Wide Shots - January 2021

One month blends into another and, as is the case for many of us these days, I lose track of time.  I completely forgot my own eighth blog anniversary late last month and only belatedly remembered that it was time for my quarterly wide shots post, which I use to track the general changes in my garden that otherwise can get lost among all the close-up photos.

I'll start as usual in my back garden looking out toward the Los Angeles harbor.

I've cut back a lot of plants, most notably the bush violets (Barleria obtusa) that were threatening to swamp plants adjacent to the fountain, as well as others in the back border.  You can see bulb foliage coming up around the fountain now.

View from the back patio looking north

View from the northeast end of the house looking back toward the main patio

View from the main patio looking south.  Although there are a lot of empty spots in the beds on both sides of the flagstone path, it doesn't look bad from this vantage point.  The Echium handiense on the foreground on the left already has bloom spikes as our weather turns unseasonably warm.  We could reach 80F (26C) before the week's end.

View from the south end of the back garden looking north.  The most obvious change since my October wide shots post is that the mimosa tree (Alibizia julibrissin) is gone.  Its planned replacement, a Ginkgo, isn't available at my local garden center yet.

The south side garden is next up.  The area looks a lot different to me since the removal of the dead native Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) along the property line.  I planted a new tree, Olearia albida (aka tree daisy), just inside the hedge that runs along the perimeter but it's still too small to be seen in a wide shot.

This view of the south side garden looking west is one of my favorite garden views

The loss of the Toyon is most evident in this view from the area outside the "catio" looking southeast.  Hopefully, the tree daisy will someday screen those scruffy trees in the distance and the neighbor's house.

View of the south side garden looking east.  Last week, I cut back the two vines growing up the arbor, a Wisteria on the left and a Clematis on the right.

Next we'll move into the front garden but, instead of continuing along the main level, we'll dip down to the lower level where my lath (shade) house sits.

I cleared the slope on the right in November and replanted it, mostly with small succulent specimens, some cut from elsewhere in my garden and others received by mail order

View of the same area looking east

The area shown above sits next to the road that runs through our neighborhood so we'll take a quick look at the bed running parallel to the street now.

My husband cut back the Agave 'Blue Flame' on the right as it had spilled out into the street.  I cleaned out various dead succulents and planted a couple of things I had in reserve.  I'm thinking of removing some of the iceplant (Delosperma) on the far right in order to plant some of the 'Blue Flame' pups I pulled out of another area.

The barely visible stick in the back is a Mexican sunflower tree (Tithonia diversifolia) I cut back after transplanting.  The specimen grown in the local botanic garden is cut back hard each year but I'm not confident this one will spring back the way larger specimens do.  The blue plant in front is an Agave colorata I dug out of the back garden before we had the dying mimosa tree removed.  I had a larger specimen but it wasn't as symmetrical as this one so I left it in the driveway with a sign as another of my giveaways and, despite its weight and sharp spikes, it was gone in the morning.

Walking back up the street to the driveway, we face the front entrance to the house.

I pruned the shrub roses and cut back the overgrown Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' shrubs in the front beds this week.  The two Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' shrubs on either side of the front walk have been harder to manage than I'd hoped - every time I cut them back, they almost instantly produce a couple feet of new growth.

I still need to cut back the California lavender (Lavandula multifida).  I'll wait another month to cut back the Pennisetum 'Rubrum'.

This is a closer view of the succulent bed that runs from the driveway back to the lath house

View from near the front door looking southwest

View from the south end of the main level of the front garden looking north.  Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' (sited next to Grevillea 'Superb') is flaunting its colorful yellow bracts.

View from the north end of the house looking southwest

A poor photo of the bed on the west side of the garage looking toward house.  After removing an ungainly self-seeded sweet pea bush (Polygala fruticosa), I planted three Verbascum and one Salvia in the area below the ornamental pear tree last month only to have rabbits eat the plants to nubs overnight.  I covered what was left with overturned plastic flats in an effort to save what remained.

I'm planning to renovate this succulent bed next to the garage (again) soon

On the other side of the garage is the cutting garden, which currently doesn't have much to say for itself.

The Anemone corms I planted in early November are well on their way but most of the other bulbs planted and seeds sown later in November have yet to do much.  The plastic flats provide seedlings with protection from critters.

Next up is the north side garden, which I cleaned out in December, leaving a lot of blank spots I'm anxious to fill when it's safe to do a little plant shopping again.

Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' is just starting to bloom

Continuing down that gravel path shown in the last photo takes us down to the back slope, still largely neglected on my part.

I had plans for the back slope I never implemented last year.  A few run-ins with fire ants significantly reduced the time I spent down there.

As we've had very little rain - just 1.2 inches since the start of our "rain year" on October 1st - I need to get down there and water by hand if I'm going to have much of anything survive

That's a wrap for this quarter's wide shots.  If we're lucky enough to get more rain before our rainy season ends, April's update should be significantly more colorful.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Is it Spring yet?

For the first time in many months, I could only work up the energy for one arrangement this week.  Although buds are appearing here and there, there are few "new" blooms but, when I noticed that one of my small-flowered Grevillea was slowly covering itself in tiny flowers, I decided I could use it as a springboard (pun intended) for an arrangement featuring some of my old standbys.  However, the title of this post stemmed from my discovery that Metrosideros 'Springfire' had produced a few blooms too.  As it bloomed in winter last year as well, maybe it shouldn't have come as a surprise, especially as we've got another stretch of unseasonably warm weather starting here.  Meanwhile, we remain extraordinarily dry with no rain expected in the foreseeable future.  Winter means rain here and there's reason to wonder if our one and only rainy season, which has seen just a single decent storm thus far, is already over.  Northern California, which provides most of Southern Californa's water, is getting less rain than "normal" but at least the faucet seemingly isn't broken there as it is here.

The small flowers of the Grevillea that set my color scheme aren't readily visible in this view but the three stems of Metrosideros 'Springfire' are front and center

Large-flowered Grevillea 'Superb' tends to steal the show, especially in this back view

Top view

Top row: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Aloe 'Safari Rose', and noID Antirrhinum majus
Second row: Inspiration pieces Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' and Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia
Bottom row: noID paperwhite Narcissus, Leucadendron salignum 'Summer Red', and Grevillea 'Superb'

So that's it from me this week.  Friday is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, which means I need to get started on a scavenger hunt.  We'll see if I turn up anything suitable for next week's In a Vase on Monday post during that process.

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

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Winter Foliage Highlights

When I sat down to write this post, I started with a rant about what happened in the US Capitol on Wednesday.  Disillusioned and disgusted as I've been with the current occupant of the White House for a long time, I was nonetheless shocked that a sitting President would actively incite violence as he did on Wednesday.  However, rather than repeating what you can find in news reports, I'll just share a song from John Fogerty.  A friend shared it with me just before the violent attack by terrorists on the US Capitol intent on asserting the President's will over the will of the people.  Fogerty had been distressed that his song, Fortunate Son, had been used on Trump's campaign trail over his personal objections.  This new song, Weeping in the Promised Land, is his own reflection on the damage Trump has wrought during his 4-year tenure.

As to the foliage standouts in my winter garden,  I'll start with the succulents on the south side of our house.  I took the first photos in late December.

There's a problem that stands out to me like a sore thumb here - do you see it?

Some of the leaves of Agave 'Blue Flame' were badly damaged by summer heat

The burned and tattered edges of the 'Blue Flame' Agave had bothered me for some time.  On Wednesday afternoon, needing to engage in physical activity to work out my anger and frustration with the day's events, I took a knife to the damaged leaves of the agave.  Here are the after shots:

I cut out many of the damaged leaves using a serrated knife.  In a few cases, I simply cut away the damaged leaf tips.

They're almost magazine pretty now

However, if you look closely, there's some pitting to the outside leaves, apparently the result of the brief hailstorm we experienced after Christmas.  I'd thought I've avoided any damage from the hail until I noticed this.

While cutting out selected leaves, I also removed seven 'Blue Flame' pups.  Only one of these had any roots hopefully the others can be encouraged to develop some.

In addition to the 'Blue Flame', 'Blue Glow', and mediopicta 'Alba' Agaves shown in the preceding photos, this area is home to several others, most notably the following:

I planted this Agave gypsophila from a 4-inch pot in 2016, not really considering the wisdom of placing it so close to the flagstone path.  I'm thinking about moving it to the recently replanted front slope nearby.

This Agave 'Mr Ripley', also originally planted from a 4-inch pot, was placed in another questionable spot along the dirt path used when trimming the hedge just a few feet away

Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' is several feet away from 'Mr Ripley' along the same path.  I think it'll be okay there but the Kniphofia in front of it may have to move.

Prominent as succulents are in my garden, my eye was drawn to other foliage as well.

The peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa) trees that partially screen the garden from the street do a nice job imitating lace curtains this time of year

Although it's not as flashy as variegated Echium 'Star of Madiera', Echium webii is my favorite in this genus

I cut Melianthus major back to the ground in September, much earlier than usual, and I was worried that maybe I'd killed it but it's sprung back

I like how this Phormium 'Maori Queen'  echoes the color of the neighbors' maple tree leaves across the street, which you see in a peek-a-boo view through the foliage

I'll close with two new succulents I received as recent gifts from friends.

Mangave 'Barney' is on the left and Mangave 'Silver Fox' is on the right.  I'm still debating the placement of both.

Getting back to the subject matter at the top of my post, if you're sickened by the lies that lead to events like that we saw on Wednesday, you might consider signing the Pro-truth Pledge and, better yet, ask the officials who seek your vote to take the pledge too.  You can find more about it here.

May your weekend be calm and peaceful.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

'Fearless Gardening': Advice from an Expert

I expect that many of you are familiar with Loree Bohl of danger garden fame.  Loree's blog was one of the first I started following, even before I started blogging myself.  I've gotten to know her both virtually, through her blog and her Instagram posts, and in person.  I've prodded her at intervals over the years to write a book to share her garden aesthetic and philosophy and now she's done just that!  Her book, Fearless Gardening: Be Bold, Break the Rules, and Grow What You Love, was released yesterday.  I happily signed on to support a virtual launch party.  In addition to offering input on the book, I get to conduct a drawing for a free copy of her book and one other also published by Timber Press so keep reading.

This and the other photos in this post were provided courtesy of Timber Press

You may be familiar with Loree's love of spiky plants and other growing things that "could poke an eye out."  You might assume that her reference to "fearless gardening" stems from her willingness to garden using such plants in Portland, Oregon, which has a climate that wouldn't seem to support many of her favorites.  Denying the constraints of one's climate could certainly be regarded as "fearless" - and possibly foolish.  But Loree is anything but a foolish or reckless gardener.  Yes, she loves agaves and other succulents that grow happily in dry climates like mine but she's learned how to work within the constraints imposed by her climate to grow what she loves where she lives, and her book shares her approach with you.  I'm not going to try to explain her approach in a few sentences (I couldn't - you need to read her book!) but, among other things, she addresses the importance of developing a thorough understanding of each plant's unique requirements in terms of light, moisture, and drainage as well as an appreciation of the various microclimates in your own garden.  Choosing plants solely on the basis of USDA hardiness zones places arbitrary limits on plant selections.  Two gardens with the same hardiness designation may present entirely different challenges and opportunities.  In my own zone 11a garden, cold hardiness is of far less concern than heat tolerance and water requirements while in Loree's case, both winter freezes and heavy rain are serious considerations.  All gardeners can learn a lot by reading her book and thinking through how to work around the limitations of their environment.

These look like plants that can thrive in my climate (and they do) but this is the view outside Loree's front door in Portland

Loree shares many of the creative ways she's found to grow what she likes by working around specific challenges.  For example, she uses a lot of containers that can be moved or protected when temperatures drop too low or persistent winter rain threatens to drown their contents.  The variety, placement, and even the colors of the containers she uses are all informed by her design aesthetic and together look like a curated collection.  Her summer shade pavilion turned winter greenhouse also must be seen to be believed.  (The same can be said for her basement's winter plant sanctuary, which is mentioned but not shown in her book.)

Loree's fabulous dish planters, containers that can be swapped out when the weather changes

Loree's shade pavilion converted for its winter use as a greenhouse, stylish in both incarnations

The ideas and advice in Fearless Gardening have general application to gardeners in all climates - I can apply much of it to my own circumstances despite the fact that, in coastal Southern California, I live in what's regarded as a Mediterranean climate where summer heat and persistent drought are big factors and winter cold is barely a consideration.  The only chapter I found somewhat inapplicable to my own circumstances was the one focused on hardy plant look-alikes for desert and tropical plants; however, even there, Loree's discussion of her approach to locating alternatives to create the vision she wished to achieve was helpful.  As she says in the introduction to that chapter, she knows people in Southern California that would like to grow tulips and peonies (guilty!) and, like her, I've gradually discovered ways to replace something that will grow here for the plants that stubbornly refuse to.

Pittosporum matudae has a tropical look but handles the colder winter conditions in Portland 

As a final comment before I get to the giveaway, I found Loree's book a pleasant read.  She has a straightforward yet friendly way of approaching each topic.  She weaves useful information in without ever coming off as teachery.  Her attention-grabbing plant vignettes, used to knit together areas of her garden, are inspiring in themselves.  She's done an excellent job illustrating her points with photos (mostly her own) from her garden, as well as other gardens.  She challenges all of us to think beyond the boundaries defined by common practice to find inventive solutions to create the gardens living in our mind's-eye.

A glorious combination of Leonotis leonurus and Ensete ventricosum

Okay, if you'd like to participate in the giveaway and you have a valid US mailing address, please leave a comment below by January 16th.  I'll put all names in a hat and ask my husband to pull one out at random.  I'll request the winner's address and provide this to Timber Press, which will mail that person a copy of Fearless Gardening, as well as The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration & Innovative Planting Techniques of Chanticleer by R. William Thomas, one of the books specifically mentioned in Loree's book.  Good luck!

All photos used in this post are copyrighted © 2021 by Loree Bohl and/or other copyright holders.  All rights reserved.

All other material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Making the most of my Leucadendrons

Pickings in my garden are slim at the moment so, when I looked out my bedroom window Sunday morning and saw yellow blooms glowing in the distance, I immediately knew I was going to cut stems of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' for In a Vase on Monday, the popular meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  The Leucadendron's "flowers", which are actually colorful bracts, are a mainstay of my winter garden.

The "coneflowers" are more chartreuse than yellow right now but the color will fade to a butter yellow color with red edges over the next month

Back view: Since last week's rain, the Lotus berthelotii I use as a groundcover started climbing all over everything around it so I decided to pop what I cut back into my arrangement

Top view

Clockwise the upper left: Aeonium 'Sunburst', Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', two varieties of noID paperwhite Narcissi that came with the garden, and Lotus berthelotii.  The Aeonium rosette will be planted in the garden when I toss the rest of the arrangement.

There's quite a bit of pink happening in my garden so I picked some of that too and, although I hadn't planned on it, I ended up including more Leucadendron stems in that arrangement as well.

The centerpiece is Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection', which if off to a slow start this year.  During our late fall stretch of warm, dry weather, the shrub lost most of the buds that developed earlier that season so I suspect it'll be light on blooms this year.

Back view: I love the daisy flowers of the pink Argyranthemum but the the stems are very short for the purposes of flower arranging

Top view: The bracts of Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' and 'Chief' have a bit of pink in them, although they look redder in these photos

Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Angelic Giant Pink', Camellia williamsii 'Taylor's Perfection', Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' and L. salignum 'Chief', Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl'

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

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party