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

Wednesday Vignette: You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette

Demolition continues at our house.  At the moment, it seems never-ending.  We had an "issue" with the roof design for the new kitchen extension so it's literally back to the drawing board there.  In the meantime, I caved on removal of the indoor barbecue attached to the fireplace unit that divides our dining and living rooms.  I finally accepted that trying to reuse the barbecue area for storage or some other purpose would never be anything but odd.  So its demolition is underway.

Before demolition

Mid-way through demolition: All but the lower portion of the barbecue is already gone, creating more of an open concept space.  After endless debate, my husband and I've agreed to cover all the stone below the roof with Venetian plaster rather than trying to reface the scarred portions of the remaining fireplace in rock.

There's currently a hole in the ceiling as removal of the barbecue unit necessitated removing the part of the chimney below it

The good news is that, even after the upper portion of the chimney is reconstructed, there should be rock left for me to use in the garden.  Natural palos verde stone is no longer available in the area so this is a windfall of sorts.  One has to look for the positives...

My bromeliad bed has been torn to pieces by raccoons.  I'm looking forward to building a fortified bed featuring a lot more stone.

I'm also looking forward to being able to see my garden through the living room windows again.

View of the south side garden in mid-June

For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


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

Tell-the-Truth-Tuesday: Lost in a cloud

With my house in a state of chaos, I find myself needing to assert some control over my garden.  That impulse has been manifested mainly in clean-up activities thus far (but don't be surprised if I'm tearing up a bed or two in the near future).  Late last week, I noticed that the Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud' I'm so fond of for softening the sharp edges of the succulent bed on the south end of my garden had gotten rather out of control.

There are 3 Agave americana mediopicta 'Alba' in the mix here.  Can you see them?  Planted nearly 3 years ago as pups given to me by Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden, the Agaves had bulked up nicely following our winter rains but, wrapped up in a filmy cloud of blue flowers, you can barely see them here.

I started cutting the bellflower back but ended up pulling large sections of it out where it had woven itself in the narrow spaces between succulents.  It remains to be seen whether I went too far.  My guess is it'll come back.

As it is, the Lessingia 'Silver Carpet' is also doing its best to engulf the variegated Agave in the foreground

In any case, it looks a bit neater, doesn't it?

Tell-the-Truth-Tuesday is the brainchild of Alison at Bonnie Lassie.  Do you have any garden woes or faux-pas you'd like to share?


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

In a Vase on Monday: Shaking things up

My home is still chaotic.  As our remodel proceeds, there's a new wrinkle every day - and sometimes two or three.  Our contractor is off to meet with a structural engineer today to resolve an issue with the kitchen extension that impacts the new windows, which have already been purchased and paid for.  The earth not only seems unsteady under our feet, it actually gave us a couple of honest-to-goodness jolts last week with two of the largest earthquakes Southern California has had in decades.  Actually, I didn't even feel the first one.  I was working in the garden but I heard about it nearly immediately from friends and family.  The second one, registering 7.1 on the Richter scale, had 10 times the intensity of the first 6.4 quake.  I did feel that one but, as both were in Ridgecrest some 180 miles away, my area wasn't materially impacted.  Ridgecrest and its neighboring communities have experienced damage and serious disruptions but fortunately no deaths have been reported.  However, even at a distance, major earthquakes shake up everyone here in earthquake country with reminders of the necessity to be prepared for "the big one" we've been told is long overdue.  I grew up in SoCal and I've been through 2 major quakes but, exposed to a lot more small quakes, it's easy to become complacent.  My husband and I have emergency packs on hand and we've taken precautions to prevent furniture and appliances from falling over on us in the event of a strong quake but reminders to review those precautions are always useful.  Coincidentally, we already had an earthquake retrofit earmarked as part of our remodel plan.

But back to flowers!  A few weeks ago, Cathy, our "In a Vase on Monday" host at Rambling in the Garden, featured a vase mixing blue and orange flowers.  I tend to stick with analogous or harmonious colors rather than complementary colors when composing floral arrangements but, after seeing Cathy's arrangement, I decided it was time for me to mix things up.  There are some strong oranges and blues in my garden at the moment so the time was right.

I've also had to change things up when it comes to photographing my vases while living in only half a house.  This week I experimented by shooting pictures in both our temporary kitchen and a vacant corner of my office, recently cleared for work that will affect the wall adjoining the kitchen.  The pictures of this vase were taken in the latter spot with the help of a board pulled from the garage.

I wasn't sure about mixing Agapanthus and Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) but I was surprised at how much I like the combination

Top view: The woolly Leonotis flower looks a little like an orange tarantula spider but it doesn't bite

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Agapanthus, Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', noID Lavandula angustifolia, Leonotis leonurus, and Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'

I fell back on my usual formula for my second vase.  I've been eagerly waiting for more of my Dahlias to bloom but, while there are fat buds developing on a few more plants, 'Enchantress' and 'Labyrinth' are still the only two cultivars blooming at the moment.  Both are pumping out flowers like there's no tomorrow.  Maybe the earthquakes shook them up too!

The bees are preoccupied with 'Enchantress' so I left left those alone this week

'Labyrinth' was slower to flower but it's working hard to pass up 'Enchantress' as top bloomer

These photos were taken in our temporary kitchen, attached to the north end of the house adjacent to our master bathroom

Top view: My husband outfitted the temporary kitchen using shelving and drawers from our old kitchen

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Labyrinth', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Grevillea 'Superb', and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'

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

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

My Daylily Collection

My daylilies were just getting started during the first half of June and most are finishing up their season during the early days of July so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share them as a group.  Daylilies like more water than I generally give them so they're not spectacular summer blooms here.  My sandy soil, which provides excellent drainage for drought-tolerant plants, probably isn't optimal for growing them, especially when the the rain generally comes to an abrupt end in March and they have to make-do with what my irrigation system provides from there out.  This year saw heavier-than-usual winter rain and some precipitation as late as early May so I thought I might get a better than average show; however, it was a mixed bag.  Some daylilies bloomed better this year but others just put in a so-so performance and a few failed to make any appearance at all.

I'll start off with my favorites.

This is Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem', the most consistent performer in my garden and, with one exception, the most profuse bloomer

The plants line our front walkway, framed by Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' on one side, shown on the left.  The photo on the right is the last of these flowers, in bloom on July 4th.

'Persian Market' is another favorite, although it hasn't bloomed as strongly since I relocated the plants 3 years ago

'Plum Perfect' was a new introduction last year but it really took off this year.  The flowers are small relative to the rest of my daylily crop but they keep on coming and the flowers last longer than any others in my garden.

My most profuse bloomer is 'Sammy Russell', a winter dormant variety I inherited with the garden.  It's not a favorite but it's reliable.

The plants were dormant when we bought the house and moved in.  They were a nice surprise in early summer when the foliage appeared but, in a climate with year-round gardening, I think an evergreen variety might have been a better choice.

Most of the others in my garden produce a bloom here and there without making a significant display.

The blooms on 'Apollodorus' are huge but, thus far, the flowers appear one by one on few scapes.  However, this one was also added just last year so it may gain vigor in time.

This is 'Double Impact', the only double-petaled variety I have.  I don't love it but it also blooms reliably.

I bought 'For Pete's Sake' mainly for the name.  It reminds me of my father, who died in an accident when I was 6.  I moved it last year and it hasn't entirely settled into its new location.

'Indian Giver' was perhaps my most expensive acquisition.  It's color is less vivid this year than in prior years for some reason.  Nutritional deficiencies perhaps.  I'm bad about feeding my daylilies.

'Joan Senior' was a gift with purchase last year.  She's a shy bloomer thus far but I love the color.

'Pandora's Box' was also a gift with purchase several years ago.  It disappeared for awhile (possibly because it's been engulfed by Acacia 'Cousin Itt') but it surprised me with several blooms this year.

'Elizabeth Salter' (not shown here) bloomed back in May.  She's not a favorite but she's always the first to bloom.  No shows thus far this year include 'Cordon Rouge', 'Dallas Star', 'Prairie Moonlight', and 'Russian Rhapsody'.

That's it for me this week.  I hope you enjoy a pleasant weekend.  For the record, if you've heard news of Southern California's recent earthquake, we were unaffected here.  The 6.4 quake hit yesterday morning in Ridgecrest, about 182 miles northeast of us.  It was widely felt, including by friends and family somewhat north of us.  SoCal's earthquake expert, Lucy Jones, says there's a 20% chance of an even bigger quake within the next few days.  Although the 6.7 Northridge quake 20 25 years ago caused tremendous damage and cost 72 people their lives, the Ridgecrest quake in a rural and much less populous area hasn't had as disastrous an impact.  My fingers are nonetheless crossed that they don't experience an even bigger quake.


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

Wednesday Vignette: Half a house

With the footing for our kitchen extension completed last week, our long-awaited remodel finally kicked into high gear this week with the demolition of our kitchen and dining rooms.  The first day was exceptionally noisy and very, very messy.

Our kitchen viewed from the adjacent dining room area midway through the first day of demolition

This is the dining room viewed from the kitchen.  The living room, its white carpet set to be removed, is partially visible beyond the stone structure.  Yesterday, my husband once again proposed removing the half of that stone structure originally constructed as an indoor barbecue.  (Apparently, that was a "thing" in the early 1950s.)  We're awaiting a quote.

This is the kitchen after the debris created during the first 2 days of work was loaded into a dumpster

Demolition continues today.  The wall facing the back patio is coming out to extend the kitchen's footprint.  Meanwhile, the back half of the house has been entirely closed off from the area undergoing deconstruction.  The temporary kitchen constructed by my husband to tide us through the remodel is also complete.  (Or rather, I hope it is.  He keeps tweaking it, most recently creating a shelf to hold canisters and free up workspace.) 

Our cozy temporary kitchen viewed from our bedroom

My poor cat is spending lots of time hiding in a corner of my bedroom closet.  I'm spending as much time as possible in the garden, having lunch out with friends, and running errands.  A recent "errand" took me to my local garden center.

My goal was to pick up a tomato cage to provide support to one of my dahlias but, when in a garden center, one has to at least check out the plants, right?  I came home with a Pentas, a small Prostanthera ovatifolia (aka mint bush), and a reasonably priced Furcraea. 

Everyone tells me I'll love the result of the remodel once the long list of projects is done.  I expect that's true, at least as long as my sanity remains intact.

For more Wednesday vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


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

In a Vase on Monday: Chaos reigns

Not a single room of the house feels familiar or comfortable at the moment.  The living and dining rooms are empty and the kitchen is halfway gutted.  Every one of the remaining rooms is now serving multiple purposes.  Despite packing away furniture and boxing up all but essential belongings for storage and doing our best to organize what remains, our remaining living spaces are claustrophobic.  For someone who's tried to convince her spouse that we could be happy in a tiny vacation house (somewhere with cooler summer temperatures!), this is a comedown of sorts but then who takes all their worldly possessions with them on vacation?  I expect we'll adapt, although getting used to the weekday noise and confusion associated with our remodel may be more of a challenge.  Today, I expect to lose the small window on the south side of my office when it's closed in to form part of our kitchen extension.

Pipig has chosen new spots for her naps in the back part of the house.  She's chill when the workers are absent but, as soon as they pull up outside, she's on high alert and, more often than not, she's hiding in the very darkest corner of my closet on top of a hat box until they leave.

There's still plenty in bloom to cut for vases; however, I had to prepare my arrangements in our master bathroom yesterday as the laundry room is already doing double duty for washing dishes.  The new blooms of Dahlia 'Labyrinth' provided the inspiration for my first vase.

I was disappointed last year when the one and only 'Labyrinth' tuber I was able to get rotted but this year I've got 2 plants full of buds

I was able to use the old, partially deconstructed kitchen as a backdrop for most of this week's photos, relying solely on daylight from nearby windows.  (All the light bulbs in kitchen have already been removed.)

I've yet to identify areas that might be suitable for use in photographing future vases but that may be a week-by-week determination as our remodel progresses

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Labyrinth', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', Leucadendron 'Jester', and Tanacetum parthenium.  This 'Jester' grows in partial shade so its colors are more subdued than the plant I have in full sun.

As Thursday is Independence Day, I also cobbled together a red, white and blue arrangement, or as close as I could come to that by substituting magenta for true red.

The shaggy Shasta daisies were intended as accents but, once again, they dominate the arrangement.  I don't mind as they're looking particularly good this year and remind me of the recently departed friend who gave them to me.

Back view

Top view, highlighting what may be the last of my Delphinium blooms for the season

Clockwise from the upper left: Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', Delphinium elatum, Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', Eustoma grandiflorum (aka lisianthus), Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Nigella papillosa 'Starry Night' and, in the middle, Leucanthemum x superbum (aka Shasta daisy)

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

The Dahlias ended up on the card table in our bedroom we're currently using as a dining table (left).  The red, white and blue arrangement sits alongside the PC in my office (right).

For those of you in the US celebrating the 4th of July this week, I hope you have a safe and sane holiday!


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