In a Vase on Monday: Spring is creeping closer

There seems to be a little more color in my garden with each passing week, a sure sign that spring is in the wings.  The blue Anemones in my cutting garden are producing more flowers every day so they were the most obvious candidates for "In a Vase on Monday" this week.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find many white flowers to accent the blue ones.  Mysteriously, my white Anemones are flowering on stems shorter than one-inch so they weren't candidates.

Back view: I tucked in a few stems of Argyranthemum to brighten things up

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant', Argyranthemum frutescens (returning for a second year), noID Ceanothus, Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (aka mint bush)

Initially, I wasn't sure I had enough of anything for a second vase but then I spotted new blooms on one of my potted Alstroemerias, which gave me a springboard for a second arrangement in shades of pink.  The vase I chose gave it the extra pizazz it needed.

The pinks play off the painted fingernails of the hands clasped to form the vase

Back view: The bloom of the noID snapdragon is almost an exact match for those colorful fingernails

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', noID Antirrhinum majus, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', Jasminum polyanthum (spilling over the fence from my neighbor's garden), and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl'.  (More Prostanthera was included in this arrangement but it isn't shown in closeup here.)

Last week's arrangement featuring Hippeastrum 'Lemon-Lime' still looks presentable, even though the Grevilleas had fallen apart.  I pared down that arrangement and relocated it the bedroom mantle.

The new arrangements got the usual spots in the front entry and the dining room table.

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

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Find foliage, then repeat

Yes, I grow a lot of flowering plants.  But over the years I've also developed a good backbone of foliage plants.  When I find a plant I like, I often look for more plants in the same species or genus.  After the floral excesses of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I thought I'd close out the week by featuring some of my favorite foliage.

I also like to combine complementary foliage.  This is Aeonium 'Mardi Gras' with Coprosma repens 'Fire Burst'.

I inherited this clump of Agave attenuata with the garden but I've planted pups from this clump in numerous other areas

This photo of the flaking bark on Arbutus 'Marina' is off-topic but, as all five of my Arbutus are doing their thing right now, I felt I had to share at least one photo

This mass of agaves in my north side dry garden grabbed my attention, in part because the dense clusters of the smaller agave are now encroaching on the larger Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze'.  I didn't have a name for the clustered agaves and I went down a rabbit hole looking for one.  I found similar plants labeled 'Rosa Gorda' and other things but couldn't locate a formally accepted name.  Even San Marcos Growers, my go-to source for plant IDs admitted to the confusion as to its name.  One on-line commentator identified it as a hybrid of Agave potatorum and A. isthemensis but didn't cite a source.

My oldest Agave ovatifolia sits several feet away from the mystery clump in the same bed.  It's gotten rather cozy with the Agave vilmoriniana on its left.

I inherited several Calliandra haematocephala with the garden too, all used as foundation plants, which means they're regularly sheared to keep them within bounds.  The good news there is the fresh new foliage is gorgeous.  I actually like the foliage of this plant better than it's pinkish-red powder-puff flowers.

This is Centaurea 'Silver Feathers', which I like in this location, where it glows.  I've got too many in another location in the back garden and some or all are going to have to come out as one walkway is no longer passable.

I may have over-used Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' as well.  I have these plants in both my front and back gardens.  Those shown here are in the back, on opposite sides of the flagstone path.  The clump on the right is encroaching on Yucca 'Bright Star' and needs to be thinned.

I only have one Dasylirion longisssimum and I'm not sure I like it here but I recently cut back a blue-flowering mass of Wahlenbergia in front on it to reveal its structure so I can make a decision on whether or not to keep it.  (The purple-leafed plant behind it is Vitex trifolia.)

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' deserves its name.  I have two, one of which I brought with me from our former house.  It's the one on the left, which gets more sun and glows this time of year.  The plant on the right is in partial shade.

I often forget that I have a Leucadendron 'Ebony' but I caught it peeking above the mass of Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' in front of it and snapped the photo on the left yesterday morning.  I subsequently cut back some of the Grevillea and took a second photo yesterday evening.  A bit more pruning is required I think.  (The plant behind 'Ebony' is Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'.)

I have more grass-like Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' than I can count off-hand

Here are more in the back garden, mingling with Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', the color of which is echoed by Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' in the background

And here's still more in the front garden, mixed with Phormium 'Maori Queen' (and that's not even all of it)

I only have one Melinathus major but it's looking its best right now.  I cut it down to the ground each year.  It's complemented here by Leucadendron 'Jester'.  This 'Jester' is always relatively pale by comparison to the one I have in full sun.

I was ready to pull out this Phormium 'Yellow Wave'  but, after two years of decent rain, it's looking better.  There's a second Phormium behind it, which I think is supposed to be 'Apricot Queen' but just looks like a smaller version of 'Yellow Wave', never having developed any apricot color.

These Yucca 'Blue Boy' sit in the same bed.  The one on the left was given to me by Denise of 'A Growing Obsession' years ago after I reported losing another one to agave snout weevil.  There's a third tiny plant in there too, which I found growing in another bed a year or more after I removed the infected plant.

Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' is a slow-grower.  I planted the one on the right in a decaying tree stump to deter the raccoons from using that spot as their toilet.  It's taken awhile but my strategy finally seems to be working.

That's it from me for this week.  I hope you're finding ways to stay both healthy and sane as the scourge of the novel coronavirus continues to afflict the US.  Seriously, anyone who doesn't mask up when going out in public needs to look in the mirror before complaining about shut-downs and the tanking US economy.  In addition to wearing a mask, be sure to vote in November - we can't afford four more years of this reality game show with people's lives at stake.



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

In a Vase on Monday: Spring is in hyperdrive

Our Santa Ana winds returned this past weekend, humidity levels dropped dramatically, and our daytime temperature reached 80F (26C).  While there's a slim chance of light rain later this week, absent a stray tropical storm in late summer, my guess is that we won't see any more rain until October or November.  Our long dry season has begun.  Of course, the warm weather means that the parade of Spring flowers has stepped up its pace.  They're everywhere, all crying for attention.  To limit distraction, I picked two colors to focus on even before I stepped into my garden to select plant material for "In a Vase on Monday": blue and pink.

Though I'd planned to limit my first vase to blue and white flowers, yellow crept into the color scheme as well.

I blame Narcissus 'White Lion' for bringing yellow into the arrangement.  'White Lion', my favorite daffodil, appeared last week.  As daffodils don't stand up well to our Santa Ana winds, the window of opportunity to use it in a vase may be limited.

Salvia heldreichiana, shown at the back of the vase here, was the impetus for the original blue and white color scheme but its delicate stems were quickly overwhelmed by more flamboyant blooms

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mega White', self-seeded Lavandula stoechas, Freesia, Limonium perezii, Phlomis fruticosa, Salvia heldreichiana, Narcissus 'White Lion' and, in the center, Scilla peruviana.  The Scilla and Freesia blooms in my garden are fading fast as temperatures rise.

I didn't stray as much in putting together my pink vase, which was inspired by the Ranunculus blooming en masse in my cutting garden.

My Alstroemerias seem late in arriving this year but they're all getting into gear now

I added a couple of stems of orange blossoms to this arrangement, which elevated what is otherwise a rather ordinary arrangement

Top view: Unlike the salmon-colored Ranunculus I used last week, most of the pink and white Ranunculus are much more densely petaled

Top row: noID Alstroemeria and Agryranthemum frutescens 'Mega White'
Middle row: white ans pink picotee Ranunculus
Bottom row: Prunus laurocerasus, orange blossoms, and Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' 

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

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up - August 2017

Most of my posts probably scream "flower addict" but foliage is really the dominant feature of my garden.  That's clearest during the mid-to-late summer months when flowers retreat from view.

There are still a few flowers in the front garden but I think this photo shows the importance of foliage here.  The swaths of chartreuse color are provided by Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' and Duranta repens.  The red tones of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' are echoed in Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and Coprosma 'Fireburst'.  Phormium 'Maori Queen' marries the chartreuse and red colors, helping to tie everything together.

The large clumps of red fountain grass are more visible in this photo.  The magenta seedpods of Cercis occidentalis and the red color of selected succulents on the front-facing slope pick up the red color of the grasses.

The Coprosma 'Fireburst' shown in this photo in front of Phormium 'Maori Queen' and Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' was added recently to replace a Grevillea 'Pink Midget' which found this area a bit too dry.  There are 2 other 'Fireburst' shrubs in the same bed already.

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' provides more red/orange color in this section of the front garden closer to the south end of the house.  Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' contributes a softer version of the same warm tones elsewhere in the bed and there are more red echoes in the distance, provided by Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' and Pennisetum 'Fireworks'.  The Leucadendron also echoes the chartreuse of the large Duranta behind it.

There were a few individual foliage stand-outs elsewhere I want to highlight this month as well.

After nearly 4 years in this bed in the backyard, 2 of my Agave lophantha 'Quadicolor' have finally produced pups

I planted this Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light' in just the right spot near the front of the long border in the back garden.  I'm planning to move 2 others forward this fall so they can also shine.

Artemisia ludoviciana seedlings planted themselves in various areas of the garden.  Unsure as to what they were, I moved them to this area in the cutting garden.  They've become a bit tall for the space but their placement has been useful as I frequently include the foliage in floral arrangements as a filler.  I also like how the foliage captures the late afternoon sun.

Pam at Digging hosts Foliage Follow-up each month after Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  To see her August foliage picks and those of other gardeners, click here.


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

Bloom Day - August 2015

We're in the midst of a heatwave and that, combined with our water restrictions, is making it hard to find blooms fit to photograph or exclaim about.  In prior years, I complained that my September Bloom Days felt like scavenger hunts.  This year, that's how August feels.  There are some bright spots of course.

Gaillardia grandiflora 'Arizona Sun' and look-alike 'Goblin', shown here with Grevillea 'Superb' in the background, continue to pump out new flowers with regular deadheading

The flowers of Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' and Cuphea x ignea 'Starfire Pink' may be small but they're plentiful and unstoppable

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is grabbing attention at stations throughout the garden

While most of the Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) that has graced my garden beds have hunkered down in response to the heat, there are signs that the pink form is poised to make a come-back.

Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Pink' has already begun producing new blooms

And, if the heatwave doesn't shrivel the buds, there should be plenty of flowers to follow

Most of the yellow sunflowers have fallen prey to the heat and water limitations but the red sunflowers I planted from seed continue to provide a bright spot in the vegetable garden.

All the Helianthus annuus seeds from a mix labeled "Drop Dead Red" have produced flowers in the same dark red color

Meanwhile, some plants, like the Fuchsia thymifolia I was foolish enough to add to my garden in early spring, have turned to toast.  Even the stalwart California native Solanum xanti, which has bloomed non-stop since November, is taking a rest.  Otherwise, there's a little of this and a little of that scattered about the garden.  I've organized my photos into color collages again this month.

Top row, left to right: Abelia 'Confetti', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and Echinacea 'Pow Wow White'
Middle row: Gaura lindheimeri, Gazania 'White Flame' and Hibiscus trionum
Bottom row: Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba',  Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' and Plumeria (no ID)

Top row: Achillea 'Moonshine', Coreopsis 'Redshift' and Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach'
Middle row: Gazania 'New Day Yellow', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' and Grevillea 'Superb'
Bottom row: Tropaeolum majus, Salvia lanceolata and Zinnia

Top row: Abelia x grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Bauhinia x blakeana and Bougainvillea (no ID)
Middle row: Cistus x pulverulentus 'Sunset', Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' and Pelargonium peltatum 'Dark Burgundy'
Bottom row: Pentas 'Nova', Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' and Scutellaria suffrutescens

Top row: Campanula primifolia, vareigated Caryopteris (no ID) and Duranta (no ID)
Middle row: Hemerocallis 'Indian Giver' (back for a brief return engagement), Limonium perezii and Polygala fruticosa
Bottom row: Salvia 'Amistad', Thymus serphyllum and Tibouchina urvilleana

And finally, a scattering of succulent flowers (clockwise from left): Portulaca 'Carrot', Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Echeveria flower (no ID), Echeveria pulvinata 'Ruby' and Hoya carnosa (no ID)

For more floral fanfare, visit Carol, the host of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, at May Dreams Gardens.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party