Grapes!

For an extended period this spring, I was preoccupied with family concerns and paid little attention to my garden.  In that period, certain things got away from me.  My fruits and vegetables probably suffered the most from my inattention.  Despite my neglect, the 'Red Flame Seedless' grape seems to be doing just fine.

The grapevine has overwhelmed the trellis my husband constructed for me last year

I should have tied the vines up against the top of the trellis as they lengthened but I wasn't paying attention

Still, the grapes are looking pretty happy, aren't they?

The grapes are nowhere near ripe yet but, given the volume of fruit, I'm hoping that at least some of these will make it to our table this year.  Last year, the birds and other critters got what little fruit there was.  I've tied "scare tape" to the trellis in a possibly vain attempt to discourage the birds this year.

I haven't had much luck so far keeping critters away from other fruit in the garden.

I think this squirrel knows I've caught him in the act

And he doesn't care one bit!

This ballsy squirrel didn't run off until I came within 2 feet of him this morning.  But the blueberries are producing heavily right now so there was enough for both his breakfast and mine - today, anyway.

What do you suppose will happen to the strawberries when they ripen?

Or the few plums the 'Santa Rosa' tree has managed to produce?

I've asked my engineer/scientist husband to put his creative talents to work to devise a system to protect my fruits and vegetables that isn't hideous; however, he's also been preoccupied with other concerns so I don't expect anything in the way of a solution from him in the near term.  I'd like to construct a screened framework all around the vegetable garden but that's probably not practical.  The former owner of our property wrapped the fruit trees in netting but, after rescuing a trapped hummingbird from that mess last year, I pulled it all out.   In my view, it detracted from the beauty of the garden, as well as making it difficult to harvest anything.  Any ideas?  What's worked for you?

Bouquet #3 & the Return of the Raccoons

I almost gave up on the idea of cutting a bouquet today for posting on Erin's site, The Impatient Gardener.  I have company coming to the house this Saturday and I've been on a mad dash to spiff up the garden and get in my last plants before summer starts and the heat dictates that I hold off on further planting until cooler temperatures return in the fall.  However, I was making good progress late this afternoon and I thought I might just have time to cut some flowers when I discovered that the raccoons had paid me another visit.  (I previously posted about my difficulties with raccoons here.)

What I found alongside a large hole in the ground

I planted this Teucrium betonicum last night.  It was one of 3 I put in in my backyard border after pulling a few sun-burned foxgloves.  One plant was still intact, the second (the one shown above) was desiccated beyond resurrection and the third was nowhere to be found.  Maybe I should have known I was pushing my luck last night.  I'd planned to add raccoon repellent to my new plantings after I watered them in but time was short (and I'd forgotten I promised to make dinner).  And, thus far, my experience had been that the raccoons don't dig in wet soil.  Anyway, I took a chance and I paid for it.

Here's what the plant should look like:

The unmolested Teucrium betonicum, now surrounded by raccoon repellent granules

After cleaning up after the raccoon, I was disheartened and not really in the mood to cut flowers.  I managed to put a simple bouquet together using some of the same materials I've used in my last 2 bouquets.

Yes, more Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum), which I have a lot of right now.  And more Agapanthus, which I also have a lot of.  I added one white Agapanthus to the more familiar blue forms in preparing this bouquet.  Lupine cruickshankii 'Sunrise' was intended to tie the arrangement together but, as the cut blooms are small relative to the other flowers, I don't think they carry the combination.  I added some mint bush (Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata') cuttings as filler but they also blend into the arrangement.  It needs more.  I probably should add some Geranium 'Brookside' and maybe some Salvia 'Mystic Spires' but it's dark now and too late to fumble around in the unlit backyard.  And, who knows - I could come face to face with another rampaging raccoon.  This bouquet will have to do as is.

Please go to Erin's site for pictures of more well-assembled bouquets.

Foliage Follow-up for June

In keeping with the approach I took with my Bloom Day post this month, I thought I'd show some of my foliage choices in their planting context rather than sticking with individual plant close-ups as I've generally done in the past.

Aeonium with Ceanothus (no ID on either)

The Aeonium was given to me by a friend after we moved into our current house 2+ years ago.  I just stick it in the ground and it takes off.  It reproduces in a blink, which has allowed me to spread it around.  I think it looks particularly good here in partial shade combined with a Ceanothus hedge I inherited with the property.

Albizia julibrissin (Mimosa), newly leafed out in the back garden

I have a love/hate relationship with this Mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin).  It has a beautiful shape.  It provides partial shade to the patio in the summer.  In leaf, it's graceful.  The flowers, which will be along in a month or so, are lovely - for a nanosecond.  Almost as soon as it flowers, it starts dropping unattractive clumps of dried flowers and leaves, followed by an endless supply of seedpods.  Tiny Albizia seedlings sprout all over the garden - I expect I'd have a forest of Albizia if I wasn't vigilant about pulling them out.  As perspective, here's a picture of the same tree just 5 weeks ago, when it was covered only in dry seedpods:

Elsewhere in the garden, most of the plants are better about behaving themselves:

Artemisia 'Powis Castle' and an artichoke create a place for the eye to rest in my dry garden

A coleus (Solenostemon scuttellaroides 'Mocha Mint') mixes comfortably with Campanula, not yet in bloom, along a pathway

An Eucomis, grown from a bulb and not yet in flower, adds height to a pot with mixed ferns and a pink Calibrachoa

The same ferns in a matching pot on the other side of the front door, grow with an Irisine (no record of variety) and a yellow Calibrachoa

Loropetalum chinense almost overrun by Helichrysum petiolare - I'll have to reduce the number of Helichrysum in this bed to give the Loropetalum proper growing space

Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tristar' with Dryopteris erythrosora (aka Autumn Fern) outside the living room window

Pot of succulents put together as a birthday present for a good friend

For good measure, here are some additional photos of foliage that's looking particularly good in my garden right now:

Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopley's', still small but holding its own after 1 year in my dry garden

Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' in its 2nd year in my back border

A mature Agave attenuata, inherited with the property, has presence in my side yard

Ajuga 'Mahogany', a low-growing groundcover, is spreading well along the edges of my front border

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' (I think), returning after a winter buzz cut

And can anyone tell me what this is?  It planted itself along a wall in the lower front portion of my garden.  I like the foliage but it looks as though it may take over that entire section.

Mystery shrub

As always, my thanks to Pam at Digging for hosting Foliage Follow-up.  Check out Pam's site for foliage photos posted by other gardeners.

June Bloom Day

"June gloom" has persisted all month thus far in my area of Southern California.  The sun usually appears, at least for a time, in the afternoon and, while the gray morning skies get disheartening after awhile, the marine layer has kept the temperatures down which has prevented sudden plant deaths of the kind I experienced during some of the short but miserable hot, dry spells we had earlier this spring.  The fall and winter months are the safest periods to plant here - spring planting can be dicey and summer planting is almost a self-defeating exercise (which isn't to say that I don't do some of that anyway).

As I tend to focus on close-ups of individual plants for Bloom Day posts, I thought I'd try to offer more in the way of context with the blooms presented in this post.  In addition to trying to determine what will survive here and what won't, I've also been trying to determine what plants fit together well in terms of cultural requirements, color and form.  As with most gardens, mine is a work in progress.

Last month, I announced here that the Agapanthus were coming.  Well, they're omnipresent now.

Agapanthuss and Hemerocallis (no ID) inherited with the property

Agapanthus and Salvia mexicana, backed by a hedge of Xylosma congestum, all inherited with the property.  I added the Osteospermum '3D Silver' last year.

Another clump of Agapanthus, this one backed by Nandina domestica

White Agapanthus with Coleonema (no longer in bloom)

The front garden borders are in full bloom.

Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain' borders both sides of the front walkway (it's less overwhelming than it looks in this photo)

Prominent in the right border are the Gaura, Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem', Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy', an unnamed Pelargonium, and Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'

Another view of the plants featured above plus fernleaf lavender and white Angelonia

Don't the Pelargonium and the Rudbeckia play nice together?

The left border contains many of the same plants, although it's not identical in all respects

Here are some plant combinations in other areas of the garden:

Agastache 'Acalpulco Rose' with Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' and Limonium perezii in my dry garden

Catananche caerulea (aka Cupid's Dart) and lavender (Lavandula x heterophylla) in the backyard border

Hemerocallis (no ID) and Coreopsis grandiflora surrounding one side of the fountain

Salvia 'Mystic Spires' with Hemerocallis and a snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) on another side of the fountain

Geranium 'Brookside" and Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' in the backyard border

Short Leucanthemum x superbum with Cuphea aff. aequipetala, annual Gomphrena and Pentas 'Nova' in the back border

Achillea 'Moonshine' with lavender (Lavandula x heterophylla) also in the back border

And here are a few more blooms that are just too pretty for me to ignore:

Arbutus 'Marina' blooming again

Tagetes lemmonii (Copper Canyon Daisy)

Leonotis menthifolia just coming into bloom

Hemerocallis 'Dallas Star' received as a 'gift with order" last year, blooming on my hot, dry slope

Please go to Carol's May Dreams Gardens to see blooms posted by other gardeners.  My thanks to Carol for hosting this monthly event for garden bloggers.

Bouquet #2: Garden Appreciation Society

Erin of The Impatient Gardener hosts a presentation of bouquets composed of blooms and foliage selected from participants' gardens each week.  For the last 2 years, focused on the composition of the garden, I've been loathe to cut anything to carry into the house, although I used to cut flowers periodically to bring to my mother when I visited.  I've decided that it's time to bring some of the garden's color, fragrance and joy into my own the house so I've joined in Erin's Garden Appreciation Society.

Here's my bouquet this week, photographed in particularly poor light last evening:

I selected the gold Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) because I recently noticed that it had sprung into bloom in one of the less visited areas of my garden.  I also like the scent (which, sadly, my husband does not).  I selected the ruffled Leucanthemum x superbum (Shasta Daisy) again this week because I have a lot of them to spare right now and the gold centers mesh well with the color of the smaller gold daisy.

My difficulty arose in selecting an appropriate filler.  I tried a few foliage plants, including:

Calliandra haematocephala

Xylosma congestum

Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon'

The problem with the Calliandra haematocephala is that the leaves close up at night, which makes the foliage look droopy in a vase.  The Xylosma congestum, used as a hedge here, is plentiful but, because it's kept closely shorn, it's hard to find pieces that are long enough to have an impact in an arrangement.  And I couldn't bring myself to cut the Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' because its only now coming back from a hard pruning in the fall.

So I selected Nandina domestica (aka Heavenly Bamboo).  In addition to being plentiful here, it's currently flowering, which adds to the presence of the foliage in the vase.  As I recall, the flower buds drop heavily when placed in a vase.  It remains to be seen how long this arrangement will last.  Last week's arrangement held up for an entire week.

Please go to Erin's site to see bouquets posted by other gardeners.