It's time for my quarterly wide shots. January isn't the most exciting time of the year in my garden, even given our relatively warm winter weather. We've had a lot of rain since October, at least by our standards. After a long dry period, our soil is saturated and my rain barrels are full; however, there isn't a lot of floral color at present. It's nice to have clean air, though, and the flowers will come back, presumably with extra vigor once we dry out a bit.
Shall we make our rounds through the garden? I'll start at the back door as usual.
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| This was the view at sunrise on January 2nd |
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| This was the view of the same area once the rain finally began to retreat |
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| View from the back patio looking north. The area's filled in relatively well since I replanted it in May after removal of a tree-sized Leucadendron 'Pisa' and one of my massive 'Cousin Itt' Acacias due to fire risk concerns. |
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| View from the north end of the back garden looking south toward the main patio |
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| View from that patio looking further south. That yellow-capped spike in the foreground is one of a dozen sonic gopher deterrents. After a couple of years with no visible gopher activity, he, she, or they are back and very busy making a mess of my garden once again. |
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| View from the south end of the back garden looking north. The Aloe vanbalenii x ferox on the right may be the boldest color in my garden at present. |
With a quarter turn to the left from the position shown above, we're looking at the south-side garden.
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| View of the south-side garden looking west. There are still empty spots left here after all the 'Blue Flame' Agaves and one bloomed-out 'Blue Glow' Agave were removed. I added a 'Sun Glow' Agave and a few Aeonium 'Sunburst' cuttings but I think one or 2 aloes might fit in well. |
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| View from small side patio looking south. I've cut back the 3 Cistus in the background on the right but more work is necessary. A sorry-looking Salvia clevelandii in the background on the left (not readily visible here) may need removal later this year. |
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| View of the south-side garden looking east. I still haven't done anything to whittle down the Aeoniums lining this path, which is becoming a bigger issue. |
Before covering the main level of the front garden, I'll take you down to the lower level, occupied by my lath (shade) house, which received a retrofit by my husband in summer when one side began to sink, leaving the structure off-kilter.
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| View of the area looking west. The biggest developments are 2 bloom stalks of Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' visible on the slope on the right. Assuming they finish blooming this year, that's going to necessitate some major changes. |
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| View of the sloped area looking north. The smaller succulents planted here last year haven't filled in as well as I'd hoped - and some have received more rain of late than they appreciate. |
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| View of the lower level area looking east, again highlighting the 2 Agaves with bloom stalks |
Next, we return to the main level of the front garden on its south end.
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| View of front garden looking north. The Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in the background is blooming alongside the ever-blooming Grevillea 'Superb', providing some winter color. |
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| View from the front door area looking southwest. I recently replanted the half-barrel in the foreground with a yellow Argyranthemum, Geranium 'Rozanne', and various pansies. |
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| View of the front door, sans the pergola we inherited with the house, removed as a fire precaution back in November |
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| View of the area on the south side of the front garden |
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| View of the area on the north side area. I still haven't done anything with that large Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' shrub the gardeners insist on pruning so neatly on a regular basis. Although they're not readily visible, the Dutch Iris foliage here and elsewhere in the garden is already up. |
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| This area on the north end of the house (usually hidden behind my husband's truck) is showing off the other Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in "bloom" at present. (The yellow bracts aren't true flowers.) |
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| View of the area in front of the garage looking north. I'm still getting used to the "unclothed" garage wall in the background on the right. The succulents I planted there are filling in nicely but most will remain low. I may add a potted succulent to give it more definition at some point. |
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| The succulent bed I replanted last year is filling in, although some of the smaller specimens aren't holding up as well as I'd like |
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| View looking from the west side of the bed looking east |
On the other side of the garage on the north end of the house, we see the cutting garden.
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| View of the cutting garden looking northeast. With all the rain we've had since I replanted the area in November with cool season bulbs and sowed seeds, I haven't had to water much! The Anemone coronaria bulbs in the foreground are just beginning to flower but many of those have been pounded into the ground by rain. The sweet pea seeds have sprouted but the other seeds I've sown have been slow to develop. |
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| View of the same area from the other direction (looking northwest). The snapdragons I planted as plugs have taken their time about flowering. |
With the fence that once bisected the north side of the garden now gone, I still need to work on what I've referred to as the dry garden since the early days following our move to this house.
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| The area shown on the left was torn up in May when I had a mass of rosemary shrubs removed. Then in November, we removed the wood fence that previously divided this area from the cutting garden. Both actions were taken to improve fire resistance. The Agaves in pots are placeholders as I try to decide what to plant here. I'm thinking about adding a couple of aloes (varieties to be determined). |
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| View of the dry garden from the north end looking south. The twiggy persimmon visible in part on the left side has been partially pruned. My husband bought me a wireless electric pruner with a telescopic pole for Christmas but a bout with a respiratory ailment has slowed me down. |
Turning around and following the gravel path to its end brings us to the hidden back slope.
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| View of the slope from the top of the concrete stairway. I've only planted a few Aeonium cuttings in the area formerly occupied by another mass of rosemary shrubs removed in May. It hasn't been a priority. |
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| The moss has filled in nicely around the concrete stair blocks since the rain started |
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| The rain prompted the development of the sea squill (Drimia maritima) and calla lily foliage (Zantedeschia aethiopica), among other things |
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| View of the slope looking north from the bottom. I finally put in 3 hours of work on the back slope yesterday (after these photos were taken). I expect it needs 3-6 more hours of work to allow it to look its best in spring. |
I'll end my tour as I usually do back at the front of the property with the street-side garden.
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| This is a view of the north side of the street adjacent to the driveway, showing mainly the hedge that lines it |
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| A hedge runs along most of the street on the south side of the driveway too but, years ago, I shoved succulents in at the far end. It looks better from a distance than it does close up. |
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| The same area shown looking north from the south end. The 'Blue Flame' Agaves are close to spilling into the street. |
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| In addition to the fact that some of the 'Blue Flame' Agaves are slipping toward the street, something has damaged the rosettes, making them look unsightly |
There's a lot to do in the garden this year. That'll include cutting some of the rosettes of Agave 'Blue Flame'. Other priorities include, in no particular order:
- Cutting back plants on the back slope, starting with the Centranthus ruber that blooms in spring;
- Continued work in pruning trees and shrubs using my new electric pruner;
- Digging up the ferns growing at the back of the north-side garden along the fence that divides our property from that of our neighbor;
- Filling in the empty spots in the "dry garden" area to better integrate it with the the cutting garden;
- Filling in the many empty spots recently damaged by gophers;
- Adding Aloes to the north and south-end gardens;
- Weeding everywhere!
That's it for the this quarter's coverage. We'll see how much progress I can make before the next quarterly report in April!
All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I love your first photo of the sunrise, full of energy and hope for a new day. Your new telescoping pruner sounds fantastic, I think I need one. Considering how much you removed in the past year, it's amazing how it's filled in this quickly. I like how "full" the bed in front of the lath house looks - right by the street. I need to write down my to do's instead of them circling my brain, that's much more effective.
ReplyDeleteIf you look for a wireless pruner with a telescoping extension be sure to check the weight before you buy, Tracy. We had one already but I couldn't manage its weight and quickly decided I could end doing bodily harm when I tried. My husband factored that into the one he bought for me, which is lighter and doesn't have a nasty saw with it. I still can't handle the new one at its full extension but the pole is useful as it is - and the electric pruner can be used without the pole too, which is great. Our older one didn't have that feature.
DeleteIt was wonderful to walk your garden with you. I laughed at your description of shoving succulents in, not planting, shoving. Very descriptive. Adding more aloes sounds like a great move, color and flowers in the wintertime, big succulent shapes, I wish I could grow them here.
ReplyDeleteWell, some of those plants in the street-side bed were originally spaced - or so I thought anyway...The most difficult part of selecting aloes is their mature size. Some of my favorites, like Aloe arborescens, just get too big. I'm trying to keep my lessons with the 'Blue Flame' Agaves in mind.
DeleteSnapdragon blooms in January! A little startling :-D
ReplyDeleteI love the gorgeous color that your Aloe vanbalenii x ferox is providing this time of year. More of it everywhere seems like a good way to 'cure' the lack of blooms this time of year, unless there's a downside to aloe that I'm not aware of. There's the bonus of not having to dig it out after they bloom.
Chavli
Snapdragons are cool season flowers here, Chavli - they usually disappear before summer, although that has less to do with the heat and more to their tendency to develop nasty cases of rust. Aloes do have an advantage over agaves in living on to bloom another day!
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