A little planting, a lot of weeding

Feeling as though what passes for winter here may be over already, I've started doing some spring planting.  However, whatever time I spend on those activities is eclipsed by the time I've been spending on weeding.  I blame the warm temperatures for the sheer volume of weeds everywhere I look.   It was 84F (29C) yesterday and, with the Santa Ana winds expected to begin blowing again, it could be warmer still today.

All my recent efforts in the garden have been small in scope, mostly focused on filling minor gaps.  The area in front of the Ceanothus in one section of my back border, where I'd previously plunked Aeonium cuttings, was bugging me and, seeing how well sea lavender (Limonium perezii, aka statice) was doing elsewhere, I decided to try it there in place of the larger Aeonium arboreum.

I placed one small Limonium perezii behind my Ginkgo tree 2 years ago and it's now massive, despite no attention whatsoever from me

My local garden center was selling the plants in 6-inch pots last week so I picked up 3 after pulling up 3 clumps of Aeonium arboreum, one of which was already blooming.  I left the Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' cuttings in place, as well as several vincas (Catharanthus 'Blueberry Kisses').  I cut the vinca back almost to the ground - it may or may not spring back.  I also left the Mangave 'Pineapple Express' pups in place to see whether they or the Ceanothus itself would be the first  to cover up the shrub's bare base.

The vinca (Catharanthus 'White Peppermint') I'd planted in an area of the front garden had also largely died back.  As I haven't had great success in growing much there, I decided to try succulents this time.

I recently pulled up several lanky stems of Aeonium 'Velour' elsewere and, as its red color has made it one of my favorites, I popped 3 cuttings in to pick up the reddish color at the base of the Phormium 'Maori Queen' in the background.  I then added 3 'Princess' Echeverias and 3 'Sunburst' Aeoniums, hoping they'll fill out in time.

Last summer, I'd received five Echinopsis divisions from my friend Gerhard (of Succulents & More fame).  I initially kept them in small plastic pots in my lath (shade) house to give them a chance to root properly.  Rather than plant them out in the garden, where they would be still small enough to be stepped on, I decided to put them into larger pots.

The Echinopsis' temporary home

I'd had much better luck growing this Echinopsis oxygona in a pot than I've had with any planted directly in the ground

These 3 pots hold Echinopsis 'Daydream', E. 'Salmon Queen', and E. 'Sleeping Beauty'

The 2 pots on the left hold Echinopsis 'El Capitan' and E. 'Tondelayo'

I'd ordered ten more plants from Grow Organic, the company that purchased the rights to the mail order business formerly operated as Annie's Annuals & Perennials.  FedEx, which handled the delivery, didn't treat them gently and I hustled to get the smaller plants in the ground.

This is a bed I'd painstakingly cleared of (most) weeds the week before.  A gopher had tunneled through the area so, the space, formerly dominated by masses of Freesia bulbs and daylilies, had been significantly battered, leaving lots of empty space.  I planted Annie's Anagallis monellii (3) and Layla platyglossa (2) here but they're tiny.

These 5 plants, 1 Tagetes lemonii, 1 Penstemon, and 3 Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', waited longer to find homes, although the Tagetes found its place yesterday afternoon.

I'm still debating where to put the three Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', partly out of caution because I killed one I tried years ago.  I spent quite a bit of time walking through corners of my garden studying my options yesterday (weeding as I went).  While checking out the options in my back border, which still has lots of empty space since my fall cleanup of the garden, I discovered some things I set aside months ago and completely forgotten about.

I'd dropped 3 Amaryllis belladonna bulbs I'd dug up in an isolated corner.  I discovered that 2 have already sprouted foliage.  They're still sitting there...

Meanwhile, my garden's floral output continues to explode in response to our warm conditions.

The 'Spider Hybrid' Leucospermum may not have beat 'Sunrise' with its first blooms but it's already more prolific

While TV forecasters are talking up the tiny possibility of rain late this week, I'm not laying any odds on the prospect.  However, the chance of a little rain next week seems to be getting more promising, although I'm trying to keep my expectations in check for now.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Hip hip hooray! Annie's mail order plants are back!

In mid-September I received a notice from GrowOrganic.com, advertised as the "Online Home of Peaceful Valley Farm" located in Grass Valley, California.  They anoounced that they were going live with the mail order business they purchased after Annie's Annuals and Perennials suddenly closed its doors in October last year.  They offered a discount code for use on my first order and, when they published "Annie's Annuals & Perennials Best of Fall Collection" on September 20th, I submitted an order.  (You can find their webpage here.)  Did I "need" to order new plants now, with summer's hold on us is still in place?  No, I did not but I ordered anyway.  My order was promptly processed and my first shipment arrived as promised on Wednesday afternoon.

They're using the Annie's brand, at least for now.  Even the shipping boxes are the same as those used by the original Annie's operation.

I don'r remember a "this end up" label like this in the old days, though

My order was packed in the same fashion as my prior Annie's orders.

The internal packing was the same too, except that 2 plants had been laid on their sides on this occasion

Here's a better view of what I ordered.

I purchased 4 varieties of plants, 9 in total.  Annie's always only sold mail order plants in 4-inch pots, which I prefer when I can get them that way.

Believe it or not, I've got spots designated for everything included in this order, which isn't always the case:

The three snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze') will go into my cutting garden, where there's enough space for them given recent losses.  It's earlier than I'd like to plant snapdragons, which are cool season plants here, but I love them and my dahlias appear to be seeking an early exit.

Annie's snapdragons have been more resistant to rust than any of those I've purchased locally

The three Carex divulsa will edge the area that formerly held two overgrown and woody Coleonema album in the front garden.  I already have one specimen of this Carex elsewhere (which came from the original Annie's) so I know it handles partial shade and low water well.

The grass-like plant is attractive but also easy to care for

The two coyote mints (Monardella villosa) will be planted in empty spots in a very dry area in my back garden next to the flagstone path.  The evergreen plant is said to be a good selection for a "no-water path," which would make it perfect for the spot in question.

In the interest of full disclosure, I tried growing this plant once before and it died; however, I think I failed to give it enough water when it was in the early stages of getting established that time

The single Mexican marigold (Tagetes lemmonii) will replace the woody specimen I pulled earlier this year when it was no longer flowering as well as it had in prior years.

Tagetes lemmonii provided flushes of bright yellow-gold color in spring and fall in its former position.  The Gazanias currently in that spot don't do the job.

Everything will be tucked into place and well-watered this weekend.  The marine layer has returned and it was noticeably cooler yesterday.  I'm expecting more of the same today.

I can't claim that the Annie's/GrowOrganic order is the only one I've placed recently.  I've actually gone bonkers with bulb orders recently, including three to Dutch sellers, two of which called out six percent tariffs on their goods.

I ordered 83 bulbs from K. van Bourgondien, including Amaryllis (Hippeastrum), Orienpet Lilies, Dutch Iris, Crocus, and Tazetta daffodils

John Scheepers will supply another 101 bulbs, including more Dutch Iris, Alliums, Ipheion, species tulips, and a single Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)

What I ordered from Van Engelen are pricier bulbs sold in bulk, including Scilla peruviana, more Orienpet Lilies, and more Amaryllis.  I like to give Hippeastrums as holiday gifts and they're less expensive ordered well before the holidays.

I tallied up the expense of the fall bulb orders and, given two pre-orders of dahlia bulbs to ship in spring, I decided I'd best tuck my credit card away for awhile.  When it's not uncomfortably warm, I've been chipping away at pruning chores, boring and often arduous.  Every time I turn around, I find more plants that need such attention.  I'm going to call on my tree service to schedule the larger scale jobs I can't handle.  Although it still feels a lot like summer here, my internal clock is telling me I need to get cracking on preparations for our cool season.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend as September comes to its end.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Filling some of those empty spaces

Earlier this month, in response to an ordinance enacted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors requiring property owners in high fire risk areas to develop "defensible space clearance" around their homes, I had a crew in my garden to remove approximately twenty plants.  Although I'm approaching the process of replanting the newly bare areas with care, I couldn't stand leaving the most prominent areas empty for long.  As the State of California is also looking at changes to create "zero zones" five feet wide around structures in the highest risk areas, some of what I do now may have to be adjusted when guidelines are introduced so I don't want to invest in any plants that might be too precious anyway.  As we've had two moderate heatwaves already this month, it's also not the best time to be installing new plants.

I'll start with the bed directly outside my home office window.  Despite the crew's efforts to grind down shrub and tree stumps, there was more work than I expected involved in removing the large underground roots of what I assume was Leucadendron 'Pisa' before supplementing the soil and replanting.  With so many thick, widely spread roots, there was never any chance of that 'Pisa' leaning over!  Much as I mourn the loss of the shade that shrub provided, there's no point planting a tree or another tree-sized shrub in its place.  Everything I planted there is relatively low-growing.

About half of the original plants remained, including a Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (aka mint bush), a trailing Ceanothus, 2 Alstroemerias, a lanky Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake', several variegated Lantana' Samantha', several Hippeastrum bulbs, and a variety of succulents.  With the exception of a new Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', the new plants are essentially fillers.

View of the same renovated area from the opposite direction

From the upper left, closeups of the new additions include: an Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', cuttings of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi', 2 Alstroemeria 'Inca Coral', 3 Chrysocephalum 'Desert Flame' with 2 Petunia 'Bee's Knees', 8 plugs of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Light Apricot' (aka lisianthus) with Leucanthemum paludosum 'Snowland', and a Leucanthemum x superbum 'Sweet Daisy Izabel'

The next bed that stood out like a sore thumb sits on the south end of the front garden.  The area affected by removing a second Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' and a Salvia lanceolata was somewhat smaller than the bed in the back garden.  There were fewer issues with leftover roots but I discovered that the area was riddled with the bulbous roots of asparagus fern, which the birds insist on relentlessly propagating.  I spent several hours digging those out and, even so, I've no illusions I got them all.

The largest elements remaining in this bed include a Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', a Grevillea 'Superb', an Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', and several Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'.  I mirrored this planting in the cleared area with another Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and a similar Cuphea.

This is the replanted area.  You'll notice that the brick edging ended midway.  I hadn't bothered to extend it because the area in the foreground was previously hidden beneath the massive Acacia.

My husband bought me a load of new bricks to complete the edging.  That's a job for another day.  I also dug out several flagstones that had been buried deeply within the bed and used the stones to widen the path in this area.

The new plants include the Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', an Achillea 'Terra Cotta', 3 Cuphea 'Cubano Presidente', 6 plugs of Gazania 'New Day', an Arctotis 'Red-Orange', and 4 plugs of Eustoma grandiflora 'Light Apricot'.  I may add an Agave in a container as a temporary placeholder.

I'd like to fill in the large area of the north-side garden that was originally planted with three massive rosemary shrubs but we still have an open issue with the fence that divides this area from the cutting garden.  Merging the two areas by removing the fence altogether doesn't appeal to either me or my husband.  "His" spa (which I seldom use) would be open to anyone walking through the garden and I think any integration of the two areas would require wholesale changes to both areas I'd prefer not to make.  As a result, we're currently considering replacing the wood fence with a concrete block wall and a metal new gate.  Any new plants I might install now could be harmed during the construction process so, thus far, I've limited myself to plants I won't mind losing.

In addition to cuttings of Aeonium 'Kiwi' used as border edging, I added just 2 seedlings and a single new plant

Closeups of one of the 2 Lotus hirsutus (aka hairy Canary clover) and the new Scaevola 'Fashion Pink', which I just could resist when shopping at the garden center

There are a couple of areas next to the garage and the front of the house I still plan to work on during the coming weeks but, in the meanwhile, I've given priority to the removal of my remaining Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima), reportedly a highly flammable plant.  I'd started removing it even before the new ordinance was introduced but I've stepped that up with the plan to have all of it gone by June.

Before and after shots of the area occupied by 3 clumps of the grass in the back garden

I removed another 4 clumps of the grass in front of the catio and 3 clumps on the other side of the flagstone path next to the south patio (which I immediately filled in with succulent cuttings).  My husband made another attempt to dig out the wisteria vine (on the left) I've been trying to remove for years.  I'm planning to try another application of vine killer to get to the roots growing under the house.

As summer is already moving ahead here, I also need to refresh my cutting garden to accommodate the new season's flowers.  I planted my dahlia tubers in temporary pots in late April.  Eighteen of them have sprouted and the majority of those need to be moved to the raised planters in the cutting garden, which means clearing out the spring blooms that remain there.

The sweet peas in one of the raised planters have only just started to bloom in earnest so I'm holding off on that space for another few weeks but most of the current contents of the other 2 planters will be pulled.

I'm hoping to get at least half of the sprouted dahlias installed this weekend.  Temperatures came down into the upper 70s (26C) yesterday and they've expected to slide lower this weekend.  I hope the weather is on your side this weekend too.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

One mail order delivery after another

I went more than a little crazy late last year in placing mail orders for plants.  Over the past couple of weeks, they've started arriving on the front porch one after another.  Pre-sales are particularly troublesome for me.  Despite keeping electronic copies of my orders, as well as handwritten lists, I lose track of what I ordered.  On a trip to Roger's Garden last month, I picked up a few new Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) on a whim, completely forgetting that I'd ordered four dozen of the plants from Burpee back in mid-December.  That order has yet to ship but several others have already arrived, including two dahlia orders containing twelve tubers I didn't need, as well as an order of twenty Caladium bulbs I'm not sure where I should plant.  (Some will end up in pots.)  However, I did manage to get three lily bulbs and twenty gladiola corms in the ground last week relatively promptly, and I potted up another order I received as well.

These are Alstroemerias from Easy to Grow Bulbs.  The 2 in front are 'Inca Coral', which looked a little worse for wear when they arrived.  The 2 in the back are 'Inca Lucky', which look better but, as I'm planning to remove a significant number of shrubs in an effort to harden our landscape against fire risk within the next month, I expect all 4 plants will be useful in filling some of the space left empty following that exercise.

This week, I planted out a recent order of succulents I'd placed with Mountain Crest Gardens.

Clockwise from the upper left, the order contained 3 Crassulas, 2 Aeoniums, 3 Echeverias, a bare root Mangave, and 2 Semponiums.  The Semponiums are intergeneric hybrids of Sempervivum and Aeonium species.  They're supposed to be more cold hardy than Aeoniums but, as Aeoniums grow like weeds in my climate (and Sempervivums do not), they may be a silly purchase on my part.  (Note: I'm not sure why the Mangave arrived with a Proven Winners label.)

As all these plants are relatively small, I'd originally planned to place them in temporary pots to bulk up before planting them in the ground but I changed my mind on that in some cases and found spots to tuck them into the garden.

Aeonium dodrantale (aka Greenovia and mountain rose) is relatively small even when mature so it got a home in a small pot in my lath house

Variegated Aeonium lancerottense, shown on the upper left, sits next to a noID Aloe and groundcover Ruschia nana in the succulent bed in front of our garage.  It's reputed to grow up to 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

I'm treating the 3 Crassula nudicaulis (aka devil's horns) as small groundcovers to fill spaces between larger Echeverias on the moderate front slope

The pinkish Echeveria agavoides 'Romeo' should get 6-8 inches tall and 8 inches wide and cover some of the bare space in the same front slope bed

Mangave 'Thunderbird' landed in a pot and currently sits alongside other potted succulents near the back door

I'm trying out Semponium 'Sienna' in the garage front succulent bed

Semponium 'Vortex' received a pot in my lath house, where it can bulk up for a time

According to my records, there are four plant orders still outstanding.  In addition to the Lisianthus I mentioned earlier, these include a mix of plants from one seller (Begonia, Cuphea and Coleus), Geraniums from another seller, and three 'Zeba' lily bulbs I ordered last July after I fell in love with the flowers during the Puget Sound Garden Fling.  The latter has been shipped (apparently on a slow boat from Holland).  

Meanwhile, the rain total for the water year (counted from October 1, 2024) for my area stands at a paltry 6.17 inches.  There's little chance of rain in the ten-day forecast but there's currently a longer range projection of a sixty percent chance of rain on April 3rd.  What are we going to do when the sharp cuts to staffing at  NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) ordered by the current administration take effect, disabling the country's ability to anticipate serious weather events?

I'm hoping your weather is mild and that you enjoy the first weekend of the spring season.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

An inability to tolerate empty garden space

I've never had much tolerance for empty spaces in the garden.  If I don't have something on hand or at least in mind to fill a space when it opens up, I'll fill in with "temporary" plants.  That fact alone may explain why I have Aeoniums scattered all over the place.  However, when I finally took matters in hand and pulled the Aeonium arboreum that had taken over the understory of the bed containing our citrus trees, I had no plans to plant anything there.

As a reminder, here's what the area looked like before we removed all those Aeoniums in late January

This was the "after" shot

After reading my post on the transformation, commentator Chavli asked if I'd be able to resist adding a succulent ground cover below the trees.  I initially put the idea off but the question stuck in my head - and every time I walked through the area (which is generally several times a day), I thought about what I could put there.  I liked the idea of growing something like California poppies but it was already late to sow seeds, especially as there were few chances for significant rain, but I kept my eyes open for poppy seedlings.  Last week I found two six-packs (one dozen) of the plants at my local garden center and I was off and running.

I planted the area last Saturday

The coverage is spare but I hope some of the plants will spread and that the California poppies will self-seed.  I may sow seeds of other annuals once the poppies are spent.  Self-seeded Santa Barbara daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus) is moving into the space of its own volition too.

Clockwise from the upper left, the plants here include: one 6-pack of Campanula garganica (aka Adriatic bellflower), 2 clumps of Narcissus papyraceus (bulbs planted by a prior owner currently in bloom), 4 Pelargonium graveolens 'Colocho' (grown from cuttings), 12 Eschscholzia californica seedlings, and 2 Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset'

I've also filled in some of the blank spots elsewhere in my garden with the plants I picked up last week at Roger's Garden.  (The only plant purchased during that trip that has yet to find a home is the Agave 'Snow Glow', which is waiting to fill the opening that will be created once the Agave 'Blue Glow' completes its bloom cycle.)

Two Osteospermum 'Berry White' were added to one already in the front garden.  A single O. 'Lemon Ice' went into an empty spot in a different area of the front garden.  (I wish I'd picked up at least 2 more as I love their green centers.) The 2 O.'Violet Ice' filled vacancies in the back garden left by plants killed off by last summer's heat.

I filled in the empty area in front of the Agave funkiana in my north-side garden with the 3 Echeveria 'Mexicano' I bought last week

and the 3 Echeveria 'Atomic' went into the same area alongside the new flagstone path

The 3 carmine Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) I'd picked up on a whim went into this barrel to replace 3 sad-looking foliage plants.  I'd completely forgotten that I'd ordered a couple dozen Lisianthus in late 2024, which should be arriving in early March!

Meanwhile, the local peafowl continue to show an interest in my garden.  Four peahens (!) showed up on Monday and made the rounds of my garden twice.

I didn't manage to get photos of all 4 peahens together but I did capture 3 of them in a row here.  They move slowly but steadily and they break off into smaller units when followed.

I was afraid this one was going to head down my back slope but she flew into a neighbor's garden as I escorting them out

This one headed out through my street-side succulent bed when I sought to corral them during their second visit

This one and 2 of her sisters exited more gracefully via the driveway.  At last sight, they were headed down a nearby spur road 30+ feet away.

It's been a stressful month.  Luckily, I have lunch plans with three friends on Thursday.  One of my friends has designated our little group the "Sanity Sisters."  We're getting together to vent and decompress.  Despite the fact we're all trying to limit our news consumption, the sheer volume of crap coming out of national government channels is hard to take.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party