In a Vase on Monday: Super-sized

The unripe fuzzy peach-pink cones on the Magnolia tree in the front garden got me started on Sunday morning as I assembled materials for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  I've used these at least once before but I'd forgotten how heavy they are before they dry and fall from the tree.  When I added a couple of branches from the persimmon tree currently sporting brightly colored leaves, I had a mix that tested the capacity and stability of my usual go-to vases.  Out came a vase I've had for well over a decade, which I seldom use.  In fact, I can't remember using it all since we moved into our current home almost 8 years ago.  It created a super-sized display.

Even with glass marbles to help hold everything in place, I had challenges with this arrangement

Back view

People have asked if I stand on a chair to photograph my vases from the top.  Usually, I don't have to but this time I needed both a chair and a more open area of the kitchen to get a clear shot.

Clockwise from the upper left: Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Magnolia grandiflora cone, Grevillea 'Superb', Magnolia leaves, and leaves of what I think is a 'Fuyu' persimmon (Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu')

There weren't many ingredients in the first vase but they were cumbersome and, for once, I gave serious thought to stopping with vase #1.  But I've become accustomed to having fresh flowers in the front entry too so I put together a second smaller vase for that spot, incorporating a bloom that surprised me when it made its first appearance in my back garden last week.

The Camellias that performed so well in a vase last week are back this week but, in my view, the star of this arrangement is the single Nerine

Back view, showing off the Leptospermum currently blooming in abundance, as well as Westringia foliage recycled from one of last week's vases

Top view, once again showing off the Nerine bloom.  As I recall, I planted perhaps a dozen of these bulbs in one area of the back garden 2 or more years ago.  They've previously produced foliage but this is the first bloom I've had.

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Camellia sasanqua, Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', and noID Nerine

Cutting and arranging flowers gave me a nice break from the garden clean-up activities that consumed much of my time during the extended holiday weekend.  I was aching all over Saturday night and Sunday morning but I feel almost normal again now so I can get back to work.  We had rain early Thanksgiving morning and there's a chance of another storm later this week.  Both major fires in California are finally fully contained and it's possible to take deep breaths again.  Things are looking up here.

For more floral/foliage arrangements, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

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

Bloom Day - August 2018

Even though I've been doing much more watering than usual, I'm surprised at just how much I have blooming in mid-summer.  Thus far, my summer water usage has been hovering just below 60% of the level budgeted by our water service provider so I'm not feeling too guilty yet - we'll have to see if the August billing changes things.  Meanwhile, deep-watering selected areas of the garden once a week has made a difference.

Like August last year, my Bloom Day stars are the dahlias, lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum), and zinnias.  The dahlias and zinnias are less profuse than mid-month last year but I think that's largely attributable to the fact that I planted both my tubers and seeds late this year.

Clockwise from the upper left, the dahlias that have made appearances thus far this season are: 'Loverboy', 'Otto's Thrill', 'Punkin Spice', and 'Terracotta'

I've got many more varieties of Eustoma grandiflorum this year.  Some of those I planted last year returned for a second year of bloom and I added a couple of new varieties.  I don't have cultivar names for all of them but the one on the upper left is 'Balboa Blue Rim'; the one in the lower right corner is 'Mint Cocoa'; and the one in the lower left corner is 'Black Pearl'.  The unnamed green variety in the middle is my current favorite.

I supplemented the Zinnia elegans seeds I planted with plugs and I can no longer account for which is which.  My best guess is the the variety on the upper right is 'Queen Red Lime'; the one on the lower right is part of a 'State Fair' mix; and the one on the lower left is 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose'.  I've no idea where the cream-colored flower on the upper left came from.

A few other plants are making their seasonal splash as well.

My mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) continues to struggle.  It was almost 3 months late in leafing out and I didn't expect it to bloom at all but it has.  While the back half of the multi-trunked tree looks fairly good, several large branches in the front are naked of both leaves and flowers.  I'm planning to consult an arborist in September about the prospect of pruning out the bare limbs.

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' is covered with blooms and bees this month

Magnolia grandiflora makes up for its summer litter habit with lots of beautiful blooms

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum's' summer-to-fall bloom cycle is off to a good start

I planted 2 California asters (Symphyotrichum chilense 'Purple Haze') in September 2016.  I don't remember much in the way of flowers in 2016 or 2017 but the plants have spread dramatically throughout a large area this year producing a mass of airy blooms.  Its spread is a little frightening, though.

The bed I featured last month is still the most colorful space in my garden.

A photo of the bed is shown in the center of this collage.  Clockwise from the upper left, the elements in bloom include: Ageratum houstonium 'Blue Horizon', noID Anigozanthos, blue Eustoma grandiflorum, Gaillardia 'Mesa Peach', Gaillardia 'Fanfare Citronella, Lantana 'Samantha', and Nierembergia 'Purple Robe'

There were a few surprises as well.

Amaryllis belladonna (aka the naked lady lily) produced a single bloom stalk.  This and 23 other bulbs were sent to me by Tammy of Casa Mariposa in March 2015.  I got a few blooms last year but this is the first one thus far this year.  I'm hoping it's the start of a stampede, despite our very poor winter rain..

Two of my begonias recovered sufficiently from the nuclear heatwave in early July to produce new blooms.  The one on the left is 'Fragrant Falls Peach'.  I've lost the name of the one on the right.

My fuchsias in the lath (shade) house also recovered from the heat blast.  On the left is Fuchsia 'Galfrey Lye'.  'Mendonoma Belle' is on the upper right and 'Old Berkeley' is on the lower right.

A light scattering of rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida) appeared in response to the extra water they received

As has become my habit, I'll close with collages covering the best of the rest.

Top row: one of the last Agapanthus, Catananche caerulea, and Melaleuca thymifolia
Middle row: Osteospermum '4D Silver', Plumbago auriculata 'Imperial Blue', and Scabiosa 'Fama Blue'
Bottom row: Tibouchina urvilleana, weed-like Tradescantia, and Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud'

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Agastache 'Ava' (backed by Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'), and Cistanthe grandiflora
Middle row: Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star', Rose 'Pink Meidiland', and Crassula falcata
Bottom row: flower-like Leucadendrons 'Safari Sunset' and 'Blush', and Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'

Top row: Coreopsis 'Redshift', Cotyledon orbiculata, and Echeveria 'Afterglow'
Middle row: Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschien', Grevillea 'Superb', and Hesperaloe parviflora
Bottom row: Russelia equisetiformis 'Flamingo Park' and Leonotis leonurus

Top row: Asclepias physocarpa, Asparagus densiflorus, and Gazania 'White Flame'
Middle row: Tanacetum parthenium, Scaevola 'Surdiva White', and Helianthus 'Sun-fill Green'
Bottom row: Pandorea jasminoides, Phylica pubescens, and Lantana 'Lucky White'

My biggest disappointments this August are my sunflowers.  I planted seeds late; germination was low; and repeated heatwaves sapped the strength of the few seedlings that sprouted.  The plants I got had spindly stems easily broken by strong winds.  Lesson learned!  Next year I'll start my sunflowers much earlier, in pots if space in the cutting garden is temporarily limited as was the case this year.

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, visit our esteemed host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.


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

Foliage Follow-up - July 2017

As summer heats up, shade becomes all the more important so, when it came time to identify subjects for the foliage follow-up post hosted by Pam at Digging, trees came to mind.  This past winter I once again had our Magnolia grandiflora "thinned" to accommodate a neighbor's view concerns but the crew went further than I'd expected and, until recently, I felt it looked a bit sad, not to speak of the fact that it provided limited shade.  It's finally looking like it should again.

The Magnolia standing proud in the front garden (left) and a recent flush of new growth along its branches (right)

I also had all 4 of our Arbutus 'Marina' thinned.  They've filled out again too but, this month, even more than the shade they provide, you've got to admire their handsome peeling bark, which is particularly evident at this time of year.

This particular tree sits on the northeast side of the house.  Its bark peels to a degree all year but look at the curls it's got now!

A few other foliage selections also caught my eye.

Purchased as Chondropetalum tectorum, this Cape Rush may be more correctly classified as C. elephantinum, although mine seems to fall mid-way between the 2 species in size.  I originally planted 3 in my street-side succulent bed in 2013 but only this one thrived.  I wish you could see how the sheaths on the joint stems gleam in the afternoon sun but I wasn't able to capture it well in the mid-afternoon glare so I made do with this early morning shot.

The dominant plant in this foliage mash-up is Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', which develops bright red bracts in summer.  L. salignum 'Winter Red' is planted in front of it.  At maturity, the former should be about twice the size of the latter.  The hedge of Xylosma congestum is shown in the background with Stipa tenuissima in between.  The gray-foliaged semi-weed threatening to engulf the Leucadendrons from the left is Helichrysum petiolare 'Silver Mist'.

I brought this Persicaria 'Red Dragon' with me as a cutting from my former garden.  It's struggled in my current garden even in this afternoon shade location next to the house but I thought it looked pretty good here with the window shade pulled down behind it in a our futile effort to keep the house cooler.  I'm going to try taking some additional cuttings this fall to see if I can find a more hospitable location for it elsewhere.

It's hard for me to let a foliage-focused post go by without featuring at least some succulents so here's this month's selection:

The planter stand here had belonged to my mother-in-law but the rusted steel bowl it originally held corroded and slowly fell apart.  I bought a cheap shiny steel wok, which accommodated me by quickly rusting outside.  I planted it up with a mix of succulent cuttings with a Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' in the center.  I like the way it glows in the mid-day sun in what's otherwise a fairly shady spot on the covered patio on the south side of the house.

Finally, as my Agapanthus flower stalks begin to look scruffy in July, mass decapitations are generally part of my summer tidying-up process.  This year, inspired in part by the Alliums spray-painted blue after the flowers faded I saw during the 2017 Garden Bloggers' Fling, I decided to try leaving some nude Agapanthus stalks in place.  I haven't decided yet whether it's worth the effort of cleaning them up.  We'll see.  For now it's just an experiment.

Painting the seedpods would probably improve the color contrast but I've no intention of taking things that far.  The contrast may be greater when the stalks dry and the Xylosma hedge behind them is trimmed, producing a flush of fresh orange growth.

For more foliage follow-up posts, visit Pam at Digging.


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

Bloom Day - July 2016

With one notable exception, there aren't many large splashes of floral color in my coastal Southern California garden this July.  As I've mentioned ad nauseum, our horrific heatwave in June left destruction in its wake.  However, the Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) generally took the heat in stride despite their delicate appearance.  I credit the succulent stems and foliage that characterize the plants, particularly those that have been in the ground a year or more.

The top-heavy plants look somewhat ungainly in the backyard border.  I have to use supports to keep them from falling over.  The plants have as many as 6 stems, each of which can have a dozen or more flowers.

The newer Eustoma I put in as plugs in spring didn't fare quite as well in the heat as the pale pink varieties planted last year but they're providing spots of color here and there.

Clockwise from the left: The pale pink Eustoma planted last year (the 'Echo Pink' and 'Mariachi Pink' cultivars appear identical), a deeper pink plug planted this year, an unnamed blue form, a yellow form, and a green form

A few other plants have managed to put on a good show, albeit on a smaller scale.

Abelia x grandiflora is in full bloom

With regular deadheading, Achillea 'Moonshine' continues to produce new blooms, although not in the same abundance as the 2 prior months

Unlike the Anigozanthos (kangaroo paws) in the background, this one in the foreground withstood the heat, perhaps helped by the shade it receives in late afternoon

Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' shows no signs it even noticed the heat

And there are a few plants I can count on to bloom continuously from spring through fall (and beyond in some cases).

These include, clockwise from the upper left: Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', Gaura lindheimeri, and Grevillea 'Superb'

The Gazanias keep flowering too.  From the left: G. 'Strawberry Shortcake'. 'Sunbather Otomi', White Flame' and 'Yellow Flame'.

Finding other blooms beyond those requires a scavenger hunt.  I looked high and low.

The Magnolia grandiflora continues to produce a steady supply of blooms but they're best viewed from a distance.  I can get a close-up of the flowers only when blooms open on the lower branches.

Heteromeles arbutifolia (aka Toyon), designated the official native plant of Los Angeles County, is also in full bloom but most of the flowers are well beyond my reach

Not to be missed, the creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum 'Minus') planted between and around the flagstones throughout the backyard is blooming, to the delight of the bees who manage to ignore me as I tromp through the area

The blooms that dominated my garden last month are largely done.

There are just a very few Agapanthus and Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell' in  bloom

There were a few surprises.

Alstroemeria 'Claire' (left), which I thought was a goner after the heatwave, has produced some new flowers and Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin', which I cut back hard in early June just before the heatwave, has produced another burst of flowers

My latest plant crush, Phylica pubescens, has thrived in a pot on the back patio, although 2 plants in the back border were fried beyond recognition and show no signs of coming back

Beyond these, there was just a little of this and a little of that.

Top row: Catanache caerulea, Convolvulus with Brachyscome, and Duranta 'Sapphire Showers'
Middle row: Lavandula angustifolia, L. stoechas, and Osteospermum ecklonis '4D Silver'
Bottom Row: Nierembergia linearifolia, Leucanthemum x superbum (back from the dead!), and Salvia greggii 'Mesa Azure'

Top row: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', G. 'Gallo Peach', and Helichrysum italicum (aka curry plant)
Middle row: Leonotis leonurus, Jacobaea maritima, and Lantana 'Samantha'
Bottom row: Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard', noID P. peltatum, and P. hortorum 'Tweedle Dee'

I'm irrigating more.  Our water service provider allocates us a monthly water budget equal to 64 percent of the water used in 2013.  Anything that isn't used in a given month becomes part of the total water balance I have to draw on.  As my rainwater collection is gone, I've begin drawing against the savings I've accumulated.  If I'm lucky that may give me flowers to show in August.  In the meantime, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, the host of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, to see what's blooming elsewhere in the world this month.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - June 2016

My Southern California garden has benefited from the June Gloom that has kept the heat at bay thus far.   A heatwave is expected to arrive this weekend, however, and, although the coastal area in which I live should fare better than the inland valleys, I anticipate this may signal the beginning of the end for some of the flowers included in this post.  All the better reason to give them a moment of glory.

I'll start with the stars of my late spring/early summer garden:

Achillea 'Moonshine' has been blooming for at least 2 months now

The Agapanthus, which were just getting started last Bloom Day, now dominate the entire garden

Arbutus 'Marina' have some blooms most of the year but the trees are dripping with flowers at the moment

Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' is another year-round bloomer - the only time it isn't in bloom is following the severe haircut it gets in late winter

Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain' is continuing to strut its stuff in the front garden

The sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) surprised me by hanging onto into June this year

Leucanthemum x superbum (aka Shasta daisy) usually blooms on the same schedule as the Agapanthus, which is lucky as they make good partners

Magnolia grandiflora began producing its massive flowers early this year, to the delight of the bees

Salvia 'Mystic Spires' is living up to its name this month

My daylilies were slow to get started but have bloomed in fits and spurts this month.  I haven't had a mass of bloom in most cases but rather a steady production of a few blooms at a time.

Clockwise from the upper left: Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem', 'For Pete's Sake', 'Indian Giver', Russian Rhapsody', 'Persian Market' and what I believe is 'Sammy Russell'

In contrast, the large-flowered Grevilleas continue to produce blooms on a steady basis.

From the left: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', 'Superb' and 'Peaches & Cream'

A few plants, while not blooming in profusion, nonetheless deserve special mention for a variety of reasons:

The tall yellow-flowered Anigozanthos did me the honor or returning to flower for another year despite receiving less water than they'd like

My Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' finally did me the kindness of blooming even though it receives haphazard watering and is regularly battered by the wind here

The Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) have begun to bloom - although generally treated as annuals even here, many of my plants, like the one shown here, are holdovers from prior years

Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead), my latest plant crush, has produced dozens of flowers that look like miniature feather dusters

As I use my Bloom Day posts to keep a record of what's in flower each month, I'll end with a few collages showing the best of what I haven't already captured above:

Top row: Convolvulus sabatius (with no ID Brachyscome), Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick', and Felicia fruticosa
Middle row: Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', Linum perenne, and Lupinus propinquus
Bottom row: Phyla nodiflora (aka Lippia), Prunella grandiflora 'Freelander Blue' (with violas), and Scutellaria 'Violet Cloud'

Top row: Abelia x grandiflora, Achillea millefolium 'Appleblossom',  and Agastache 'Kudos Mandarin'
Middle row: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Gazania 'Sunbather Otomi', and Lantana camara 'Irene'
Bottom row: Origanum 'Monterey Bay' (with Scutellaria sufffrutescens), Pelargonium peltatum, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

Top row: Cotula 'Tiffendell Gold', Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' and Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach'
Middle row: Gazania 'White Flame', Jacobaea maritima, and Nandina domestica
Bottom row: Rhodanthemum hosmariense, Tagetes lemmonii, and Tanacetum niveum

Succulents in bloom include, clockwise from the upper left: Oscularia deltoides, Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Aloe 'Rooikappie', Crassula dubia (my best guess), Crassula pubescens ssp. radicans, and Delosperma cooperi 

Visit Carol of May Dreams Garden, the host of the monthly Bloom Day phenomenon, to get a look at what's blooming in other parts of the world.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party