Foliage Follow-up for June

In keeping with the approach I took with my Bloom Day post this month, I thought I'd show some of my foliage choices in their planting context rather than sticking with individual plant close-ups as I've generally done in the past.

Aeonium with Ceanothus (no ID on either)

The Aeonium was given to me by a friend after we moved into our current house 2+ years ago.  I just stick it in the ground and it takes off.  It reproduces in a blink, which has allowed me to spread it around.  I think it looks particularly good here in partial shade combined with a Ceanothus hedge I inherited with the property.

Albizia julibrissin (Mimosa), newly leafed out in the back garden

I have a love/hate relationship with this Mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin).  It has a beautiful shape.  It provides partial shade to the patio in the summer.  In leaf, it's graceful.  The flowers, which will be along in a month or so, are lovely - for a nanosecond.  Almost as soon as it flowers, it starts dropping unattractive clumps of dried flowers and leaves, followed by an endless supply of seedpods.  Tiny Albizia seedlings sprout all over the garden - I expect I'd have a forest of Albizia if I wasn't vigilant about pulling them out.  As perspective, here's a picture of the same tree just 5 weeks ago, when it was covered only in dry seedpods:

Elsewhere in the garden, most of the plants are better about behaving themselves:

Artemisia 'Powis Castle' and an artichoke create a place for the eye to rest in my dry garden

A coleus (Solenostemon scuttellaroides 'Mocha Mint') mixes comfortably with Campanula, not yet in bloom, along a pathway

An Eucomis, grown from a bulb and not yet in flower, adds height to a pot with mixed ferns and a pink Calibrachoa

The same ferns in a matching pot on the other side of the front door, grow with an Irisine (no record of variety) and a yellow Calibrachoa

Loropetalum chinense almost overrun by Helichrysum petiolare - I'll have to reduce the number of Helichrysum in this bed to give the Loropetalum proper growing space

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tristar' with Dryopteris erythrosora (aka Autumn Fern) outside the living room window

Pot of succulents put together as a birthday present for a good friend

For good measure, here are some additional photos of foliage that's looking particularly good in my garden right now:

Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopley's', still small but holding its own after 1 year in my dry garden

Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' in its 2nd year in my back border

A mature Agave attenuata, inherited with the property, has presence in my side yard

Ajuga 'Mahogany', a low-growing groundcover, is spreading well along the edges of my front border

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' (I think), returning after a winter buzz cut

And can anyone tell me what this is?  It planted itself along a wall in the lower front portion of my garden.  I like the foliage but it looks as though it may take over that entire section.

Mystery shrub

As always, my thanks to Pam at Digging for hosting Foliage Follow-up.  Check out Pam's site for foliage photos posted by other gardeners.

Wretched Raccoons!

How can a creature that looks so cute be so horribly destructive?

Photo courtesy of Free Nature Pictures

Once again, the blankety-blank-blank creatures are rampaging through my garden under the cloak of darkness.  I wrote about the damage they did in the vegetable garden here in January.  They've paid some nocturnal visits since but, other than pulling seashells out of the fountain and uprooting a few small plants, they haven't done much damage - until now.

I was in the side yard last week when I noticed this.

And then this.

Sheer meanness!  A perfectly healthy Loropetalum chinense torn out by its roots.  Pieces of the plant strewn about.  I tried replanting it but it was too far gone and it dried up.

Then, the next day, I found the Lupinus chamissionis I'd been so delighted to locate at Seaside Nursery in Carpenteria, also yanked out by its roots.  Here it is right after planting.

Here's a picture of what I hoped to have someday.

Mature Lupinus chamissiois postioned behind California poppies at Seaside Nursery

Here is what I have now.

Upon discovery, I tried to revive the Lupinus by soaking the remaining roots, cutting back the plant and replanting it in the safety of a pot.  As you can see, it hasn't sprung back and I don't hold out much hope that it'll recover.

The raccoons also tore out and shredded an Artemisia absinhium I'd recently transplanted from a 4-inch pot.  I found only a tiny piece of that plant - and a hole in the ground.  The next day I found they'd dug up some Aeonium cuttings and the Amaryllis bulbs I'd moved from a pot into a bed along the street.  They have an amazing ability for identifying recently tilled soil.

Their greatest sacrilege yet?  They dug up around the base of my prized Itoh peony, which I wrote about here earlier this week.  Fortunately, that plant was either too large or too closely surrounded by other plants to make it an easy target and they moved on.  Now, I'm making tours around the property every morning to check for and address any damage.

I talked to a nursery employee who told me that the raccoons are very active right now because their pups are being born.  They dig the soil looking for grubs.  Trying to relocate them is a pointless exercise in our area - even if I succeeded in trapping them, it's not clear that Animal Control would bother to move them and, as the region is so heavily populated with raccoons, others would just move in anyway.  So, I'm concentrating on actions to make the garden a less attractive target.   According to internet sources, milky spore granules can help reduce the grub count in the soil and something called Whole Control spray can temporarily add a bad taste to the soil to deter them.  We already control our trash and don't have any issues in that regard.  Hopefully, the non-poisonous controls will help.  If not, I may have to move up to motion-activated sprinklers or something or that sort.  Do you have any tips for deterring raccoons?

March Bloom Day

This Bloom Day catches me relatively unprepared as I've been pulled in different directions by personal life events.  Still, I didn't want the day to go by without any recognition so here, without much in the way of commentary, is a selection of what's in bloom at the moment in my garden:

Alstroemeria, deciduous type (No ID)

Anemone (no record of variety)

Bauhinia x blakeana

Camellia japonica 'Taylor's Perfection'

Ceanothus (No ID)

Parsley, bolting

Coleonema pulchrum 'Sunset Gold'

Coleonema album

Dymondia margaretae (groundcover)

Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum' with Osteospermum ecklonis '3D Silver'

Freesia

Freesia

Freesia

Freesia

Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis' (sorry the picture's fuzzy like the Lamb's Ear)

Geranium hybrid 'Tiny Monster'

Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola'

Lavandula multifida (great plant but needs a better backdrop than it has here)

Loropetalum  chinense 'Hines Plum Leaf'

Mystery shrub I hacked back a month ago

Narcissus (no record of variety) & Nemesia 'Sunsatia Lemon'

Nemophila menziesii 'Baby Blue Eyes'

Osteospermum 'Serenity Purple'

Osteospermum 'Zion Copper Amethyst'

Pelargonium ionidflorum 'Pink Fairy Cascade' (I think)

Pelargonium hybrid 'White Lady'

Phlomis fruticosa

Plum 'Santa Rosa'

Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly' (aka dwarf 'Sweet Pea Bush')

Ranunculus asiaticus 'Merlot'

Schizanthus pinnatus (Poor Man's Orchid) in pot with Fuchsia

Wildflowers, including California Poppy, planted at my mother's house from seed by my brother

Zantedeschia aethiopica (Common Calla Lily)

Still not blooming, despite having buds since January, is my Eupatorium corymbosa:

Eupatorium corymbosa (close but not quite there)

Spring is already here and, with temperatures back in the 80s for the last couple of days, it feels as though summer is just around the corner.  More Bloom Day posts can be found at the May Dreams Gardens blog site, hosted by Carol.