Wednesday Vignettes: Spiky & Soft

Two garden vignettes struck my fancy this week so I'm sharing both as part of the Wednesday Vignette theme hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum.

The first is a photo taken of an Agave vilmoriniana (Octopus Agave) in my dry garden.  The shot was taken in the late afternoon from the slope side of my dry garden looking back toward the house, an angle not usually viewed by visitors.  I like the way the sun and shadows emphasize the curves of the agave's twisted leaves, as well as the way the colors of the surrounding plants play off one another.

The Agave is backed by trailing Lantana and a Gauva tree.  Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' is on the left and a water-stressed Limonium perezii and pink-flowered Cistus 'Sunset' are on the right.  (My 160-gallon rain tank, now full, can be seen in the distance alongside the house.)

The second vignette features Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' (aka purple fountain grass).  In the first photo, the sun picked up the soft fuzzy qualities of the flower plumes.  It's a gorgeous plant this time of year, when other plants are usually in full retreat from the sun and heat.  Like Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass), this plant has a reputation for being invasive in California but, unlike the former, I've seen absolutely no sign of re-seeding by this species in my own garden.

The Pennisetum is surrounded by silver Jacobaeus martima, currently sporting yellow flowers, with a Ceanothus hedge behind it and the foliage of Agonis flexuosa (peppermint willow) dangling down from above

In my second photo, the sun was fading on the horizon so the plumes don't shine as brightly but the plant in the foreground is nicely echoed by a second Pennisetum in the distance.  I cut the plant in the driveway back hard in winter and it still hasn't fully regained its former dimensions.

For other vignettes, from the garden and otherwise, visit Anna at Flutter and Hum.


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

Christmas Wreath

On a recent shopping trip with friends to Roger's Gardens in Orange County, I checked out the wreaths on display.

Wreath with Banksia - I thought the flowers were fake at first

Most years I buy an inexpensive Christmas wreath from the local garden center or tree lot.  Although they may have a few pine cones and a mix of greens, they're pretty plain.

This year's purchase, hung over the flagpole holder that came with the house

But I always add my own touches, usually a bow and Christmas ornament odds and ends.  This year, Sunset magazine featured wreaths with proteas and I thought maybe I'd use natural materials to embellish my wreath too (even if I didn't make the base from scratch).  Loree of danger garden added Leucadendron to her tree and I thought that was a good idea, especially as I have several of these shrubs in my garden.  I tucked in some Aeonium, Pennisetum setaceum and Heteromeles arbutifolia berries too.

My embellished wreath

In addition to a bow I've reused for years, I added succulents, berries and grass plumes cut from my garden as shown in close-up here

This close-up of the wreath's lower portion shows 2 varieties of Aeonium, stems of silvery Leucadendron 'Pisa' and cuttings of L. 'Wilson's Wonder' (I also used a few stems of L. 'Chief')

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' isn't as red as it was in summer or as yellow as it'll be later this winter but I was still pleased with the effect.  And, despite our recent rain (another inch from the storms yesterday and last night!), the wreath has held up well in a largely unsheltered area.  Do you use garden material to decorate for the holidays?


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

In a Vase on Monday: A little of this and a little of that

There's quite a bit in bloom right now during Southern California's "second spring" but it still wasn't easy to put together a bouquet this week.  Much of what's available doesn't combine well and most of the floral material has short stems, limiting what can be done with it.  So this week's vase has a little of this and a little of that.

The color scheme was set by the fluffy bloom of Calliandra haematocephala, also known as Pink Powder Puff.  I have several of these evergreen shrubs espaliered against walls.  They're sheared frequently to keep them from sprawling into walkways as they're prone to do, which means that I seldom get flowers so I was pleased to find this one.

How long the Calliandra flower will last in a vase is an open question

In addition to the Calliandra, the vase contains:

• Alstroemeria (no ID)
• Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'
• Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'
• Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'
• Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy'

The Alstroemeria stem was discovered by accident, hidden below the Cuphea

This Cuphea blooms all year - at least until I hack it back

The feathery plumes of the Pennisetum were beaten down by last week's rain but they recovered quickly

This Rudbeckia was a deeper red than most of the 'Cherry Brandy' in my front border

I picked a few flowers in a very different color range as well.  These ended up in one of my tiny vases.

This vase contains 2 varieties of Gaillardia, 'Goblin' and 'Peach Mesa,' as well as stems of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and Bougainvillea

Finding spots for this week's vases proved to be a challenge.  The vase I featured 2 weeks ago with Toyon berries and Gomphrena is still sitting on the dining room table, looking very much like it did in last week's follow-up photo.  And last week's vase containing the blue and white Eustoma is still sitting in the entryway, minus the yellow roses and the Prostanthera foliage.

So the first of this week's vases ended up on the fireplace mantle in the master bedroom and the tiny vase landed on a side table in the living room.

This week's vases were prepared as my contribution to Cathy's weekly meme at Rambling in the Garden.  Visit her blog to see what she has put together this week and what other gardeners have to offer.  As winter descends in many areas, gardeners are finding it more challenging to assemble vases but you can trust that quite a few have risen to the challenge.


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

Bloom Day - October 2014

The monthly floral celebration that is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, has sneaked up on me yet again.  With most of my available time absorbed in preparing the former lawn area in the front yard for planting, I've given very little attention to tidying up my garden, which makes picture-taking more difficult.  In addition, almost one month into the fall season, I'd normally have refreshed my garden beds but there's been no time for much of that either.

I took a look at last year's October Bloom Day post and, while some of the same plants are blooming for me on schedule this year, others are no-shows.  In some cases, as with my Coreopsis, Eustoma, and Osteospermum, my plants have already exhausted themselves (although I think the Eustoma is gearing up for a return visit).  Other plants, like my Acanthus mollis 'Summer Beauty' and Argyrantemum, haven't made an appearance since spring, which I attribute to the reduced irrigation associated with our drought.  Still others, like Centranthus ruber and Agapanthus appear disinclined to make the unseasonably early appearances they made last year.

With those disclaimers, here are the plants currently blooming in my garden, listed alphabetically by genus.

Ageratum houstonianium 'Blue Horizon' has perked up since the weather began to cool

Anigozanthos 'Bush Gem Yellow' is still blooming

I recently discovered that this Bougainvillea, on the back side of the hedge I thought represented our property line, is officially on our property

Camellia sasanqua has produced just a few tentative blooms thus far

Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' and Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' have been in bloom most of the year

Duranta erecta, in a pot, has responded to haphazard watering by blooming more this year

Flowers produced by an Echeveria (no record of variety)

Gazania 'New Day Yellow' blooming at the feet of Mexican feather grass

One of my most recent acquisitions, red and orange Gomphrena haageana

Grevillea 'Superb,' seated in front of Nandina domestica, is suddenly producing abundant blooms

Hebe 'Wiri Blush,' sitting in front of Phormium 'Dark Delight,' has produced a new flush of flowers

I'd planned to move this Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' but it won't stop blooming - it's on it's 3rd cycle this year

An unidentified Hoya I've had forever is blooming again despite repeated aphid infestattions

Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender) is hard to photograph but so are skipper butterflies

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' dried up a bit in the last heatwave

The flowers of Nandina domestica have been replaced by orange berries, which will gradually turn red (ignore the ugly air conditioning unit behind the shrub)

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' is doing its best to hide the bare dirt formerly covered by lawn behind it

Pentas lanceolata 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' has also produced a new flush of bloom

Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior' celebrates every October by bursting into bloom (although its foliage gets a little ratty)

Prostrate rosemary, almost always in bloom, plays host to bees all day

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' handled the recent heatwaves better than the rest of my Rubeckia, although the foliage on most of my plants doesn't look as good as this

Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) is another reliable October bloomer

Salvia 'Mesa Azure' looks better in person than it does in this photo

If dead-headed every 2-4 weeks, Salvia 'Mystic Spires' keeps on blooming

This dwarf Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) has lost its bushy shape and flopped over but I still love the sweet-smelling flowers

That's it for this month's bloom wrap-up from my little corner of coastal Southern California.  Carol  at May Dreams Gardens can connect you with other gardeners from all over the world with blooms to share.


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

In a Vase on Monday: Survivor Story

I'd hoped I might have Camellia sasanqua to use in my vase this week.  When the weather cooled a week ago, a few of these flowers began to appear in a shady area adjacent to my vegetable garden.  I also had a back-up plan: if there were too few Camellias, I could use stems of Tagetes lemmonii, which had also started to bloom in earnest.  Then, we got another heatwave.  The Camellias shriveled and even the moderately drought tolerant Tagetes, buffeted by the Santa Ana winds (aka "devil winds") that accompanied the heat, looked worse for the wear and tear.  So the search for flowers and foliage to fill this week's vase, prepared in connection with the meme sponsored by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, became another scavenger hunt.  The resulting vase is a mix of flowers that survived the heat and a few plants that love the heat, including one recent acquisition.

If this composition has a focal point, I suppose it's the Bougainvillea, a heat-loving plant.  Our red Bougainvillea, inherited with the house, has never been a vigorous grower but, it it were, my husband probably would have removed it by now as he considers this an "evil" plant.  This stems from the fact that the Bougainvillea at our former house grew about a foot a week and scratched his beloved electric car, which he'd lovingly converted from gas-power.  Removing those plants with their vicious thorns was a monumental exercise he isn't likely to forget.  However, this Bougainvillea isn't anywhere near as ambitious - it gets by with an annual trim (which I handle as I wouldn't trust my husband not to get carried away).

The Bougainvillea picks up the color of the single stem of Asclepias tucked in against it

The other elements in this week's vase include:

• Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Red'
• Gomphrena (no ID), probably G. haageana, picked up on a whim on a recent swing through a garden center
• Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder,' repeating last week's performance
• Pennisetum setaceum 'Fireworks'
• Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon'
• Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy)
• Zinnia (no ID), one of the few seedlings which survived on nominal infusions of water this summer

The new Gomphrena came in red and orange so I got a few of each

The red-tinged bracts of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' almost look like flowers

The furry flowers of Pennisetum 'Fireworks' appeared with the heat

I picked the least scrappy looking Copper Canyon daisies to add a whiff of their delicious scent to the vase

I cut one of the few remaining Zinnia in my garden

I cut a variety of other floral and foliage survivors that didn't make the final cut, including Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) and Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark' (aka snake flower and cat's tail).  These ended up in another vase with single stems of coleus and the yellow form of Russelia equisetiformis.

The main vase landed in the foyer.

These are my contributions to Cathy's popular weekly meme focused on flowers gathered from one's own garden.  Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see her creation and to find links to posts by other contributing gardeners.


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