Wednesday Vignette: My happy place

I share photos of the south end of my garden all too often it seems and here it is again.  But it's looking really good!  The rain we've enjoyed off and on for most of this month has washed the succulents clean and encouraged the California poppies to bloom.  Leucospermum 'Goldie' is blooming too.

The dwarf peppermint willow shrubs (Agonis flexuosa 'Nana') I cut back by more than half in January are filling out and flaunting their fresh red foliage in the bed adjacent to the small south-end patio.  Even the house's windows look clean from here.  (They aren't.)

Agave 'Blue Flame' is getting cozy with Agave medio-picta 'Alba' but at this stage they're still co-existing in harmony.  The Mexican grass tree (Dasylirion longissimum) hasn't tried to push them both out of the way yet either.

Leucospermum 'Goldie' has settled in comfortably with self-seeded Gazanias

Rain and fewer cars on the road have combined to reduce smog levels and keep the air clean

All is not right with the world at the moment but in this tiny little piece of it, just for a moment, it's possible to enjoy what's in front of me.  This is my happy place.

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Spring Blooms to the Rescue!

It's been a surreal and very turbulent week.  Trying to fill gaps in the pantry as grocery store shelves go bare.  One activity after another abruptly cancelled.  Limited to talking to friends by phone or text rather than seeing them in person.  Required to sit a the parking lot while my cat is unloaded from my car and taken inside the veterinary clinic for chemotherapy.  Then, last night, receiving notice from California State and Los Angeles County government officials directing the majority of residents to stay home, leaving only for essential tasks like grocery shopping and medical services.

My garden provides the only real sense of normalcy at the moment.  I collected another round of photos to share with those of you who are also seeking distraction.  I'll start with the blooms I missed when I put together my mid-month Bloom Day post less than a week ago.

How did I forget to show you a view of my California poppies?

The bed adjacent to the small patio on the south side of our house contains not only orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica, top row), but also Leucospermum 'Goldie' and Sparaxis tricolor (bottom row).  Hard pruning the  Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' shrubs that had dominated this bed provided the space and the sun that allowed the poppies to bloom here.

Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow' echoes the colors of the in Yucca 'Bright Star' behind it

Narcissus tazetta 'Geranium' is making a statement in the front garden

Pelargonium hybrid 'White Lady' gets around on the back slope

Clockwise from the upper left, other flowers that were left out of my Bloom Day post include: Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', white and pink Ranunculus, a noID Antirrhinum majus, a noID spoon-petaled Osteospermum, Ajuga 'Mint Chip', and Veronica 'Waterperry Blue'.  I pruned most of my Cuphea back hard 2 months ago but I left one mostly intact because I didn't want to disappoint the hummingbirds.  The Ranunculus, planted as tubers in late November, have been disappointing thus far but perhaps conditions have been too cool and water too limited to allow them to do their best.

All sorts of flowers made their first appearance this week.

Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia' unfolds new blooms daily

Two more Leucospermums, 'Brandi' (left) and 'Spider' (right) are on their way

My first rose of the season bloomed!  It came with the garden and has a beautiful scent but I've no ID for it.

Clockwise from the upper left, the other new arrivals include: Alyogyne huegelii (aka blue hibiscus), Hyacinthoides hispanica (Spanish bluebells), Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset', Linum grandiflorum (red flax), and Centranthus ruber.  I sowed red and blue flax seeds in November and this is the very first flower.

I even had a couple of pleasant surprises.

I purchased this plant by mail order in 2012.  It was simply labeled Abelia species.  The seller no longer grows it and I've never found a species name for it.  The shape of the flowers is like that of other Abelias I grow but but it doesn't have the glossy foliage common to the Abelias commonly sold by garden centers.  It blooms every year but is partially hidden under an unruly trailing Lantana on the back slope.

I planted 3 Hippeastrum papilio in a mostly shade bed next to our living room window a couple of years ago after they completed their first bloom cycle in a basket.  They didn't bloom last year and I was afraid they weren't going to do so this year but one plant has produced a flower now, albeit on a very short stem.  I'll probably move all 3 bulbs in late spring to a spot where they can get more light in an effort to encourage more blooms next year.

Our shelter-in-place order remains in effect until at least April 19th so I guess I'll have time to tackle the variety of garden projects, big and small, that I've been putting off.  If you've found yourself suddenly at loose ends, I hope you're finding positive ways to occupy yourself too.  I'll close with another shot of the Scilla peruviana in my back garden, not because you didn't see it in my Bloom Day post, but only because I think it's very pretty.

Best wishes for a stress-free weekend.


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up - Highlights of my Garden Stroll

With what's reputed to be the most powerful storm of the season to hit Los Angeles in the offing, I took a spin through the garden to see if there were any tasks I should take care of before it arrived.  In the process, I took photos of whatever foliage caught my fancy for this month's Foliage Follow-up post, hosted by Pam at Digging.

I started on my neglected back slope, an area easily overlooked because it's largely invisible.  Accessible only by a narrow (and steep) stairway of  concrete blocks hidden behind a hedge, it's easy to ignore and, since the area was severely impacted by a horrific heatwave on the first day of summer last year, spending time down there has been more of a chore than a joy.  Cooler temperatures and the winter rains have done more than my poor ministrations to improve its appearance and there are now quite a few things to smile about.

The Agave attenuata I planted 2 or 3 years ago looked awful this past summer but they're looking great now.  One has even produced 2 pups (not visible in this photo).  The Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' and Pelargonium 'White Lady' I planted have spread nicely.  The noID Iris germanica I moved from elsewhere in the garden look better than any of the Iris I have in the more carefully-tended areas of my garden.  Only the Carpenteria californica here (upper right) still looks terrible.  I pruned it in the hope of giving it a fuller, more pleasing shape.

The lemon tree was badly impacted by June's heatwave, dropping two-thirds of its fruit virtually overnight.  The rest rotted in place until I removed it.  It recovered well with extra watering through the remainder of the summer and the rains have also given it a boost.  It's loaded with immature fruit now.  Below it are some plants I inherited (Zantedeschia aethiopica, which die back each summer but return with our winter rains), others that moved in on their own (Centranthus ruber), and some I planted (Seslaria 'Greenlee's Hybrid' and Stachys byzantina).

Beyond the lemon tree, closer to the property line, there are more Calla lilies, some just beginning to flower; more self-planted Centranthus; a Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppy) I planted last year (upper left), which is fleshing out nicely after the haircut I gave it several weeks ago; and lots of California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) seedlings.  I bemoaned my inability to grow California poppies in a post a month or two ago but the rains have finally germinated some of the seeds I spread in this area so I may get a crop after all.  The raccoons like to dig here so  production is still lower than I'd like but it's a start.

Other foliage highlights on the slope include the almost florescent green moss I've shown before (which I guess isn't really foliage but I hope you'll humor me); an artichoke, which also dies down to the ground in summer but returns annually during our rainy season; and a close-up of some of my lovely poppy seedlings

Heading back up the stairs from the bottom of the slope brings me to my dry garden.  Just a couple of things grabbed my attention there.

Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', the first one I planted and still the largest and most robust, now about 5 feet tall

Two of my many succulent pots.  The one on the left with Agave titanota 'White Ice' as its centerpiece was recently spruced up with the addition of Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'.  The one on the right is newly planted with Sansevieria parva and noID succulents that appear to be some form of variegated Kalanchoe.

The front garden contains a lot of foliage plants but most of them have received plenty of attention in prior foliage posts.  However, two vignettes drew my attention on my pass through.

Phormium 'Maori Queen' enveloped by Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' 

The same Phormium viewed from the other side of the bed with Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' to the left

Moving down the dirt path that runs parallel to the street behind a Xylosma hedge to an area below the main section of the front garden, I spent a good half hour pulling seedlings of yet another of my hedges, which consists of Prunus laurocerasus (not shown).  While doing this I discovered a mystery vine, which has clearly sprouted and been encouraged to spread by all the rain we've received this season.

I wondered if it could be a passionflower vine but the way it's spreading (as shown on the right scrambling up the oleanders that run the length of my neighbor's driveway), I fear it could be a morning glory.  In my former garden, I learned the hard way how difficult it is to manage a morning glory growing in the ground.  Any guesses?  The leaves are smooth, not pleated.

Back up on the main level of the garden in the backyard, the Xylosma congestum hedge is still the most compelling foliage feature but I already gave that its due in last week's Wednesday Vignette (which you can see here).  However, there were a few more foliage plants that drew my eye.

Leucadendron 'Jester' with Melianthus major, which a cut back to the ground a few weeks ago

A noID succulent (perhaps a Crassula?) in a deep red color

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star', which looks best growing up through another plant (like Ageratum corymbosum here), which hides its bare legs

That's it for my foliage highlights this month.  Visit Pam at Digging for more.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - March 2014

Everything's coming up roses this March Bloom Day in Southern California.  Well, that's actually a gross exaggeration.  I don't have many roses and only a portion of those I do have are blooming but, because they're getting an early start this year, I thought I'd let them lead this month's Bloom Day parade.

'California Dreamin'

'Joseph's Coat' climber 

'Joseph's Coat' in its glory, blooming against the stone of the chimney

'Medallion'

Now that I've dispensed with the flashiest blooms in my garden, I'll proceed to the biggest surprises.

Planted shortly after we moved in 3 years ago and transplanted once afterwards, Helleborus 'Phoebe' has finally bloomed!

A division of an unnamed Alstroemeria from the backyard I planted in the front border a year ago has bloomed

The California poppies I planted from seed in the vegetable garden last year have shown up a month early this year - so far, all the blooms are this creamy pink color

Hippeastrum 'La Paz,' transplanted in a bed along the street last year, has bloomed - I'm hoping that these will establish colonies in time

The Phalaenopsis my husband bought to commemorate our anniversary last year has rebloomed despite getting nothing more than haphazard watering during the past year

Since last month's Bloom Day, a large number of plants have joined the parade of flowers.

Acanthus mollis ('Summer Beauty' I think) has produced several bloom spikes

Aeonium arboreum

Ajuga hybrid 'Mint Chip,' a dwarf variety, grows between paving stones in the side yard

The first blooms of Aquilegia 'Spring Magic' have appeared

Calibrachoa 'Tequila Sunrise,' planted in early winter, has returned to bloom

Ceanothus (unknown variety)

Euryops 'Sonnenchein,' a dwarf variety, planted last spring

Hemerocallis ('Elizabeth Salter' I think)

The first of the Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) to bloom

Iris douglasiana (no ID on variety)

A mix of annual Linaria

Purple Ranunculus

This "purple" Ranunculus bloomed red

I purchased a few new bloomers this month as well.

A new, small-flowered Cymbidium, picked up at the local botanic garden

Hibiscus trionum, also picked up at the local botanic garden

Dianthus barbatus 'Heart Attack'

Some of the plants featured last year at this time, like the Camellia hybrid, the Hong Kong orchid tree, and the daffodils, have already come close to finishing their spring bloom cycle this March, hurried on their way by our wicked Santa Ana winds perhaps.  However, many of the plants I featured in last month's Bloom Day post continue to march on.  Here are a few of those:

Anemone

Erysimum

Hebe 'Patty's Purple' with Geranium 'Tiny Monster' and an Osteospermum with spoon-shaped petals

A mix of blue and white Osteospermum with spoon-shaped and regular petals

Osteospermum eklonis '3D Silver' and pink Alstroemeria

Osteospermum 'Serity Purple'

Papaver nudicaule

Phlomis fruticosa

Sparaxis tricolor

Spring is already giving way to summer here in southern California as temperatures climb up toward 90F (32C).  Despite the pleasantness of the warm days, I'd gladly exchange them for a bit more rain.

That's it for my Bloom Day review.  Please visit Carol, the gracious host of the Bloom Day meme, at May Dreams Gardens for a view of what's blooming in other areas of the US and elsewhere in the world.