Gone but not forgotten

I had two large trees removed yesterday.  It was a necessity, not a choice, and it was painful.  In fact, it was more painful than the removal of our 60-foot Eucalyptus back in 2013 or the removal of one of our peppermint willows (Agonis flexuosa) in 2015, both of which were initiated in response to a neighbor's complaints about impairments to her view of the harbor.  Thankfully, that neighbor moved in 2018 but nothing can stop Mother Nature when she decides a plant's time is up.  Yesterday, we had both our mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) and the large tree-like toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) taken out.  The impact to the garden seems greater than any of the major changes we've made before.

The mimosa has been featured and discussed here many times but, before I summarize what happened to it, let me share a couple of photos of it at its best.

This photo was taken in June 2013, roughly two and a half years after we bought the house.  We still had lots of lawn and even the snorkel spa inherited with the house (heated by burning wood) back then. 

This photo was taken in July 2017, the last time the tree looked good, at least from a distance.  It was already showing signs of stress at this point when viewed close up.

The tree's decline was readily evident by 2018.  Shot-hole borers had damaged major limbs, which didn't properly leaf out.  After discussion with an arborist, we performed major surgery on the tree in an effort to extend its life.  We gave it almost three more years but, this year when it came time for our annual tree service visit, we decided it was time to let it go.

I took this photo on October 27th

The tree had recently leafed out again along a couple of limbs, almost as if in protest to our plans to take it down

The arborist had pointed out that the remaining trunks were starting to cave in, as shown on the left.  The photo on the right shows where the trunk was cut before when we tried to save it.

It's a tree I've had a love-hate relationship with almost since we moved it.  While it was beautiful when it was in full leaf and flower, it was bare much of the year.  It also created a huge amount of litter and self-seeded with abandon.  Even so, I couldn't bring myself to watch much of the removal process.

I snapped this photo through the kitchen window as the last limb was coming down

The middle of the garden seems very empty to me and, although my husband is currently opposed to putting in another tree or even a large shrub in that spot, I don't personally feel the view that it's removal reveals is worth the feeling of exposure it creates.  But that's a discussion for another day.

This shot was taken this morning from the same angle as the one taken on October 27th

The toyon's case is different.  Although like the mimosa it came with the garden, it's not a plant I gave much thought to until the middle of this year when I noticed that its leaves were turning red and what few berries it had were shriveled.  I found one source that suggested that this could happen with native plants like Heteromeles arbutifolia but by August it was clear to me that the huge shrub was dead.

In light of the toyon's rapid demise, it's likely that the cause was the pathogen that leads to the phenomenon known as "sudden oak death."  Like native oaks, toyon is susceptible to disease due to exposure to this pathogen.

I took these shots on October 27th.  When the evergreen toyon was green, it provided a nice neutral backdrop for the garden area fronting it.  The red foliage of the dying plant actually provided an even more attractive backdrop in my view but, by this month, it was less red than brown.

Like the mimosa, the toyon sat atop a fairly steep slope but in this case it was adjacent to the property line, looming above the driveway of our neighbors on the south side.  There was no question that it needed to be removed but, as grinding the stump in that location was problematic for a number of reasons, I was apprehensive about opening up this particular view.

After they toyon's removal, we have an unfavorable view of the facade of a house down the block, a variety of scruffy trees owned by another neighbor off a spur road, and the street than runs through our neighborhood

I'm thinking of ways to screen out the facade of the neighbor's house and those scruffy trees.  I'll cover that in more detail at another time too.

In the good news category, the other trees we had trimmed look spiffy and the collateral damage associated with their annual haircuts was relatively minimal.  We didn't have any of our peppermint willows trimmed this year, nor any of the smaller trees or the citrus trees.

These two Arbutus 'Marina' occupy opposite ends of the front garden

Two more Arbutus 'Marina' in the back garden were also thinned.  The Arbutus rapidly develop dense foliage and, left unattended, they develop a sooty mold.

Also getting trimmed were, left to right, a hedge of Prunus caroliniana, Magnolia grandiflora, and Pyrus calleryana

That's it for me this week.  There's a LOT for me to do in the garden in the coming weeks (and months).  Unfortunately, our temperatures are slated to rise again with yet another, hopefully less forceful, round of Santa Ana winds in the forecast even as fire crews are still working to fully contain the two wildfires that broke out in Orange County earlier this week.  I'm looking forward to reliably cooler weather - and rain of course - but at present I'm not sure when we can expect either.

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

Little garden jobs

I haven't tackled any big jobs in the garden of late but I've taken care of a number of little ones, some planned, some not.  After stretch of hot weather ended last week, we've enjoyed the return of "June Gloom,' which has kept our temperatures down.

This photo was taken around 2:30 yesterday afternoon as the marine layer was just beginning to lift.  The longer the marine layer remains in place along the Southern California coast, the cooler the daytime temperatures we enjoy.

One of the first things on my "to do" list was replanting a small pot on my south patio.  The Aeonium that served as its centerpiece had bloomed out and the whole pot looked sad.  It was a very simple project.  Harvesting succulent cuttings to fill the container was the most time-consuming aspect.

I collected 3 tiny pups of Mangave 'Jaguar' to start with and filled in with cuttings of Aeonium arboreum 'Velour', Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi', noID Aloes, and Hatiora salicornioides

I also planted an empty pot with three succulents I picked up on my last trip to my local garden center.

For once I stopped myself from stuffing the pot with a lot of extra plants.  This palette consists of Crassula platyphylla, Graptosedum 'Vera Higgins', and Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

These projects led me to address the driftwood piece I decorated with succulent cuttings back in November 2017.  It held up reasonably well for 2 years but I'd recently noticed that it had almost entirely fallen apart.  As with the first succulent pot featured above, I relied heaving on Aeoniums to cover the driftwood.

My glue pen was gummed up and I lost patience in fussing with the succulent cuttings so this piece is less complex than the one I originally created (and a piece of the driftwood had broken off as well).  I thought of displaying it on the top shelf of my work bench (top photo) but decided it would get too much sun there so I returned it to the base of the peppermint willow in my bromeliad area.

While I was working on the driftwood piece in the area adjoining our garage, I decided it was time to remove a large sweet pea shrub (Polygala fruticosa) that had seeded itself in the succulent bed there.

I didn't take a "before" shot but this photo shows the empty space left after I removed the shrub and the weed-like Santa Barbara daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus) growing through and underneath it.  These had obscured the Westringia in the background, as well as the ceramic pot and the bromeliad (Billbergia) on the right, and most of Mangave 'Bad Hair Day' in the foreground.

The Manfreda maculosa and noID Sedum in the pot were waterlogged during our rainy season but are looking good now and deserve attention

Billbergia 'Boracho' is also looking pretty good (and will look better still when I remove the ratty Arthropodium cirratum behind it).  I'm thinking a lower-growing Mangave like 'Jaguar' (shown on the right) would be a better pairing with the bromeliad.

In the same area, I removed several overgrown and damaged Aeonium arboreum along the path we use to haul our garbage bins out to the street for pick-up.

I took cuttings from the plants I removed and simply stuck them in the soil.  In time, they'll form clumps like that shown on the right.

In the cutting garden on the other side of the garage, I bit the proverbial bullet and pulled out the last of the cool season flowers in my raised planters.  With the Nigella, Orlaya grandiflora and larkspur (Consolida ajacis) gone, it looks rather bare now but there's lots of potential there.

These photos show the cutting garden from two angles after the cool season flowers were removed.  Twelve of the dahlia tubers I planted have sprouted, although something was nibbling on the emerging foliage of Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera'.  I covered her with a wire cloche but I'm not sure she's going to make it.  The plastic flats are in place to protect zinnias seeds and seedlings.  I've planted Gladiolus corms as well.

In addition to strawberries, I've squeezed two tomato plants ('Early Girl' and 'Sungold') and a pepper into pots

Yesterday morning, while engaged in my ongoing battle with the resident gopher, I also cleaned up the overgrown plants that were eclipsing the agaves and other succulents in my garden on the south side of the house.

In addition to some form of grass weed, I pulled masses of self-seeded alyssum and cut back the creeping blue-flowered Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud' by more than half

While I'm pleased with the more streamlined look of the succulent bed on the right side in the photo above (if not with my progress in battling the gopher slowly moving through the bed on the left of the flagstone path), I'm alarmed at the appearance of the tree-sized shrub in the background.  That's a toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), a California native and the City of Los Angeles' official plant.

I can't recall ever seeing the toyon's leaves turn red like this.  It's an evergreen shrub.  It flowered as usual earlier in the year but whatever berries appeared to be developing seem to have shriveled.  I'm hoping this was a response to the two very early heatwaves we had this year, and not a sign that the tree is dying.  I found one article suggesting that this may be a natural response to stress shown by certain native California plants (as described here).  The reddish foliage is more widespread than suggested in the article so I'll be watching the tree closely and will call an arborist if it shows further signs suggesting decline.  It sits atop a steep slope overlooking a neighbor's driveway and removing it won't be easy.

While the toyon isn't behaving as expected, I was pleased to notice a neighbor's Jacaranda in full bloom.  My own dwarf 'Bonsai Blue' Jacaranda has failed to produce a single bloom but my neighbor's tree was doing what it should do in June.

We have a peek-a-boo view of the flowering Jacaranda above and beyond  our hedge (left).  A short walk up the street got me a better view (right).

I'll close on that note.  Best wishes for pleasant weather to see you through the weekend.


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

Tree Trimming Trauma

As views of the Los Angeles harbor are valued here, good neighborly relations dictate annual tree trimming.  I don't have all our trees trimmed each year but we tackle at least half of them annually.  While we've done some of the trimming ourselves, especially in our early days in residence, I now hire all or most of the job out.  I trust the crew we use each year but I still dread the collateral damage that routinely accompanies the process.  This year, two specific areas were also of particular concern.

If you read my blog regularly, you may know that our mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) has posed challenges.  It's a messy tree to start with, dropping litter in the form of flowers, leaves and seedpods almost continuously.  It's bare of leaves for at least 4 months of the year and, in 2018, it didn't leaf out at all until late June.  Of even greater concern, half the tree never leafed out at all.

This was the tree in late January this year, after its last trimming.  It was showing signs of damage due to shot hole borers and, in response we took out a few good-sized branches but left the tree's vase-like shape intact.

This was the tree in late July when it finally flowered.  You'll note that while the back half of the tree looks normal, the front half was largely bare.

I consulted an arborist in October and made the hard decision to remove three major limbs on the front side of the multi-trunked tree.  I was afraid the tree would look freakish after major surgery like that but I'm not ready to cut the whole tree down quite yet.  As it turned out, the tree doesn't look too bad when viewed from the front, although I can't say it looks entirely normal either.

View of the front of the tree from the back door after surgery

 

When viewed from the side, it's much more apparent that half the tree is gone

This cut makes me nervous.  I hope it heals over quickly.

The other big change was made on the south side of the house, where I elected to take out one of the two tree-sized Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) and thin out the second.  Both sat along our property line at the top of a sharp slope.  We also cut down an extremely tall leader on an adjacent shrub (Auranticarpa rhombifolium).  My main concern in this case was to avoid any damage on our next door neighbor's side but, happily, that didn't prove to be a problem.

The photo on the left was taken in January and the photo on the right was taken this past weekend after the smaller Toyon was cut down and the larger one was thinned.  The smaller tree was growing almost on top of its parent, which wasn't good for either in the long run.  The neighbors across the street had also expressed concern that the mass of foliage impaired their view.  The upside of thinning the foliage is more light for the plants in my succulent bed and, as this area sits atop a slope, there's no significant loss of privacy.

The rest of the tree trimming was relatively straightforward.

All 4 of our Arbutus 'Marina' were thinned, which helps improve air circulation and prevents the sooty mold that can sometimes afflict these trees

The Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana, left) received a light trim to remove the dead twiggy stems and a limb trailing over the roof.  The trimmers managed to leave most of the flowers alone.  The Magnolia grandiflora (right) looks pretty bare at the moment but I know from experience that it'll quickly fill out.

The ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) was suffering from fire blight.  They trimmed out the affected leaves and thinned the foliage.  I'll need to inoculate it against blight in the spring.  This can be a messy tree too but regular trimming helps and, under current drought conditions, I'd prefer to avoid losing a mature shade tree I might not be able to easily replace.

Other than a laurel hedge, that's everything that was touched in this round of trimming.  I've spent a couple of hours every day this week cleaning up the affected areas.  The crew does a good job at picking up the debris but they never get everything.  Wind also shakes down branches that were cut during trimming but didn't immediately fall to the ground.  Pots and garden furniture moved out of the way has to be put back.  A lot of mulch gets picked up during the tree trimmers' clean-up too so I spent time replenishing that.  (Next year I'll remember to hold off on mulching until after this annual exercise.)  And of course some plants below the trees, particularly those sitting atop slopes, get squashed and must be either removed, replaced or cut back to allow them a chance to recover.  I'm mostly done...

It'll be a busy weekend for me as Christmas is just around the corner and we're hosting family and friends on Saturday.  However you're spending the weekend, I hope it's a good one.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Dueling Dahlias

With dahlia buds opening on a daily basis, those flowers currently demand to be cut.  As it is, I don't get around to cutting some of the flowers before they fade, even when I refresh the dahlias in my vases mid-week.  Not that I'm complaining!

Dahlia 'Loverboy' has sat on the sidelines for a couple of weeks now so it was time to bring him back on the public stage.  Blue Eustoma has been hanging out in her bed so long she's looking ragged so there was no serious thought to having her join him this time.  Fortunately, some new blooms were available to perform roles as companions.

The fuchsias and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) don't challenge 'Loverboy'.  Amaryllis belladonna is another matter altogether.  'Loverboy' tolerates her because she smells nice but he prefers to keep her in the background.  She's a little tall for his taste too.  (Hey, you already knew he's shallow.)

As for Amaryllis belladonna (who frequently goes by the names "Surprise Lily" and "Naked Lady"), she could care less whether 'Loverboy' accompanies her.  She believes she can hold the stage all by herself.

Coleus 'Dipt in Wine'  went along to keep things loose

Clockwise from the upper left, the cast of characters in this drama includes: Dahlia 'Loverboy', Fuchsia 'Mendonoma Belle', Heteromeles arbutitfolia, Amaryllis belladonna, Plectranthus scutellaroides (aka coleus), and the berries of Prunus laurocerasus

While 'Loverboy' is keeping a lower profile this year, 'Punkin Spice' is living large.  His companions are more diverse and exotic than those 'Loverboy' hangs with.  With his flamboyant personality, it's hard to conceive of him keeping steady company with anyone, though.

'Punkin Spice' isn't inclined to share center stage

Even the colorful characters hanging out in the background find themselves eclipsed in his presence

But you have to admit, he's pretty fabulous

Clockwise from the upper left, this cast includes: Dahlia 'Punkin Spice', Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Grevilla 'Superb', Cotyledon orbiculata, and Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'

'Punkin Spice's' cast list filled up quickly so the zinnias joined a smaller production.

Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose' and a stem of Heteromeles arbutifolia landed on my desk

To see what kind of drama other gardeners have found in their gardens this week, visit our IAVOM host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Top 10 Blooms in my Mid-Summer Garden

I'm joining Chloris at The Blooming Garden in featuring my top 10 blooms this August.  August isn't a month I usually associate with flowers but, as mentioned in my earlier Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post, judicious applications of extra water this year have had a major input on the floral output.  We haven't received our August water bill so I'm not yet feeling as terribly guilty as I'm afraid I may feel soon.

Winnowing down the flowers in my garden to 10 selections wasn't easy.  The sheer volume of bloom was a major factor in my choices.  The current condition of the flowers was another, as was their photogenic qualities, but ultimately it's an emotional decision.

Rosa 'Medallion' was an easy choice because it surprised me by making its first appearance of the year by blooming en masse.  Roses here usually bloom best in spring before our temperatures soar, if they bloom at all.  I had very few rose blooms last year and even fewer this spring after the lowest winter rain levels I've ever measured.

I inherited 2 'Medallion' rose shrubs with the garden.  Of the paltry number of rose bushes I have, these had once been the most reliable spring bloomers but they didn't bloom at all this spring and they lost all of their foliage to a combination of rust and the nuclear heat that hit in early July.  They leafed out again after repeated deep watering sessions but I hadn't really expected them to bloom in mid-summer even after I saw a few buds forming.  Then I came home from a trip last weekend to find this!  This may not be a lot of roses for some of you but it's a mass of bloom in my garden.

Heteromeles arbutifolia was another surprise.  If this tree-sized shrub was blooming a week ago, I hadn't noticed it but now the blooms can't be missed.

The common name for this plant is Toyon.  It's been selected as the official native plant for the city of Los Angeles.  This one balances atop a steep slope on our property's boundary line and I estimate it's 15 feet tall.  The flowers will be followed by a plentiful supply of red berries.  The berries, although toxic for humans, are consumed by mockingbirds, robins, and cedar waxwings, as well as coyotes.

My dahlias were another obvious choice as a favorite but which one can be said to rule my cutting garden is another question altogether.  Each and every one deserves recognition.  Could you pick just one?

'Loverboy' (upper left) is flashy semi-cactus variety.  'Otto's Thrill' (upper right), a dinnerplate variety, has been the most prolific bloomer thus far, although it's quickly being overtaken by the smaller, semi-cactus 'Terracotta' (lower left).  Dinnerplate 'Strawberry Ice' (lower right) is new on the scene.

But it's 'Punkin Spice' that keeps drawing my eye.  I don't remember that it impressed me as much last year but this year every bloom is a glowing orb.  It's classified as an informal decorative type but the flowers are as large (or larger) than any in the dinnerplate class.

The zinnias in the cutting garden also came on with a bang this month but there is one, grown from seed rather than plugs from the local garden center, that impresses me every time I see it.

This is Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Giant Salmon Rose'.  Each bloom is perfect.

Have I forgotten my Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) you might ask?  Of course not but, like choosing a favorite dahlia, the Eustomas that draw my eye shift from one week to another.

A week ago, it was the delicate green-flowered variety (left) that won my heart.  A new variety, 'Mint Cocoa' (right) has been a favorite with commentators and I admit I'm impressed by how well it's performed this year.  My biggest issue with it is that its unusual color doesn't mix well with most of the flowers surrounding it.  I'll need to find a better placement for it next year.

Eustoma grandiflorum 'Black Pearl' wins my thumb's up for late August.  It's blooming on last year's plants.  Last year I found its performance disappointing but it's a happier plant in its second year.  The flowers are tighter and more heavily petaled than most of the other varieties of Eustoma growing in my garden.  Its shape and growth habit closely resemble that of 'Mint Cocoa'.

A number of more common flowering plants make up the rest of my mid-summer bloom list.

This is the native California aster, Symphyotrichum chilense.  I put in 2 plants in 2015 but, if you looked at the bed it's growing in, you might think there were a half dozen or more plants there.  It spreads by rhizomes and is a little more exuberant than I'd expected but it's the only aster I've ever considered a success here.

Plumbago is VERY common here.  From my home office window, I can see a large mass of it in bloom across the canyon.  It's blooming up the street and I see masses of the blue flowers along the road every time I leave my neighborhood.  My plants, Plumbago auriculata 'Imperial Blue', are better behaved in large pots outside my lath (shade) house.  

Lantana 'Samantha' is having a banner year.  I love the cheerful yellow flowers but the variegated foliage is its main attraction.  It makes me think of Ceanothus 'Diamond Heights', a plant I've killed at least 3 times, but in contrast this Lantana is easy to grow and happy here.

Gaillardia 'Fanfare Citronella' in the same bed as the Lantana is another current favorite.  While the flower stems are annoyingly short, the flowers are prolific and of course loved by bees.

I've got as many as a half dozen varieties of Abelia in my garden, all of which I love, but at the moment this older variety, Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher' is what's grabbing my attention.  The 2 large shrubs came with the garden and, unlike the varieties I've introduced, there's no variegation in the foliage of these but they do pump out the blooms!  I cut the 2 shrubs back hard in late winter and I've been rewarded this year with lots of long flowering stems.  When the flowers drop, they leave behind reddish bracts just as pretty as the flowers themselves.

Could you distill the bloomers in your garden down to just 10 plants?  Visit Chloris to find her list.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party