Fall plant shopping trip

A friend and I made our biannual trip north to shop for plants last weekend, visiting three of our favorite garden centers in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara.  While I didn't come home entirely empty-handed, my purchases were relatively light this time.  That's at least partly attributable to the supply of plants I accumulated during the summer months and only planted out as temperatures dropped, as well as all the areas I recently filled with bulbs.

Most of my photos were taken at our first stop, Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria.  My photos focused primarily on Seaside's expansive demonstration gardens.

My friend and I were greeted by the garden center's cat, Oreo, as soon as we got out of the car

The Cottage Garden was exploding with blue-flowered Salvias and a few roses

Serene scenes from the Grasslands area

Even in November, the South African section was colorful, courtesy of Leonotis leonurus and Kniphofia

Protea 'Pink Ice' was in bloom too

The Succulent Garden always looks good.  I immediately noticed all the Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls' and assumed they'd been planted since my last visit in February but, after checking my prior photos, it seems the plants were there, albeit noticeably smaller.

Clockwise from the upper left: A mass of Agave bracteosa (squid agave), Agave attentuata (foxtail agave), and a closeup of Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls'

A variety of Aloes on the left and a closeup of new-to-me Aloe eminensis, which I understand is a tree aloe now classified as Aloidendron eminens

Other succulents that caught my eye included Euphorbia caput-medusae, Myrtillocactus geometrozans, and Pedilanthus bracteosa

This is my only photo from the South American Garden and the light wasn't favorable but I had to take notice of the fact that this Russelia equisetiformis (firecracker plant) is always in bloom

 

Although my focus was on the demonstration garden, I did a thorough round of the nursery as well.

Like the demonstration gardens, the nursery is organized by the plants' areas of origin.  I agonized a little over the Asplenium antiquum 'Hurricane' (a rarer variety of bird's nest fern, upper right) but ferns in general aren't happy in my garden so I passed.  I noted the perfect specimen of Mangave 'Tooth Fairy' (lower right) and can only hope my tiny specimen will look like that someday now that it's been freed of its small pot.

After a lunch break, we visited Island View Nursery, also in Carpinteria.

This photo of a noID Tillandsia was the only one I took during this stop.  The flower spike was large and very fragrant.  When I posted this photo on Instagram, people who know more about Tillandsia than I do thought it might be Tillandsia straminea.

 

Last up was Terra Sol Garden Center in Santa Barbara.  It's small but often packed with unusual plants.  I took no photos at all there, mainly because time was growing short and I was focused on plant shopping.  My biggest score was a selection of foxgloves.

Foxgloves aren't at all unusual but they had Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach', which isn't always easy to find.  I brought home 3 peach, 2 purple and 1 white variety, all in the 'Dalmatian' series.  One is already planted in a barrel in my front garden (with large river rocks to deter the blasted raccoons) and 2 are in one of the raised planters in my cutting garden.

 

I bought a few other plants at our first two stops as well.

Island View had a 1-gallon Agave parryi (left) for $12!  (My friend bought a 1-gallon Mangave 'Lavender Lady' for $10!)  I also brought home the Begonia conchifolia var rubrimacula on the right.

My Seaside purchases were more mundane, a handful of small succulents and 2 Lotus berthelotii (one shown here planted near another I planted last year).  This Lotus is commonly used as a hanging plant but I like to use it as a groundcover.

 

That's it from me this week.  I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

The Little Things That Make Me Happy

A beautiful sunrise.

With a long day of plant shopping ahead of me, I was up early on Saturday and out the door before 8am to meet up with a friend 50 miles away for a longer trek to 3 of our favorite garden centers in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara

I took a dozen quick photos of the view looking southeast toward Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, but the 2 shown here are my favorites

Rain.

We got 2 solid days of light rain.  I took this shot looking southeast between showers.

This was the mid-afternoon view looking northeast.  The rain was never heavy here, although there were flash flood warnings in some areas to the south and east of us.  We had several breaks in the rain yesterday and even, briefly, sun and patches of blue sky.

The garden got about 2/3rds of an inch of rain by 8pm yesterday.  Scattered showers were projected to continue into the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Our 2023 "water year" total to date, counted from October 1st, is 1.03 inches (26mm).

All 3 of my rain collection tanks are full, although my husband emptied water from the spa into my 265-gallon tank in October when he cleaned it out so not all of that was rainwater.  I also filled the plastic trugs shown here, some twice.  I used it to top off the fountain and to water pots and areas covered by roofing.  I'll empty the rest in the perpetually drier garden areas later this week.

My cat.

Pipig is blissfully happy on this loveseat in my home office.  There's a heating pad under that pink afghan blanket. 

She gets up only occasionally to eat and use her box, although she usually finds me to demand attention at least twice a day.  She's still fairly spry but, at 15 years old, I suspect she's got a touch of arthritis so the warmth is probably comforting.

She acknowledges me with a subdued, barely audible chirp when I come by rather than her usual more insistent vocalizations

Even the small garden chores I managed to squeeze in between interludes of rain this week made me happy.  The biggest one was finishing planting the bulbs I'd ordered (with the exception of seven Hippeastrum in need of pots).  Three hundred sixty-eight bulbs is an all-time record for me, and not one I envision coming close to matching ever again.  But I took care of some smaller projects too.

I've been collecting leaves from our deciduous trees and yesterday ran them through a Leaf Hog vacuum to chop them up before dumping them in my compost bin

I bought surprisingly few new plants during my Saturday trip but I got some of those planted, as I also worked at planting what I'd purchased over the summer.  I lost a few plants in this area, including 2 Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' and 2 Phylica pubescens, so I resorted to adding more succulents here, including a small Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie'.

I finally got around to potting a few things too, including this noID Stapeliad  (maybe an Orbea) given to me by one of the plumbers who worked on our pipe replacement in September

As long as I shut out the political news for a time, all is well.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Fall flowers

With my cutting garden effectively decommissioned, I had to search harder for materials to fill two vases this week.  Luckily, fall's cooler weather prompts blooms from a few flowers.

Senna bicapsularis (aka winter cassia and moneybush) blooms reliably in late October.  As much as I appreciate its cheerful blooms, its chief importance in my garden is that it serves as a host plant for cloudless sulphur butterflies.

I spiced up the Senna flowers by adding a few stems of Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon daisy and Mexican marigold) and berries of Auranticapa rhombifolium

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Senna bicapsularis, Tagetes lemmonii, and my fall prop featuring 2 mice treating gourds as amusement park rides

 

Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet) is also a fall bloomer.  In contrast to the Senna which has stems that soar way above my head, the Barleria is more of a groundcover in my garden.  It also flowers (and self-seeds) prolifically.

With the return of cooler temperatures, the Osteospermums are slowly coming back into bloom, joined here and there by Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum)

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Barleria obtusa, Correa 'Ivory Bells', Eustoma grandiflorum, and Osteospermum 'Violet Ice'

Rain is in the forecast this week.  It's possible it could start as early as mid-day today and continue into Wednesday morning but Tuesday offers the strongest prospects.  Southern California isn't expected to get anything close to a deluge but this round of showers may mitigate fire risk in the southern part of the state, as well as ending the fire season in the northern and central areas of the state.  It's also possible that it'll deliver substantial snowfall to the Sierra Nevada mountains, an important source of water for the state.

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

 

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

My latest projects

My biggest project this week was tearing up my cutting garden to make way for cool-season plants.  Because our winters are exceptionally mild and frost-free, there are a lot of plants we can enjoy through the fall and winter months.  With one exception, I removed all the remaining dahlias and zinnias.  I saved several of the dahlia tubers I'd like to replant next year.   All but a few are already tucked away in the garage to wait out their dormant period covered in perlite.

This is what the area looks like now.  I added fresh topsoil, planting mix and a little fertilizer to each of the raised planters.  The beds are relatively bare but, as the seeds I've sown germinate and as I add plugs to get a jump start on the season, the beds should look a lot greener within 6 weeks or so.

In mid-October after one of my rants about raccoons, commentator Sally recommended using hardware cloth to deter them from digging.  I had to work around some things (like the metal supports the sweet peas climb) but I'm giving it a try.  I used the leftover material my husband bought earlier to make cages to keep the rabbits at bay.  I pinned the metal screening in place with lawn staples.

In addition to 3 foxgloves, I've sown Nigella papillosa and Orlaya grandiflora seeds in bed #1 (left).  I've sown 3 varieties of larkspur (Consolida ajacis) in bed #2 (middle).  I've sown 7 (!) varieties of sweet peas in bed #3 (right).  Once my Anemone coronaria bulbs come in, I'll be adding them to bed #3.  I also plan to plant snapdragons in a couple of the barrels once the varieties I want are available and add more Digitalis plugs here and there.

I pulled one Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles' but this one in a barrel is still going strong and has numerous buds.  I'm allowing it to stay until it either plummets into decline or my snapdragon plugs become available. 

The cutting garden cleanup wasn't great fun but I'm glad to have cleared the area and happier still that I've finally sown the seeds I've had sitting in a drawer for over two months. 

 

Most of my other projects involved succulents in one way or another.

I showed these replanted areas adjacent to the garage a couple of weeks ago.  Since then, the raccoons have dug them up repeatedly.  This week I added defenses against digging.  So far, so good.

I planted up one of the Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass' bulbils in this pot sitting in the cutting garden,  It'll probably take years to bulk up but I thought I'd give it a good start.

I added several more plants to this succulent bed on the north end of the back garden.  The additions include: Mangave 'Aztec King' (1), Kalanchoe marmorata 'Partridge' (2), Echeveria agavoides (3), and noID Sansevieria (2).

I pruned back the Cistus plants spilling into the flagstone path on the south side of the garden last week, removing the dead undergrowth.  That revealed Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' succulents I'd forgotten were there.  I cut the elongated stems and replanted selected rosettes.  Hopefully, the Cistus survive their pruning.

I picked up another flat of Ruschia lineolata 'Nana', adding some between the flagstones on the south side where the creeping thyme has died out.  Unfortunately, I ran out before filling all the empty spaces but I'll wait to see how what I've added here does before buying more.

I've grown Gazanias in these areas along the front walkway for years but, as our drought has worsened, they haven't done as well so I'm trying cuttings of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde' and more Ruschia here

I finally got around to wiring a handful of stray Tillandsias to the front grate of this chiminea, tucked in a corner of the front garden next to the bromeliad-succulent bed.  The chiminea came with the house but it's not in good shape and we've never lit a fire in it.

 

I'm not the only one working on my garden.  As I walked through the neighborhood late Wednesday afternoon, I looked up and stopped in my tracks when I saw this:

The front slope of this home has been carpeted with a wrinkled rug of faux lawn since we moved in years ago.  I've always thought the home deserved better but, as more locals resort to covering their gardens in plastic in response to our perpetual drought, I didn't think this would change.  Half the area is still carpeted in fake grass but the rest is now planted with Agave attenuata and other succulents.  There appear to be 2 Magnolia trees and juniper or something similar edging the wall as well.

 

I'll end this post on a sunny note with a photo of the Senna bicapsularis I'd been worried wasn't going to bloom this year.

I foolishly planted this large shrub between a fence and the concrete stairway leading down our slope in 2011.  I cut it back by half early this year and feared it might not survive.  It has, although it's still much too tall for the spot it's in; however, it's a host plant for the cloudless sulphur butterflies so I'm going to hang onto it as long as I can.

 

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Looking ahead

I'm leaving October in the rear end mirror.  Halloween turned out to be a non-event in my neighborhood once again, although Mother Nature graced us with a very pretty sunset.

View looking southeast

Drumroll please!  I had a grand total of 2 trick-or-treaters.  I'd estimate they were between 3 and 4 years old.  They arrived together accompanied by 5 adults, proud parents and grandparents.  Although I gave each a handful of candy, I had a lot left, which I put in the driveway entrance with a sign.

 

Intent as I've been with what needs to be done in my garden, I almost missed the little bit of fall foliage currently present there.

The larger of my 3 Japanese maples, Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', was already past its prime when I noticed it had turned golden

 

I'll provide an update on current projects later but right now I'm focusing on what's on the horizon.  There are already bulbs gearing up for spring.

The Freesias (left) have been pushing up foliage for a month or more.  Ipheion uniflorum and Scilla peruviana (right) are also well on their way.

 

And I've only just started planting the large number of bulbs I'd already accumulated (not to speak of those that are still on their way to me by mail).

I planted the 40 bulbs shown here Monday afternoon.  I planted another 20 on Tuesday afternoon (10 Tulipa humilis 'Alba Coerulea Oculata' and 10 Narcissus 'Beautiful Eyes').  I still have 75 Allium, 10 Tulipa 'Lady Jane', and 100 Ipheion on hand.  (What was I thinking?!)  That doesn't include the Anemones ordered for my cutting garden, several lily bulbs, and 15 Hippeastrum yet to be delivered.

However, I did get 2 other Hippeastrum bulbs I'd already received potted up yesterday.  Some of those yet to be delivered are intended as holiday gifts...

Meanwhile, the garden is producing other plants and flowers without any help from me.

While working on seasonal cleanup, I discovered 3 tiny Agave 'Jaws' pups (one shown left), a 'Mediopicta Alba' pup (middle), and what I think must be an Agave titanota I don't remember planting, which is being squeezed out by an Agave 'Blue Flame' (right).  The latter is supposed to be a solitary specimen but it looks like it's producing pups too.  I'm going to have to find a way to extricate it.

Two of my Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' are sprouting bloom stalks (one shown left).  This variety is known to produce a second round of bloom but, as dry as its been, I was surprised to see this.  In addition, Mangave 'Bloodspot' (right) is producing what's at least its third bloom stalk within 2 years.

 

So much to do, so little time!  What's on your garden's horizon?  Are you packing plants away to safeguard them from the worst that winter may bring, or are you scrambling to get new plants in the ground as you hope for rain as I'm doing?   Yesterday, the forecast here held out a 56% chance of rain overnight but that projection has now nearly evaporated.

 

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party