In a Vase on Monday: 'Loverboy' Bows to the Queen(s)

Dahlia 'Loverboy' was set to take center stage "In a Vase on Monday" this week but he was quickly eclipsed by the presence of local royalty.  This included the queen of vines, Clematis, currently in full bloom on the south side of the house.

Last week, the first flowers of Sweet Autumn Clematis were just starting to open.  This week, the vine is blanketed in blooms. 

Rubbing elbows with 'Loverboy' in the cutting garden, 'Queen Red Lime' Zinnia isn't as flashy but she's taller and more stately in appearance under the hot summer sky.

'Loverboy' started dropping petals even before he squeezed in with his new companions

Back view: Leucadendron 'Devil's Blush' added an edge that 'Loverboy' couldn't match

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia x grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Clematis paniculata, Zinnia elegans 'Queen Red Lime', Prunus laurocerasus, Leucadendron salignum 'Devil's Blush', another variation on 'Queen Red Lime' and, in the center, Dahlia 'Loverboy'

I'd hoped to give Dahlia 'Punkin Spice' a starring role in one of this week's productions but most members of this group wilted as summer reasserted itself over the weekend so that dahlia too took a smaller role than expected.

'Punkin Spice' literally took a backseat to a showy group of zinnias

Back view: A lone Echinacea served as a bit player

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark', Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum', Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit', Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset', Zinnia elegans 'State Fair', Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Salsa Verde' (coleus) and, in the middle, Dahlia 'Punkin Spice'

I've ignored the cool-toned flowers in my garden for the past several weeks.  Both the asters and the lisianthus are looking a little sad now but I thought they deserved attention before they depart for the season so I put them on display this week as well.

Both blue and 'Black Pearl' Eustoma hung out in their beds for weeks, receiving no attention other than an occasional drink

The asters look downright scruffy

Clockwise from the upper left: blue Eustoma grandiflorum (aka lisianthus), Clematis paniculata, Duranta repens 'Sapphire Showers', Eustoma grandiflorum 'Black Pearl', Symphyotrichum chilense, and Veronica 'Purple Shamrock' (formerly known as Hebe)

For more "In a Vase on Monday" action, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  For those of you on the US east coast, stay safe!

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

Another shopping trip

It seems that once I break my self-imposed rule on summer planting I then feel free to run amok.  During the long holiday weekend, I decided to make a quick trip to Roger's Gardens in Orange County.  "Quick" in this instance means 3-4 hours as it usually takes me an hour just to get there and another hour to get back, assuming that traffic isn't heavy.  As it turned out I chose a good time and shaved about 10 minutes off both the trips there and back.  What I'd forgotten was that Roger's Halloween boutique had just opened so the place was swarming with people, although most of them were checking out the decorations rather than shopping for plants.

Roger's replants the vertical garden at its entrance at regular intervals.  It was looking very lush on this visit.

They'd also replanted the large oblong bed in the front area since I was there in May, styling it as a sensory garden.  I walked around it and photographed it in segments as shown above.

The colors in this display drew me in (and subsequently sent me home with a few new plants)

Some plants drew my attention immediately.  Clockwise from the left, these included Manihot esculenta 'Variegata', a new coleus 'Peter's Wonder' and Heuchera 'Obsidian'.  The last was deeper in color than this photo shows.

As always, there were a host of potted plants to admire

I made a pass through the Halloween boutique of course.  I've always enjoyed Halloween and, although it's a bit early to jump into decorating from my perspective, I don't begrudge retailers for using the opportunity to bring in additional revenue.

This year's Halloween boutique is called "Hocus Pocus" and conjures images of a magical school akin to Hogwarts

These are a few examples of the decorations for sale.  The demon babies emerging from pots are a popular feature on Roger's Gardens Instagram page.  All were marked as sold at the time of my visit but I overheard a woman say they were priced at $175.

Two portraits on the wall morphed as you watched them.  The pretty young woman in blue is gradually transformed into the crone shown on the right.  More scenes from the "Hocus Pocus" display can be found here.

I didn't plan on buying any Halloween decorations but I did.  I brought home one of the toads on the left, as well as a set of pumpkin vine arms and legs like those shown on the right.

My real objective in heading off to Roger's was to pick up 2 more planters like one I purchased there several months ago.  I didn't go crazy buying plants but I brought home a few of those too.  Other than a handful of succulents, all the plants have been tucked into place.

I bought the Artstone planter mounted in the middle here to hold Epiphyllum 'Queen of the Night' last May.  I picked up 2 more on this trip, one to hold Epiphyllum 'Monastery Garden' (right) and the other for another noID Epiphyllum (left) I've had for years.  This grouping is in my lath (shade) house.

I brought home Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit', Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Rustic Orange' (coleus), Oxalis 'Sunset Velvet' and a 6-pack of mixed orange and yellow Lantana.  Most of these went into a half barrel formerly occupied by seed-grown Calendula that had developed mildew.

I used the yellow Lantana to fill in this area on my west facing slope

I'd planned to work on garden clean-up this weekend in preparation for future fall planting but weather forecasters are predicting the return of 90F+ temperatures so that plan may be put off awhile longer.    Wherever you are this weekend I hope you manage to avoid any weather-related challenges and eke out some late summer fun.


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

Wednesday Vignette: What's going on here?

I recently noticed some odd flowers on the Pelargonium peltatum (ivy geranium) that's growing up the arbor above the gate that leads from my cutting garden to my dry garden.  A handful of flowers were smaller and lighter in color than the rest.  My first thought was that maybe the flower buds had been scorched by the intense sun that accompanied the extreme heatwave in July.  I deadhead the shrub regularly so the unusual flowers were soon gone and I didn't think about them again until I noticed yesterday that they'd reappeared.

The photo on the left shows the flower's usual appearance and the one on the right shows the anomalous blooms

This is a fuller view of the plant, which I brought with me in a pot when we moved here 7+ years ago.  Only a few of the smaller, lighter blooms are showing at present.

I know that plant viruses are responsible for much of the variegation we see in foliage and I remembered that a virus was responsible for color breaks in tulips.  I conducted a cursory search and discovered that such breaks have also been observed in Pelargoniums.  This is what a 1989 study by The University of Illinois Extension said:

This rare disease is caused by the Pelargonium flower break virus (PFBV). Although serologically distinct from other viruses that infect geranium, PFBV is difficult to detect because it occurs in low concentrations in the plant and is symptomless in most cultivars. Susceptible geranium cultivars show a breaking of flower color which appears as light colored streaks in the petals. Plant growth is retarded and flowers are smaller with rugosed petals. The virus has only been isolated from P. zonale and attempts to infect P. peltatum have failed. The virus is transmitted by infected cuttings, grafting, and sap.


While the 1989 study cited no evidence of PFBV in ivy geraniums, a 2012 article in a scientific journal listed Pelargonium peltatum as another host for the virus.  How my plant was infected isn't clear to me.  I'm going to cut back the plant as usual this fall and wait to see what happens.  The references I scanned indicate there's no known treatment for this virus.

Coincidentally, I noticed that one of the dahlias in my cutting garden, 'Punkin Spice', also produced flowers in two distinctively different colors on the same plant this week.  The colors of dahlia blooms can change dramatically as they mature but these two blooms opened at almost exactly the same time.

The maturity of the bloom isn't a factor in the color differences shown here

This photo shows the 2 flowers on the same plant, although growing on different stems

Looking into this anomaly yielded the conclusion that variations among dahlia buds on the same plant are quite common and in fact have been exploited in developing new varieties.  I've no intention to get into breeding dahlias at this point, however.

This overview of floral anomalies is my Wednesday Vignette.  Visit Anna at Flutter & Hum to see what images she and other contributors have found of interest to share this week.


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

In a Vase on Monday: Keeping things light and bright

The long holiday weekend that unofficially closes the curtain on summer in the US started with emotionally charged public memorials for two American icons, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, and John McCain, the political maverick known for both straight talk and reaching his hand across the aisle.  I followed Franklin's memorial through radio coverage but watched the televised service for McCain at the National Cathedral.  Franklin's voice was unparalleled but I expect her influence will live on through the many vocal artists she influenced.  I'd like to hope that McCain's integrity, respect for others, and emphasis on civility in political discourse will influence those who seek to represent us in national and international arenas too but, sadly, that seems far less certain.

When it came time to cut flowers and foliage for "In a Vase on Monday," I sought to shake off the tears and keep things light and bright.  As has been the case for weeks now, the focal point of my first vase was a dahlia, in this case 'Strawberry Ice'.

Dahlia 'Strawberry Ice' becomes far more luminous as the bloom matures

On this occasion, the back of my vase looks remarkably like the front

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: Abelia x grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Clematis paniculata (aka Sweet Autumn Clematis), Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Agastache 'Ana's Hummingbird Mint', Gomphrena 'Fireworks', white and yellow forms of Zinnia elegans 'Candy Mix' and, in the center, Dahlia 'Strawberry Ice'

I abandoned the dahlias when I put together my second vase, electing instead to use the last of my green Lisianthus.

I used the colorful foliage of Caladium 'Miss Muffet' to pull together the green Lisianthus and a variety of pink flowers

The back of the vase shows off the last pink Lisianthus I was able to find along with some bedraggled coleus

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: green and pink forms of Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Fuchsia 'Galfrey Lye', Leucadendron 'Pisa', Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Redhead' and 'Chili Pepper', Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Wine' and, in the center, Caladium 'Miss Muffet'

For more Monday vases, visit Cathy, our IAVOM host, at Rambling in the Garden.

Happy Labor Day to those of you in the US celebrating the holiday!


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

Breaking the rules (again)

Every year, I impose a rule against planting anything other than succulents during the summer months.  And pretty much, every year I break it.  I'd already reinterpreted my own rule to include an exclusion for bromeliads as well as succulents but late last week, on a trip to my local garden center, I just ignored it entirely.

I went to the garden center to pick up additional mulch but I came home with more than just mulch.  However, I'd like to note that one of the plants I brought home is a succulent.

This is Aloe labworana, a stemless aloe that grows just 1-2 feet tall bearing yellow flowers in the fall.  I've planted it on the west facing slope in the front garden.

I also brought home three Gomphrena.  Now this particular Gomphrena is an annual.  When I think about it, my rule should have had a special proviso addressing annuals.  They're not expected to last more than a season so, as long as the annual in question is heat tolerant, I should've had a summer-planting exception for that.

Gomphrena 'Pinball Snowtip Lavender' is heat and drought tolerant.  I planted it in the bed fronting our garage.

But my third purchase can't be justified as easily.  In my defense, I've been looking for reasonably priced specimens of the plant in question for a year now.  Last year, it was new to the local garden centers and pricey.  I bought one and have looked for more ever since.  They haven't been widely available here and, when I've found them, the price has made me choke.  So, when I found one-gallon containers for what I considered a very reasonable price, I had to bring home three.

This is Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty'.  The one I bought last year has done well in partial shade with very little water.  They'll get a little more sun here but the soil should also hold moisture better.

Of course, none of these justifications can be used to explain this:

This mail order delivery arrived yesterday afternoon

Oh well.  Rules are made to be broken, aren't they?  I usually wait until September to blatantly ignore my self-imposed rule but I got an early start this year.  Between winter's pitiful rainfall and July's nuclear heat blast, it's been a tough year for the garden and it's hard not to want to step in to "fix" it.

There are 3 Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' in front.  In the back row, left to right are: Epiphyllum 'Monastery Garden', Cordyline 'Design-a-Line Burgundy', and Plectranthus lanuginosa.  I've got spots identified for all of them.  The Erigeron and Epiphyllum were already on my fall planting list.  The other 2 plants were spur-of-the-moment selections to round out the order.

I'll be doing planting my new arrivals this weekend as well as potting up some rampant seedlings, which is a fine way to spend my time.  However you spend the extended holiday weekend, I hope you enjoy it!


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

Wednesday Vignette: Too much of a good thing?

In October 2014, I picked up a one-gallon pot of Barleria obtusa at my local botanic garden's fall plant sale.  In 2015, it had reached a modest size and flowered nicely.  In 2016, it looked even better but in 2017 I began to have some concerns that it might be a trifle too exuberant.  However, I adore plants with blue flowers and the Barleria blooms profusely so I was willing to forgive a lot.

At the end of its bloom period last November, I cut my largest plants back hard, even as I transferred some of their seedlings to new areas.  Despite being cut to a height of 6 inches or less, the original plants have already exceeded their mature size last year.

This one had begun to engulf the Echium webbii next to it so I cut it back for a second time in July

Plants that were mere seedlings last year have also assumed a respectable size.

This was a tiny seedling last year

And I continue to find seedlings all over my garden.

Every time I cut something back or clean up and area, I find more Barleria seedlings.  I've considered transplanting some of these on my ugly, neglected back slope to see if they can survive even there.  They have a reputation for being very drought tolerant.

But when I saw this I began to wonder if perhaps I've made this plant too welcome in my garden.

If it looks like this plant's in a cage, that's because it is.  But I didn't put it there.

Pulling back a bit, here's a better view of where I found this seedling.

This chimenea was left behind by the prior homeowner.  I had an Aloe striata in a pot sitting in front of the chimenea's grill and, while inspecting the battered aloe last week, I noticed a splash of green color in the background.

At one time I had a vague plan to use the chimenea as a plant container but that task never rose to the top of my project list.

I'd made do with topping the chimenea's smoke vent with a pot of Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire'

I haven't decided what to do with either the chimenea or the plentiful supply of Barleria seedlings I have on hand but I feel as though a pushy Mother Nature is nudging me along.

This is my Wednesday Vignette.  For others, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


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