The back slope in April

I ignore our steep back slope much of the year, venturing down that way only to pick lemons when needed, or to provide supplemental irrigation to the lemon tree at the height of summer when it gets particularly hot and dry.  The discovery that there are fire ants there made me even more reluctant to spend time in the area when temperatures climb and the ants are active.  (Trust me - you never want to be stung by fire ants if it can be avoided.)  However, during our cool season, especially after there's been some rain, it can be an appealing space.  It's generally at it's best in April so I thought I'd take this opportunity to show it off.

View from near the top of the stairway looking south.  One neighbor's property sits on the east side of the bay laurel hedge shown on the left and another neighbor's property sits to the south just beyond the lemon and peach trees visible in distance.  The Xylosma congestum hedge that borders the main level of our back garden can be seen on the upper right.

This is the same view almost half way down the stairway.  I've determined that the upper area of the slope between the Xylosma hedge and the stairway, covered in ivy and honeysuckle, is too steep for me to work comfortably.

Earlier this year, we took out the half-dead fig tree in the border to the left of the concrete block stairway.  It was installed by the previous owner in that very dry area and never did well.  Whatever small fruit it produced was consumed by critters so I decided to replace it with plants that could better tolerate the conditions there.  I planted a pup of an Agave 'Blue Flame' in its spot and even that's struggling but other plants have adapted and my hope is that the Agave will eventually settle in.

Lampranthus 'Pink Kaboom' and the 4 artichokes I planted from 4-inch pots years ago have done well

I added the first Aeonium arboreum cuttings a couple of years ago, which turned a lovely bronze color here.  A few months ago, I added more Aeonium cuttings of a noID variety that may be 'Blushing Beauty'.

In the past year or so, I've also added 3 Aloe elgonica cuttings (passalongs from Denise of A Growing Obsession) and an Aloe maculata

I planted Pelargonium 'White Lady' several years ago and it's gently self-seeded itself around

The lemon tree and a host of other plants sit in a flat area at the bottom of the stairway.

This photo was taken standing alongside the lemon tree (just outside the frame on the left) facing north.  I added the concrete bricks along the edge of the border this winter.  They were removed from our back patio when we pushed out the kitchen wall during our 2019 home renovation.  The paving stones were recovered from odd spots elsewhere in the garden after we moved in.

This photo of the border was taken mid-way along the stepping stone path.  The pink and white Centranthus in the border has been slow to bloom this year.

Two of the most prominent plants visible from this viewpoint are the Agave attenuata and the Echium webbii.

All but one of the Agave attenuata came from cuttings taken from plants elsewhere in my garden.  As shown on the right, this Agave is a prolific pupper.

I'm not sure what possessed me to place an Echium webbii in this spot.  I planted it from a 4-inch pot and seriously misjudged its mature size.

Just below the Echium is an intertwined mix of trailing Lantana and vine-like Abelia 'Chiapas'.  I took several cuttings of the latter a couple of weeks ago in the hope of propagating it but last week's heatwave wasn't easy on them.

The area surrounding the lemon tree has its attractions too.

While the Centranthus ruber in the border has been slow to bloom this year, the self-seeded plants around the lemon tree have been going strong for well over a month already

This Osteospermum also found a way to seed itself next to the lemon tree

Last year was a bad one for calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) and this one isn't much better.  I've seen only a handful of blooms and last week's heatwave polished off most of the plants.  All these bulbs came with the garden.

The peach tree shown on the left, which sits just inside our property line, also came with the garden.  (The raised bed you can see just beyond it belongs to our neighbors.)  To date, it's never produced viable fruit, at least that I've seen.  However, a few weeks ago I noticed what looks to be a good-sized seedling of another peach tree 10-12 feet away on the upper slope.

We border two of our neighbors on the southeast corner of the back slope.

In addition to the bay laurel hedge, a huge trumpet vine (Distictis buccinatoria) and a Texas privet (Ligustrum japonicum 'Texanum') line the boundary on the east side.  I didn't plant either of them.

On the south side, a huge mass of ivy separates us from our other neighbor.  Frankly, I couldn't tell you exactly where the property line is there.  The ornamental pear trees in the distance clearly belong to our neighbors.  On our side, there's a stand of 3 Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Magic' (outside the frame on the right).  We also have a tree-sized Ceanothus arboreus there (not shown).  It bloomed in early February this year but a winter heatwave put a quick end to its flowers.

I'll close this tour with a look back up the stairway and a few of the plants I haven't already highlighted.

Clockwise from the upper left: Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' (another self-seeder), the first bud on Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija poppy, a plant we've repeatedly tried to remove), Santolina chamaecyparissus, lemons, and Drimia maritima (aka sea squill, one of 5 plants already preparing for the foliage die-back that precedes its flowering).  Plants I didn't photograph include: an Arctostaphylos bakeri 'Louis Edmunds' (still small) and 3 Ribes viburnifolium plus a mass of prostrate rosemary.

Pretty weeds, Geranium incanum and Anagallis arvensis

Even in mid-April, the back slope is showing early signs of heat and drought-related stress this year.  I can only hope that summer won't deliver the extreme heat we've had some years.  The lemon tree still hasn't entirely recovered from last summer, when it dropped all of its fruit and many of its leaves.  We pruned out several of the dead branches last year and I think I'll ask our arborist for help with further pruning this fall when we have our usual tree work done.  In the meantime, I'll be more careful to hand-water the tree in advance of future heatwaves.

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