May: Glory Days in the Garden

March, April and May are the very best months in my garden; however, March is usually the month that I experience my twirl-in-the-garden reaction to the wonders of Spring.  I didn't feel that moment in March this year, nor April either.  That may have been a reaction to the pathetically low rainfall we received during our winter rainy season and apprehension about what the summer would bring.   Flowers bloomed but less profusely than last year and prior years in general.  Fruit trees failed to produce buds.  The mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) has failed to leaf out at all and shows all the signs of infestation by the shot hole borer killing trees throughout Southern California.  The mimosa tree still looks like a goner but a long, nearly continuous stretch of "May Gray" weather has provided relief.  The drizzle that's accompanied it on some days even racked up a total of 8/100ths of an inch of precipitation in this location, 3/100ths of that this morning alone.  That's admittedly not a lot but, when your annual rain total (for the rain year beginning October 1, 2017) stands at 3.78 inches, it's appreciated nonetheless.  So mid-May finally brought that feeling of utter joy I associate with Spring.  I'm celebrating it by sharing a few wide shots of my garden and belatedly joining Chloris of The Blooming Garden in sharing my top 10 blooms for the month of May.

Since I returned from the Austin Garden Bloggers' Fling in early May, there have been only 2 truly sunny days.  This photo of the back garden taken last Friday morning facing the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor was one of them.  Most days, we get at least a couple of hours of clearing by late afternoon but we've occasionally been socked in all day.

This is the view of the back garden looking north from the main patio area.

Two of my favorite May bloomers, both members of the Protea family, are visible here

The first is Leucadendron 'Pisa'.  Its "flowers" are actually bracts surrounding cones.  They literally glow against the tree-like shrub's silvery foliage.

The blooms of Leucospermum 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi' are still relatively sparse but as this is the first year the plant has bloomed since I planted it in March 2016, I'm thrilled

The views of the back garden looking south reveal other favorites.

The moderate gloom on the morning I took this photo was generally great for photographs, although the yellow flowers of Achillea 'Moonshine' blend in with the foliage of Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' here

The Achillea shows up better in this photo, taken early yesterday evening

Favorite flowering plants in this area include the following:

Achillea 'Moonshine' lights up the back border in late Spring/early Summer and balances the blue of the Agapanthus, which are just now beginning their bloom cycle

A few Alstroemeria are still blooming but 'Indian Summer' is the most vibrant.  I draws my eye even when I'm inside the house.  Its dark foliage gives is extra zing.

I had the devil of a time time reducing my favorite blooming plants to 10 but Ozothamnus diomifolius (aka rice flower) made the cut.  It looked terrible last year and I debated pulling it out entirely before cutting it back dramatically.  It's made a great comeback.

The front garden is also looking lush.

Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' is living up to its name right now, showing off nicely against the chartreuse foliage scattered about

Dorycnium hirsutum (aka Hairy Canary Clover) is doing a nice job as a ground cover along the edge of the driveway.

Hairy Canary Clover is attractive in and out of bloom.  The flowers are drawing bees now.  The plant self-seeds but it isn't a pest and I've used it widely throughout the garden in areas that are particularly dry.

Looking southward at the front garden from a different angle brings another of this month's favorite blooming plants into view.

The flower spires of Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira'  are just visible behind Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' on the right

Variegated 'Star of Madeira' is blooming about one month later this year than it did last year and well behind Echium webbii in the back garden.  Luckily for the bees, as the flowers on the latter shrub fade, they've been able to move to the fresh flowers on 'Star of Madeira'.

From the south end of the front garden looking north back toward the driveway, you can see not only the Echium but also one of my favorite Pelargoniums.

Pelargonium 'Oldbury Duet' is scattered to the left of the path

'Oldbury Duet' is flowering especially well this year.  In contrast, Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus), also shown in this photo, seem reluctant to bloom at all.  Although Lisianthus has over-wintered for me in prior years, most of last year's plants failed this winter, possibly due to our paltry rain.  I've added lots of new plugs this year but, thus far, I've had just a couple blooms.

The wide shots I shared above hid only 2 of the blooming plants on my top 10 list for May.

Planted in the front garden on the far south side outside the cat's screened porch, I love Salvia lanceolata (aka Rocky Mountain Sage), a South African native, for its quirky flowers.  Its gray foliage has a lovely satin texture.

Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium) is a very common plant here but it's never sold as the climber it's shown itself to be in my garden.  I brought this plant from my former garden and planted it as a ground cover at the base of an existing vine (Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba') in what's now my cutting garden.  I cut it back hard last year but it's climbed right back this year.

Visit Chloris at The Blooming Garden to see her top 10 list for May and to find links to other top 10 choices.


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

In a Vase on Monday: The heat is on!

Our temperatures soared above 90F (32+C) this past weekend and the Santa Ana winds returned, stressing both the garden and the gardener.  Unlike our earlier bout with heat a few weeks ago, it didn't cool down significantly at night and the marine layer characteristic of this time of year, known locally as "May Gray," was a no-show.  So, instead of an open-ended journey of discovery, this week's Sunday foray into the garden in search of plant material for "In a Vase on Monday" was more of a search and rescue operation.

My biggest concern was the foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) in my cutting garden.  I've already pulled out my sweet peas and Iceland poppies to make room for sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias.  The sweet peas and poppies began blooming in February so they had a decent run before the earlier heat spell withered them in place.  On the other hand, the foxgloves didn't begin blooming until the latter part of April so I've been reluctant to pull them out, even if they're no longer looking their best.  I chose the stems least marred by the heat for my vase.

The foxglove stems aren't as tall or voluminous as those I cut for earlier vases

The back view is much the same as the front

Top view

Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: Digitalis purpurea, Ocimum hybrid (aka African blue basil), the last of the Matthiola incana (aka stock), and Ozothamnus diosmifolius (aka rice flower)

I had more fun with the second vase, which utilized summer blooms.  The Renga Lilies (Arthropodium cirratum) are all in full bloom now and I had longer stems to play with this week.  My Shasta daisies are also making their first appearance this year, joined by an unexpected flush of flowers I hadn't expected to see until much later.

The blooms on Aster chilensis 'Purple Haze', now classified as Symphyotrichum chilensis, were utterly unexpected  

The gray foliage plant, shown here in the back view of the vase, is a bit of a mystery. Seedlings of what looked like lamb's ear appeared in various spots in my garden in late winter and, although the leaves are narrower than the Stachys byzantina I've grown elsewhere, I concluded that it must be that.  I transferred the seedlings to the cutting garden.  Now I'm not so sure.

Getting a top view of this arrangement was tough.  I had to stand on a chair to get this photo and still wasn't tall enough.

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Arthropodium cirratum, Symphyotrichum chilensis 'Purple Haze', Globularia x indubia, Leucanthemum x superbum, the plant that may or may not be Stachys byzantina, and Tanacetum niveum

Here's a look at the purported lamb's ear in my cutting garden.  If you have any other guesses as to what it might be, please pass them along.  I don't think its a sage - it has no scent.  It feels like lamb's ear but the leaves have remained narrow.  It's also grown quite tall without developing any sign of flowers.

Our heatwave is expected to last another couple of days but the marine layer is back full-force this morning, which should at least moderate our temperature along the coast.  I can almost hear the garden sigh with relief - or maybe that was just me.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, our "In a Vase on Monday" host, to see what other gardeners have used in their vases this week.

The finished vases in their places

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

August 2016 Favorites

It's the last Friday of the month, when Loree of danger garden calls for gardeners to celebrate the plants that earned their favor this month.  August is a month when the plants here hunker down and wait for better days so finding stand-outs isn't easy.  Even though our summer temperatures have been milder than they were in late June and extra irrigation has generally perked things up, the plants I'm drawn to at the moment are mostly those I've already featured within the last few months.  But a few plants are deserving of notice.

Ozothamnus diosmifolius, planted in November 2015, is finally living up to my expectations.

The Australian native isn't in flower at this time of year but I really didn't buy it for the flowers

I love its erect form which makes me think of a miniature pine tree

Also known as rice flower, it's often grown for its flowers, shown here in a photo taken back in April

Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', planted in January 2013, fulfilled its promise long ago while its companion, Leucadendron 'Ebony', planted some 8 months later, has been slower to develop.  The two are finally beginning to play off one another as I'd envisioned.

Leucadendron 'Ebony', a sport of L. 'Safari Sunset', has gained size at last this year, although its growth is uneven.  At maturity, 'Ebony' should grow 3-4 feet tall, or about half the height of 'Chief'.  I trim  'Chief' back each year but have yet to trim 'Ebony'.

L. 'Chief' makes great use of the late afternoon sunlight

In contrast, L. 'Ebony' is dark and moody

Lantana camara 'Irene', planted from 6-packs in May 2015, is at last providing the pops of color I'd imagined around the base of the Pennisetum in the back garden.  Although it's a drought tolerant plant, it needed the boost it got from additional irrigation to produce more than a flower here and there.

Lantana camara 'Irene' has pretty multi-colored flowers which play off both the reddish pink of the Pennisetum 'Fireworks' to the left and the orange Agastache behind.  Hibiscus trionum (to the right) recently made a surprise reappearance after dying off last year.  Considered a noxious weed in some areas of the country, it doesn't present an issue here.

The succulents can be depended upon to look good year round but two earned special recognition this month.

Crassula perfoliata falcata (aka airplane plant) produced its first bright red bloom

Although relatively small, Agave parryi patonii draws my attention every time I pass it.  I love those exaggerated leaf imprints.  It's produced a couple of pups but I don't think I can manage to get them out intact without digging up the entire plant.

Unfortunately, I also had a major loss this month.  My Leucadendron galpinii, a relatively recent purchase, dropped dead in record time.

It lasted less than 2 months in the backyard border, despite the extra water I provided to help it get established

I was excited to find this plant in a one-gallon container for the first time and, perhaps foolishly, decided to go ahead and plant it in the backyard border in July rather than waiting for more hospitable weather.  Even more foolishly, I planted it in the same location as the Adenanthos sericeus I'd lost earlier.  Tracing the history of plants in this area, I realized these aren't the first losses in the same area.  I previously lost both a Prostanthera ovalifolia and a Philotheca myporoides in the same general vicinity.  Based on my (somewhat patchy) records, all seem to have expired relatively quickly.  I'm going to test the soil to see if that provides clues to what's going on.

So as not to end on that sour note, here's a photo of the lovely Pennisetum 'Fireworks' in my back garden.  I think they look even better than they did in last month's favorites post.  Pop over to Loree's site for more August favorites.

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