Dithering in the heat

It's been too hot to do much of anything in the garden this week, admittedly not as hot as many areas of the country but uncomfortable nevertheless.  My gardening activities are mostly confined to the early morning hours and focused primarily on watering and basic cleanup.  The cutting garden, replanted in late June, demands the most attention.

The photo of the cutting garden on the left was taken June 22nd after I'd replanted 2 of the raised beds.  The photo on the right was taken July 20th.  I removed all the sweet pea vines and replanted the third raised bed at the end of June.  Most of the dahlias have ballooned in size and the zinnia seedlings are coming along well, although few of the sunflowers have done much.

This mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) greets me every time I step into the cutting garden, except when he's in the back garden stealing blueberries.  He thinks he's very stealthy.

I've been spending a lot of time watering containers too, including these 2 in my front garden, both of which contain dahlias.  The 'Catching Fire' Dahlia here is the first of my dahlias to produce a bud (right).

I spend a ridiculous amount of time cleaning up after the Magnolia grandiflora in the front garden.  Because the area surrounding the tree is covered in bark mulch, it isn't possible to sweep the leaves up without losing mulch in the process so I pick most up by hand.

While working in the front garden I decided it was time to cut down the bloom stalk of Agave mitis 'Multicolor'.  This was the first of three agaves to bloom this year and its bulbils appeared well-developed.

The smallish Agave 'Multicolor' sits on a low slope facing west.  Its bloom stalk developed in November.

The cut stalk was about 8.5 feet tall.  The bulbils formed in tight clusters.  When separated, each individual bulbil was fairly small.

I saved 91 bulbils, planting them in 2 flats.  I'll pot up the best of these once they develop better roots.  I don't imagine I'll retain more than 20, most of which I'll give away once they're larger.

Unfortunately, while working in the front garden, I noticed signs of gopher activity in the area surrounding the Agave 'Multicolor'.

The mound visible here between Echium 'Star of Madiera' and Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike' suggests gopher activity.  I saw a few similar mounds nearby.  The sudden death of a healthy clump  of Gazania was the first sign, followed by the decline of other plants.

My prized Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', which sits next to the Echium, has been dropping a copious amount of leaves on a level I've never seen before.  I've mounted a campaign to drive the gopher(s) out but I'm concerned I may lose the Grevillea.

The Oscularia deltoides (foreground, right) is also showing signs of decline due to gopher activity.  I installed 2 sonic devices in the area and have followed up this week with repeated applications of a granular deterrent that I water into the soil.  Those actions worked for me last time I had a gopher problem.

I cleared this path so I can walk through the area again, removing much of the Gaura lindheimeri, as well as Lotus hirsutus.  I expect to dig up the Oscularia and the rest of the Gaura soon.

As temperatures and time permits, tasks still in the queue include the following:

Removing the base of the dying Agave 'Multicolor'.  This isn't as easy as it may look as the area is sloped and surrounding plants and rock make it difficult for me to shovel it out.

I'm planning to go ahead with the removal of the Echium, which has more bare branches than foliage left.  I already have a replacement on hand.

Removing this bloomed-out Agave vilmoriniana before the rapidly decaying base allows the stalk to topple over on my Agave ovatifolia is also a priority.  I planted bulbils from an Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass' given to me last year and, with limited "nursery" space, I don't feel a need to retain this plant's bulbils.

Action on this Agave 'Blue Glow' is still on hold.  The plant shows no signs of decline at its base and I'm giving it extra time to see if I'll get any viable bulbils from it.

Rather than dwell on complaints about the heat, I'll send you into the weekend with a few cooling images.

A mass of Agapanthus in my back garden border with the ocean in the background

Morning glory (Ipomoea) growing in a neighbor's garden (not mine!)

Jacarandas blooming at last in 2 gardens in my neighborhood - they're late to flower this year

Enjoy your weekend!

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party