Flourishing Foliage

While not entirely absent, floral color is subdued this time of year, even in my part of the world.  It's foliage that makes a statement.  I did a circuit of the garden to scope out what needs to be cut back (a lot!) and took some photos in the process.

If you read my posts this past July, you may remember how distressed I was following the horrific heatwave when our temperature reached 110F/43C.  Among other things, my Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' were scorched, those shown here in particular.  They recovered and, with just a little cosmetic pruning, they're looking better than ever.

The 'Cousin Itt' in the back garden also recovered.  The 3 plants here are so robust I've had to cut them back just to keep them from swallowing everything around them.

Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' was one the plants nearly engulfed by 'Cousin Itt'.  I cut her free this week.

This is a long view of the succulent bed on the south side looking west from the back garden.  This area of the garden is still very much a work in progress but I'm gratified to see that several of the 'Blue Glow' and 'Blue Flame' Agaves have finally gained substantial size. 

This is one of 3 Agave americana medio-picta 'Alba' given to me as pups by Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden in 2016.  This one is nicely accented by a silvery Maireana sedifolia in the background.

The bed opposite the south side succulent bed shown above is dominated by Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' sporting touches of red in its new growth.  It had effectively blanketed the small Aloes and Aeoniums under its skirts until I cut it back.  The feathery blue foliage of Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset' is still battling with Aeonium 'Kiwi' for space here.

In the front garden 2 varieties of Centaurea edge Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

Along the west-facing front slope, Aeonium arboreum, Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' and various other succulents spill out around another Pennisetum 'Rubrum', framing a peek-a-boo ocean view in the distance

A heavy marine layer, sometimes enveloping us in a morning cloud of moisture, has given the fuzzy leaves of Pelargonium tomentosum (aka peppermint geranium) a frosted look.  When dry, the leaves are an emerald green.  The close-up on the left shows the effect of my finger's touch on one leaf.

In the dry garden on the northeast side of the house, Agave vilmorinana and Agave ovatifolia are still cohabiting peacefully but there may come a time in which they'll be locked in a battle for space

I like how Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light', Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' and Hebe 'Purple Shamrock' have combined here.  However, this angle doesn't show the damage wrought by some creature in the center of the massed Erigeron.  (I suspect my arch nemesis, the raccoon.)

Tomorrow, December 29th, is my 6-year blogging anniversary.  I'm not planning a special post to recognize the occasion but I do want to take the opportunity to thank those of you who read my blog and those who comment, if only periodically.  You invited me into a world of garden enthusiasts I hardly knew existed and made me feel a part of it, for which I'm more grateful than I can put into words.  Thank you!


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

Foliage Follow-up: The Southwest Corner

When I went out to snap foliage photos for the monthly feature hosted by Pam at Digging, the first thing that caught my eye was the curtain of Agonis flexuosa (Peppermint Willows) lit up by the late afternoon sun on the southwest side of our property.

There are still some bare spots in the bed in the foreground, which was hit hard by the start-of-summer killer heatwave

That photo led me to focus my attention on the surrounding area.

This photo captures the same 2 Agonis and the nearby Arbutus 'Marina' from a different angle, looking south instead of west.  The remaining 2 Ceanothus shrubs, shown on the lower right, once formed part of a hedge but are declining just as the 3 we took out last year did.  In the near future, I expect I'm going to have to bite the bullet and remove these too.

This photo, taken from the left of the one before, shows Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' with Carex testacea at its feet, Duranta repens to the left, Agave 'Jaws' to the right and the same Arbutus in the background with Pennisetum 'Fireworks' nearby

The Leucadendron shown in the photo above, planted in November 2014, has grown a lot but it still has a way to go to catch up with the specimen I planted shortly after we moved in December 2010.

This Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' is on the northwest side of the house, NOT the southwest side.  I brought it from our former garden, where it spent its life in a pot until I plunked it in the ground not long after we moved in here.  It's well over 6 feet tall now.  (It's in its glory so I couldn't pass up a chance to show it off.)

Back to the southwest corner of the property, the dwarf Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' I planted around the small patio in that area has filled in nicely.

The dwarf Agonis were planted in September 2013 after we tore out the grass on the south side of the house, as were the Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey' on the right and the left.  The noID Aloe, Aeonium arboreum and Sedums in the foreground were planted more recently.  (Earlier plantings were routinely dug up by my raccoon friends.)

This is another view of the dwarf Agonis from the backyard looking west

In the upper right hand corner of above photo you can see Kalanchoe orgyalis (aka Copper Spoons), which has done well in a large pot.

The Kalanchoe sits outside the screened porch my husband built for our cat.  The succulent in the pot next to it is a new acquisition I picked up at my local botanic garden last weekend: Echeveria 'Raindrops'.

The raised dots at the end of each leaf account for its name

I'll conclude this foliage follow-up post with a shot of one of the groundcovers I've used extensively in the shadier areas of the southwest side of the garden.

Pelargonium tomentosum (aka peppermint geranium) can cover a lot of ground quickly under the right conditions.  Planted from cuttings, it's done particularly well in the shade, spilling down the front slope.  You can see it here threatening to engulf the Aeonium cuttings I planted below.  Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is visible above, as is the Durata shown in an earlier photo.

For more foliage coverage, visit Pam at Digging.


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

In a Vase on Monday: Peppermint Packs a Punch

I really hadn't a clue what to cut for a vase this week.  We've had a cold snap, with nighttime temperatures closing in near freezing but never quite reaching that point.  But that's cold for us!  While I had no damage here, there were no new flowers bursting forth demanding their moment of glory in a vase either.  I clipped a flower here and a flower there but nothing clicked.  I briefly thought of just stuffing what I had in a vase and calling it done but then I though of the Euryops 'Sonnenchein' tucked down in the area I call my glen.  On the way to clip a few stems, I passed the Pelargonium tomentosum, also known as peppermint geranium, which I'd previously thought of using in one of my Monday-morning vases but hadn't.  Those additions changed a sad arrangement into this:

Very cheerful, don't you think?  Here's what I included:

• Ageratum houstonianum 'Blue Horizon
• Anemone coronaria 'Mona Lisa Deep Blue'
• Aster x frikartii 'Monch'
• Euryops 'Sonnenschein'
• Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender)
• Leucanthemum x superbum, ruffled variety
• Pelargonium tomentosum

The Ageratum looks much better than it did when I planted it last April

The Anemones also like the colder weather

I bought a second Aster in November and wish I'd picked up a third

The Euryops flowered with a flourish within 2 weeks of our early December rainstorms

The ruffled Leucanthemum, a gift form a friend more than 3 years ago, are slowly making an appearance

The peppermint geranium (Pelargonium tomentosum) can hold its own in a vase

The arrangement captured Pipig's interest for a nanosecond, albeit not long enough for me to catch a photo of her inspection.  She was quickly diverted by something outside I could neither see nor hear.

With thanks again to Julie at Gardening Jules for the new moniker, I also have an "experimental vase" this week:

Senecio cineraria and Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geranium)

(Julie, I finally looked into how to shrink the size of the photos used in my posts so let me know if this post loads more easily for you.)

These are my contributions this week to Cathy's challenge to construct a vase from materials in one's own garden.  Visit her at Rambling in the Garden to discover what she's found and what other contributors have to offer.  Although we complained mightily about the cold here in Southern California, it has been a lot colder in other bloggers' gardens so some participants are pushing the limits to come up with creative options (if the ground around them isn't covered by snow).  As for us, daytime temperatures are expected to get back up close to 80F (26C) by mid-week.


 All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

My favorite plant this week: Pelargonium tomentosum

My favorite plant this week is an old standby, Pelargonium tomentosum, commonly known as peppermint geranium.  What's not to love?  It's soft and velvety - very touchable.  It has a delightful scent.  It spreads to form a lovely groundcover but it's not aggressive.  It roots easily, allowing me to establish new plants when I need them.  It tolerates a degree of dryness in the shade.  It even flowers.

I have the plant scattered in various spots on the south side of the house.  Although I've tried it in full sun, it does better in partial shade here, where it can get very hot during the summer months.  In its native habitat in South Africa it flourishes in moist sandy soil but I've found it to be moderately drought tolerant here.

It's a low-growing spreader, reaching 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) tall and 3-4 feet (0.9-1.2 m) wide at maturity but it's easy to keep smaller with some judicious trimming.  I've propagated it using softwood cuttings but it's also easy to root in water.  It grows quickly and requires little in the way of maintenance but it's considered to be hardy only to 32F (0C), which means that it requires over-wintering indoors in colder climates than mine.

It's bright emerald color meshes well with other plants.

Here it mixes with Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata,' thyme, and Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid'

Here it borders Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' with the dwarf form of Helichrysum petiolare popping up in places

Pelargonium tomentosum is my contribution to Loree's weekly favorite plants post at danger garden.  Visit her to see her favorite this week and to find links to other gardeners' selections.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up - Drought Busters

My front lawn has been dug up and our front entry is now surrounded by more than 800 square feet (74 square meters) of bare dirt.  Dirt that, left untended, will sprout weeds and grass attempting a come-back.  I'm planning to haul in additional topsoil to create berms and improve the overall quality of my vast expanse of dirt.  A wide area around the Magnolia tree will be topped with decomposed granite and remain unplanted.  But the rest of the area will be filled by plant material that I hope will be far less thirsty than the unhappy lawn we previously had.

In considering what to plant, I've begun by looking at what has done well in my garden thus far.  I thought I'd use this foliage follow-up post, written in connection with the monthly meme sponsored by Pam at Digging, to highlight the foliage plants that have demonstrated their drought tolerance during my, admittedly short, stewardship of this garden.

Since I reduced my water usage, I've lost a lot of plants.  The healthy ones stand out dramatically in contrast to those holding on by their root hairs.  Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' is one of these.  As I went through my garden I was surprised just how good these plants look, especially those that have been in the ground for a year or more.  Last December, I commented that the 'Cousin Itt' I had in a pot looked better than those in the ground but the plants in the ground have taken off.  Perhaps they like drought.

This one looked spindly last December but it's got a healthy mop now

Despite competing with tree roots, this one's ready to take over a portion of the backyard lawn

The 3 plants in this border look better than any of the surrounding plants

I'm also impressed by the 3 Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' I planted last September.  Like the Agonis flexuosa trees that surround the property, 'Nana,' a dwarf variety, is taking the drought in stride.

One of the 3 Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' planted along the side yard patio

I've had mixed results with Phormium but P. tenax 'Atropurpureum' and P. 'Amazing Red,' which some sources indicate also belongs to the tenax species, have been the most reliable.

Crowded into a relatively small area along the driveway, this P. tenax 'Atropurpureum' is doing fine

I've been very pleased with this more diminutive P. 'Amazing Red' too - I now have 4 of them

Among the smaller plants, I've been impressed by the drought tolerance of Lomandra longifolia, a grass-like plant; furry Pelargonium tomentosum, also known as peppermint geranium; and Helichrysum petiolare 'Petite Licorice,' which spreads in my garden with relative abandon.

I now have 9 Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' - I pick up one or more every time I come across them in small pots

The peppermint geranium can get by with less water in partial shade (it's certainly doing better than the nearly dead foxglove next to it in this picture)

The gray-leaved Helichrysums are astounding performers in the sunny, dry areas of my garden but I prefer the fine-leafed variety, which I inherited with the garden, even though it plants itself wherever it likes

I've acquired quite a few Leucadendron in the past 3 years as well.  One, L. 'Wilson's Wonder,' moved in with me - it exploded in size when I removed it from the large pot I had it in at our old house and put it in the ground here.  I've purchased half a dozen more Leucadendron since then, most of them hybrids of L. salignum.   I haven't had any problems with them until L. 'Rising Sun,' planted in March, died suddenly this month.

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' gets no attention other than an annual trim

Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' has been happy in my dry garden since January 2013 and L. 'Ebony' has sat at its feet for a year now

I'm still not sure what caused the rapid demise of L. 'Rising Sun.'  The 2 most likely culprits are phosphorus toxicity - plants in the Protea family are said to react negatively to phosphorus in soil or fertilizer - or Phytophthora root rot.  It looks more like the latter to me but I'm no expert when it comes to conducting a plant post-mortem.  Still, I'm going to test my soil before I plant a lot more Leucadendrons.  I think another L. 'Wilson's Wonder' might do very well in the front yard.

The sad L. 'Rising Sun' shortly before I gave up and pulled it out

You can find more foliage-focused posts by visiting Pam at Digging.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

October 2013 Foliage Follow-up

We don't get much in the way of a seasonal foliage color change in Southern California, at least not by comparison to the northeastern parts of the United States.  The only plant in my garden that's showing a definite color shift right now is the coral-bark Japanese maple planted in the vegetable garden alongside our garage.  Its tips tend to burn when the temperatures soar but, in its current placement, it gets full sun only in the morning, which helps to reduce the leaf scorch.

Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' in the morning sunlight

Close-up of the Japanese maple's leaves, now shifting from light green to an apricot color

Other plants showing similar coloration unrelated to the seasonal changes in temperature and day length include:

Agonis flexuosa 'Nana,' with new growth in an orangey pink

Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire,' which develops a bright salmon-pink color in full sun

The gray-leaved plants look good regardless of the season.

The artichoke in the half-barrel in my vegetable garden is finally gaining size

I still have some reservations about this combination of Helichrysum petiolare 'White Licorice' and Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' - the Helichrysum constantly threatens to overwhelm the grass and other nearby plants

I have no reservations about Stachys byzantina 'Helen Von Stein,' my favorite form of lamb's ear

Other foliage that caught my eye during my garden rounds included:

Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey,' which is at risk of being swallowed up by the rampant growth of the Pelargonium tomentosum (aka peppermint geranium).  I think the latter is enjoying the extra water I've been giving the new plants nearby a little too much.

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star,' in the border along our living room windows - this slow-growing plant looks identical to a plant I saw labeled as a Strobilanthus at a nearby nursery

Schlumbergera x buckleyi (aka Christmas Cactus), showing the beginnings of tiny flower buds

Solenostemon scutellariodes 'Electric Lime Coleus' and 'Mocha Mint Coleus,' which made it through the summer heat relatively unscathed

That's it for this month's foliage round-up.  Please visit Pam at Digging to view her foliage picks for the month and to find links to other gardeners' selections.