Looking up

I took a much needed break from the noise and chaos of our home remodel for some retail therapy this week, meeting up with Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden at Roger's Gardens in Orange County.  There'd been quite a few changes since my last visit in April.  However, putting the focus of the trip where it belonged, we caught up on what was going on in our respective worlds, shopped a bit, and had lunch before I returned to make the rounds with my camera prior to heading home.

Roger's new vertical garden was of particular interest.  It serves as the backdrop for the free weekend seminars regularly held there.

One side of the new structure featured a range of foliage plants (Ajuga, Alternanthera, Dichondra, and Ophiopogon among others).  The other side was planted entirely with assorted succulents.  All the plants were inserted into soil-packed socks or what HB more descriptively called "sausages."

It looks as though there's an automated irrigation system of some kind but I didn't take a close look at the mechanics

Roger's features a lot of vertical plant displays, starting with its front customer entrance.

The current display is somewhat austere, featuring succulents in hanging metal containers

This was the lusher display I photographed in April

And this one, which may be my favorite, dates back to last September

Unlike the current entrance display, the earlier versions shown above utilized plant pockets.  On this visit, my interest was captured by another such display elsewhere in the garden.

This display combined wood boxes containing decorative items with a diverse range of foliage and flowering plants in felt planting pockets.  It spurred my thinking about how I might better use the vertical space in my lath house.  (My apologies for the poor quality of this collage, which I cobbled together from 2 separate images.)

I also liked these succulents mounted on a wall in metal pots.

I've seen similar pots for sale on-line, sans succulents, at reasonable prices

There were a number of other vertical plant arrangements to admire as well.

These rain chains had been filled with succulents

Densely planted succulent wreaths

Roger's has a houseplant sale going on at the moment and this hanging planter was stuffed with a Monstera deliciosa, wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris) and a variety of ferns

There were conventional hanging baskets with flowers too

I didn't come home empty-handed of course but I didn't go hog-wild buying plants either.  Even though we've avoided major heatwaves thus far, summer isn't the smartest time to plant here.  I mainly picked up items to cram into the raised planters in my cutting garden as I continue to pull out cool season leftovers.  

Well, at least the Amaranthus and Cosmos are intended for the raised planters.  I picked up 2 more balloon plants (Platycodon grandiflorus) too as the one I have in a semi-shady area of my front garden did well.  The Festuca glauca plugs are intended to replace the Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' that got out of control in the back garden this year.

HB also gifted me with a cutting from her Begonia 'Irene Nuss' which she wrote about here

After seeing the displays at Roger's I'm considering trying out a few felt planting pockets my lath (shade) house, assuming I can figure out where to fit them in there.  I also find I'm still thinking about a group of tiny (yet not inexpensive) vases I saw while shopping.  One of those may have to come home with me on my next trip.

The tallest of the vases shown here was 3 inches or less - and they weren't cheap but they looked like little works of art to me

If forecasters are correct, we're going to have a cooler-than-normal span of weather through the weekend.  Once the construction workers leave on Friday afternoon, I'm planning to make the most of it.  I hope you enjoy your weekend too.

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party 

In a Vase on Monday / Bloom Day Mash-up - July 2019

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, and In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, are once again falling on the same day and, rather than publishing two separate posts, I've merged the two.  They are related.  My affection for flowers is at the heart of my avid participation in both memes.

I'll start the mash-up with this week's vase.  There's just one for a change!

I went with a burgundy and white color mix.  There's burgundy in the blooms of the wild carrot (Daucus carota 'Dara'), the spots on the white foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White'), and the foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'.  Dangling down the front of the vase are the tiny dark red flowers of Lotus jacobaeus, which look almost black.

Although I added a little dusty pink in the back in the form of an ornamental oregano (Origanum 'Monterey Bay')

Top view

Rather than my usual collage showing a close-up of each component of my arrangement, I'll show you what these plants look like in my garden.

Daucus carota 'Dara' ( wild carrot) is new to my garden.  I'm hoping it'll self-seed.

I planted Digitalis purpurea in my cutting garden this past winter.  It's usually done in by the time summer arrives but we had an unusually cool spring and, thus far, a mild summer.

Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' hit its peak of bloom in late June/early July.  The onset of warmer temperatures during the past week is slowly taking out its pretty white flowers.

Origanum 'Monterey Bay' is a vigorous summer bloomer here.  It flops but I don't mind.

The only element of the arrangement I didn't include in the photos above is the Lotus jabobaeus spilling down the front of the vase.  You can find that later in my post among my final collages.  Now let's focus on the current stars of my July garden.

The yellow flowers woven between the Agaves in this succulent bed are Crassula pubescens ssp radicans

I'd hoped to have more Dahlias in bloom by mid-July as I planted my tubers earlier this year but perhaps the cooler weather slowed their flowering.  I've got buds on lots of plants but only 3 are blooming at the moment.  Dahlia 'Citron du Cap' (left) just produced its first bloom while 'Enchantress' (middle) and 'Labyrinth' (right) have been blooming for weeks now.

Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', shown here with Gaillardia aristata 'Amber Wheels', produces its blooms in flushes

All my Lavandula angustifolia are blooming but this one is making a big splash in my cutting garden

Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) is doing especially well this year.  I credit all the extra rain we had winter into early spring.

The ruffled Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are also blooming heavily this year

Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' (aka bower vine) came with the garden

Many of the plants that were going strong last month are still doing so this month.

Dozens of clumps of Agapanthus also came with the garden.  They were the stars of my June garden and they're still doing well, although some of the blooms are getting ragged.

The blue lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) have been blooming for weeks but blooms in other colors have been slow to make an appearance.  The yellow bloom on the right, returning for a second year, is the first to show up.

Grevillea 'Superb' blooms steadily year-round.  It's joined in this bed by Cotyledon orbiculata (aka pig's ear, lower middle) and Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' (lower right).

The Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) at the bottom of my back slope are well above my head and thus hard to photograph.  As I had a second run-in with fire ants down there, I haven't been visiting that section of my garden as often as I'd like.

Varieties of Salvia clevelandii are in bloom in different parts of my garden but 'Winnefred Gilman' is the strongest performer

Lagurus ovata (aka bunny tail grass) has been blooming for months and is beginning to wane

In addition to the dahlias, wild carrot and ornamental oregano that took off this month, several other blooms taking the stage.

The Albizia julibrissin (aka mimosa) trees have been in bloom in my area for some time now but the first blooms on my tree appeared late last week

This noID Anigozanthos (aka kangaroo paws) is the only one of the 2 I planted years ago to bloom this year

Aster/Symphyotrichum chilensis 'Purple Haze' produced its first flowers last week too.  Aided by the heavier-than-usual winter rains, the drought-tolerant California native has spread much more vigorously than I'd expected, to the point of becoming pesky.

Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights', planted almost 5 years ago, has been slow to develop

This is the first time I've gotten a bee balm to bloom in my garden.  This is Monarda 'Peter's Purple'.

I'll end the Bloom Day portion of this post as I usually do with an array of collages depicting the best of the rest of what's in bloom now, organized by color. 

Top row: Artichoke, Catananche caerulea, and Delphinium 'Pacific Giant'
Second row: Limonium perezii, Melaleuca thymifolia, and Osteospermum '4D Silver'
Third row: Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', Plectranthus neochilus, and Polygala fruticosa
Bottom row: Salvia cacaliifolia, Thymus serphyllum, and Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud'

Top row: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Calendula 'Zeolights', and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'
Middle row: Gallardia 'Arizona Sun', Gazania 'Gold Flame', and Helichrysum 'Icicles'
Bottom row: Lantana camara 'Irene', Lobelia laxiflora, and Tagetes lemmonii 

Top row: Allium sphaerocephalon, Arbutus 'Marina', Bougainvillea, and Centranthus ruber
Second row: Cistus 'Sunset', Gomphreana 'Itsy Bitsy', Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and Leucadendron 'Devil's Blush'
Third row: noId lily, Lotus jacobaeus, Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Pelargonium peltatum
Bottom row: Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard, noID Pentas, Rosa 'Pink Meidiland' and Salvia canariensis

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher' and Achillea ptarmica 'Peter Cottontail'
Second row: Centranthus ruber 'Albus' and Gaura lindheimeri
Third row: Fuchsia mangellanica 'Hawkshead', Magnolia grandiflora, and self-seeded Osteospermum
Bottom row: Scaevola 'Compact White', Persicaria 'Red Dragon' and Tanacetum parthenium

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens here.  For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden here.

Today's vase in place on the card table serving as our dining table for the duration of our home remodel

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

July at South Coast Botanic Garden

After a hiatus of six weeks I led two tours through the South Coast Botanic Garden this week.  After the second yesterday, I went back to photograph some of the garden's mid-summer highlights.  Unfortunately, snapping photos when the sun is at its zenith doesn't render the best images but, as the morning marine layer has thinned dramatically this week and a ridge of high pressure promises to keep it at bay for much of the next week, I don't expect I'll have much opportunity to capture better shots any time soon so I'm sharing those I have.

This is Tithonia diversifolia, aka Mexican sunflower and marigold tree.  I was so impressed by it last year that I hunted down seeds to grow it for myself; however, having only vague notions as to where I could put a tree-like shrub that gets this big, I've held off on planting them. 

True sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are in bloom nearby

The Living Wall, shown here fronted by an herb garden and seating area, is looking great

Closer views of the mix of succulents, ferns and rubber plants (Ficus elastica) growing in felt pockets sustained by a hydroponic system

The giant bird of paradise (Streletzia nicolai) is loaded with blooms

There are still plenty of roses in full bloom, although I don't envy the job of the volunteers tasked with keeping them deadheaded

I thought this section of the Garden of the Senses looked particularly good but unfortunately the pretty blue Plumbago looks washed out in this photo.  My real objective in passing through this area was the lavender field just visible beyond the Plumbago.

This area was planted with a mass of lavenders relatively recently.  I didn't notice it until I began conducting tours again in early spring.  I think it's peaking now.

The brightly colored crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia) adds a nice contrast to the lavender

I'm guessing the stick-like tree with the burgundy foliage on the left in this photo is another crepe myrtle

The same area is also home to 2 nice Chitalpa trees.  xChitalpa tashkentensis 'Morning Cloud' is an intergeneric hybrid of Chilopsis linearis (aka desert willow) and Catalpa speciosa.  I wish I had someplace for a specimen this large!

On my way back to the parking lot, I snapped a final photo: Dahlia 'Dark Side of the Sun', blooming en masse

We enjoyed an extended period of pleasantly cool weather into the early part of July but it seems that summer's heat has finally reached us.  I'm hoping we  can at least avoid another horrific heatwave of the kind we got last year.

Best wishes for favorable weather wherever you are this weekend!


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party