Foliage Follow-up & Wednesday Vignette - May 2017

The blooms in my garden are very distracting at the moment and frankly I find it hard to see the foliage for the flowers but I took a look around and identified a few foliage specimens that I could get excited about, even if I've featured some of them before.  The first were the Aeonium arboreum cuttings I planted on the front slope, originally as filler after removing several of the Ceanothus shrubs that made up a hedge in that area.  As more of those shrubs failed and were removed, I filled in with more and more Aeonium cuttings until they became a feature.  All originated from a few cuttings a friend gave me soon after we moved into our current house almost six and a half years ago.

All these plants came from a single source of cuttings and all are planted in partial shade on the front slope.  Some are currently redder than others but I expect that's due to slight variations in the timing and degree of sun exposure.

Another early introduction to my garden was Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'.  My first specimen went into a pot but, entranced with its wispy foliage, I bought more and soon I was trying them in a variety of locations.  I lost one or two along the way (including the one that spent the first part of its life in a pot) but I currently have six of these plants.  After two and a half years, the last of those is finally bulking up nicely.

According to my records, this is the last 'Cousin Itt' I planted, circa November 2014

My oldest specimens, planted between October 2012 and April 2013, are more impressive.  I've featured them before but I thought I'd share before and after shots to show how far they've come.

The photo at top was taken in September 2014.  The photo on the bottom was taken this week.

The next plant that deserves mention is my much maligned mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin).  I inherited this tree with the house and, were not for its size, its placement atop my back slope, and its overall presence in my back garden, I'd replace it.  It's an extremely messy tree and for almost half a year it's bare of foliage.  Its blooms are pretty but they begin littering the patio and garden as soon as they appear.  The flowers are followed by seedpods that perpetuate the litter for another six months and produce seedlings everywhere.  However, when the foliage emerges and before the flowers appear, the tree is attractive.

Flowers will begin to appear within the next month but I'm enjoying the tree for now

It's unusual for me to say I prefer a plant without flowers rather than with them; however, the Albizia isn't the only instance in which that's true.  I'm no Morticia Addams* but I will cut flowers off certain plants.  Here are two examples:

Helichrysum thianschanicum'Icicles' with flowers (left) and after the flowers were removed yesterday (right)

While I don't mind the flowers on the green Santolina, the bright yellow blooms on the gray form (S. chamaecyparissus) bugged me so they got clipped this week too

This brings me to the end of the foliage follow-up portion of this post but visit Pam at Digging, the host for this monthly feature, for more foliage highlights as I segue to my Wednesday Vignette.

My one hesitation about cutting all the flowers off the Helichrysum and the Santolina was that it might disturb the pollinators in my garden; however, the bees seemed to have plenty of other plants to keep them happy, from the Hairy Canary Clover (Dorycnium hirsutum) growing next to the Helichrysum to the Salvia argentea growing near the Santolina.  If I had any remaining concerns about impacting the bees, the following scene unfolding in my garden on Monday afternoon put these to rest:

Early Monday afternoon, I received a message from a neighbor warning me with some alarm that she'd spotted a swarm of bees near the top of the stairs of my back slope.  I went to check and saw this mass of bees, as well as others flying all around the area.  Although the bees showed no interest in me, I still kept about 5 feet away.  I told the neighbor that I was going to leave them alone for the moment but promised that I'd continue to monitor the situation.

When I checked the area four hours later, it looked like this.  Although there were a few confused bees still flying about, there was no other evidence of the earlier swarm.  If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have known anything at all had happened.

The swarm is apparently a common spring phenomenon, arising when a bee colony divides, which may be the result of overcrowding.  If you're unfamiliar with the phenomenon, as I was, you can read more about it here.  The bee swarm photos are my Wednesday Vignette.  Visit our Wednesday Vignette host, Anna at Flutter & Hum, for images that caught the attention of other bloggers.

*I belatedly realized that I'd featured two members of the Addams Family in a single post - Cousin Itt and Morticia.  Cousin Itt was related to Morticia by marriage through her husband, Gomez.  I'm holding 'Cousin Itt' accountable for my temporary Addams Family fixation.

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

Bloom Day & IaVoM - May 2017

The garden is already switching into summer mode here, although thankfully the toasty temperatures we had in late April and early May have shifted back to spring-like levels in my area of coastal Southern California, if only temporarily.  I recently pulled out my Iceland poppies and my sweet peas, both of which suffered when the temperature soared and winds up to 30 miles per hour battered us for days.  I've planted Dahlia tubers and Zinnia and sunflower seeds in my cutting garden, which I hope will enjoy summer's heat when it returns.

This month, I'm featuring some of my favorite plant combinations for Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  I've also added a floral bouquet for In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden.  I've used collages in most cases but, be warned, this is still a photo-heavy post.

Only one of my large-flowered bearded Iris have bloomed thus far.  Iris germanica 'Haut les Voiles' is shown here with Alstroemeria 'Claire', Euphorbia 'Blue Lagoon', Anagallis monellii, and Lobelia erinus.

The mass of Achillea 'Moonshine' is probably the most dramatic element in my back garden at the moment.  Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' and Geranium 'Tiny Monster' (photo upper right) provide accents on one side while Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' and Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow' (lower right) offer accents on the far side.

Clockwise from the upper right, the bed adjacent to the back patio on the north side contains: Anigozanthos 'Yellow Gem', Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach' (shown with blue and yellow violas), Leucadendron 'Pisa', self-seeded California native  Solanum xanti, and Tanacetum niveum

This bed directly across from the previous one contains: a noID yellow-red Anigozanthos, Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', Lantana camara 'Irene', and Lobelia laxiflora.  After more than a year in the ground, Leucospermum 'Brandi' in the same bed still isn't blooming but at least the plant seems healthy.

I took the photo on the left from the dirt path just inside the hedge surrounding the main level of the back garden looking toward the house.  The bed in the foreground contains: the fading flowers of Pelargonium cucullatum 'Flore Pleno', Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa' and no ID Scabiosa (row, top right).  The bed in the background contains: Santolina chamaecyparissus, Lobelia valida 'Delft Blue', and Santolina rosmarinifolia (row, lower right).

The floral highlights of this area are (bottom row): Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl', Nierembergia linarifolia 'Purple Robe' and Ozothamnus diosmifolius

These photos show 2 sides of the arbor between my vegetable-turned-cutting garden and the dry garden on the northeast side of the house.  The vines in flower over the arbor are: dark pinkish-red Pelargonium peltatum, Trachelospermum jasminoides, and Pandorea jasminoides. 

I don't have a good photo that captures all of the blooms on the steep back slope but, clockwise from the left, the blooms there include: Bignonia capreolata (first 2 photos), a very happy artichoke, Centranthus ruber, Drosanthemum floribundum, Oenothera speciosa, and Romneya coulteri.  I inadvertently omitted photos of Pelargonium 'White Lady' and Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' but they're still in full bloom on the slope too.

There are also some heavy bloomers with a presence in spots throughout the garden.

Clockwise from the left: Dorycnium hirsutum (aka Hairy Canary Clover), Gaura lindheimeri, Gazania 'White Flame', Gazania 'Yellow Flame', Pelargonium peltatum, Pelargonium "Georgia Peach' (one of several of the Regal Geraniums currently in bloom), and noID Violas.

And, as usual, I have a few color collages of flowers I didn't manage to work into the preceding collections.

Top row: Aquilegia 'Spring Magic', Catananche caerulea, and Cynoglossum amabile
Middle row: Eryngium alpinum, Limonium perezii, and skunky smelling Plectranthus neochilus
Bottom row: Salvia 'Mystic Spires', Verbena bonariensis, and Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud'

Top row: Cistus ' Grayswood Pink', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', and noID Dianthus
Middle row: Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights', and Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset'
Bottom row: noID rose, Salvia lanceolata, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

Tow row: Aloe 'Rooikappie', noID Calendula, and thuggish Cotula lineariloba
Middle row: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire, Hemerocallis 'Elizabeth Salter', and noID Lonicera
Bottom row: Rosa 'Golden Celebration', Rosa 'Joseph's Coat', and Tagetes lemmonii

Finally, to close the Bloom Day portion of this post, here's a look at some of the blooms that signal summer's arrival here:

Clockwise from the left: the first of 200+ Agapanthus, Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lilies), Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Globularia x indubia (or what I call "hairy blue eyes"), dwarf Jacaranda 'Blue Bonsai', Leucanthemum x superbum, and recent purchase, Leucospermum 'High Gold'

Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens for more Bloom Days posts.

Those of you who follow my posts for IaVoM may be surprised that I'm offering only one vase this week.  Last week's yellow vase is still holding up well in my front entry so I've prepared just one vase inspired by the first blooms of the Arthropodium cirratum and Centaurea 'Silver Feather' for my dining room table.

From left to right, views of the vase from the front, back and top.  The vase contains: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea 'Silver Feather', Jacobaea maritima, Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa', Trachelospermum jasminoides, and Verbena bonariensis.

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see more vases created from materials on hand in bloggers' gardens.


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

In the cusp between seasons (& Wednesday Vignette)

Spring in coastal Southern California is rapidly giving way to summer's advance.  While temperatures have temporarily returned to spring-like levels after weeks in the upper 70s and 80s, spring blooms have been giving way to those more characteristic of summer.  Last week I noticed the first Jacaranda trees coming into bloom in my area.  Yesterday I noticed these trees were blooming everywhere.  My own garden is also showing signs of summer.  Buds have appeared on Agapanthus and Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) throughout my garden.

In December, I finally broke down and bought myself a dwarf Jacaranda, 'Bonsai Blue', despite the plant's still exorbitant price-tag.  It's easier to fit into my garden and won't create issues with neighbors under my community's "view conservation" ordinance as the full-sized version could.  It isn't quite blooming yet but it has buds!

The first bloom appeared among the large collection of Agapanthus I inherited with the garden the week before last but other buds are close to following

Achillea 'Moonshine' provided perhaps the most dramatic evidence of summer's arrival, with flowers bursting into bloom seemingly overnight in the backyard borders last week.

Just as suddenly, the first-ever blooms appeared on the Santolina I planted in November 2015.

Santolina chamaecyparissus with its gray foliage can be seen in the foreground on the right and green-leaved S. rosmarinifolia is visible in the middle of the photo

Meanwhile, after a couple of weeks of high temperatures and drying winds, my sweet peas took an abrupt nose dive.  I pulled them all out, added compost to the raised bed, and planted sunflower and Zinnia seeds to greet the summer season.

As our spring gives way to summer, I was sad to note that there's been no sign that my Itoh peony is going to bloom this year despite the gift of winter's heavier-than-usual rains.  It also seemed that my bearded Iris were destined to disappoint me again this year.  A dwarf variety bloomed on my back slope when I wasn't looking but the taller bearded Iris planted elsewhere in the garden showed no sign of doing anything.  Then, late last week, I noticed a bloom stalk on a single plant in one of my backyard borders.  And yesterday morning, I found this:

This is Iris germanica 'Haut les Voiles'.  Planted in 2012 and moved in 2015, it stopped blooming during the height of our drought, like virtually all of my bearded Iris.  Dare I hope that some of the others will bloom as well?

The Iris stands as my Wednesday Vignette, a salute to spring's performance or a nod to the incoming summer season - see it whichever way you wish.  I'm just happy to see it show up.  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


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