It's not all about the flowers

My May Bloom Day post was a little over the top, even for me.  I took my camera outside to seek out foliage stars that could compete with all the flowers currently dominating my garden.  While it was difficult to snap photos without flowers photo-bombing the shots, I captured a number of foliage shots worthy of recognition.

Acacia 'Cousin Itt' frequently features in my foliage focused posts but on this occasion it's the contrast between its feathery texture and the smooth leaves of succulents I want to highlight.

Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' mingles here with Aeonium arboreum and Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi'

'Cousin Itt' is cozying up to Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' here

Japanese maples aren't easy to grow in my windy location with its searing hot summer temperatures but I've got three specimens in protected locations that are doing relatively well, at least so far.

Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa', a dwarf variety, still small although I've had it for more than 5 years

Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum', acquired earlier this year, is showing why it's called the Golden Full Moon Maple

Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', my oldest specimen, purchased as a small stick 8 years ago

Some of my best foliage shots are anchored by succulents.

These 3 Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' were planted several years ago as pups of one of the 2 plants currently in flower in my street-side succulent bed

Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' with more Aeoniums, as well as Crassula pubescens, which is preparing to bloom

Some foliage is showing off with red new growth.

Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'

Calliandra haematocephala, which I appreciate more for its foliage than the powder puff red flowers it's know for

Grasses and grass-like plants are also prominent features of my garden.

I've used grass-like Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' in areas throughout my garden.  Here it's accented by the variegated foliage of Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' (and, yes, some photo-bombing flowers).

 

I've used Seslaria 'Greenlee's Hybrid' as an edging material here and elsewhere in my garden

Stipa tenuissima (aka Mexican feather grass) is another grass I've used extensively.  It gets very fluffy when it's full of seed heads.  I'm in the process of combing them out before the seedlings take over but I haven't gotten to these plants yet.

Those are some of the foliage highlights in my garden this May.  They're not as flashy as the flowers perhaps but they're just as important.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.  We've got a good chance of rain on Sunday here, which is utterly remarkable, especially as we also had rain earlier this week.  Fingers are crossed that you get whatever weather you're hoping for too.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Late Summer Favorites

Summer can be tough on plants here.  I've often likened our summer experience to that faced in winter by gardeners in cold-weather climates.  When a heatwave hits, working in the garden is unpleasant at best.  Planting and transplanting is foolish.  And, if a plant isn't well-established, an extended heatwave may be a death sentence, no matter how much water one lavishes on it.  Although heatwaves may extend well into fall, nighttime temperatures generally decline in September, which lessens their impact somewhat.  I usually consider late August the worst part of the year in my garden.  Although this summer has been fairly mild in my area, my garden is still looking haggard so I expected that designating plant favorites could be a challenge this month.  As it turns out, it wasn't as hard as I'd thought - I just had to focus more of my attention on foliage rather than flashy flowers.

Of course, there were a few flowering plants that deserve notice.

This is the first year I've had good luck growing dahlias.  I credit the creation of a cutting garden that allows me to provide selected heat-loving but thirsty plants the extra water they need without watering larger sections of the garden.  Last month, I featured Dahlia 'Loverboy' as a favorite.  This month, Dahlia 'Fairway Spur', a dinnerplate variety, has finally made its appearance.  Its color is remarkably similar to 'Terracotta' in my estimation, although the color of the former was described as tangerine and the latter as peachy brown; however, the shape of the petals, the height of the plants and the size of the flowers are different.

Last month, I featured Helianthus 'Lemon Queen', another of my cutting garden success stories, as a favorite.  This month, as the sunflowers are coming closer to blooming themselves out, I'm featuring this bronzy-petaled beauty, grown from the Helianthus annuus 'Flash Blend' mix.   I expect the bees will be very unhappy when the sunflowers are gone.

The deep burgundy-flowered Pelargonium peltatum (ivy geranium) is also putting on an especially good show this month.  I've several of these plants in a bed running along the southeast side of the house, where they nicely complement the foliage of Alternanthera 'Little Ruby' (left) and Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Wonder' (right), as well as Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-Star' and Ageratum corymbosum.

The grasses put on their best show in late summer/early fall too.

The yellow bits floating above the ground in this photo are inflorescences of Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition'.  The flowers are usually described as resembling mosquitoes or eyebrows.  I'm outside the zone described for this grass but the 5 plants I have in this section of the garden have still put in a decent performance for the past 2 summers.

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is a fabulous performer every year here.  They may be even more robust next month but, as I managed to catch the sun highlighting their plumes just right this week, I couldn't resist including the plant in this month's favorites post.

The foliage plants do all the heavy lifting at this time of year.

This is Ageratum corymbosum.  I featured it in my favorites post in March of this year for its flowers but this month its the leaves that drew my attention.  The photo on the left was taken from inside the living room, where the plant grows in the bed just outside a series of floor-to-ceiling windows.  The photo on the right was taken outside.  The grower describes the foliage as "ever-purple."

Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' is one of those workhorses in the garden that seldom gets much attention.  It does very well in partial shade and has gotten by with less water than I'd expected.  It's been growing in a large pot under a Brugmansia (left) for more than 2 years and below Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' (right) for closer to 3 years.

Helichrysums are also easy to overlook in the garden.  H. petiolare 'Silver Mist' (left) is a great drought-tolerant filler in my garden, if admittedly prone to rampant self-seeding.  H. petiolare 'Licorice Splash' (right) is exuberant but so far hasn't demonstrated a penchant for self-seeding.

Okay, I know I included Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in my June favorites post but it's looking so great this month that I couldn't resist showing it off again when it's at its summer peak.  The plant on the left is the one I brought from my former garden, where it lived its life in a pot.  Although I pruned it back by a third after its yellow winter "blooms" were spent, it's nearly 7 feet tall now and probably 6 feet wide.  The newer plant on the right is taking off too - it's about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide now.

And, while I've on the subject of Leucadendrons, here are 3 more I'll throw in to demonstrate how well these plants imitate stained glass in the garden.  I don't have a label for the plant on the left but my best guess is that it's L. salignum 'Blush'.  The variegated plant in the middle is L. 'Jester' (alongside L. 'Winter Red') and the plant on the right is L. 'Safari Goldstrike'.

Phormium 'Maori Queen' also picks up sunlight beautifully.  I planted 6 of these in the front garden in the fall of 2014 after we pulled out the lawn.  I understand that some variegated Phormium will revert to a solid color but I haven't seen signs of this with 'Maori Queen'.

While some succulents go dormant at this time of year, most look great year-round.  Several caught my eye this month.

It's possible that I have more Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' than Agave 'Blue Glow' (which was my first agave addiction).  That's partly because A. desmettiana produce a generous number of pups, one of which you can see here, planted somewhat too closely to the more mature specimen.  This one attracted my attention in part because the plants surrounding it made such a pretty picture.  The Aeonium arboreum have curled up into red-tinged balls as they do during their summer dormancy and that color is echoed in the Euphorbia tirucalli and the new foliage of Xylosma congestum.

The succulent bed I planted along an area of the front slope last fall, a portion of which is shown above, is coming together.  Two Echeveria cultivars, E. 'Blue Atoll' (upper left) and E. 'Blue Sky' (upper right), glow in the sun.

I have Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' scattered throughout my garden and almost all of those come from cuttings of this plant, housed in a strawberry pot I brought with me from our former house.  Our heavier-than-usual winter rain and spillover spray from water intended for the zinnias and dahlias in the raised planter next to the pot may have prompted the plant to grow fuller this year, despite the numerous cuttings I've taken from it.  Although you do need to be careful to avoid contact with the sap, the seepage stops fairly fast and, here at least, the cuttings can simply be pushed into the soil.

I love the combination of soft orange and blue succulents in this bed along the backyard patio.  I replanted the bed earlier this summer when I became frustrated with how the ugly litter from the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) clung to the fuzzy succulents I formerly had in this area.  I added more x Graptosedum 'California Sunset' and complemented it with Sedum clavatum 'Aurora Blue' .

For more August favorites, visit Loree at danger garden, who hosts this meme on the last Friday of each month.  For more floral stand-outs, visit Chloris at The Blooming Garden.


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

Foliage Follow-up - Highlights of my Garden Stroll

With what's reputed to be the most powerful storm of the season to hit Los Angeles in the offing, I took a spin through the garden to see if there were any tasks I should take care of before it arrived.  In the process, I took photos of whatever foliage caught my fancy for this month's Foliage Follow-up post, hosted by Pam at Digging.

I started on my neglected back slope, an area easily overlooked because it's largely invisible.  Accessible only by a narrow (and steep) stairway of  concrete blocks hidden behind a hedge, it's easy to ignore and, since the area was severely impacted by a horrific heatwave on the first day of summer last year, spending time down there has been more of a chore than a joy.  Cooler temperatures and the winter rains have done more than my poor ministrations to improve its appearance and there are now quite a few things to smile about.

The Agave attenuata I planted 2 or 3 years ago looked awful this past summer but they're looking great now.  One has even produced 2 pups (not visible in this photo).  The Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' and Pelargonium 'White Lady' I planted have spread nicely.  The noID Iris germanica I moved from elsewhere in the garden look better than any of the Iris I have in the more carefully-tended areas of my garden.  Only the Carpenteria californica here (upper right) still looks terrible.  I pruned it in the hope of giving it a fuller, more pleasing shape.

The lemon tree was badly impacted by June's heatwave, dropping two-thirds of its fruit virtually overnight.  The rest rotted in place until I removed it.  It recovered well with extra watering through the remainder of the summer and the rains have also given it a boost.  It's loaded with immature fruit now.  Below it are some plants I inherited (Zantedeschia aethiopica, which die back each summer but return with our winter rains), others that moved in on their own (Centranthus ruber), and some I planted (Seslaria 'Greenlee's Hybrid' and Stachys byzantina).

Beyond the lemon tree, closer to the property line, there are more Calla lilies, some just beginning to flower; more self-planted Centranthus; a Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppy) I planted last year (upper left), which is fleshing out nicely after the haircut I gave it several weeks ago; and lots of California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) seedlings.  I bemoaned my inability to grow California poppies in a post a month or two ago but the rains have finally germinated some of the seeds I spread in this area so I may get a crop after all.  The raccoons like to dig here so  production is still lower than I'd like but it's a start.

Other foliage highlights on the slope include the almost florescent green moss I've shown before (which I guess isn't really foliage but I hope you'll humor me); an artichoke, which also dies down to the ground in summer but returns annually during our rainy season; and a close-up of some of my lovely poppy seedlings

Heading back up the stairs from the bottom of the slope brings me to my dry garden.  Just a couple of things grabbed my attention there.

Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', the first one I planted and still the largest and most robust, now about 5 feet tall

Two of my many succulent pots.  The one on the left with Agave titanota 'White Ice' as its centerpiece was recently spruced up with the addition of Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'.  The one on the right is newly planted with Sansevieria parva and noID succulents that appear to be some form of variegated Kalanchoe.

The front garden contains a lot of foliage plants but most of them have received plenty of attention in prior foliage posts.  However, two vignettes drew my attention on my pass through.

Phormium 'Maori Queen' enveloped by Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' 

The same Phormium viewed from the other side of the bed with Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' to the left

Moving down the dirt path that runs parallel to the street behind a Xylosma hedge to an area below the main section of the front garden, I spent a good half hour pulling seedlings of yet another of my hedges, which consists of Prunus laurocerasus (not shown).  While doing this I discovered a mystery vine, which has clearly sprouted and been encouraged to spread by all the rain we've received this season.

I wondered if it could be a passionflower vine but the way it's spreading (as shown on the right scrambling up the oleanders that run the length of my neighbor's driveway), I fear it could be a morning glory.  In my former garden, I learned the hard way how difficult it is to manage a morning glory growing in the ground.  Any guesses?  The leaves are smooth, not pleated.

Back up on the main level of the garden in the backyard, the Xylosma congestum hedge is still the most compelling foliage feature but I already gave that its due in last week's Wednesday Vignette (which you can see here).  However, there were a few more foliage plants that drew my eye.

Leucadendron 'Jester' with Melianthus major, which a cut back to the ground a few weeks ago

A noID succulent (perhaps a Crassula?) in a deep red color

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star', which looks best growing up through another plant (like Ageratum corymbosum here), which hides its bare legs

That's it for my foliage highlights this month.  Visit Pam at Digging for more.


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

After the Hedge: A Foliage Follow-up Post

Earlier this month, I posted on the removal of the last remaining portion of the deteriorating Ceanothus hedge we inherited with our garden.  Not one to leave any ground bare for long, I began preparing the area for planting within a week of clearing it.  The first step involved bringing in yet another batch of what the local stone yard refers to as "small boulders" to hold the front slope.  The next step was to dig out and divide the large mass of Agapanthus.  Shopping, mostly for succulents, was also involved.  Although I expect to do some tweaking, I've completed my first pass at redesigning the area.

For reference, here's another photo of the area after the hedge was removed but before it was replanted:

In addition to dividing the Agapanthus, I cleared out a lot of the Santa Barbara Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus), which is virtually a weed here.  The large plants in the level area above the Agapanthus - Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Tecoma stans, and Echium candicans 'Star of Madiera' - were retained.

And here's a look at it after replanting:

I added about 500 lbs of rock to stabilize the soil on this slope, which is steeper than it appears in this photo

View of the same area from the opposite direction

Not all the plants came from garden centers.  In addition to dividing the Agapanthus into 3 smaller clumps, I transplanted plants taken from elsewhere in the garden.

From left to right: newly planted clump of blue Agapanthus; one of 3 divisions of Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' taken earlier in the year; and Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike', purchased in early spring and temporarily kept in a pot

I also took cuttings of succulents I had elsewhere.

Clockwise from the left, the cuttings I took from elsewhere in the garden include: Agave attenuata, Aloe 'Rooikappie', Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire', what was sold to me last year as Senecio amaniensis (but may be something else entirely), and Senecio vitalis

And here are the plants I purchased:

First row: Aeonium 'Kiwi', Agave geminiflora, Anacampseros 'Sunrise', and Crassula ovata 'Sunset'
Second row: Echeveria 'Blue Atoll', E. 'Blue sky', Festuca californica, and Kalanchoe luciae
Third row: Pennisetum orientale, Sedum adophii, Sedum haworthii, and Sedum "hybrid"
Fourth row: Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora' and 3 noID succulents
(Not shown: both green and variegated forms of Portulacaria afra)

Most of these species were purchased in multiples and I've already picked up a few additional succulents that don't appear in my photos so, as I said, tweaking will continue.  I considered dressing the lower area with gravel but the sloping surface presents a challenge so I'm leaning in the direction of adding more small-leafed succulents as ground cover.  There's a large space just south of the variegated Echium that needs to be filled too but I haven't settled on the right thing to complement the surrounding plants yet.

As we brought home 860 lbs of rock from the stone yard, I still have about 360 lbs of rock to use elsewhere now that I'm mostly done with this area.  I'm waiting for the cricks in my back to smooth out before I get started with that.  The work that's already been done will stand as my Foliage Follow-up post this month.  For more foliage selections, visit our host, Pam at Digging.


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

July Favorites

During the dog days of summer, it's hard to get really excited about the garden here.  The heat is oppressive and most of the plants are acting as though they're in a witness protection program, hunkering down and trying their best not to be noticed.  It helps to take one's camera on a stroll just after sunrise, when the garden feels freshest, which is what I did this week.

There are plants that are adept at standing up to the heat.  I got a jump start in calling those out last week with my post entitled "the good, the bad and the ugly."  I complemented the Leucadendrons and showed photos of 'Wilson's Wonder' and 'Safari Sunset' but 'Pisa' also deserves recognition.

Leucadendron 'Pisa' with the sun showing through its silver leaves (left) and the cones decorating its branches (right)

In the bed opposite that occupied by 'Pisa', Melianthus major is also looking good in the early morning light.

Melianthus major is nestled in between Arbutus 'Marina', Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' and Leucadendron 'Jester' where it gets a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day

The ornamental grasses are also coming into their own.

Pennisetum 'Fireworks' also makes the most of the morning light

Seslaria 'Greenlee's Hybrid' mimics the display of Pennisetum 'Fireworks' on the other side of the flagstone path

It's probably too soon to get excited over Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' as the 5 small plants here have only been in the ground a few weeks (hey, it was on sale and I couldn't resist - and it's drought tolerant!) but I love that they're already sporting the flowers that look like blonde eyebrows

On the back patio, Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead) has managed the heat thrown at it.

Okay, the 2 plants I put in the bad border were quickly killed by that miserable heatwave in June but this one in a large pot has settled in nicely

On the other side of the patio, also in a pot, I'm amazed that Duranta erecta 'Sapphire Showers' is blooming well on a steady diet of graywater from the kitchen sink.

Anything that can get by on weekly infusions of graywater alone is a winner in my book

Many of the Echeverias are blooming now but Echeveria 'Afterglow' is my favorite.

'Afterglow' has survived in this pot for about 3 years now without complaining and gets watered only every couple of weeks (if I remember)

Out along the street, the last of the three Chondropetalum tectorum (aka Cape Rush) I planted in 2013 has finally come into its own.  Situated in front of the Xylosma congestum shrubs we planted in spring as a continuation of our existing street-side hedge, it's responded to the extra water provided to those shrubs.  I'd like to find a few more of these to add elsewhere in the garden when the fall planting season comes around.

Rush viewed from the street (left) and from the dirt path in the garden with the late afternoon sun shining through (right)

That's it for my July favorite picks.  Visit Loree at danger garden to see what plants she and other gardeners are excited about this month.


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