Shopping for Christmas presents can lead one astray. When considering gift prospects for a friend, I decided to visit Flora Grubb Gardens in Marina Del Rey following a pre-Christmas lunch with other friends at a nearby restaurant. I initially focused on a Protea, as my friend was impressed by one we saw in bloom during our trip to Seaside Gardens in late October. However, when making my selection, I started to worry about whether it would be a good fit as she hasn't grown anything in the Protea family and the conditions in her garden, nearly fifty miles north of mine, are very different. I decided to buy one Protea and one tropical Rhododendron and offer her a choice, as I've considered getting both plants for myself and wouldn't mind keeping whichever one she rejected. She chose the Protea and took it home last weekend. Meanwhile, I'd convinced myself I had just the right spot for another Protea, so I decided to make another trip to Marina Del Rey this week to pick one up for myself.
Flora Grubb Gardens is about a fifty mile round trip for me so of course I had to make another round of the nursery once I arrived. By comparison to the other local garden centers I frequent, the plants at this one are always exuberantly healthy. In all three trips I've made there, I've yet to see a plant that wasn't in pristine condition.
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| Assorted Leucadendrons and what looks like Agave vilmoriniana (I didn't check) |
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| Cordylines, Grevilleas, and Opuntias |
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| Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' looks its best at this time of year but I'll never need to buy any as I have an endless supply |
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| Various other displays, including one featuring Proteas currently in bloom (upper left) |
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| I was briefly entranced with this Stenocarpus sinuatus (aka firewheel tree). It was tempting but it could get bigger than the space I have available for another tree. The one I've seen at South Coast Botanic Garden always looks a little sickly but this one looked exceptionally healthy. |
Even after checking other options, I decided to stick with with the same Protea I gave my friend.
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| Here's my own Protea 'Claire', slated to be planted in a bed at the front of the house. I have another Protea, P. neriifolia 'Pink Ice', planted in a sunny spot in my north side garden. It's yet to bloom but it's getting closer. |
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| This is a Vireya Rhododendron, labeled 'Mitch Mitchell', which is the name of a prominent breeder of the tropical varieties. I can't grow the Rhododendrons common in the Pacific Northwest but long ago another blogger suggested that I might be able to grow the Vireya types. This will be an experiment and I plan to plant it in a large terracotta container. |
I made a couple other unexpected purchases for myself this week as well when I discovered that a very ambitious gopher has moved into my garden. I had a gopher problem several years ago but it moved on after a little encouragement. These critters are rampant in my area so it was just a matter of time before they returned. My husband read that they're mostly solitary creatures, occupying territories of approximately one acre but, given the amount of movement this one has made recently, it's hard to believe he doesn't have an entire platoon accompanying him.
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| The mounds provide solid evidence of the sandy condition of my soil |
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| I bought more solar-powered sonic gopher repellents. I've tried the ones with replaceable batteries but they don't seem to last any longer than those with batteries that can't be replaced. I bought 2 new sets, all of which have on-off buttons so, if and when they do their jobs, I can turn them off and store them away to be brought out as needed. Hopefully, that'll give them a longer life span and reduce my use of disposable plastic items. |
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| In addition to the 12 new sonic stakes, I've got 3 remaining stakes with replaceable batteries for a total of 15 in my back garden. Three of the new stakes are shown here. The 4th location shown above (lower left) is a new mound discovered the day after I installed the stakes, demonstrating that sonic irritation by itself won't immediately get rid of the annoying creature. |
To further bolster my effort, I also bought a bag of a granular gopher deterrent, scattering it throughout the back garden beds. The granules must be watered into the soil to have an effect. I was counting on rain to hasten the gopher's departure but we didn't receive any measurable precipitation until last night and even that was light. The forecasters are now projecting that first of two "real" rainstorms will arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday. I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas.
All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
