Early Fall Bouquet

I haven't cut flowers for a bouquet in a few weeks but I was prompted to spend a few moments doing so when I saw a perfectly formed white rose on a trip to take out the garbage.  There are 5 rose bushes arrayed in a semi-circle along the pathway leading to the trash bins.  Not an optimal placement in my book but they were there when we bought the house.  None of the 5 are particularly vigorous either - they get too much shade and are prone to rust.  However, I'm committed to do what I can this year to improve their condition because I do enjoy the sporadic blooms they produce.

I put together a bouquet of purple and white, with a touch of pink.

Rose, Cuphea, Nandina, Plectranthus, Salvia

Here's what I included:

• Rose (no ID)
• Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'
• Nandina berries
• Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior'
• Salvia leucantha, aka Mexican Bush Sage

I have a dozen shrubs of the Cuphea, all currently badly in need of pruning.  The Salvia recently sprang into bloom in my garden and, seemingly, all over town.  I featured the Plectranthus as my favorite plant of the week last month.  It has developed more and more blooms every week since, although last week's Santa Ana winds flattened the shrub for a time.  I don't think I've ever used its flowers in an arrangement before and I'm not sure how well they'll hold up.  Although the plant is tough and resilient, the blooms are very delicate (and hard to photograph).

Close-up of blooms on Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior'

I'm joining the Seasonal Bouquet Project with this post.  You can read about the project here.  In brief, it's sponsored by Erin and Jennie, 2 flower farmers and designers working on opposite coasts.  Click here to see their floral productions this week, as well as the contributions of participating gardeners.

My favorite plant this week: Yucca elephantipes

At least I think this Yucca is Y. elephantipes (aka Y. gigantea).  It's another plant that came with the garden.  It grows all over the hills in this area of Southern California.  At the moment, it's also in bloom everywhere I look so it's hard to ignore.  The flowers, some of which I can see from my home office window, are downright spectacular.

Not that it's easy to get a close-up picture of the flowers.  The pictures above were taken from a distance.  The yucca sits on the side of our slope, dividing our property from that of one of our neighbors.  Actually, it may be more appropriate to say that it sprawls along the side of the slope.

Yucca, photographed from the top of the stairs that run down to the bottom of our slope

The tree has multiple trunks and appears to have spawned progeny, although it's hard to make out where one tree stops and another starts.  Ivy covers the base and lower portion of the trunks.

Thicket created by ivy and other plants grows up the trunks of the Yucca

Cleaning up this area is a future project.  A neighbor told me that there are a lot of squirrels and rats living in the area surrounding the yucca, which is off-putting.  And the fact that the tree borders the property of a neighbor complicates things - it's not even 100% clear to me which one of us owns the  yucca as the property line is fuzzy.

In the meantime, I enjoy the flowers.  Yucca elephantipes is hardy in USDA zones 9b-11 (Sunset zones 12,13, 16, 17, 19-24, H1 and H2).  It's native to Mexico and Central America and grows fast to 15-30 feet tall and 8 feet wide.

This is my contribution to Loree's favorite plants meme at danger garden.

What I didn't buy...

I'm in a fall planting frenzy.  I've made repeated visits to my local and not-so-local nurseries in my search for items on my planting list, plants to complement the items on my planting list, and, well, anything else that strikes my fancy to fill the current vacancies in my garden beds.  My focus has been on the side yard but I've also picked up plants for my dry garden and my back border.  (So far, my front yard, slope and vegetable garden have been woefully neglected.)

A little over a week ago I went to Roger's Gardens, an Orange County nursery, on my second visit in 2 weeks.  I usually wander the nursery without a cart first to assess the stock, then cycle back with a cart to pick up my final choices, assuming I can remember all of them.  This time, I brought my camera as an aid in my selection process.  I snapped photos of things I liked as I went along.

I bought quite a few plants, some of which have already appeared in recent posts.  But there were also a lot of plants I passed up (at least for now).  Here's what I didn't buy:

This well-priced agave would work on my back slope but clean-up is needed before I get started with any planting there

Angelonia would be nice as a complement to Acanthus mollis 'Summer Beauty' in the side yard but this is a summer-bloomer so it's already past its glory days

This Echeveria would look good with the plants surrounding the side yard patio but it was pricey

Talk about pricey!  This Euphorbia would add height in one of the hanging baskets of succulents in the side yard but I couldn't bring myself to spend $30 for a novelty item.

I loved this Gaillardia but I'd already committed myself to Ursinia 'Solar Fire' as the floral accent along the side yard patio

For some reason, I'm always attracted to Geum, even though I've had little luck getting any of these to bloom.  This one was described as a "wild form."

The price on this Gomphrena 'Fireworks' was marked down 30% but it is the end of its season...

I've already killed Hibiscus acetosella 'Haight Ashbury' once

I was looking for some Lomandra but this variety only came in 1-gallon containers

I'm a sucker for pansies but it's too early in the season to plant these - a good Santa Ana wind, like the one that whipped through our area this past weekend, can take out newly planted pansies in no time

I'm still thinking about this Penstemon digitalis 'Mystica,' a spring bloomer that develops purplish foliage

And this Salvia 'Waverly'

Passing up these double-flowered snapdragons, offered in 6-packs, was difficult

I was looking for Stachys byzantina but I wanted the 'Big Ears' ('Helen Von Stein') variety and this wasn't that

I considered several low-growing foliage plants to complement the Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussy" and Ursinia 'Solar Fire' in the new side yard bed.  I passed on these:

Hebe, I don't remember the variety but I liked the foliage and neat shape of this plant

Dwarf mondo grass also would have presented a neat appearance under the Coprosma

Seslaria caerulea - the blue tones on the reverse of the leaf blades weren't right for my application

I also steered clear of the Halloween displays, although I was tempted.  

Entrance to the special Halloween display

Gargoyle fountain

Lots and lots of pumpkins

Rogers does a good job with decorations but, as we had only 2 trick-or-treaters last year and none the year before, decorating for the holiday is a low priority.  And I already have a perfectly nice bat and skeleton.

So, what did I buy?

Celosia argentea, which I featured as my favorite plant of the week last week

Phormium 'Dark Delight'

5 Talinum paniculatum 'Limon' (aka Jewels of Opar)!

Close-up of the seedpods that form on the Talinum - aren't they pretty against the lime green foliage?

5 Carex testacea (aka orange New Zealand sedge)

5 Crassula lycopodioides, my choice to accent the Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey'

I have a 3-nursery trek scheduled with a friend in less than 2 weeks.  I hope I can steer clear of garden centers in the meantime...

New sprinklers and romantic gestures

Who would have thought that a new set of ugly sprinklers could brighten my week?

I'd complained to my husband that the effort of manually watering the slope at the back of our property was taking a toll on my bad knee (in addition to being a pain in the neck).  Unfortunately, terracing the slope and laying a new drip irrigation system isn't in the budget.

I used a hose connected to an outlet next to the mimosa tree 15+ feet above, woven through a thicket of honeysuckle and ivy, to water the slope

Before I knew it, he was at work on a budget-friendly solution.  He uncovered an existing sprinkler system below the hedge that runs along the inside of our property line.  While that line delivered some water to the hedge, it wasn't constructed to water the beds I'd created along the slope last year (described in one of my first blog posts).  He dug a long trench in hard, uneven, rocky soil and laid new pipe.

New sprinkler line

He capped the old sprinkler heads and installed new sprinklers that will water both the hedge and my beds.  Yay!

New sprinkler system in action

The sprinklers aren't beautiful but they're practical.  Now I can focus on the plants along the slope rather than the time-consuming task of watering the space.  My husband may not be one for grand romantic gestures but he comes through where it really counts.

My favorite plant this week: Celosia argentea var. spicata

My favorite plant this week is a bit of a cheat.  It's an annual I picked up last week on one of my 2 recent trips to Roger's Gardens, an Orange County nursery.  I saw it on my first trip out there, passed it by, but kept thinking out how great it would look positioned in front of Hebe 'Wiri Blush' in my back border.  On my second trip last weekend, I brought along a piece of the Hebe to check whether the mix I saw in my mind would be as nice in reality.  It was, so I brought home 3 pots of Celosia argentea var. spicata, commonly called Pink Flamingo Feather Flower.

Newly planted Celosia argentea var. spicata (aka Pink Flamingo Feather Flower)

Frankly, I've always steered clear of Celosia, finding most of the genus too garish.  Although this one is undeniably a brightly colored attention-getter, it struck me as more garden-worthy.  The flower color and shape mirror the smaller flowers on the Hebe.

Close-up of Pink Flamingo Feather Flower

Hebe 'Wiri Blush' in bloom

Here's a picture of the Celosia and Hebe with the new Phormium 'Dark Delight,' purchased at the same time as the Celosia.  I like the combination of the 3 plants.  The Celosia is reputed to be a vigorous self-seeder so maybe it'll make a return visit next summer.

Celosia argentea var. spicata, Hebe 'Wiri Blush' and Phormium 'Dark Delight'

Pink Flamingo Feather Flower is expected to grow up to 18-24 inches tall and 12 inches wide.  It flowers summer through fall, likes heat, and needs full sun and average water.   This plant is my contribution to the favorite plants meme hosted by Loree of danger garden.  You can see Loree's favorite, a wonderful Saliva discolor I wish I could find locally, here, as well as links to favorites presented by other participating gardeners.

Wide Shot - October 2013

Last month, Heather of Xericstyle introduced a new meme focused on providing big picture views of bloggers' gardens.  I joined in, showing pictures of my backyard border.  I'll show another wide shot of that border in this post but, this month, I thought I'd also feature a wide shot of my side yard, which is currently undergoing a major overhaul.  This section of my garden changed dramatically in February, when we removed a 60 foot Eucalyptus tree at the request of a neighbor who said it blocked her view.  I wrote about that event here.

I've also featured pictures of the changes to my side yard garden on several occasions (see the posts here and here).  The side yard is my current obsession so it seemed fitting to share a big picture view of the progress, even if my fall planting effort is far from finished.  Here are a few pictures of the area taken from different viewpoints.

View of side yard looking out in the direction of the street

View from the side yard patio looking in the direction of the neighbor's house

View looking toward the harbor socked in with the usual morning haze

There's still a lot of empty ground to cover but I'm chipping away at it.  I'll show my most recent additions in a future post.

As I reported here, I lost a number of plants in the backyard border in late summer - or, more accurately, I finally held wakes for these plants in September.  This weekend, I filled in a few of the holes, although many gaps remain.  Here are some updated views:

View of back border looking toward harbor (mid-morning)

View of border from left side where the Mexican Bush Sage is now blooming (late afternoon)

View of border from the right side which, other than the loss of a couple of plants, hasn't changed much since last month (late afternoon)

Plants recently added to the left side of the back border include:

Argyranthemum frutescens 'Comet Pink'

Phormium 'Dark Delight'

Savia greggii

As the biggest draw of the backyard is still the view, I thought I'd throw in a long shot of the harbor.  The cruise ships are back for the fall/winter season.

Cruise ship (no ID!) passing through the LA harbor out toward open ocean

That's it for my October wide shots.  Please visit Heather's Xericstyle blog for her view this month, plus links to other gardeners' contributions.