Looking up

I took a much needed break from the noise and chaos of our home remodel for some retail therapy this week, meeting up with Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden at Roger's Gardens in Orange County.  There'd been quite a few changes since my last visit in April.  However, putting the focus of the trip where it belonged, we caught up on what was going on in our respective worlds, shopped a bit, and had lunch before I returned to make the rounds with my camera prior to heading home.

Roger's new vertical garden was of particular interest.  It serves as the backdrop for the free weekend seminars regularly held there.

One side of the new structure featured a range of foliage plants (Ajuga, Alternanthera, Dichondra, and Ophiopogon among others).  The other side was planted entirely with assorted succulents.  All the plants were inserted into soil-packed socks or what HB more descriptively called "sausages."

It looks as though there's an automated irrigation system of some kind but I didn't take a close look at the mechanics

Roger's features a lot of vertical plant displays, starting with its front customer entrance.

The current display is somewhat austere, featuring succulents in hanging metal containers

This was the lusher display I photographed in April

And this one, which may be my favorite, dates back to last September

Unlike the current entrance display, the earlier versions shown above utilized plant pockets.  On this visit, my interest was captured by another such display elsewhere in the garden.

This display combined wood boxes containing decorative items with a diverse range of foliage and flowering plants in felt planting pockets.  It spurred my thinking about how I might better use the vertical space in my lath house.  (My apologies for the poor quality of this collage, which I cobbled together from 2 separate images.)

I also liked these succulents mounted on a wall in metal pots.

I've seen similar pots for sale on-line, sans succulents, at reasonable prices

There were a number of other vertical plant arrangements to admire as well.

These rain chains had been filled with succulents

Densely planted succulent wreaths

Roger's has a houseplant sale going on at the moment and this hanging planter was stuffed with a Monstera deliciosa, wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris) and a variety of ferns

There were conventional hanging baskets with flowers too

I didn't come home empty-handed of course but I didn't go hog-wild buying plants either.  Even though we've avoided major heatwaves thus far, summer isn't the smartest time to plant here.  I mainly picked up items to cram into the raised planters in my cutting garden as I continue to pull out cool season leftovers.  

Well, at least the Amaranthus and Cosmos are intended for the raised planters.  I picked up 2 more balloon plants (Platycodon grandiflorus) too as the one I have in a semi-shady area of my front garden did well.  The Festuca glauca plugs are intended to replace the Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' that got out of control in the back garden this year.

HB also gifted me with a cutting from her Begonia 'Irene Nuss' which she wrote about here

After seeing the displays at Roger's I'm considering trying out a few felt planting pockets my lath (shade) house, assuming I can figure out where to fit them in there.  I also find I'm still thinking about a group of tiny (yet not inexpensive) vases I saw while shopping.  One of those may have to come home with me on my next trip.

The tallest of the vases shown here was 3 inches or less - and they weren't cheap but they looked like little works of art to me

If forecasters are correct, we're going to have a cooler-than-normal span of weather through the weekend.  Once the construction workers leave on Friday afternoon, I'm planning to make the most of it.  I hope you enjoy your weekend too.

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

July at South Coast Botanic Garden

After a hiatus of six weeks I led two tours through the South Coast Botanic Garden this week.  After the second yesterday, I went back to photograph some of the garden's mid-summer highlights.  Unfortunately, snapping photos when the sun is at its zenith doesn't render the best images but, as the morning marine layer has thinned dramatically this week and a ridge of high pressure promises to keep it at bay for much of the next week, I don't expect I'll have much opportunity to capture better shots any time soon so I'm sharing those I have.

This is Tithonia diversifolia, aka Mexican sunflower and marigold tree.  I was so impressed by it last year that I hunted down seeds to grow it for myself; however, having only vague notions as to where I could put a tree-like shrub that gets this big, I've held off on planting them. 

True sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are in bloom nearby

The Living Wall, shown here fronted by an herb garden and seating area, is looking great

Closer views of the mix of succulents, ferns and rubber plants (Ficus elastica) growing in felt pockets sustained by a hydroponic system

The giant bird of paradise (Streletzia nicolai) is loaded with blooms

There are still plenty of roses in full bloom, although I don't envy the job of the volunteers tasked with keeping them deadheaded

I thought this section of the Garden of the Senses looked particularly good but unfortunately the pretty blue Plumbago looks washed out in this photo.  My real objective in passing through this area was the lavender field just visible beyond the Plumbago.

This area was planted with a mass of lavenders relatively recently.  I didn't notice it until I began conducting tours again in early spring.  I think it's peaking now.

The brightly colored crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia) adds a nice contrast to the lavender

I'm guessing the stick-like tree with the burgundy foliage on the left in this photo is another crepe myrtle

The same area is also home to 2 nice Chitalpa trees.  xChitalpa tashkentensis 'Morning Cloud' is an intergeneric hybrid of Chilopsis linearis (aka desert willow) and Catalpa speciosa.  I wish I had someplace for a specimen this large!

On my way back to the parking lot, I snapped a final photo: Dahlia 'Dark Side of the Sun', blooming en masse

We enjoyed an extended period of pleasantly cool weather into the early part of July but it seems that summer's heat has finally reached us.  I'm hoping we  can at least avoid another horrific heatwave of the kind we got last year.

Best wishes for favorable weather wherever you are this weekend!


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

January at my local botanic garden

A number of things have kept me away from the South Coast Botanic Garden since mid-November - the holidays, the weather, and the Los Angeles teacher's strike among them.  With no schools scheduling tours of the garden, there was little need for docents.  However, we had a general meeting on Monday and another docent and I took the opportunity to make a quick spin around the garden to see what's going on while also checking out the new "Incredible Journey" adventure program for kids sponsored by the garden.

I took photos in 3 areas of the garden (all unrelated to the adventure program).  Our first stop was the new Living Wall.  I'd been told that the garden had posted a list of the plants included in the construction of the wall and, some readers of my prior post on the wall had expressed interest in this, I looked for it.

The wall looks much the same as it did in my November post, although what I think were bird's nest ferns in one small section of the planting scheme were struggling

The sign describes the construction of the wall, which is maintained by a hydroponic system.  It's still a mystery to me how it works to simultaneously support the needs of plants as different as succulents and ferns.

This is the plant list, which relies largely on common names.  I'm not sure what's meant by a "Chester Fern" or "Stars" and unfortunately I didn't take the time to examine the plants carefully when I was on-site.  "Stars" might mean "Earthstars," although the photo on the sign doesn't seem right if that's the case.  "Habbit Jade" refers to Crassula "Hobbit" and I think #14 is meant to be spelled "Plumosa Fern."

After we'd completed the "Incredible Journey" adventure tour, my docent friend took off and I cruised through some of my favorite areas of the garden, starting with the Banyan Grove, a common stop on docent tours.

These are photos of Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as Moreton Bay fig trees.  The elementary school kids on our tours love climbing over the huge roots of these trees under their immense canopy.  When our temperatures soar, this is literally the coolest spot in the entire garden.

This photo shows how roots reach down from the tree's limbs to embed themselves in the soil

This photo gives you a sense of the huge canopy created by these fig trees

The Stenocarpus sinuatus (aka Firewheel Trees) next to the Moreton Bay figs were in bloom

This is another tree I commonly point out to kids on our tours.  We refer to is as the "ghost fig" but its proper name is Ficus petiolaris.  The photos I've seen of this plant on-line don't show the yellow color of this particular specimen so that may be an anomaly.  

The fig tree attached to this palm (Phoenix sylvestris) is also one that interests kids.  It's referred to as a "strangler fig" as it's rooted in the palm and working hard to take over its host.  The garden recently cut it back but it's not defeated.

My final stop was the garden's expanded Desert Garden, where I checked out the blooming Aloes.

Aloe arborescens: the group on the left was referred to by the common name of Candelabra Aloe while the group on the right were referred to as Torch Aloes but they're the same species

Aloe aristata

Aloe castanea, or Cat's Tail Aloe, one of my personal favorites

Aloe 'David Verity'

Aloe vanbalenii

Aloe hybrid 'Spiney'

This one wasn't in the Desert Garden and I couldn't find a label but my guess is that it's Aloe wickensii (which I think has been renamed but that's the name I know if by)

I've been thinking more and more about planting my back slope in succulents.  It's east-facing so it's not optimal for Aloes and other succulents that want full sun to flower but I may experiment a bit anyway.  The succulents planted on the southeast-facing slope at the entrance to our neighborhood are doing surprisingly well as shown in the photos below.

Created from a hodge-podge of succulent pups and cuttings donated by neighbors including myself, this succulent bed on a fairly sharp slope looks better every year

This is the view from the other direction

Among other things, the mix includes Agave attenuata, Aeonium arboreum, Aloe arborescens, Crassula ovata, Carpobrotus, and Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire'

A neighbor's front garden just up the street from ours sported an even more impressive display.

Isn't this a gorgeous mix?  It includes Aeonium arboreum, A. 'Zwartkop' (or a relative), Agave 'Blue Glow', Aloe nobilis and other plants I can't immediately identify

Food for thought...


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

Fall at South Coast Botanic Garden

A meeting brought me to South Coast Botanic Garden on Monday morning and, after it was over, I decided to take a spin through the garden to see what's going on as I haven't conducted a tour since August.  Although the new school year has started, there hasn't been the demand for docents there was earlier in the year.

The Floss Silk Trees (Ceiba speciosa) immediately command your attention.  They're all in glorious bloom.

This is the tree near the front entrance, captured from 2 angles.  Its floral color was echoed in the Salvia shown in the shot on the right.

Another specimen, with more unusual flower color

There was also more in bloom in the Volunteer Garden than I'd have expected after a hot, dry summer.

I wish I could grow asters like this!  I'm unsure of the species.  I suspect this section of the botanic garden gets watered more than my garden does.

The Japanese anemones (Anemone hupensis var. japonica) also grow well there

And this Senna bicapsularis, grown as a tree, looks so much better than my own

Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculata), which I tried growing once

Queen Ann's Wreath or coral vine (Antignon leptopus) growing over a garden service building

Butterflies were flitting about wherever I went.  Gulf Fritillary and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies seemed to be the most common.  I usually have tremendous difficulty getting decent photos of any butterfly but the Gulf Fritillaries in particular couldn't stay away from the Tithonia (aka Mexican sunflower or torch flower) in bloom near the vegetable garden and, for once, they didn't seem to object to my presence.

Gulf Fritillary on the left and Monarch (photographed from a greater distance) on the right

Behind the vegetable garden, two men were hard at work creating a new vertical garden.

What looks like a roof on the succulent wall is the structure behind it where the garden's tram is kept

I'm not sure when the wall is scheduled to be completed but they were making good progress Monday morning

I walked deeper into the garden past the dry lake bed.  It's been cleaned up since I last passed through that area.

The lake has been empty for a long time.  The liner beneath it decayed and it was no longer cost effective to fill it during our long drought.  I've been told that 40 fewer bird species have been sighted in the garden since the lake was drained.  However, there's a project afoot to restore it and the creek that feeds it.  The area had been cleaned up since I last saw it a month ago.

There are still a lot of roses in bloom but I only strolled the perimeter.

This florabunda, used to line the rose garden's entrance, is 'Sparkle & Shine'

On my way out I admired the Salvia leucantha in bloom across from the Desert Garden.

There was a larger mass of Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) near the Mediterranean garden but I didn't get a photo

Overall, the garden looked refreshed after last weekend's rain.  The birds and butterflies were happy, the sun was shining, and the air was clean - everything seemed right in this little corner of the world.


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