Friday Miscellany

I've been busy with the garden for the past week but not at all focused, jumping from one activity to another.  As I did so, various sights caught my interest, if only temporarily, so I decided to consolidate them into a grab-bag post.

Staring out my home office window, I noticed some bright green spots on the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) and promptly went outside to investigate.  As background, this is a tree that spends a good deal of the year naked (except for the seedpods that it drops all year).  It doesn't leaf out until late April or early May and it begins dropping both foliage and flowers once in starts blooming in late June, returning to its naked state in October.

Here's what the tree looks like at the moment when viewed from a distance

So what's happening here?!

When I first noticed the green foliage, all I could see were green leaves.  The stems started to develop a couple of days afterwards, when I took this photo.  It looked so odd and so unlike anything I'd seen the tree do before that I briefly wondered if some other plant had colonized the tree's trunk.

But no, yesterday I found signs of more conventional stem development on a couple of the tree's higher branches.  Still, the fact that it's leafing out almost 4 months ahead of schedule is very odd.

Perhaps the fact that we've had the driest start to our "rainy season" since 1930 has the tree acting as if we've leap-frogged winter into spring?  Or perhaps it overheard me talking to the arborist about cutting it back or even taking it out?  It remains to be seen whether the fresh green foliage will be short-lived or the start of a trend.

Meanwhile, across the street, the tree that MDN of Un jardin en clima subtropical húmedo identified for me as Melia azedarbach (aka Chinaberry or Persian Lilac) is positively glowing.

Right now, the tree's foliage almost matches the new paint color of the house just up the hill from it, barely visible in the background here.  Unlike my fig tree at the bottom of the back slope, I also noticed that the one here next to the Melia azadarbach still has some lovely yellow leaves, whereas mine dropped the last of its leaves during October's extended heatwave.

Back in my own garden, our citrus trees look to be headed for a banner year despite the woeful lack of rain.

The noID Mandarin orange tree is loaded with fruit, still not quite ripe but getting there.  We're already eating some of the Washington navel oranges, which are nearly the size of grapefruits and so much tastier than the fruit bought at the supermarket.  The lime tree (far right) is bearing well too but its fruit is less visible.

And our lovely lemon tree remains the best feature of the back slope.  Despite my massive giveaway of fruit several weeks ago, there's still plenty on the tree.  This tree bears continuously year-round - the only time we were without ripe lemons was the year following the the intense heatwave in June 2015, when all the fruit dropped as the temperature suddenly hit 106F.

I've even paid a couple of visits to my local garden centers since Christmas and, although they've yet to restock after clearing out their Christmas trees, I managed to find sufficient items of interest to liquidate the gift cards I received as Christmas presents.  Most of those purchases have gone into plants for the new lath house, which I'll share at another time.  However, I saw some interesting cacti on one recent trip, which I thought I'd share.

This is Opuntia subulata montrose 'Gumbi'.  I'd never seen an Opuntia sporting bright colored foliage reminiscent of Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire' before.

The garden center also stocked several of 'Gumbi's' relatives, including this one labeled as Christmas Tree Cactus

And this hybrid (Opuntia vestita x subulata), labeled as Opuntia hybrid crest 'Roller Coaster'

This plant was also new to me.  It's Pereskia grandiflora violacea.  My photo doesn't do the flower justice.  All these plants were under a shade structure that made them difficult to photograph.

Unlike some of my favorite bloggers, I shy away from true cactus, especially the really prickly kinds.  However, I found myself repeatedly thinking about this plant, Pilosocereus azureus, after I left the garden center.  This photo doesn't fully capture its ethereal blue color.  After looking it up on-line I'm even more covetous.  But it was expensive and it apparently grows rather quickly to 12 feet tall.  Perhaps, if I can find a window-sill size plant to start with, I'll try it one day...

That's my wrap up for the week.  Enjoy your weekend!


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

Visit to Huntington Gardens - Part 2

Last week I posted photos taken of the Chinese and California sections of the The Huntington Botanical Gardens in late May.  Although my husband and I didn't get to all 12 of the gardens, we did stroll a few more.  This post is dedicated to the Australian and Desert Gardens.

I can't say that we covered the Australian Garden in any depth.  It was more along the lines of a walk through the area on our way to the Desert Garden.  Despite my love of Australian plants like the Grevilleas and Leucadendrons, I've never really given this area its due, an error I've yet to remedy.  That's not to say that the collection doesn't contain beautiful specimens, however.

Clockwise from the left: Anigozanthos (aka Kangaroo Paws), Bignonia capreolata, Bougainvillea glabra, Coprosma repens 'Tapata Gold' and Eremophila 'Summertime Blue'

Cassia tomentella, which I initially took for a golden chain tree

I couldn't find a label for this tree-sized shrub but I'm assuming that it's a Vitex

The Desert Garden grabbed more of our attention.  Thankfully, it remained overcast and pleasantly cool throughout our entire visit, which allowed me the luxury of taking a LOT of photos.  (You've been warned.)

We didn't need a sign to tell us when we'd arrived in the Desert Garden

I wasn't good at checking for name tags and not everything had a tag.  Opuntia and Echinocereus grusonii (golden barrel cactus) occupy the foreground here with what I think is a saguaro cactus (Carnegiea) in the middle.  It looks as though we just missed out on seeing the latter in bloom.

I skipped by this path, intending to come back, but never did

Chilopsis linearis (aka Desert willow) in the middle of a bed of Senecio

Euphorbia xantii in bloom - you can get an idea of the plant's size by comparing it with the bench sitting in the path in the photo on the left

More golden barrel cactus (the garden has 500!) sit between a flowering Aloe and some variety of Puya here.  An agave with the bloom stalk that signals its demise can be seen behind the Puya on the right.

The fabulous turquoise Puya alpestris was in bloom, drawing a crowd.  (Yes, that color is real.)

A nice stand of golden barrel cactus is backed by what I think is Caesalpinia pulcherrima (aka Red Bird of Paradise)

There were a tremendous number of agaves, large and small, scattered throughout the garden.

Labels seemed to be uncommon when it came to the agaves so I'm mostly guessing in identifying these fine specimens.  Clockwise from the left, my guesses are: Agave americana 'Variegata'; A. parryi?; no idea but it's beautiful; A. gypsophila?; A. geminiflora?; A. parryi var truncata; and A. ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' (which had a label although it was one I could've identified on my own)

Large numbers of cacti and succulents were assembled in groups supported by rocks, which prompted me to think about what I could do with the west-facing slope at the front of our property.  (My next project perhaps!)

Echinopsis, Gymnocalycium and Notocactus, if the labels can be credited

A nice Agave victoriae-reginae

A collection of Mammallaria

The plants in the mid-section of this photo looked like agaves to me but the sign posted next to the one on the far right identified them as Ariocarpus retusus, which isn't a genus I'm familiar with.  Other plants here include Echinocactus, Mammallaria and Opuntia.

Pachyphytum, Opuntia and various agaves

Dudleyas are front and center here

Echinocactus (in flower), Echeveria, Aeonium 'Sunburst' and Crassula

Aloes and Euphorbias among others

Echeverias backed by Aeoniums

Echinocereus in vivid bloom

We passed some beautiful cycads on our way back to the the California Garden at the front entrance.  I remembered that the Huntington received a bequest of a large collection of cycads from Loran Whitelock following his death in 2014 and I wondered if these were part of that gift.

Cycads bordered by dark Aeoniums and backed by a stand of tall bamboo

I'm impressed if you made it all the way through this post.  I did take some other photos at the Huntington Gardens but I'm going to leave you here - at least until my next visit.


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

Wednesday Vignette: Cactus Garden at Lotusland

Lotusland is one of the most famous - and unique - gardens in Southern California.  On land purchased in the Santa Barbara area in 1941, Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish-born opera singer known as much for her scandalous love life as her singing ability, created a garden that reflected her varied plant interests.  Denise of A Growing Obsession has written about the garden several times recently, which tugged at my own recollections of the place.  My last visit, in 2008, was underwritten by a friend as a birthday present.  If I took photos, they've long ago disappeared.  However, by happenstance, I came across a file containing photos taken by my friend during that visit.  She prefers anonymity but she approved my use of her photos so I thought I'd share a few selections featuring Lotusland's cactus garden for today's Wednesday Vignette post, sponsored by Anna of Flutter & Hum.

This photo, taken at the entrance of the cactus garden with tall cactus looming in the distance and one of the garden's many fountains in the foreground, is among my favorites

Our tour was scheduled mid-day so many of the images are sun-drenched, but I still love the contrast here between the delicacy of the cactus flowers and the prickly cactus and stone mulch

 

Admittance to the garden is permitted by reservation only.  There is a significant entrance fee but the garden is well worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

Visit Anna at Flutter & Hum to discover what images have caught her fancy and the attention of other bloggers this week.


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

Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale

Last weekend, South Coast Botanic Garden hosted a plant show and sale sponsored by the local chapter of the Cactus & Succulent Society.  I poked my nose in during the second day of the event.  I was surprised to find so many show exhibits, nicely arranged by members.  I took dozens of photos but I'll show just my favorites.

Pachypodium collection

An eclectic mix

A grouping of various Euphorbia

Another mixed assortment

Mamillaria and other ball-shaped cactus

Matucana curryandensis

Mostly Gasteria and related hybrids

An interesting mix

This one didn't look real - it's Arbomeitiella brevifolia

Pedilanthus macrocarpus

But my favorite display had a whimsical note, if not the most unusual specimens.  It was entitled "Succulent Dining" and featured a table set with a variety of menu selections.

Roasted Chicken

Peking Duck

Roast Pork

Seafood

and, of course, a centerpiece

There were also some handsome individual specimens.

Dyckia 'Brittlestar'

Agave macroantha - I looked for this Agave on the sale tables but didn't find it

Gasteria-Aloe hybrid

I didn't take any pictures of the sales tables but, even on the second day of the event, there was a lot to choose from and prices were good.  Here's what I brought home:

Top row, from left: Agave stricta, Echeveria pulvinata 'Ruby,' and Sansevieria cylindrica
Second row: Dyckia 'Cherry Cola' and Huernia 'Red Ribbons'
Bottom: Euphorbia horrida

The Euphorbia was labeled E. horrida but I thought it looked a lot like this hybrid:

Euphorbia horrida x meloformis

I'll definitely attend the next show and sale.