side. There are self-planted calla lily plants mixed in with the sea squill bulbs too.

I grow Echium candicans 'Star of Madiera' as much for the foliage as for its blue flowers.  I cut this one back hard after it finished blooming last year and was worried that I'd gone too far.

Echium webbii is my second favorite in the genus.  I've had a hard time keeping its size contained in the past.  This plant came from the original Annie's & Annuals as a replacement for a prior specimen.  I haven't previously had success propagating it from cuttings and I've never found it in local garden centers so I hope I can manage containment and/or propagation this round.

The gophers made a mess of the Hesperaloe parviflora in my south-side garden last year.  I recently cleaned it up and cut out most of the Salvia clevelandii that sits next to it so it's looking good (even without flowers).

This 'Red Wing' Mangave is another of my favorite succulent plants.  There are signs of pups underneath its leaves I need to carefully extract.

Melianthus major (aka honeybush) is off and running once again after yet another hard pruning.  Its leaves look like they were cut by pinking shears.

This noID staghorn fern (Platycerium) has been sitting in a pot for a couple of years now.  I've been planning to get it properly mounted or at least set up in a basket but have yet to get to that.  However, even in a pot, it has personality.  I should save it from the rampant bird-planted asparagus ferns at the very least. 

This Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (aka mint bush) is happy in this back garden space off the patio.  The 3 I had in pots didn't hold up over the long term.

This Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' may not look like much but I have great hopes for it.  I got it in a 4-inch pot by mail order from Annie's Annuals & Perennials in 2019.  It spent its first 2 years in a pot to bulk up before I planted it here in my street-side succulent bed.  It's bigger but has yet to develop anything like a trunk.

The creep of spring flowers can't be ignored as the foliage of various bulbs and seeds signal that flowers are in the offing.

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Iris germanica at the bottom of the back slope, the only place they're really happy; Iris hollandica 'Pink Panther', one of many Dutch Iris I've planted;  seedlings of Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass), off to an early start; sweet pea seedlings (Lathyrus annuus), already climbing the support in my cutting garden; lilies (Orienpet Lilium 'Moon Blend' in this case) sprouting in front of and behind the Yucca 'Bright Star'; and one of many calla lily plants (Zantedeschia aethiopica) growing on the back slope

That's a wrap for this week.  All too soon, I'll be flitting around my garden to collect photos of flowers for Bloom Day - between weeding sessions of course.  Weather Underground is projecting a thirty percent chance of light rain late next week, whereas AccuWeather is showing a sixty percent chance.  It wouldn't be all that surprising if that prospect simply evaporates over the next several days but I can't help hoping it comes through - we've been very dry since early January, and February is historically our wettest month.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

A little planting, a lot of weeding

Feeling as though what passes for winter here may be over already, I've started doing some spring planting.  However, whatever time I spend on those activities is eclipsed by the time I've been spending on weeding.  I blame the warm temperatures for the sheer volume of weeds everywhere I look.   It was 84F (29C) yesterday and, with the Santa Ana winds expected to begin blowing again, it could be warmer still today.

All my recent efforts in the garden have been small in scope, mostly focused on filling minor gaps.  The area in front of the Ceanothus in one section of my back border, where I'd previously plunked Aeonium cuttings, was bugging me and, seeing how well sea lavender (Limonium perezii, aka statice) was doing elsewhere, I decided to try it there in place of the larger Aeonium arboreum.

I placed one small Limonium perezii behind my Ginkgo tree 2 years ago and it's now massive, despite no attention whatsoever from me

My local garden center was selling the plants in 6-inch pots last week so I picked up 3 after pulling up 3 clumps of Aeonium arboreum, one of which was already blooming.  I left the Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' cuttings in place, as well as several vincas (Catharanthus 'Blueberry Kisses').  I cut the vinca back almost to the ground - it may or may not spring back.  I also left the Mangave 'Pineapple Express' pups in place to see whether they or the Ceanothus itself would be the first  to cover up the shrub's bare base.

The vinca (Catharanthus 'White Peppermint') I'd planted in an area of the front garden had also largely died back.  As I haven't had great success in growing much there, I decided to try succulents this time.

I recently pulled up several lanky stems of Aeonium 'Velour' elsewere and, as its red color has made it one of my favorites, I popped 3 cuttings in to pick up the reddish color at the base of the Phormium 'Maori Queen' in the background.  I then added 3 'Princess' Echeverias and 3 'Sunburst' Aeoniums, hoping they'll fill out in time.

Last summer, I'd received five Echinopsis divisions from my friend Gerhard (of Succulents & More fame).  I initially kept them in small plastic pots in my lath (shade) house to give them a chance to root properly.  Rather than plant them out in the garden, where they would be still small enough to be stepped on, I decided to put them into larger pots.

The Echinopsis' temporary home

I'd had much better luck growing this Echinopsis oxygona in a pot than I've had with any planted directly in the ground

These 3 pots hold Echinopsis 'Daydream', E. 'Salmon Queen', and E. 'Sleeping Beauty'

The 2 pots on the left hold Echinopsis 'El Capitan' and E. 'Tondelayo'

I'd ordered ten more plants from Grow Organic, the company that purchased the rights to the mail order business formerly operated as Annie's Annuals & Perennials.  FedEx, which handled the delivery, didn't treat them gently and I hustled to get the smaller plants in the ground.

This is a bed I'd painstakingly cleared of (most) weeds the week before.  A gopher had tunneled through the area so, the space, formerly dominated by masses of Freesia bulbs and daylilies, had been significantly battered, leaving lots of empty space.  I planted Annie's Anagallis monellii (3) and Layla platyglossa (2) here but they're tiny.

These 5 plants, 1 Tagetes lemonii, 1 Penstemon, and 3 Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', waited longer to find homes, although the Tagetes found its place yesterday afternoon.

I'm still debating where to put the three Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', partly out of caution because I killed one I tried years ago.  I spent quite a bit of time walking through corners of my garden studying my options yesterday (weeding as I went).  While checking out the options in my back border, which still has lots of empty space since my fall cleanup of the garden, I discovered some things I set aside months ago and completely forgotten about.

I'd dropped 3 Amaryllis belladonna bulbs I'd dug up in an isolated corner.  I discovered that 2 have already sprouted foliage.  They're still sitting there...

Meanwhile, my garden's floral output continues to explode in response to our warm conditions.

The 'Spider Hybrid' Leucospermum may not have beat 'Sunrise' with its first blooms but it's already more prolific

While TV forecasters are talking up the tiny possibility of rain late this week, I'm not laying any odds on the prospect.  However, the chance of a little rain next week seems to be getting more promising, although I'm trying to keep my expectations in check for now.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Fire and Ice

While I can't claim we're in the middle of a true heatwave, it's been unseasonably toasty here of late with temperatures running in the low 80sF (27-28C).  Humidity levels remain low and my plants are begging for infusions of extra water despite the fact that the automated irrigation system currently kicks in twice a week.  The morning marine layer is projected to make appearances on and off this week, which should lower the temperatures and raise the humidity but I won't count on that until I see it happen.  February is traditionally the wettest month of our all-too-short rainy season in Los Angeles County but the ten-day forecast doesn't hold any real chance of rain at this point.  However, the warmth is bringing on fresh flowers in my garden on a steady basis.

As a nod to the warmer conditions, I selected a few blooms of the fiery Leucospermum 'Sunrise' to guide the choices for my first arrangement.

I threw in a few stems of white Marguerite daisies (Argyranthemum frutescens) at the last minute to help balance all the red-orange colors but I don't think it really did the trick.  I also can't explain why the 2 stems of Alstroemeria suddenly collapsed the way they did.

Back view: more yellow Marguerite daisies might have helped

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Beauty Yellow', A. f. 'Mount Everest', Antirrhinum majus, Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane', and Leucospermum 'Sunrise'

ICE (the acronym for the US Immigations & Customs Enforcement agency) has been on my mind and as a friend and I joined an ICE Out protest on Saturday, I felt compelled to add that reference to my post's title when I cut two of the first Scilla peruviana (aka Portuguese squill) to bloom this year and added more blue tones to complement them.

I probably should've held off on cutting the Scilla peruviana until the stems were taller but I couldn't resist.  These are the first blooms from new bulbs I planted in November.  My larger clump (which I still haven't divided) hasn't developed buds yet but I've little doubt they're on their way.

Back view: I can't account for the lavender Anemone blooms.  They're distinct from the 'Azzurro' variety I used last week but they're definitely not either of the 2 other bulb varieties ('Rarity' and 'Rosa Chiaro') I ordered this fall.  My best guess is that they're 'Mona Lisa', included in my order by mistake.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant', noID Anemone (maybe 'Mona Lisa'), noID Ceanothus, and Scilla peruviana 

Last week's Hippeastrum 'Amadeus Candy' held up well, with the last two buds opening as the week came to an end.  I couldn't bring myself to toss them out so they were plunked in a small vase for the kitchen island.

The other 2 bulbs of 'Amadeus Candy' are already in full bloom.  I guess I couldn't count on their pacing their bloom schedules more widely.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party