My favorite plant this week: Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'

My favorite plant this week is a subtle player in the garden.  She stands demurely in the middle of my backyard border, always beautiful but never shouting for attention.  She is Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (also known as Mint Bush).   According to my records, she's occupied a spot in my garden for one year as of today so it seemed only fitting to celebrate her anniversary.

Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' photographed in the early morning sunshine

This evergreen shrub is said to handle full sun to partial shade conditions.  In my garden, she gets some shade during the hottest part of the day but receives sun in both the morning and late afternoon. The foliage is aromatic but the scent isn't heavy or cloying.

She bears purplish pink flowers in the spring.  Mine bloomed back in April but only near the base.

I'd like to add more to the garden but I'm still looking for the right placement.  This shrub would look wonderful in front of a plant with dark green foliage.

Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' is hardy in USDA zones 9a-11 (Sunset zones 14-17 and 19-24). The Australian Native Plants Nursery says that it will tolerate heavy frosts.  It can wilt if it gets too dry but is said to recover well when irrigated.  Despite a significant number of plant losses to the drought and near-drought conditions in my garden, I've never yet had a problem with this plant.  Predictions as to its height and girth appear to vary widely but the tag that came with my plant says she'll get up to 4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.

This is my contribution to Loree's collection of favorite plant nominations this week at danger garden.  You can find Loree's favorite and links to other gardeners' selections here.  Thanks for giving Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' an opportunity to strut her stuff, Loree!

September 2013 Foliage Follow-up

Even when many of my plants are looking tired, as is the case now as summer makes its final stand, I find that I can rely on two things to hold my garden together: trees and succulents.

Trees are a little like walls inside a house - they don't always stand out and make a statement on their own but they provide the backdrop that gives the garden its ambiance.  The trees that have the most presence in my garden are Schinus molle (aka California Pepper Tree) Agonis flexuosa (aka peppermint tree) and Arbutus 'Marina.'  Our property has 7 of the former and 5 of the latter.  Both species are evergreen.

The graceful weeping foliage of the Schinus Agonis frames our view of the harbor off the back yard and provides us some cover from the street in the front yard.

Setting sun shining through the California Pepper peppermint tree branches at the front of the house

View of the house through the trees from the slice of lawn bordering the street

The Arbutus provides shade but also offers interesting bark, flowers attractive to hummingbirds, and strawberry-like fruit that feeds the birds.

We also have a large evergreen Magnolia in the middle of the front lawn.

View of Magnolia from side yard

View up through the center of the Magnolia

Close-up of Magnolia leaves

The Magnolia sheds leaves continuously during the summer months when it blooms but clean-up is far easier than in the case of the Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) in the back.  I've commented on my love-hate relationship with the Mimosa before.  I'm still pulling out the seedlings deposited last year and the tree is preparing to shed a new crop.

This year's crop of Mimosa seedpods 

There are seedpods on the 2 Western Redbuds (Cercus occidentalis) in the front yard that serve as understory trees too.  However, these pods add interest to the front landscape, picking up the reddish tones of the Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' and the bark of the Arbutus, without producing a slew of mini-trees.

Ripened seedpods on Cercis occidentalis

I have a lot of succulent containers scattered about the garden.  I wrote one of my earliest posts about them (which you can read here).  These are a few of my current favorites:

Aloe 'Delta Delights', Crassula 'Ivory Pagoda', Dykia 'Burgundy Ice', Echeveria 'Violet Queen', Rhipsalis salicorniodes, Sedevaria 'Fred Ives', and Senecio radicans glauca

No list of contents on hand

Agave 'Blue Glow' (please excuse the scattering of Mimosa litter)

A succulent planter created by my mother-in-law

These are my contributions to this month's Foliage Follow-up, hosted by Pam of Digging.  You can view Pam's foliage picks and find links to other gardeners' foliage highlights here.

September 2013 Bloom Day Scavenger Hunt

I somehow lost track of Bloom Day this month.  This was mostly to do with the fact that, after our recent heat wave, there are relatively few flowers to be found in my garden.  And, with a few exceptions, those that are there are relatively undistinguished.  However, in the interest of maintaining a record, here are the results of today's Bloom Day scavenger hunt:

I'm impressed by this Acanthus mollis (probably 'Summer Beauty'), which is still putting out new bloom spikes despite the heat and the exposure to scorching sun following the removal of a nearby tree in February

The foliage of this Anemone japonica (no ID) is looking horrible but I do love the flowers

I placed 3 Angelonia 'Angelmist Pink' in my dry garden, not expecting much, but they've done fine there despite the hot, dry conditions

Argyranthemum frutescens 'Elsa White' isn't splashy but the blooms have kept up non-stop since I put in 3 4-inch pots in late February

Billbergia nutans, brought from my former garden and largely ignored in this one, regularly surprises me with new blooms (Note: the quality of the photo doesn't do it justice)

The first Camellia sasanqua (no ID) has appeared - maybe fall is on its way to SoCal after all

Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift' is still blooming, although the flowers are smaller and, presumably in response to the recent heat, are showing less red

This Cymbidium (no ID), rescued from my mother-in-law's garden before sale of her house, has delivered a bloom spike since its arrival in my garden

Echinacea 'Sombrero Hot Coral' is more pink than coral now but it handled the heat well in a partially shaded spot in the back border

I grow Lavandula multifida (fernleaf lavender) more for the foliage than the flowers but it's pumping out flowers right now

Leucanthemum x superbum 'Snow Lady,' a short, non-flopping Shasta daisy, is producing a new round of blooms

Lisianthus 'Echo Pink' continues to produce relatively short, sweet pink blooms

Osteospermum ecklonis '3D Silver' is also producing new blooms since being cut back several weeks ago

This low-growing Pentas lanceolata (no ID), relocated from my former garden, is brightening the border of my vegetable garden

A flower has already appeared on one of the Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) in my back border

The Plectranthus ciliatus (no ID), brought in as a cutting from my former garden, is producing its first blooms of the season

This Plectranthus ecklonii, purchased by mail order from Annie's and moved once, has beautiful blooms on a still immature plant

Salvia mexicana is putting out a few blooms

Salvia 'Mystic Spires" is still going strong

Bloom Day is sponsored by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Please go to her webpage here to see other gardeners' Bloom Day selections.

Not that I needed an excuse to buy plants...

South Coast Botanic Garden (which I previously wrote about here) held its annual Fall Plant Sale today.  Purchases benefit the garden's foundation.  As a new member of the botanic garden, I qualified for both preview access and a 10% discount.   As I'd signed up for the "family plan," I was able to bring a friend along to shop with the same privileges.  In addition, now that a large section of grass has been cleared from our side yard and prepared for planting, I actually need plants to fill the new space.  I couldn't have had more excuses for plant shopping, could I?

The outside courtyard just inside the entrance of the garden was occupied by a variety of local vendors, offering succulents, tropical selections, and drought-tolerant plants.

I almost bought the Salvia clevelandii 'Wilfred Gilman' (2nd from the right on the table)

More healthy selections from the same vendor

I passed on the Plumerias  - I have to see if I can keep the one I've got alive before picking up another

The prices on the vendor offerings, while pretty good, generally ran  higher than the plants on display in the main auditorium.  My impression is that volunteers supply many of the plants offered for sale in this area but San Marcos and Native Son nurseries also provided donations.

An Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' - do you see that price?!

Agave 'Blue Glow' - a wonderful plant but not as good a price as I've found elsewhere for its size

I spent 10 minutes debating the purchase of this beautiful ornamental banana ($20!)

Beschorneria yuccoides 

There were a variety of Cuphea, a genus that does well in my SoCal garden

An unidentified variety of Plectranthus - I love the genus but this variety looked rangy

Strobilanthes anisophyllus 'Purpurea' (aka Mexican petunia)

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy had an entire room dedicated to California natives.

This plant looked interesting but the common name put me off

Melica imperfecta, a low-growing, drought-tolerant grass

None of the plants on display fit into my current plan for the side yard.  Nonetheless, I didn't walk out empty handed.

My purchases

Here's what I got:

• Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' (yes, I already have 3 of them but, at $15 for a beautiful plant priced at $40 by the local nurseries, I could hardly take a pass)
• Beschorneria yuccoides 
• Cuphea ignea 'Alba'
• Aeonium simsii hybrid
• Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' 

My total expenditure was a very reasonable $36.90.  So does it matter that I have a specific spot identified for just one of these plants?