When we had our first real heatwaves in late April and early May, I feared we were heading toward a nasty summer season. We didn't get our "May Gray"
marine layer at all that I can recall but June was much more pleasant. "June Gloom" kept our temperatures down most of the month and, three days into July, the marine layer is still holding, although it's already burning off quickly this morning. I didn't recall that there was a name for the marine layer when it extended into July but I discovered it's called "No Sky July." If we're lucky, this weather pattern characteristic of coastal Southern California will hold on for another month.
I took this quarter's wide shots at intervals over four days so you'll see some photos showing gray skies and others showing afternoon sunshine. The marine layer usually lifts by mid-afternoon, if not earlier. As I usually do, I'll start with the back garden.
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| This is the view from our back door looking roughly southeast toward Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles. I hadn't yet deadheaded the orange daylilies (Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell') when I took this shot. Although I've attempted to pull some of the native California aster (Symphyotrichum chilense) choking a large area to the right of the fountain, I haven't made much progress yet. |
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| View looking north from the back patio. Due to an increase in critter problems, I'm letting the bird feeders here and on the south side of the house stand empty for the time being. |
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| The peacock paid us a yet another return visit on Monday morning. He was very focused on the feeders. |
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| View from the north end of the back garden looking south toward the patio |
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| View from the patio looking further south. I'm afraid that tree-sized toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) in the distance with its unusual red foliage is a victim of the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. If confirmed, I'll have it cut down when I have other trees trimmed in the fall. |
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| Looking back toward the patio again from the south end of the back garden, you can see the distinctive tilt of the mimosa tree (Alibizia julibrissin) I sought to save in 2018 by cutting out the front half of the tree killed off by infection brought on by shot hole borer beetles. The tree leafed out and has some flowers but it's far from a healthy specimen. |
As we round the house on the south end, we see the south side garden, which is heavy on succulents and other drought-tolerant plants.
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| I'm happiest with this part of my garden, although a persistent gopher is wreaking some havoc in the bed on the right |
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| View of the same area looking west from a different angle. This photo was taken from the dirt path behind the mass on Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'. |
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| View of the same area from the small south side patio under gray morning conditions |
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| And a final look at the area facing east with the harbor in the distance and the sad red-leafed toyon in the background on the right. A sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) is climbing the arbor on the right and a noID wisteria I've been trying to eliminate since we moved in has gotten away from me (again) and begun climbing the arbor's left side. |
As we turn away from the harbor view, we enter the front garden.
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| This is the view from the south end looking north toward the driveway and garage |
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| If you look downward and to the west, you can see my lath (shade) house on the level below, adjacent to the street. We'll come back there later. |
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| This is a view of the front of the house from the garden area on the west side of the driveway. The two Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' have gotten quite large and could probably use a bit of thinning. |
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| This is the bed to the right (south side) of the walkway to the front door |
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| Here's a closer look at the bed on the far right in the prior photo. Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike' has gotten so tall it's threatening to eclipse Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' so I expect I should prune it back a bit. The path on the right leads back to the lath house. |
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| This is the area behind the plants shown in the prior two photos, where I recently installed three half-barrels to hold vegetables, flowers and herbs. The tree in the center of the mulch-covered area is a Magnolia grandiflora. |
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| This is the bed on the left (north) side of the walkway to the front door. From this angle, the Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' hides an air conditioning unit, which is unfortunately still all to visible from other angles. I haven't found anything to screen it more completely yet. The rather bare tree next to the house is the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana), not looking its best at this time of year. It should leaf out more fully in early fall. |
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| Not the most interesting photo but as this was one occasion in which my husband's truck wasn't parked in front of the chimney, I had to take a photo. The shrub to the left of the chimney is Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', flaunting its red summer color. |
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| This is a view from the far edge of the bed on the west side of the garage |
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| This is another view from the garden area alongside the garage, looking at the succulent bed. (The "bromeliad bed" I featured in my last post sits behind that Arbutus 'Marina'.) |
On the other (east) side of the garage, we find my cutting garden.
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| View of the cutting garden from the driveway area |
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| And this is a view from the gate on the other end of the space. Since these photos were taken, I've removed most of the black plastic flats used to protect my zinnia seedlings and put tomato cages in place to support the growing dahlias. All my summer flowers got a late start this year. |
Turning our backs on the cutting garden brings us into the dry garden on the northeast side of the house.
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| This area has gotten jungle thick in places and needs some work, which I hope to give it before temperatures soar |
Proceeding down the gravel path takes us to the back slope, hidden from view behind a hedge of
Xylosma congestum. After getting badly bitten by insects yet again while down there, I've been avoiding it for weeks.
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| I sprayed myself with insect repellent and suited up in long sleeves, tucking my pant legs into boots and did some very basic maintenance on this area earlier this week. Most of the Centranthus ruber has gone to seed and little but the massive Bignonia capreolata is blooming here. The Bignonia was planted by a neighbor years before our arrival when there was some confusion about the property line. Although its trunk sits on our side of that line, it covers the neighbor's wire fence on the left (beyond our bay hedge on the left) so I can't really take it down even though it's nearly uncontrollable. |
If we go back to the main level of the front garden and proceed down the mulch-covered path on its south end, we end up back at the lath house. That area is bordered by a succulent bed that faces the street.
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| I haven't put all the shades up inside the lath house yet but will have to do so once the marine layer retreats |
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| This is a view of the same area from its west side looking east |
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| I'll close with a view of the succulent bed that faces the street. The Xylosma shrubs we added three years ago to replace the portion of another hedge that had died out have finally gained substantial size and are now in need of shaping. The seeds of the Mexican sunflower tree (Tithonia diversifolia) I sowed in the hope of filling the blank space left by two of the remaining Auranticarpa shrubs we removed earlier this year still haven't sprouted so I probably need to come up with a Plan B. |
That's an overview of what my garden looks like in early July. For those of you in the US, I hope you enjoy a safe Independence Day. And when I say "safe," this year I'm not just talking of steering clear of dangerous fireworks. Best wishes.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
