Bloom Day - June 2015

With early heatwaves in March followed by unusually cool weather through early June, my garden is mixed up this year.  Some summer bloomers, like the Agapanthus, got off to an early start but others, like the dormant Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell' have been slow to get going.  The late rain we received, little as it was, also made a difference, encouraging some flowers, like the Osteospermum, to return for a repeat performance.  This is a long-winded way of saying: the garden is full of flowers this June.

The flowers I'm most excited about are a mixed group, some old favorites and others new introductions.

I can't help but be impressed, as I am each year, by the legion of Agapanthus in bloom

After disappointing results from Agastache in prior years, I've fallen in love with the 2 varieties shown here: A. 'Summer Glow' and A. 'Sunset'

While some of the Hemerocallis have been slow to get started, there are still a lot of them to add interest - clockwise from the top left: 'For Pete's Sake', 'Dallas Star', 'Frank Gladney', 'Indian Giver', 'Persian Market', 'Russian Rhapsody', 'Spanish Harlem' and 'Sammy Russell'

This noID bearded Iris is exciting mainly because it's the only one in my garden that has bloomed this year

I'm very happy with the exuberant Lotus berthelotii in a pot - it's almost uncontrollable here when planted in the ground

Melaleuca thymifolia is putting on a fine show this year, its second in my back border

I love the cerulean blue of this Salvia macrophylla but it's very hard to photograph

Solanum xanti, a California native, shown here with Leucadendron 'Pisa' and Salvia 'Amistad', continues to be one of my favorite plants

Some plant genera are making big shows throughout the garden:

The Cupheas: 'Carribean Sunset', 'Strybing Sunset' and 'Starfire Pink'

The Gazanias: (clockwise from upper left) 'New Day Yellow', unspecified orange from the 'Flame' series, 'Sunbathers Otomi' and 'Kiss Me White Flame'

There are buds but no blooms on Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' this month but those that are blooming include G. alpina x rosmarinifolia, G. 'Ned Kelly' and G. 'Superb'

I have a few Fuchsia: F. thymifolia, 'Neon & White Windchimes', and 'Swingtime'

The Eustoma grandiflorum are just getting started but the white and pink forms are already making a splash

Lantana of various types are adding summer color

The Nasturium (Tropaeolum) I grew from seed bloomed - these are the only seeds that make it past the raccoons in the garden beds

The cooler weather in May brought back the Osteospermum for another run

The ever-present Pelargoniums are blooming in earnest

Even the succulents have joined in

But that's not all!  Here are a few more, organized by color:

Top row: Achillea 'Moonshine', Anigozanthos (noID), and Argyranthmum 'Butterfly'
Middle row: Cotula 'Big Yellow Moon', Cotula 'Tiffendell Gold' and a Cymbidium (noID)
Bottom row: Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid', Halimium x pauanum, and Jacobaeus maritima

Clockwise from top left: Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin', Bignonia capreolata, Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' and Russelia equisetiformis

Top row: Albizia julibrissin, Alstromeria (noID), and Arctotis 'Pink Sugar'
Middle row: Centranthus ruber, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and Heuchera (noID)
Bottom row: California poppies, 'Pink Meidiland' rose and Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'

Top row: Arthropodium cirratum, Gaura lindheimeri, and Geranium 'Biokovo'
Middle row: Lagurus ovatus and Leucanthemum x superbum (2 forms)
Bottom row: Magnolia grandiflora, Trifolium repens, and Hoya 'Shooting Star'

Top row: Ageratum corybosum, Aster frikartii, and Duranta (noID)
Middle row: Geranium 'Tiny Monster', Pericallis stellata, and rosemary
Bottom row: Teucrium x lucidrys, Tulbaghia violacea, and Wahlenbergia with Nierembergia

You'll find even more blooms by visiting Carol at May Dreams Gardens, the host of the monthly event that is Bloom Day.  As it's Monday, it's also the day to put forward a bouquet for "In a vase on Monday," the popular meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Here's mine:

A hasty construction of blooms from a recently purchased Digiplexis 'Berry Canary' accompanied by Abelia x grandiflora, Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Pink', Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' and Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' (photographed with my ceramic frog sprouting Rhipsalis)

All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

My favorite plant this week: Magnolia grandiflora

My favorite plant this week is a Magnolia grandiflora we inherited with the house.  It sits in the middle of what used to be our front lawn.  When we removed the lawn and excavated the area around the tree last year one of the things that worried me most was whether we might harm the tree as its root system was extensive and ran close to the surface of the soil.  To the degree possible, we limited our cuts to the tree's roots to the area outside its drip line but the impact was still significant, or at least it seemed so to me.  Rainfall has been low for 4 years now and we've reduced irrigation in response to calls for water conservation, further stressing the tree.  In addition, in response to a neighbor's complaint about obstruction of her view by our trees, I thinned the tree's canopy this year.  However, despite all these stressors, the tree seems to be doing fine.

Wood mulch rather than scraggly lawn now covers the area below the Magnolia tree

My best guess is that our tree is Magnolia grandiflora 'Majestic Beauty', which is known for its pyramidal shape and its exceptionally large flowers.  We estimate that the tree is 35-40 feet tall, which is in line with the projection for a mature tree of this cultivar.

We're generally unable to view the flowers except from a distance as most grow well above our heads.  Dropped petals and humming bees are the usual clues to flowers above but, even craning my neck, I get no more than a partial glimpse of the flowers.

The usual view of flowers on our Magnolia tree

You get a glimpse of the bees at work in this photo - normally we just hear them

Until recently, this was the best picture of a Magnolia flower I'd managed to capture

So, this week, I was delighted to see that a bud had formed on a relatively low-growing branch.  I was able to watch the bud swell and open.  Better yet, I got a chance to stick my nose up to the open bloom and smell its perfume.

These photos show the bud opening over a 3-day period - the unfurled flower measured over a foot (30 cm) in diameter

The blooms are a bright white, which fade to a buff color before the petals drop to the ground.

The evergreen tree has large, stiff leaves with glossy green tops and brown undersides.  The leaves drop in profusion this time of year but they're easily cleaned up.  Birds and squirrels will eat the red seeds contained in the tree's cones.  But this year I found a secondary use for the cones when the critters were done with them.

A portion of the cones I started collecting in late January

I distributed the cones in the barest sections of my garden beds.  It may look weird but it's not intended to serve a decorative purpose.  This is my raccoon defense system.

Perhaps, I'm deluding myself but I swear this has worked.  I haven't had any major damage to my garden beds since I installed these cones in early spring.  And it's not as if the raccoons have stopped visiting.  As mentioned in a post earlier this week, I collected rain in garden trugs.  As the trugs were uncovered and I didn't want mosquitoes to proliferate, I used the water as soon as possible in the garden.  Afterwards, in the dirt film at the bottom of each emptied trug, I found the distinctive claw prints of my furry visitors.

You have to admit my Magnolia has a multitude of uses!  It provides shade, which is especially valuable during our hot summers; it feeds the birds and the bees; and it provides tools to thwart my garden's #1 pest - all while adding beauty to my garden.  What more can you ask of a plant?

This post is a contribution to the favorite plants meme hosted by Loree of danger garden.  You can find Loree's monthly favorite plants wrap-up on her blog on the last Friday of each month.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: I couldn't pick just one

I'm joining Anna of Flutter & Hum again this week in presenting a Wednesday Vignette, an image that's power is provided by the combination of its individual elements.  The problem is that I couldn't decide between two images that caught my fancy so, rather than choose, I'm sharing both.

The first one features plants in a bed just outside my home office window.  I love the mix of purple, silver and green elements.

This bed features Solanum xanti, Salvia 'Amistad', and Leucadendron 'Pisa'

More photos of the same area, as I couldn't stop at one

The second image is excerpted from my backyard border.  In early spring, I planted pink Eustoma grandiflorum from 6-packs to echo the pink in my Yucca 'Bright Star'.  Initially, I wasn't happy with it as the flowers of the Eustoma are very pale in color when they first open, which didn't create the effect I was seeking.  But the flowers deepen in color as they age.

I like the mix of soft and sharp in this image, as well as the color echo

Visit Anna at Flutter & Hum to find her Wednesday Vignette, as well as links to other bloggers' contributions.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Tropical Tuesday

After over a month of unseasonably cool weather, our daytime temperature shot up to 93F (34C) on Monday, signifying a major shift.  That morning, I noticed unusual agitation on the part of the crow population as a flock of the birds swooped through the neighborhood, crying raucously.  It was hot, muggy and miserable.  Forecasters gave Los Angeles a 20% chance of rain for Tuesday but Weather Underground, the service I rely on for local forecasts, indicated that rain was unlikely.  When I awoke, the pavement was damp but what little drizzle there was barely registered on my new weather station, a birthday gift from my husband.  However, 2 hours later, things changed as the drizzle became light rain, courtesy of tropical storm Blanca.  I used the brief downpour to collect what water I could.

A LOT of rain comes down the rain chain off the back of the house even in a short downpour

Rain also poured into my collection tanks (the 50-gallon tank is shown on the left and the 265-gallon tank on the right)

I estimate that my 50-gallon tank is about 70% full.  My 160-gallon tank, its supply down to 45 gallons before the rain, is now back up close to 80 gallons.  My 265-gallon tank looks as though it may now be full.  And, dropping our rain chain into plastic trugs, I managed to fill those and most of my watering cans.  This water all came off our house and garage roofs with only a total of 0.14 inches (3.6 mm) of rain.

Drizzle continued off and on throughout the day but the weather station total didn't move and no water poured down the rain chain as it had that morning.  Still, the evening temperature and humidity made it feel as though I was in Hawaii rather than Los Angeles.

View of the LA harbor in early evening

The finches didn't mind the muggy conditions.

And neither did the cat.

She only resents having her rest disturbed

As for my part, I'm hoping for a bit more rain this evening to fill the rest of my 160-gallon rain tank.  Summer rain is unusual in Los Angeles but very, very welcome.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Strange Bedfellows

In creating this week's vase, I knew I wanted to use the beautiful Agastache I picked up on one of the recent plant shopping binges I'd promised myself I was going to avoid this spring.  However, I had no notion as to what to pair with it.  In the end, I made a bold color choice (by my personal standards anyway) and chose flowers that picked up the color of the calyx surrounding the Agastache's flowers, as well as some that played up the warm tones of the flowers themselves.  I'm happy with it but I apologize if the combination scorches your eyeballs.

Back view (with another photobomb by Pipig, who seems to be very jealous of flowers)

Here's what I included:

• Agastache 'Summer Glow'
• Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'
• Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Arizona Apricot'
• Hebe 'Wiri Blush'
• Pelargonium x domesticum 'Rembrandt' 

This beautiful Agastache 'Summer Glow'  with its lemon yellow flowers and purplish calyxes was new to me but I couldn't pass it up when I saw it (even if I struggled to find spots for the 2 plants I brought home)

With its wavy stems and bronze-tinged leaves, Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' makes a great foliage accent

Although Gaillardia 'Arizona Apricot' is taller than G. 'Gallo Peach,' its stems are still relatively short 

I understand that many of Hebe have been reclassified as Veronica but 'Wiri Blush' is a hybrid whose parentage I've yet to discover so I don't know if it's still a Hebe or now a Veronica.  Whichever it is, the flower color picks up the purplish hue of the Agastache's calyxes.  

As does the color of the vibrant and aptly-named Pelargonium 'Rembrandt,' another relatively recent acquisition

I placed the new arrangement in the entryway, displacing last week's arrangement.  As that arrangement was still in very good condition, I moved it to the living room.

Pipig still seems obsessed with this arrangement but at least she hasn't tried to pull it apart again (yet)

I had a group of friends over this weekend and created a splashy, loose bouquet to decorate the dining table, which I'll also share.

The bright white of the Eustoma made taking a good photograph of this vase difficult

It photographed better from the back

I included:

• Agapanthus, blue and white forms
• Eustoma grandiflorum, blue and white varieties
• Jacobaeus maritima (formerly known as Senecio cineraria and commonly known here as dusty miller)
• Prostanthera ovalifolia (aka mint bush)

The Agapanthus were meant to be the stars of this arrangement but I think the Eustoma, particularly the white form, usurped the other elements.  The blue Eustoma are holdovers from last year but their flowers are much smaller this time around.  The white Eustoma is also a holdover but its placement in partial shade appears to have allowed it to return with more vigor this season. 

Cool temperatures and persistent "June gloom" on Saturday led me to move lunch from the outside patio to the dining room at the last minute, side-lining the vase to the kitchen counter during our party so my guests didn't have to peer around it to see each other.

However, the vase returned to the dining table when the party was over

"In a Vase on Monday" is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  You can see what she's put in a vase - and find links to other participants' creations - here.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party