In a Vase on Monday: A Do-over

Even though several commentators had a favorable impression of the second arrangement I presented last week, I wasn't at all happy with it.  Starting with the same silver foliage of Centaurea 'Silver Feather', I decided to attempt a do-over this week.  While I'm not exactly over the moon about it, I'm more satisfied with this version than last week's creation.

One stray Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) flower opened last week so it received pride of placement front-and-center

Much as I love Lisianthus, I almost prefer this back view of the arrangement, which emphasizes the beautiful foliage of 'Silver Feather'

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Hebe 'Purple Shamrock', Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum', Persicaria capitata, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre', Eustoma grandiflorum, and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush'

With flowers still in short supply, I stopped at one arrangement this week.  It's been a long time since I've done that but last week's first arrangement featuring a Phalaenopsis orchid, Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' and Mangave 'Bloodspot' bloom spikes, is still in near perfect condition and I have a few other vases also kicking around the house that I haven't shared online so I wasn't driven to create another arrangement.  For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Mostly Foliage

The heat switch has been stuck in the "on" position for over a week but we're expecting to move back into the 80s starting today.  I haven't been doing much more than watering the garden during the past week but, as I wandered about in the morning hours checking for evidence of heat stress, I took my camera with me.  After a Bloom Day glut of flowers, I focused most of my attention on foliage.  I thought I'd share some of what looks good, as well as a few recent losses.

After focusing my camera on the Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in the center of this shot, I pulled back for a wider view of the area, which may be the greenest section of my garden at present

When it's really hot I pay more attention to the plants that provide shade.  My initial focus was the peppermint willows, Agonis flexuosa.  There are six of these trees in the garden, four of which filter the sun on the west side, providing a lacy curtain.

I was trying to get a good shot of the wispy Agonis leaves here but the trunk of the strawberry tree, Arbutus 'Marina', ended up front and center

I couldn't ignore that flashy bark even though I showed the bark of another Arbutus in a July post

I had the peppermint willows in the front garden cut back last year.  I may leave them alone during this fall's pruning cycle to get a better curtain next year.

The only annoying thing about these trees is that two of them are planted in the middle of the path that leads from the lower level of the front garden to the driveway

I have to squeeze along the path but, combined with the Xylosma hedge, the trees do a good job of screening us from the street

This peppermint willow stands on the northwest side of the property.  It was thinned last year too but I'll leave it alone this year as well.

Relatives of the peppermint willow trees, Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' provides some privacy on the south side of the house, although the dwarf shrubs offer little in the way of shade.  However, an overgrown Coprosma adjacent to the patio has helped out a bit in that regard.

I cut the three shrubs down to nearly a foot tall this past winter.  They're less than half the height they once more but they recovered well.

Pulling down the shades in our living room (in an effort to keep the house from heating up) allowed me to get a halfway decent shot of this Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey'.  It's an exceptionally pretty mirror plant with glossy leaves that range from lime green to burgundy.  I frequently use the stems in floral arrangements.

Grasses and grass-like plants also caught my attention.

I love this Pennistum advena 'Rubrum' combined with Centaurea 'Silver Feathers', especially when the grass sports its graceful plumes as it's doing now

This is Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', shown in two different areas of my garden.  Lomandra isn't a true grass but it creates the effect of one.

I admire foliage that adds color to the garden when my flowering plants start to take a step back.

I've previously grown Caladium in pots here but this year I planted the bulbs in the ground in semi-shaded areas by the front door.  The plant on the left is 'Creamsicle' and the one on the right is 'Debutante'.

This plant goes by the cumbersome name of Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star'.  It develops a tall, woody stem as it ages, even when periodically cut back.  I usually replace it when it gets this tall but my nursery rounds have been drastically curtailed this year and I haven't found starter plants.  When it's cooler, I'll try taking cuttings.

Other foliage stood out on account of its sheer resilience against the heat.

I've actively worked at ridding my garden of Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' and its thick masses of bulbous roots but I'm somewhat more favorably disposed to this 'Sprengeri'. The stems have an attractive foxtail form and it doesn't seem quite as invasive as 'Myers'.  It's also the only plant that's survived in this extremely dry spot, where even succulents struggle.

This is Phormium 'Tom Thumb', shown here mingling with Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' on the left and Cordyline 'Renegade' on the right.

Of course, not all is well.  Late yesterday afternoon, I noticed that one of my Helichysum 'Icicles' has suddenly turned a sickly beige, although the others look fine.  Heat contributed to the demise of a couple other plants as well.

This was Echium wildpretii.  I planted it in early February and it was looking good until about 2 weeks ago.  It was probably too dry for it here even though I made an extra effort to give it extra water.

Phylica pubescens (aka featherhead) has been in this bed for two and a half years, although I can't say it ever really thrived 

I don't think the heat had anything to do with the loss of the tree-sized Toyon, Heteromeles artbutifolia, on the south end of the garden but there's no longer any denying that it's dead.  The only question is whether I can continue to put off dealing with it until the fall when I usually have a tree-trimming service in for our annual pruning exercise.

It turns out that Toyons are sensitive to the same pathogen that causes sudden oak death.  It was a rapid transition from first notice that it was in trouble to this state of red-leafed suspended animation.

To conclude on a more positive note, I'm including a photo of my Yucca 'Bright Star'.  These plants get a lot of coverage in this blog and I hadn't planned to share another photo this month, until I noticed a new development.

The Yucca on the right bloomed months ago and now the largest of the trio planted in this area has a flower spike too

And, even though I intended to focus this post on foliage, I'm closing with photos of the latest dahlias to make an appearance in my cutting garden because I simply can't stop myself from doing so.

Clockwise from the top are Dahlias 'Labyrinth', 'Loverboy' and 'Enchantress'

I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures but poor air quality, the product of the mass of wildfires that have sprung up all over California, may still limit my time outside.  It looks like we're in store for another difficult summer season after all.

Best wishes for a safe and peaceful weekend.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - October 2017

It's a subdued October Bloom Day.  Some of the flowers I count on to make the biggest splash at this time of year are running late relative to the last 2 years, which I find strange as we were plagued by drought conditions and serious water restrictions in 2015 and 2016.  However, Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' bloomed right on schedule.

This year, Plectranthus 'Zulu Wonder' is keeping happy company with burgundy flowered Pelargonium peltatum (ivy geranium)

The late-comers, Barleria obtusa and Senna bicapsularis, have barely said hello but I expect they'll both be coloring up the garden within the next couple of weeks.

Barleria obtusa (bush violet) shows signs of wishing to take over various sections of my garden but, with healthy green foliage and masses of purple-blue flowers, I can forgive it almost anything

The first buds of Senna bicapsularis 'Worley's Butter Cream' opened just yesterday and, as the plant serves as host to sulphur butterflies, I expect to see them make an appearance soon too

Tagetes lemmonii is also late in making its regular fall appearance, probably due to tardy pruning, but the dwarf form is trying to make up for its absence with a carpet of bright yellow blooms.

The compact form is right at home at the base of Agave 'Jaws' and Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'

While Eustoma grandiflorum has moved on prematurely, leaving only a few blooms behind, Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' continues its long seasonal performance.

Two of the 5 purple fountain grass clumps in my garden

I discovered a few surprises on my rounds.

I inherited a few Anemone hupehensis japonica with the garden but they bloom only sporadically and in small numbers if at all

Salvia 'Mystic Spires' can be found in various areas of my back garden but this clump in a corner of my south side succulent bed, while short in stature, is the healthiest one in my garden despite the fact that I've almost entirely ignored its existence

This Tibouchina urvilleana (Princess Flower), also inherited with the garden, has produced more blooms this year than I can ever recall it doing in the 6+ years we've had the garden

The rest is bits and pieces of this and that.

Top row: noID Angelonia, noID Duranta (sold as 'Gold Mound'), Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' and Iochroma 'Mr Plum'
Second row: Lotus jacobaeus, Osteospermum '4D Silver', lavender Pelargonium peltatum, and noID Plumbago
Third row: Lavandula multifida and noID Leucophyllum
Fourth row: Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa' and Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

Top row: Achillea 'Moon Dust', Clematis paniculata, Eustoma grandiflorum, and Gazania 'White Flame'
Second row: self-seeded Gazania, Lantana 'Samantha', Leucanthemum x superbum, and Oncidium 'Wildcat'
Third row: Gaura lindheimeri, Hunnemannia fumariifolia, and Lantana 'Lucky White'

Top row: Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Arbutus 'Marina', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' and Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun'
Second row: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', G. 'Peaches & Cream', G. Superb', and Lantana camara 'Irene'
Third row: Leonotis leonurus, Mandevilla 'Sun Parasol Apricot', and Salvia elegans

Top row: noID Argyranthemum, Bauhinia x blakeana, Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', and dark pink Pelargonium peltatum
Second row: Pentas 'Graffiti Violet', noID rose, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'
Third row: Correa 'Wyn's Wonder', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', and the last of the Zinnias

I'll close with blooms of 2 of the prettier weeds in my garden.

Top row: tiny cream-colored blooms of Artemisia ludoviciana
Second row: the buff-colored blooms of Helichrysum petiolare 'Silver Mist'

That's it for my October bloom summary.  Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens for more posts celebrating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.


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

September Favorites

I'm once again joining Loree of danger garden in identifying the plants that earned my favor this month.  The exercise, which has me making the rounds of my garden to see what's doing well, is always useful in providing perspective.  This time, it also led to the discovery that my adversaries, the raccoons, had made their own extensive examination of my garden, in the process of which, among other things, I discovered that they'd dug up some of the bulbs I'd planted only days ago.  But they also left me empty snail shells here and there so I'm trying to see the yin and the yang of my relationship with them.  Everything's been tidied up again and, hopefully, they'll employ their skills elsewhere for a time and give me a break.

On to this month's favorites!

I've presented the large mass of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' that grows under the peppermint willow in my back border on other occasions but this time I'm sharing the 'Cousin Itt' growing elsewhere in my garden.  All took their time to beef up but I think I can now say they've reached a mature size.  The plant on the left, which sits underneath the Leucadendron 'Pisa' outside my home office window, is almost too enthusiastic and I fear it may someday swallow the plants surrounding it.  The plants in the middle and right-hand photos sit on opposite sides of a flagstone path that extends through the front garden.  If you look closely at the middle photo, you can see an exposed branch, which we were able to attribute to breakage resulting from a battle between 2 of my raccoon friends after viewing video from our security cameras.

As I've recently spent considerable time working on the succulent bed in front of our garage (described here), I'd plenty of time to admire the large, multi-trunked Agave attenuata I inherited with the garden.  Not only is it a beautiful specimen of its species, it's also the source of many of the pups I've cut and relocated to other parts of the garden.  As the photo on the right shows, there are more good sized pups available now, which I may soon move elsewhere.

I planted the 3 Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' pictured here just over a year ago.  They also took their time bulking up but, despite the hot, dry summer, they've finally taken off.  This is the first of the orange-flowered Cupheas I've tried that's done well.

Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' wins a spot on this month's list just because it's so darn pretty.  It blooms intermittently throughout the year.

I featured Gaura lindheimeri as a favorite sometime this past spring but, as it sprung back this month after a severe haircut in June, it deserves another mention.  Its flowers are among the most noticeable in my front garden at the moment.  In the late afternoon, the flowers tend to look sad but every morning the plants shine once more.

Leonotis leonurus is another plant that I cut back in June only to have it bounce back with a new flush of flowers in September.  The taller of the 2 plants shown here was inherited with the garden but it never before looked as good as it does this year.  I don't know if I can credit the hard pruning I gave it last year for its revival or our heavier-than-usual winter rains but I'm pleased by its rebirth (especially as I'd been close to digging it up and tossing it out).  The shorter plant was added last fall.

I featured Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' last month and warned that the plant would probably be even better looking in September.  It is so I'm showing it again.  There are 4 of these plants spaced at intervals along the moderate slope facing the street in the front garden.  You can see 2 in this photo.

Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' is just now coming into bloom.  While I grow the plant mainly for its quilted green leaves with purplish undersides, I love the graceful flowers too.  The mass planted by the back door grew from cuttings I brought from my former garden.  Although I've planted cuttings elsewhere, this is the only spot in which it's done really well; however, I'm trying it once again in a shady spot in the front garden. 

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star' always looks its best at this time of year.  I think it responds to the increased humidity we often get in late August and September as a by-product of the monsoonal rains in the desert areas to the east.  The plants do bloom but the flowers aren't nearly as colorful as the variegated foliage.

Salvia elegans, commonly known as pineapple sage, produced only a smattering of flowers all through the summer months but now it's finally blooming heavily.  I wonder if that's because I left the hose running there too long a couple of weeks ago?  In any case, both the bees and the hummingbirds love it.

Trichostema 'Midnight Magic' is a hybrid form of our native wooly blue curls.  The latter is an extremely finicky plant that I've killed twice.  This one is much more at home in a garden setting.  It flowers sporadically.

The 3 clumps of Zephyranthes candida (aka rain lilies) I planted years ago surprised me by blooming earlier this month without any rain.  Since then we've received light rain twice (tallying a whopping 0.15/inch) and the rain lilies have just kept producing new flowers.  Despite the common name linking their flowering to rainfall, it seems more likely that flowering is triggered by seasonal weather or light shifts as a review of old blog posts indicates they also bloomed in September last year.

That's it for this month's favorites.  Visit Loree at danger garden to find her picks.  And, if you'd like to see what's looking good across the pond right now, visit Chloris at The Blooming Garden.


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