August 2013 Foliage Follow-up Day

I've described myself a few times as a recovering flower fanatic.  In my former shady, postage stamp-sized garden, foliage plants served mainly as supporting players for the few flowering plants I could get to bloom on a reliable basis.  However, since moving to our larger, sunnier property over 2 years ago, I've gained a greater appreciation for foliage plants.  The fact that our new environment provides an opportunity to expand my foliage choices to include plants that would never have survived, much less thrived, with limited to no direct sunlight has also helped to broaden my perspective.

In mid-summer, my flowering plants all seem to look a little bedraggled.  In contrast, the plants grown mostly for their foliage are looking good, leading me to ask myself why I haven't added more of these.  The current star of my foliage collection is a Leucadendron I brought from my former garden.  I don't have any record of the variety but, judging from its pale yellow winter coloration, I'm guessing that it's L. salignum 'Wilson's Wonder'.  It had been in a large pot at the front of our old house in a spot that received about a half day's sun.  When we moved, I pulled it out of the pot and plopped it into a mostly sunny location along the driveway of our new house.  I expected little but it delivered a lot.  Here it is in all its glory:

Leucadendron salignum (probably 'Wilson's Wonder')

The same plant photographed from another angle to show its red/orange summer foliage

Close-up of red/orange bracts

This particular Leucadendron is currently about 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide but I've kept it within bounds by pruning it back a little after it finishes its winter bloom.  It's evergreen and drought tolerant like other plants of its genus.

While I haven't found another 'Wilson's Wonder' for my garden, I did pick up L. salignum 'Chief' last January, which I placed in the dry garden on one side of the house.  It hasn't reached the size of the one in the front of the house (yet) but it's also looking good.  The foliage of this one is finer and the coloration is slightly less vivid.

Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'

This Leucadendron stands out nicely against the grey foliage of the Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola' behind it.  You may have noticed that the Leucadendron in the first photos was underplanted with Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', which is another of my favorite foliage plants.  Last year I added 3 of these to my back border.  They're still relatively small but they're nonetheless doing a lot to brighten my August garden.

Another plant I've used in multiple locations is Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily).  It produces a nice spray of white flowers touched with yellow and purple in the spring but the reason I've planted so many of these has more to do with the attractive foliage, its drought tolerance, and its ability to handle a wide range of sun conditions.  The only upkeep it requires is an annual clean-up of the dead foliage at its base.  It looks best with a little afternoon shade but it can hold its own in the hot afternoon sun as well.  This one is planted outside our living room window.

Arthopodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily)

Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey' is yet another plant I've installed in multiple locations.  It reportedly can get up to 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide but I'm trying to keep mine smaller and bushier by clipping them back a few times a year.  I think it looks best surrounded by green plants to highlight its plum and green coloration.

Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey'

Other foliage plants that look particularly good now include the following:

Cordyline 'Renegade' in a pot appropriated after the sale of my mother-in-law's home

Crassula radicans 'Small Red', planted from a 6-pack last February in various locations, forming a nice mound

Unknown ruffled Echeveria (Why can't more nurseries label their succulents?)

Guava 'Mexican Pear', inherited with the house

Plectranthus ciliatus (unknown variety), brought from my old house to the new one as a cutting

Prosanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (aka mint bush) doesn't photograph well but it's beautiful - it would be spectacular against a dark-leaved foliage plant in partial sun if I can find an appropriate companion and placement for another one

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Mocha Mint Coleus', which is looking more yellow than mocha in my garden

Stachys byzantina 'Countess Helen Von Stein' (aka 'Big Ears), which I'm gradually introducing to replace the more common variety of Lamb's Ears

My husband and I are currently working to remove a large area of battered lawn in our side yard and, while my fall planting plan is still in development, I'm looking mainly to foliage plants to fill the space.  Among those I'm considering are Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Stipa tenuissima or perhaps a larger grass, and more Cordyline 'Renegade' or a dark purple/burgundy Phormium.

I'm joining Pam at Digging to celebrate this month's choicest foliage plants.  You can find more foliage selections here on her site.

August 2013 Bloom Day

For this Bloom Day, I've classified my August blooms into 5 categories:

• Star Players - the flowering plants that are making the biggest impact in my southern California garden right now
• Marathon Runners - the long-blooming plants that keep on giving
• Splash & Dash Performers - the plants that make a big impact for a short period and then suddenly take a bow
• Come-Back Kids - the plants that made appearances earlier in the year and have come back for a repeat performance
• Probationary Players - the plants that may not make the next round of cuts 

Here are my current Star Players:

Aster novae-angliae 'Skyscraper', making the first of hopefully many annual appearances

Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift" showing her back to the stage

The same Coreopsis pointing her pretty face toward the sun

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' with a mutant yellow side-kick

The Marathon Runners include:

Acanthus mollis (maybe 'Summer Beauty'), still putting out new spikes

Echinacea hybrid 'Sombrero Hot Coral', a good performer even when she's more pink than coral

Hebe 'Wiri Blush', not flashy but does her part in the garden 

Osteospermum ecklonis '3D Silver', a major performer in late winter willing to play a minor role for much of the rest of the year

Pentas 'Nova', a relatively new addition, now coming into her own

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' brings his own fireworks from summer through fall

Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly', a bit player but she does her job

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy', now a little ragged but still showing incredible stamina

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue', which doesn't take a good picture

Achillea 'Moonshine', which adds her glow to the garden repertory

Not pictured above is Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' which blooms its heart out all year unless mercilessly cut back for its own good.


The Splash & Dash Performer of the month is:

No ID lily (possibly 'Stargazer'), which arrived with a bang in late July only to fade into obscurity before August Bloom Day

The Come-back Kids include:

Coleonema pulchelium 'Sunset Gold', an unexpected summer bloomer

Self-seeded Cuphea vienco in an unexpected return role (she apologizes for the poor head shot)

Another self-seeded Cuphea vienco, returning in a new white and lavender costume 

Hemerocallis 'Cordon Rouge', reblooming just as her publicist claimed she would

Eupatorium corymbosa, reprising his spring role in a low-key way

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', returning in a walk-on part or understudying for a starring fall/winter role in the dry garden?

Plectranthus zuluensis, unexpected but welcome

Rose 'California Dreamin', a recent introduction to the garden

Rose (no ID), still a favorite even if her foliage is a bit rusty

The Probationary Performers include:

Globularia x indubia shows good-looking foliage but those blue eyeballs are hard to warm up to

Lisianthus, a pretty annual but she doesn't hold her own in the back border so she may not be invited back next year

Rose 'Buttercream' blooms heavily but always looks a little ragged and fades quickly

Please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, the host of the monthly Bloom Day event, for links to other gardeners' selections of blooming plants.

What do you do when you're overwhelmed by your garden?

By mid-summer my garden looks as though it needs a face-lift.  I've cut back the spring and early summer bloomers.  There are holes in spots where plants have unexpectedly dropped dead.  The grass is dry and turning brown.  The mimosa tree continues to drop its dying blooms.  I'm continuously deadheading.

I meter out water to keep my landscape plants going, ever mindful of the impact to our water bill.  I make plans for plant moves I want to make in the fall when conditions are more hospitable for transplants.  Abetted by cooler than normal temperatures, we've begun ripping out another section of lawn to expand my planting area but the soil needs serious work to prepare it for fall planting.  

Despite all the constructive planning and preparations, I'm frustrated.  I need some immediate gratification.  What do I do?  I plant up some pots.  Pots provide opportunities to create small, manageable gardens.  I can experiment with new plants and different plant combinations.  I can keep my miniature gardens watered without borrowing from savings to pay the water bill.  It's relatively quick and easy to tidy up my pots and, if a plant dies or fails to deliver on its promise, I can yank it out and replace it without disrupting a large planting scheme.

The vast majority of my pots contain succulents, which winter over outside here with little problem due to our mild winter temperatures.  (My potted succulents were featured in a January post, which you can view here.)  However, in the last couple of weeks I've planted some pots with herbaceous materials.  

Here's the first of my summertime creations:

 

This 12 inch tall, 18 inch diameter pot on the back patio is crammed with plants.  I don't usually crowd plants this much, even in decorative pots, but, figuring that I'll transplant some of these elsewhere in the garden when they die back, I went for broke.  This is what I included:

• Coprosma hybrid 'Evening Glow' (1)
• Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' (2)
• Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' (1)
• Lantana 'Little Lucky Peach Glow' (2)
• Russelia equisetiformis 'Yellow' (1)
• Zinnia 'Profusion Mix' (3 plugs)

All these plants like the sun.  They're also drought tolerant once established so they'll work well if they end up in a garden bed later this year.

Yesterday, I planted another pot on the small side patio, which gets only morning sun.

This pot is 13 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall.  It contains the following plants:

• Agave 'Blue Glow' (1)
• Carex testacea aka orange sedge (1)
• Nematanthus aka goldfish plant (2)
• Rhipsalis salicornioides aka Dancing Bones Cactus (3 divisions from larger plant)

I'm hoping that the grass will get enough sun to preserve its orange coloration and that it won't outgrow the pot too quickly.  This agave does well in a pot and tolerates some shade.  The goldfish plant was a sentimental selection - I remember tending one as a houseplant when I was a teenager.

So, there it is, my temporary bandage for my angst over the current state of my landscape.  What do you do when your garden "to do" list leaves you feeling overwhelmed?

Bouquet: Summer's Last Hurrah?

Most of the flowers left in my garden at this stage of summer are small, short-stemmed varieties that don't make particularly good bouquets.  The exception is a group of 3 lilies in my backyard border.  Standing alone at attention at the back of the border, they look a little stiff and formal.

Photo taken at the end of July as blooms were starting to open

I planted these lilies my first year here.  I didn't make note of the variety but they look a lot like 'Stargazer'.  I cut one stalk to make a bouquet this week as my contribution to Erin's Garden Appreciation Society post on her blog, The Impatient Gardener.  To fill out the bouquet, I added a late-blooming stem of white Agapanthus, the last one left in my garden.  For fillers I used Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', which is never in short supply, and Tanacetum parthenium (aka feverfew).

The lilies' petals are somewhat blemished but the scent makes up for that minor flow.  I think the flowers go well with the vase, which was a gift from my mother from her one and only trip to her parents' home country, Finland.  (She also brought me back the phone number of a FinnAir pilot she met on her flight home despite the fact that I, at the time, was recently wed to my husband and partner of many years, but that's another story...)

You can see more bouquets prepared from other gardeners' blooming flowers on Erin's webpage.

My favorite plant this week: Geranium 'Tiny Monster'

I'm joining Loree of danger garden in showing my favorite plant in my garden this week, Geranium 'Tiny Monster'.  Although we've had a stretch of uncommonly cool, comfortable weather, a lot of my plants are nonetheless looking faded at this point in the summer.  Some are downright sad.  And the Agapanthus and Leucanthemum x superbum that dominated several beds in early summer are, for the most part, gone.  However, 'Tiny Monster', which I moved to the new bed created after the removal of the 60 foot Eucalyptus tree in our side yard (previously discussed here) in February has been blooming non-stop since March.

I bought this particular plant at the South Coast Garden Show in 2012.  At the time, the vendor asked me if I was sure I knew what I was doing putting it into my garden, implying that it deserved its name.  It's said to have a mounding habit, growing 6-12 inches tall with a spread up to 2 feet, which doesn't seem too monster-ish to me.  In fact, I could use a few more monsters of this type - feel free to offer suggestions.

The flowers, described as pink on some growers' sites, read as mauve/violet to me.  However you describe it, the color echoes that of the flower spike on the nearby Acanthus.  The latter plant was  sold to me as Acanthus mollis but I think it's probably Acanthus spinosus or possibly Acanthus mollis 'Summer Beauty', said to be a hybrid of A. mollis and A. spinosus.

G. 'Tiny Monster' is itself a hybrid of Geranium sanguineum and Geranium psilostemon.  It flourishes in sun to part sun.  Although most sites say it's suited to zones 4-8, the Proven Winners webpage says it will grow in zones 6a-10b.  I'm in zone 10b and it's doing fine here.  It's also considered to be attractive to butterflies and unattractive to deer and rabbits, although I can't personally attest to the veracity of either claim.  The raccoons have ignored it, which is a blessing.

Please go to the danger garden webpage to see other gardeners' favorite plant selections for this week in August.

Wordless Wednesday