Foliage highlights to cleanse the plant palate

It's easy to bury oneself in flowers in May and June but that makes it a great time to cleanse one's plant palate with a foliage post.  It's been uncomfortably warm the past several days and it looks like we can expect more of the same until Friday.  While the marine layer is still present, it's been backing off early in the morning at our elevation, some 800+ feet above sea level.  We appear stuck in the mid-to-upper 80sF which makes it unpleasant to tackle major projects in the garden but it's nowhere near as bad as the 100+F temperatures facing residents of our inland valleys.  Taking photos under harsh sunlight wasn't easy, though.

Here are the foliage highlights that stood out during two rounds of my garden with a camera in hand:

I have a ridiculous number of Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'.  These 2 (and a smaller one behind the large one) are situated on the south end of the back garden.  They pick up the yellows, oranges and coral colors elsewhere in the borders.

This Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' is in the front garden next to Grevillea 'Superb'.  It's bigger than it looks here.

Abelia grandiflora 'Radiance' has a nice amount of white in its variegation.  It glows in the front garden under Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'.  It has a lower, neater profile than my other Abelias, which tend to sprawl.

Two 'Hopley's Variegated' Abelias sit in partial shade in my north-side garden.  They get very big if left to their own devices.  I chopped the one on the right nearly down to the ground late last year and was worried it wouldn't survive the experience but it's back!

Agave 'Joe Hoak' and Agave bracteosa mingle in the back border.  The Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' have grown too tall here, partially hiding the squid agaves, so they need to be replaced by a lower groundcover.

A better, backlit view of the 'Joe Hoak' Agaves, backed up by a large Aloe ferox x vanbalenii

This photo shows the 3 largest squid agaves.  They pup like crazy.  I moved the ceramic fish here based on a commentator's suggestion to lean into the sea theme.

An even closer view of one Agave bracteosa.  I think the smallish red aloe behind it is Aloe cameronii.

Planted as pups of Agave desmettiana years ago, 5 now stately specimens dominate a section of the front slope

My oldest whale's tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue') is backed up here by Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'.  The latter is about 10 feet tall and significantly wider.

Variegated Cistus 'Little Miss Sunshine' is as impressive without flowers as it was when covered with small white blooms

This foliage vignette features Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', and Mangave 'Mission to Mars'

Closeups of the 3 plants named above

This Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' has been in the ground for 4 years now.  Its fall foliage hasn't lived up to its cultivar name but it appears healthy, although it hasn't gained much in size.  Its branches extend nearly to the ground and I've wondered if I should cut off the lowest ones; however, online sources suggest I should leave it alone as it's slow to get established.

I have more than a dozen of these grass-like perennials, Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze'.  They're considered fire-resistant.

I have almost as many clumps of the variegated Lomandra longifolia 'Platinum Beauty'.  These 3 are in the back border near the house.

This raised terracotta pot, refurbished in January, is looking particularly good.  It contains a Crassula swaniensis 'Variegata', Cotyledon pendens, Echeveria 'Violet', and a 4th noID succulent.

There are other foliage beauties worthy of citing but many didn't photograph well under the glare of intense sunlight (and the Aeoniums have received plenty of coverage in other posts).

I've made a start in pulling out the sweet pea vines in my cutting garden despite the heat.  I hope you're enjoying more pleasant gardening weather.

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

In a Vase on Monday: Landing on 'Orange Planet'

It's finally time to feature Lilium 'Orange Planet' in a vase.  The bloom stalks have been teasing me for well over a month now.  The first trumpet blooms opened early this month but, as each stalk held between ten and twelve buds, I didn't want to cut any of the three stalks prematurely and lose some of the nascent flowers in the process.

Photo of the 'Orange Planet' flower stalks taken on June 10th

With warmer temperatures prompting more and more buds to open I decided it was time to cut one of the smaller stalks.

Five of the blooms on the stalk I cut were open and the other 5 buds showing promise of opening soon.  I used stems of Grevillea 'Poorinda Leanne', currently covered in frilly pale apricot blooms, as a filler.  This Grevillea is a hybrid of G. juniperiana and G. victoriae.

Back view, dressed up with 3 stems of Grevillea 'Superb', which flowers year-round

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Hybrid Achillea 'Terracotta', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Calendula officianalis, Grevillea 'Poorinda Leanne', G. 'Superb', and Orientpet Lilium 'Orange Planet'

I'd planned to cut a variety of Agapanthus for a second arrangement this week but last week's lily-based arrangement was still looking good so I put that plan off and simply refreshed it.

I removed the Leucospermum 'Sunset' and Lobelia laxiflora, as well as 2 spent blooms of Lilium 'Royal Sunset' from the earlier version of the arrangement, adding one new stem of 'Royal Sunset' and 2 fresh stems of Leucospermum 'Brandi Dela Cruz'.  The rest of the original elements remained in place.

I cut another bunch of sweet peas for the kitchen island as an unexpected blast of heat this past weekend appears to be accelerating their decline.  I'd hoped to hold off another week before pulling those vines but I may end up tackling that chore this week.  All but one of the twenty-five dahlia tubers I potted up in mid-April have sprouted and thus far I've planted out just fourteen of them.  Once I clear the bed occupied by the sweet peas, I can plant another four or five of those dahlia tubers there.  I plan to give the remaining sprouted tubers away.

The mix of Lathyrus odoratus seeds I sowed in early November took an inordinately long time to grow up and flower but, after just a couple of weeks of vigorous bloom, they're now rushing to the finish line.  Sweet peas are not summer blooms in my part of Southern California.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to find links to arrangements composed by other IAVOM contributors using materials from their gardens.

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

Bloom Day - June 2025 (Early Edition)

I'm two days ahead of the official schedule for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day but, in keeping with my personal schedule, it was a choice between two days early or three days late so I went with the former.  "June Gloom" is also still in effect, which has made photographing my garden somewhat easier and strolling through my garden with a camera is more appealing than working under damp conditions and gray skies.  So here we go!

I'll start as usual with the this month's splashiest contributors.  I must warn you this is a long post, even for me and even with the majority of my photos thrown into collages.  I'll keep my commentary to a minimum.

In the back garden:

Achillea 'Moonshine'

There are Agapanthus throughout the garden but those in the back garden are the earliest to bloom

Arctotis 'Large Marge'

Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily)

Billardiera heterophylla (formerly classified as Sollya heterophylla, aka bluebell creeper)

Lantana camara, cultivars 'Irene' and 'Samantha'

Orienpet Lilium 'Orange Planet' and what may be Asiatic Lilium 'Royal Sunset'

Salvia canariensis var candidissima

There's less going on in the front garden:

From left to right, Cupheas 'Honeybells', 'Starfire Pink', and 'Vermillionaire'

Polygala myrtifolia (aka sweet pea shrub)

Roses 'Pink Meidiland' and 'Golden Celebration'

There are a few plants in flower on the back slope that deserve notice:

Bignonia capreolata, inherited with the garden

Centranthus ruber

Lonicera japonica (aka Japanese honeysuckle), regrettably also inherited with the garden along with the ivy it mingles with

There are a lot of genera I've lumped together that can be found in a variety of areas of the garden so I haven't separated these by area:

Self-seeded Daucus carota

Gaillardia grandiflora 'Arizona Sun' (aka blanket flower)

Various self-seeded Gazanias

Top row - Grevilleas 'Peaches & Cream', 'Poorinda Leane', and G. sericea
Bottom - Grevillea 'Superb'

Clockwise from the upper left, Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake', 'Persian Market', 'Spanish Harlem', and 'Sammy Russell'

Ruffled form of Leucanthemum x superbum (left) and L. 'Sweet Daisy Izabel' (right)

Clockwise from the upper left, slowly finishing their season, Leucospermums 'Brandi Dela Cruz', 'High Gold', 'Spider Hybrid', and 'Sunset'

Top row - Pelargoniums 'Little Pink Splash' and noID variety
Rows 2 and 3 - Cultivars of Pelargonium peltatum

I've replanted much of the cutting garden with dahlias and zinnias, not yet in bloom, but I still have some cool season flowers hanging on:

The sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) vines are rapidly developing mildew, a byproduct of the heavy marine layers followed by warm afternoon temperatures.  I expect to pull them by month's end. The mix includes 'April in Paris', 'Blue Celeste', 'Lord Nelson', Royal Wedding', and 'Mermaid's Dream'. 

Nigella papillosa 'Midnight' showed up late and has been almost entirely swamped by the sweet pea vines

Aristea major growing in a large pot

Lastly, there's a flush of blue color in the south-side garden:

Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman'

There were a few surprises:

Cactus flowers, Echinopsis oxygona (left) and Epiphyllum 'King Midas' (right)

All of a sudden this week, flowers appeared on the pineapple guava trees (Feijoa sellowiana)

This is Hibiscus trionum (aka flower-of-an-hour), considered a weed almost everywhere.  It showed up years ago, then disappeared, only to reappear one flower at a time very recently.

As always, I've shoved the best of the rest into collages organized by color:

Blue flowers, clockwise from the upper left: Consolida ajacis (aka larkspur), Limonium perezii, Osteospermum '4D Silver', Plectranthus neochilus, Rotheca ugandense, Salvia 'Mystic Spires', and Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin'

White flowers, clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Dietes grandiflora', Dipladenia 'Sundenia White', Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Helichrysum retortum, Impatiens hawkeri, Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass), and Lotus hirsutus (aka hairy Canary clover)

Pink flowers, top row: noID Alstroemeria, Arbutus 'Marina', and noID Argyranthemum
Middle - Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Cistus 'Sunset', and Digitalis purpurea
Bottom - Oenothera speciosa (aka pink evening primrose), Osteospermum '4D Pink', and noID Scaevola

Orange and yellow flowers, clockwise from the upper left: Achillea 'Terracotta', Arctotis 'Red-Orange', Lobelia laxiflora', Calendula officianalis, Chrysocephala 'Desert Flame', Eriogonum nudum 'Ella Nelson's Yellow', and Petunia 'Bee's Knees'

That's it for this month's compilation of plants in flower!  For more Bloom Day posts, check in with Carol at May Dreams Garden on June 15th.

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