A predictable casualty?

As summers go, this hasn't been a bad one.  Yes, we've had heatwaves but my area hasn't experienced any temperatures of 100F or higher this year.  And Tropical Storm Hilary filled my empty rain collection tanks in August, which was a major boon!  So when I noticed yellow and brown leaves on a tree-sized shrub in my street-side border I was surprised.  When I took a closer look at it I was appalled.

The 2 tree-sized shrubs on the far right are Auranticarpa rhombifolia (formerly classified as Pittosporum rhombifolium, commonly known as diamond leaf pittosporum)

Just weeks ago, I'd looked at the now-sad shrub and thought I should prune the lower limbs to allow the succulents planted below to get more sun.  I hadn't noticed any signs that it was at death's door.

This is the wide shot I took of the area in early July.  The foliage may be slightly yellower than the shrub next to it but, if I noticed that at all, it didn't strike me as a dramatic difference.

 

The Auranticarpa planted directly to the right of the dead one still looks healthy.

These photos provide a direct comparison of the 2 shrubs

A closeup of their foliage tells the story more clearly.  The plant on the right is also producing a generous crop of berries, while there are virtually no berries on the plant on the left.

 

I don't know what caused this particular Auranticarpa to die off but there's a long pattern involving the plant so, while I'm disappointed, I shouldn't have been all that surprised.  I inherited numerous Auranticarpa shrubs with the garden.  According to online sources, the plants are native to the rainforests of Eastern Australia.  I couldn't find anything describing their drought tolerance but, given the plant's ancestry, it may not be the best one for a drought-persistent landscape.

 

When we moved in, close to half the street-facing hedge on the south side of the driveway consisted of  Auranticarpa rhombifolia.  The remainder consisted of Xylosma congestum, the shrub that also makes up the entire hedge on the left side of the driveway, as well as the the hedge lining the main level of the back garden.  I thought the mix of hedge material on the south side of the front hedge was odd.  When three of the inherited Auranticarpa began to decline on my watch, a neighbor told me that the prior owners had originally planted the front area entirely in Auranticarpa but removed the majority of these when the plants started dying, replacing them with Xylosma.  After failing to resurrect the dying shrubs, my husband and I removed three Auranticarpa in 2016 and another two in 2020, filling in the gap created by their removal with succulents and five additional Xylosma.

This photo taken in May 2016 shows the area after 3 of the Auranticarpa were removed and 4 of the five new Xylosma had been planted

This photo from May 2020 shows the area after 2 more of Auranticarpa were removed.  The 5 "new" Xylosma were gaining height and girth by that time but their development was slower than expected.

This photo shows the 2 remaining Auranticarpa as of May 2020

 

 

My husband may elect to remove the dead Auranticarpa himself but, if not, I'll include it on the list for the tree service to handle when our trees receive their annual pruning.  I'm tempted to give up and remove the last remaining specimen in this area but it sits on the edge of the property line with our south-end neighbor so I'm hesitant to proceed there, especially as it's still healthy.  There are also three other Auranticarpa elsewhere in our garden that seem fine.

 

My garden has actually received substantially more rainwater than usual this year, 23.74 inches in total since the start of the 2023 "rain year" on October 1, 2022.  In contrast to the Auranticarpa, other shrubs are thriving.

The "new" Xylosma have finally reached almost the same height as the original plants on the left.  The newer plants were set slightly further back to allow room for the succulents I'd planted, creating a bend in the hedge.

In addition, I think Jacaranda 'Bonsai Blue' has gained another foot in height since Tropical Storm Hilary passed through

If there's one lesson here, it's that nothing much is predictable when it comes to the evolution of a garden.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Should it stay or should it go?

 

A bit silly-looking, isn't it?

 

That's a photo of my Jacaranda mimosifolia 'Bonsai Blue' taken yesterday.  I took several photos of it from different angles at different times in the hope that seeing it in a different light would make it look better.  It didn't.

I've always loved Jacaranda trees.  Although native to South America, the bluish-purple flowering trees have become emblems of early summer in Southern California.  I even planted one in my former tiny townhouse garden.  That garden was both too small and too shady for it so it had to come out.  I resisted the allure of the dwarf Jacaranda when it was introduced but eventually brought one home in November  2016.

 

This photo, taken in early May 2017, shows it at its best.  It even had a small cluster of flower buds.

 

It may have flowered lightly one more time but, if so, I have no photographic record of that event.  Last fall I questioned whether I should take it out when I dug up the bed it occupied to remove my rampant native aster.

 

This is what it looked like in late September 2021 after I'd cleared the area surrounding it.  I gave it a light pruning and decided it was looking good enough to give it another year in place.

 

In my climate, Jacarandas drop their old leaves when they flower, producing new foliage soon afterwards.  My dwarf tree has been gradually losing its leaves over the past two months but there's no sign it's going to bloom and it's now looking more spindly than ever, sporting a topknot of fresh foliage on a bare central stem well above the foliage at its base.

 

This photo shows the clump of foliage at the top of one otherwise bare 4-foot stem

 

Full-sized Jacarandas reportedly take eight years to reach maturity and bloom.  Even if mine was two years old when I purchased it, by that measure it may not yet be fully mature but I'm once again on the fence about whether it deserves the space it occupies.  I may allow it to coast through the end of this year to see if its appearance improves.  If no additional foliage develops to balance out its current form, I may cut back that central leader to see if pruning helps it fill out; however, if I come across a better option to fill its current spot, it may go sooner rather than later.

Yesterday afternoon, we had yet another mass shooting in the US, costing at least 19 school children their lives.  Following on the heels of two other very recent attacks by madmen with guns, I'm livid with the failure of the US Congress to enact reasonable gun control.  After each incident, we go through the same meaningless discussions about "hardening" schools and encouraging people to report "signs" of madness.  None of that has worked.  It'll never be enough until we take control of our nation's gun problem.  Perhaps, instead of school uniforms, parents should purchase body armor for their kids?  Instead of investing in sport programs, schools should invest in metal detectors?  Maybe we need armored vehicles to take children to and from school to prevent them from being picked off outside those "hardened" facilities?  We've had over 200 mass shootings in the US already this year.  Schools, churches, supermarkets, concerts, public transportation - is anywhere safe?  What's the magic number of mass killings needed to get Congress over its self-interested fear of the gun lobby?  300?  500?  1000?  I'm beyond disgusted with our elected leaders.  Lily-livered cowards.  Self-important, self-centered creeps.

I apologize for attaching a rant to a garden post.  Trying to compartmentalize my thoughts isn't working for me this morning.

 

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

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Foliage Follow-up - The first signs of fall

With the return of cooler temperatures in coastal Southern California, I've thrown myself into a variety of fall garden projects and had just about forgotten that it was time to celebrate the foliage in my garden with Pam at Digging, who hosts the Foliage Follow-up meme on the 16th of each month after Bloom Day.  The first foliage plant that caught my eye was Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', also known as coral bark maple.  It's one of just 2 Japanese maples in my garden.  I've tried growing others but our summer heat, water restrictions, and exposure to heavy winds makes my garden relatively inhospitable for these beautiful trees.  'Sango Kaku' is a delightful exception and she's already showing a bit of fall color too, something else that is in short supply here.

This east facing spot next to the garage offers protection from the wind, morning sun, and shade from the hot afternoon sun, which seems to be just what the maple wants

My other Japanese maple is the dwarf, Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'.  Unfortunately, it doesn't handle summer heat as well as the coral bark maple.  Last winter, I moved it from the backyard to a more protected area in the cutting garden in the hope that would improve its performance.  It may have helped some but the lengthy heatwave that began in late August and extended into early September was too much for it.  Just as it did last year in the back garden, it prematurely dropped all its leaves.  However, this week, I noticed that it responded to the small amount of rain we got from a surprise September thunderstorm and our current cooler temperatures by producing new, spring-like growth.

It still looks fairly bare but the bright green foliage helps its appearance a little

Meanwhile, in the back garden, Jacaranda mimosifolia 'Bonsai Blue', the tree that replaced the dwarf maple in its former location, took the long heatwave in stride.

Planted last December, the tree handled its first summer here with no trouble

Before I close this post, I'll mention another sign of fall, albeit an unwelcome one.  My mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin, has moved to the next stage of its messy annual cycle.  Having littered my garden with a fuzzy mass of dried brown flowers for months, it's now dropping its leaves and its seedpods.  This week, while taking photos for bloom Day, I saw this:

This Albizia seedling was hiding behind a mass of Agapanthus foliage along a dirt path I travel infrequently.  I fear that one day the Albizia seedlings will get away from e and I'll wake up in a forest of mimosa trees.

I immediately pulled up the seedling, which was already nearly 2 feet tall.  The foliage was darker than that of my mature tree and brought the hybrid form Albizia 'Summer Chocolate' to mind but, pretty as it might have been, I couldn't bring myself to invite another of those messy trees into my garden.

This photo of the seedling sitting in a tub waiting to be hauled out to the compost bin shows its darker color better than the first photo

For more Foliage Follow-up posts, visit Pam at Digging.


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

May Favorites - 2017

I'm joining Loree of danger garden in recognizing my favorite plants this month.  I can't see the foliage for the flowers right now so perhaps it's not surprising that all my current favorites are in flower, even if at least some of them were originally planted specifically for their foliage.

Achillea 'Moonshine' began blooming at the start of the month and it's in full flower now.  It has a long bloom period.  Last year, it bloomed from the latter part of April until mid-September.  It's sunny presence dominates my back garden at the moment.

When we removed the last of our back lawn in 2015 and laid a flagstone path between wide borders on either side, I planted 'Moonshine' on both sides to tie the areas together visually

The next plant, Arthropodium cirratum, commonly known as Renga Lily, is my go-to favorite for dry shade.  I purchased my first plant in January 2011 by mail order and added more later the same year.  In January 2012, I even added 3 plants to my neglected back slope.  They survived there and even bloomed but, when the removal of the giant Yucca elephantipes made the area much sunnier, I pulled the plants, divided them, and replanted them in shadier locations.  Within 2 years, they form large clumps and dividing them is relatively easy.  The last time I did so, I had not only enough plants to fill another area newly cleared of lawn but also enough to give to a friend and a next door neighbor.  And, with still more plants left over, I placed the bulb divisions in buckets along the street (with a plant description) to be taken by anyone who walked by.  They need periodic dividing as they otherwise get huge and baiting for snails is essential.

The evergreen clumps are attractive year round but I also love the tall flower sprays they produce this time of year

I planted 3 Centaurea 'Silver Feather' in March 2015 for the foliage.  I considered that the pinkish purple flowers mentioned on the tag would be a bonus.  My plants didn't bloom in 2015 or 2016 and I'd pretty much given up on their doing so until the first flowers appeared earlier this month.  According to the tag, the plant was supposed to grow about 16 inches tall and 12 inches wide and I planted based on those dimensions; however, even after hacking the plants back this winter, they're closer to 30 inches tall and wide.  In colder climates, I understand that they'll die back over winter but here the plants are ever-silver.

The plants weren't intended to block the flagstone path.  I may try moving them this fall.

Dorycnium hirsutum (aka Hairy Canary Clover), another silver-gray plant I introduced for the foliage, is also in bloom at the moment.  It self-seeds freely here and, although the seedlings can be touchy about being transplanted, I've managed to spread it through several areas of the garden.  It stays low and makes a good weed-suppressing ground cover.

The foliage is soft and fuzzy to the touch.  The bees love the clover-like pink and white flowers.

A self-seeded Dorycnium is shown here next to succulent Oscularia deltoides, making a pretty in pink combination

Another pink-flowered plant that surprised me with recent blooms is Echinopsis oxygona.  A gift from a friend, I thought I'd missed out on the flowers this year but 2 more flowers appeared this week.  I'm thinking of giving the plant a chance to live outside its pot but I'm dreading the transplant process.

At some peril, I managed to remove the weed in this pot

I included Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' in this month's favorites post principally because it just looked so good backlit on the back slope paired with Agave attenuata.  I've cut back most of the flowering plants on the slope so there's not a lot of color there at the moment but 'Dean's Hybrid' adds a nice glow to the space.

'Dean's Hybrid' has grown on the dry back slope for 5 years now.  It dies out here and there but gently spreads itself around, always forming nice big clumps of chartreuse color.

Believe it or not, I also bought Globularia x indubia for its foliage.  I liked the thick, almost succulent leaves.  I'd never heard of the plant when I picked it up at a local botanic garden sale in 2012.  Its blue and white flowers were a surprise.  It's been slow to beef up but, like so many plants in my garden, I think this past winter's heavier-than-usual rains gave it a major boost.

I fondly refer to this as my hairy blue eyed plant

My next favorite, Jacaranda 'Bonsai Blue', is a relatively new acquisition.  I picked it up as a Christmas present to myself late last year, after giving up the hope that its price would come down. Living in Southern California, you can't help but fall in love with Jacarandas.  They're common here and, despite being one of the messiest trees around, are frequently used as street trees.  Regardless of their messy ways, they're gorgeous when in bloom; however, the common form can grow 40 feet tall, which creates an issue in my community if it's planted anywhere that might interfere with a neighbor's view.  'Bonsai Blue' is a dwarf.  The tag said it grows just 6 feet tall but other sources claim it can get 10 feet tall.  Even so, that's under the limit specified by my community's "view conservation" ordinance.

At present, my 'Bonsai Blue' is just over 2 feet tall

Some people consider Shasta daisies, Leucanthemum x superbum, common but I love them.  I have a ruffled form, sold without a cultivar name.  They flower on roughly the same schedule as Achillea 'Moonshine', although they don't have quite as long a bloom period.  Their petals are such a bright white I found them hard to photograph even under cloudy skies.

The plants do best here with some light shade during the hottest part of the day

The small white flowers of Tanacetum niveum were easier to photograph.  Like the larger Shasta daisies, they add a sparkle and freshness to the garden.

The flowers look like those on the common feverfew but the foliage is a soft gray color.  The plant is moderately drought tolerant.

I'll close with a mash-up of 3 evergreen vines that flower in unison at this time of year: Pandorea jasminoides, Trachelospermum jasminoides, and Pelargonium peltatum.  Although these are relatively common plants, at least here, their combination is somewhat unexpected.  The white bower vine and star jasmine were in place when we moved in.  I added the dark pinkish-red Pelargonium, which I'd brought with me from my former garden.  I hadn't intended to have it climb the arbor to join the other 2 plants but it had aspirations and took off on its own 2 years ago.

The only problem with this mash-up is the difficulty in keeping it trimmed.  I'm going to have to get a ladder out to cut it back this year.

Visit Loree at danger garden for a look at what she and other gardeners are favoring this month.


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

In the cusp between seasons (& Wednesday Vignette)

Spring in coastal Southern California is rapidly giving way to summer's advance.  While temperatures have temporarily returned to spring-like levels after weeks in the upper 70s and 80s, spring blooms have been giving way to those more characteristic of summer.  Last week I noticed the first Jacaranda trees coming into bloom in my area.  Yesterday I noticed these trees were blooming everywhere.  My own garden is also showing signs of summer.  Buds have appeared on Agapanthus and Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) throughout my garden.

In December, I finally broke down and bought myself a dwarf Jacaranda, 'Bonsai Blue', despite the plant's still exorbitant price-tag.  It's easier to fit into my garden and won't create issues with neighbors under my community's "view conservation" ordinance as the full-sized version could.  It isn't quite blooming yet but it has buds!

The first bloom appeared among the large collection of Agapanthus I inherited with the garden the week before last but other buds are close to following

Achillea 'Moonshine' provided perhaps the most dramatic evidence of summer's arrival, with flowers bursting into bloom seemingly overnight in the backyard borders last week.

Just as suddenly, the first-ever blooms appeared on the Santolina I planted in November 2015.

Santolina chamaecyparissus with its gray foliage can be seen in the foreground on the right and green-leaved S. rosmarinifolia is visible in the middle of the photo

Meanwhile, after a couple of weeks of high temperatures and drying winds, my sweet peas took an abrupt nose dive.  I pulled them all out, added compost to the raised bed, and planted sunflower and Zinnia seeds to greet the summer season.

As our spring gives way to summer, I was sad to note that there's been no sign that my Itoh peony is going to bloom this year despite the gift of winter's heavier-than-usual rains.  It also seemed that my bearded Iris were destined to disappoint me again this year.  A dwarf variety bloomed on my back slope when I wasn't looking but the taller bearded Iris planted elsewhere in the garden showed no sign of doing anything.  Then, late last week, I noticed a bloom stalk on a single plant in one of my backyard borders.  And yesterday morning, I found this:

This is Iris germanica 'Haut les Voiles'.  Planted in 2012 and moved in 2015, it stopped blooming during the height of our drought, like virtually all of my bearded Iris.  Dare I hope that some of the others will bloom as well?

The Iris stands as my Wednesday Vignette, a salute to spring's performance or a nod to the incoming summer season - see it whichever way you wish.  I'm just happy to see it show up.  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


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