Bloom Day - June 2014

It's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, it's a time to take stake of what's blooming in one own's garden and an opportunity to have a look at what's flowering in gardens across the US and in other parts of the world.

My May garden was dominated by Agapanthus and, although some blooms are now looking a bit bedraggled, the flowers still dominate my garden in mid-June.

Agapanthus in the backyard border

Agapanthus in the front yard

Most of the daylilies finished blooming last month but a few are still putting on a show, most notably Hemerocallis 'Indian Giver,' which is new to me this year.

This clump of Hemerocallis 'Indian Giver' has pumped out an impressive number of bright purple blooms this month

In contrast, this clump of H. 'Indian Giver,' obtained from the same grower at the same time and planted only several feet away from the clump featured above, hardly looks like the same plant

Hemerocallis 'Persian Market' got a late start but is still putting on a nice show

And Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' is still producing blooms in the front yard border (against a backdrop of mostly dead grass) 

Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum), a short-lived perennial generally grown as an annual here, has added a bolt of purplish blue to my backyard border.

Eustoma grandiflorum 'Borealis Blue' stands out next to Achillea 'Moonshine'

Borage (Borago officinalis), another annual, is filling in some of the empty spaces in the border we added early this spring as an extension to the bed surrounding our backyard fountain.

Borage, planted among Salvia 'Mystic Spires, lobelia, and red-orange daylilies

The first of the Echinacea have returned.

Echinacea 'PowWow White' alongside Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum'

Shrubs making a splash in the backyard include:

Hebe 'Wiri Blush'

Lupinus chasmissonis

Leonotis leonurus

While none of the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) I planted last fall have done well this year, the perennial Digitalis x mertonensis and the hybrid Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' have fared better.

My Digitalis purpurea, if they bloomed at all, produced only short, stumpy bloom spikes like this one

Digitalis x mertonensis 'Polka Dot Pippa' was attacked by aphids but seems relatively unfazed and isn't the color pretty next to Yucca 'Bright Star'?

Only a few weeks after I cut the central bloom spike of this Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame', the plant has produced almost a dozen new bloom spikes

On the southeast side of the house, an area seemed to suffer most from our May heatwaves, Verbena bonariensis and Ageratum houstonianum 'Blue Horizon' have added a welcome touch of color.

On the outskirts of this section of the garden, two plants less known for their flowers than their foliage are providing an unexpected floral display.

I usually cut the flowers off this Helichrysum petiolare 'White Licorice' in the belief that they detract from the foliage but I let them do their thing this year

Crassula radicans 'Small Red' has produced a mass of flowers this year (despite very little water)

On the largely unattended back slope, crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) and Yucca elephantipes are demonstrating their ability to take care of themselves.

I inherited this Bignonia, a plant I'd intended to avoid after it swallowed a fence at our former house

Yucca Elephantipes continues to produce one giant bloom after another despite my husband's battle to cut the plant back to a more manageable size

And last, but not least, a Phalaenopsis sitting in a pot in an area along the street I largely ignore, is proving that orchids don't deserve their reputation as difficult or demanding plants.

I water this unidentified Phalaenopis when I happen to pass by it, which isn't often - nevertheless, it somehow it made it through 2 horrible heatwaves outside in partial shade

That's it for my June bloom highlights.  Please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to discover what's blooming in her garden and to find links to posts from gardeners far and wide.

My favorite plant this week: Lupinus chamissonis

My favorite plant this week, Lupinus chamissonis, also known as bush lupine and silver dune lupine, is the one that was in contention with last week's choice.  It's also a beautiful plant but its charms are more subtle than those of the brilliant blue Lisianthus.  I originally bought this plant in April 2013, only to have it shredded by a rampaging raccoon shortly after it went into the ground.  I acquired another in March of this year and placed it in my new backyard border.  So far, it hasn't been bothered by any raccoons and it has grown quickly, more than doubling in size since I planted it.

It's native to coastal California, although I can't say I've seen it in garden settings here.  Its evergreen silvery palmate foliage is attractive in its own right but, from April through June, it produces the lavender blue flowers characteristic of lupines.

It tolerates some drought but requires exceptionally good drainage.  It needs full sun and is said to be cold hardy to 20F (-6.7C).  Its seeds, leaves and stems are mildly toxic.  Projections of its size vary significantly but most commentators project growth to 3-5 feet (1-1.5 meters) tall with approximately the same width.  I hope mine remains on the smaller end of the spectrum and doesn't overgrow its current placement.  It's useful in blending blue, lavender, purple and white plants in a border.

As I love lupine, I'm happy to have this evergreen form in my garden.  It's my contribution to the weekly meme hosted by Loree of danger garden.  Please visit her to find her choice this week.  If you have a favorite plant you'd like to highlight, write a post about it and provide a link in the comments section of Loree's post.

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?