Bloom Day - November 2020

Temperatures have finally come down here and, in our view, it's been cold for more than a week now (even if much of the country wouldn't consider daytime temperatures in the upper 50s-low 60sF "cold"). With the exception of a single flower, the Dahlias and Zinnias are gone. There are still flowers but they're harder to find and sparser in number. I'll start with the plants providing the most prominent splashes of color. 

Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet) was just getting started  in mid-October.  It peaked earlier this month and is already waning but there's still a plentiful supply of blue flowers in both the front and back garden.

Senna bicapsularis is a reliable fall bloomer.  I cut the plant back hard early in the year hoping it might bloom on shorter stems but, once again, it's reaching for the sky.

The Australian fuchsias (Correa) were starting to bloom last month but they've really got their bloom on now.  Clockwise from the upper left are Correa 'Ivory Bells', 'Pink Eyre', 'Sister Dawn', and 'Wyn's Wonder'.

Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' got hacked back by an overly exuberant gardener a few months ago but it's coming back.  The gardeners usually restrict their brief visits to trimming hedges and blowing leaves so I don't know what compelled the serious haircut this plant received.

I can always count on the large-flowered Grevilleas to continue blooming while everything else settles down for a nap.  The two large shrubs on the left are 'Superb' (top) and 'Peaches & Cream' (bottom).  'Ned Kelly' (lower right) is less prolific but still a year-round bloomer.

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and its cousins are still going strong

Since our trees were trimmed, the Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) is getting more sun and will hopefully produce more flowers over the next several weeks

The garden offered a couple of surprises this month.

Dahlia 'Rancho' produced its first, and probably last, bloom last week.  It's pretty but 6 months to obtain a single bloom isn't worth the investment.

Our Xylosma congestum hedges all produced these blooms after their last shearing.  The bees have swarmed them.

There are a few new blooms as well. 

The noID Camellia sasanqua inherited with the garden have just begun flowering.  Unfortunately, hybrid Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' lost a lot of its buds during our late heat spells but new buds are forming so I hope I'll see some of those flowers in the new year.

Now that the heat is off, the Gazanias are blooming again

Our periodic flashes of hot weather usually take a toll on Violas here but I still can't resist planting a few every year

There's a little of this and a little of that scattered elsewhere in the garden.  Here's the rest, sorted as usual by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Brachyscome 'Brasco Violet', Leucophyllum laevigatum, Polygala myrtifolia, noID Osteospermum, Pandorea jasminoides, noID Scaevola, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', Cuphea 'Honeybells' C. 'Starfire Pink', Eustoma grandiflorum, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Osteospermum 'Berry White', Penstemon mexicali 'Mini Red Bells' and Pentas lanceolata

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Yellow Beauty', Achillea 'Moonshine', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Lantana 'Lucky Orange', Leonotis leonurus, Osteospermum 'Sunshine Beauty', and Zauschneria californica

For more posts celebrating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, visit our host, Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

 

This week's progress report

I continue to keep myself busy with work in my garden, avoiding the daily news feed.  I haven't focused on any one project in particular but rather tackled one small job after another.  The first involved sowing seeds and planting Anemone corms in the cutting garden, as well as planting Dutch Iris and daffodil bulbs in the back garden but I've no photos to share.  However, while planting bulbs, I noticed that the creeping thyme was over-running the flagstone path in the back garden so I trimmed that back.

I cleared an area of the garden on the south side of the house for the tree daisy (Olearia albida), a New Zealand native I hope, in time, will do an acceptable job screening out views of the street and a neighbor's home.  That required cutting back succulents, digging out lots and lots of stone fragments, and supplementing the rock-hard soil.  Whenever I embark on any task involving extensive digging in my garden, I'm reminded of the fact that our neighborhood was built on what was a rock quarry back in the 1940s.

The tree daisy, purchased by mail order from Annie's about a month ago, is already a little over a foot tall and I hope it'll continue to beef up.  It's supposed to reach 11 feet in height and 6 feet in width.

I took down the sunshades that line the interior of the lath (shade) house during the hot summer months.  This is another time-consuming exercise.  Every plant has to be removed from the shelves before each piece of screening can be removed.

I used the opportunity to neaten up each plant before returning it to its place.  All the shelves were swept clean of the cherry laurel berries the rats stockpile behind the plants in the dead of night.

I evicted a poorly-performing fuchsia and stole its pot for a recently purchased Begonia gehrtii 'Comet', with its wonderful puckered leaves

Yesterday, I decided it was time to remove one of the 'Blue Flame' Agaves that was encroaching on its neighbors.  In this case, I took "before" shots to illustrate the problem.

The mother plant produced pups and careened over on its side as it increased in size

Among other things, it was overwhelming one of the Agave americana mediopicta 'Alba'

 Here are the after shots:

After pulling out some of the mother plant's dead leaves, I was able to saw through the trunk that connected it to the pups

Hopefully the smaller variegated Agave will now be able to right itself.  The 'Blue Flame' Agave I removed was so heavy I had to get my husband's help just to chuck it in the green bin.  If you've never grown an agave, you'd be surprised at just how heavy these plants can be.

I've continued to work on the sloped area adjacent to the lath house.  I finally got the remaining stone in place to stabilize the slope for planting.  I dug out still more of the bulbous asparagus fern roots that riddle this area (and many others in my garden) and supplemented the hard-packed sandy soil.  I'm still debating what to plant there and it may take me some time to finalize my choices.

At present, I've selected two Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty' to join another already there (just outside the photo's frame on the right).  Most of the other plants will be succulents but I'd like to throw in a few softer notes as well.

That's a wrap on my project updates.  Sunday is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day so I'll be back then with my monthly bloom report (assuming that whatever has happened to Blogger's edit function is fixed by then).  There's a lot less out there than there was a month ago but, in my climate, there's always something.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Biding their time

There are plants in my garden that appear to be biding their time, waiting for the appropriate moment to bloom.  One finally has while it remains a mystery whether the other will or not.

Although ordered last December, the Dahlia 'Rancho' tuber wasn't received until May.  Its first - and possibly only - flower is only just opening now.  

I bought three bulbs of Scilla maderensis, classified as "rare," on a whim earlier this year.  I thought the chance of blooms was unlikely, especially in the first year.  As instructed, I planted them with their purple tips above the soil line but, when I no longer saw any sign of them, I thought they'd perished, only to have these plants suddenly appear.  Will they bloom this year?  I can only hope.  You can find a photo of the flowers here. 

A nation that celebrated new leadership last week is also biding its time while those frantically clinging to delusions try to come to terms with a change they knew or should have known was likely.

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

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: 7th Anniversary Challenge

Cathy of Rambling in the Garden is celebrating the seventh anniversary of the popular "In a Vase on Monday" meme.  I didn't come on board until late March 2014 but I haven't missed many Monday posts since.  As a challenge, Cathy suggested that participants create an arrangement without flowers this week.  That takes a measure of restraint from a flower freak like me but I did come up with something to meet the spec.

I've got no colorful fall foliage to flaunt so I drew on the flower-like rosettes of an Aeonium and colorful Leucadendron stems as focal points.  I cut stems of a deep red coleus too but felt they overwhelmed the arrangement so I pulled them.

The back view presents a cleaner profile and, in retrospect I probably should have pulled the Caladium stems shown in the front view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', Caladium 'Debutante', Leucadendrons 'Devil's Blush' and 'Jester', and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'

The volume of flowers available in my garden took a nose dive once I dug up my dahlias and zinnias so flowers will be in shorter supply for some time but there are still some and I decided to use the last respectable pink Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) and stems of Correa 'Pink Eyre', currently blooming with abandon, for a second vase with flowers.  If you've read many of my prior IAVOM posts, you already know that I seldom stop at just one.

The Lisianthus blooms weren't perfect after being pounded by intermittent showers on Saturday and early Sunday but I thought they still deserved an opportunity to shine

The Caladium stems are quickly succumbing to colder temperatures so I cut the longest ones I could find in good condition, none of which were very tall

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum, Caladium 'Debutante', Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Pentas lanceolata, Persicaria capitata, and Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata'

Last week was a mix of emotional ups and downs.  On the down-side, I received news of a serious illness within my extended family; however, the week also delivered rain (just 0.18/inch but that's something!) and the long-awaited news that we have a new US President-elect.  With respect to the latter, there are still legal steps that need to be completed before the decision of the voters is certified but there's a very high statistical probability that will happen even if the current incumbent doesn't have the grace to acknowledge it for the sake of his party or the nation.

For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Many thanks to her for creating and nurturing what has become a wonderful weekly celebration.

Our temperatures dropped from 88.5F (31C) on Thursday to 59F (15C) on Sunday.  As we probably won't get anything that could pass for "fall foliage" until December or January, this little mouse on the dining room table is my nod to the change of seasons.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Time to launch those fall projects!

I got started on my fall garden projects in early October but, mindful of the fact that I'd scheduled removal of two trees and the annual pruning of several others in late October, I held off on much of what I'd planned for a time.  Another round of hot weather, vicious Santa Ana winds, and smoke from fires fueled by those winds put the skids on even the work thought I could tackle before the tree service arrived.  I did manage to get a little planting done, however.

I pulled all the zinnias I had in this bed and replanted it using Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow', Heuchera 'Marmalade' and Osteospermum 'Sunshine Beauty'

I cleared space for Ceanothus x pallidus 'Marie Simon' by moving Salvia 'Bee's Bliss', digging out a lot of the horrible roots of asparagus fern in the process

In an effort to diminish the wood mulch covering the area around our Magnolia tree, I planted a few herbs there, including Origanum 'Compacta Nana'.  If these plants thrive and spread, I'll add more herbs throughout the area.  Wood mulch can pose a fire risk here.

I've planted a variety of bulbs, including four more giant sea squill (Drimia maritima) bulbs at the bottom of my back slope.  Those four bulbs weighed more than 10 pounds!  I caged them for now as last year the raccoons pulled my original bulb up when it was first planted.  In other areas of the garden I've planted Freesias and Sparaxis.  I'm still waiting for delivery of other bulb orders.

Since the trees were taken care of last week, my focus has shifted to addressing the areas affected by the removal of the mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) trees.  The area formerly occupied by the mimosa needs major work and I've only just gotten started there.

For some reason, a prior owner installed parallel hedges of Ceanothus and Xylosma in both the front and back gardens.  The Ceanothus in the front died out years ago and we removed them.  I removed part of the back Ceanothus hedge earlier and removal of the mimosa tree prompted me to chip away at it still further.  These are before and after shots from one end.

This is a before and after shot of the other end.  Honeysuckle was planted between the Ceanothus shrubs here and it'd run amok.  At some point, I may break down and pull the rest of the Ceanothus here but this is not the year.  My focus was only on cleaning it up.

On the south end of the garden, the biggest issue has been finding room to plant a tree that will help hide views of neighbor properties and the street.  I've identified a suitable spot and plant for that area but more work is required before I dig it into place.

Squeezing a new tree in here is complicated by the presence of a huge tree stump near the property line (here when we moved in), the existing Xylosma hedge, and the fact that there's a sharp slope on the other side of that hedge.  I'm in the process of moving rock and succulents to clear a space for the tree daisy (Olearia albida) shown on the right.  It's said to grow 11 feet tall (possibly taller) and about 6 feet wide.

In both of the areas in which we removed trees, I needed to move bird feeder poles, which I did this week.

I moved the bird feeder pole on the east side just a few feet, putting it between an Arbutus 'Marina' and Leucadendron 'Pisa', both of which provide the birds safe perches from which to visit the feeder.  I moved the feeder pole that formerly sat on the south end of the garden near the toyon to the front of the house under one of our peppermint willows (Agonis flexuosa).  The feeders on the south end were implicated in too many window strikes but there are very few windows at the front of the house.

I haven't gotten nearly as much done in the area of the front slope facing my shade house as I'd intended but I've made a little progress.

This is what the area looked like in early October

This is what it looks like now.  I've added rock saved when we took down a rock-faced structure during our home remodel last year.  It doesn't exactly "match" the rock used in this stone-stacked wall but, once planted, most of that rock should be hidden anyway.  I still need to move more rock and dig in soil supplements before I plant.

I expect to plant one Agave colorata (moved from the back garden before the mimosa tree was taken down) on the front slope but this one may get planted along the street (to the right of the hose bib)

I haven't entirely ignored other areas of the garden.  I finally dug up all of the badly mildewed dahlias and zinnias in my cutting garden to clear the way for my cool season flower crop.

I've cleaned, divided and stored the dahlia tubers I want to hang onto.  Two of the raised planters have been prepared for planting.  I sowed sweet pea seeds last weekend but held off on sowing other seeds until the temperatures came back down, which happened today.  It was 88F (31C) here yesterday!

My husband and I've returned most of the furniture we'd moved from the back patio in advance of the mimosa tree's removal and I replanted several pots to improve the area's appearance.

The circle pot on the patio dining table (left)was replanted using succulent cuttings.  I replanted all the pots shown on the right with the exception of the one containing the Agave.  It's been in that pot for a good 10 years or more and I don't think I can get it out without breaking the pot.

There's still a lot to do but hopefully cooler weather is here to stay.  For now, I'll close with a couple of sunset views captured last weekend.

There's no mimosa tree here to obscure the view to the northeast but I'm still hopeful of convincing my husband to accept a replacement.  I'm currently considering a Gingko biloba.

The sunset scene on the south end of our property was enough to temporarily distract me from the neighbor's house on this occasion but I'm still hoping the tree daisy grows quickly

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: I wish I had a shell

On Monday, I made a quick trip to my local garden center to buy supplies so I could bury myself in garden-related activities all day on Tuesday, Election Day in the US.  I voted weeks ago by mail (and tracked my ballot to ensure delivery to the County Registrar of Voters) and, knowing that the process of counting ballots across the country will be a protracted process this year, I expected it would be essential to my sanity to stay away from the moment-to-moment updates that are likely to plague our news feed for days.  While at the garden center, an employee pointed out two new residents in the on-site pond.

I took this photo with my cell phone so it's not as clear as I'd like but doesn't the little fellow on top look content with his back legs stretched up in the air?

At times like this I wish I had a shell I could pull myself into and hide if needed.  A safe place to rest with a trusted companion doesn't hurt either. 

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

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: We've Reached the End of the Labyrinth

Last week was very warm, dry, and windy and the dahlias still left in my cutting garden looked the worse for it by Sunday morning.  I'm calling this the end of the season for the dahlias (with the exception of 'Rancho' which has yet to open its first buds).  I also pulled the remaining zinnias, which like the dahlias were too badly mildewed to bear any longer.  I'm sorry to see them go as a flower-filled cutting garden simplified the weekly process of creating arrangements for "In a Vase on Monday," even if the arrangements themselves became a bit repetitive.

So here's the last of Dahlia 'Labyrinth', offered once again in a starring role.

Cuphea 'Honeybells' was a last-minute addition after I trimmed it back

The last Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera' was tucked in the back of the vase to fill it out

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Labyrinth', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera', Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Blush', and Z. 'Senora'

Although Dahlia 'Gitts Crazy' had an all-too-brief moment in the spotlight, I'm calling an end to its run as well.  It's possible it could produce a few more blooms before the weather gets cold here (if that ever happens!) but its once pristine foliage is too ugly to tolerate.

I lost a couple 'Gitts Crazy' blooms to last week's weather conditions too and I sacrificed two ready-to-pop buds when I cut these stems

I threw two bright red zinnias into the mix to dress up the back view of the arrangement

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Gitts Crazy', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Tagetes lemmonii, and noID Zinnia elegans

The vases containing the dahlias found places where they could be admired for as long as they last.

I couldn't leave the kitchen island empty so I cut a few bush violet stems again this week for a small vase.

This vase is a re-run of the prior vases featuring Barleria obtusa (bush violet) with Caladium 'Debutante' as the only new element

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party