It's a pleasure to walk through the garden right now. Our temperatures have remained in the low to mid-60s, cool but not uncomfortable. The air is relatively clear and, despite the return of our Santa Ana winds, the plants generally aren't crying out for water. I've given collected rain water to some of those I recently planted but, thus far, I've been able to leave the irrigation system off. There's even another chance of light rain in the forecast for next Friday, although that's still too far out to feel confident about.
The foliage looks fresh.
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| The 3 Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' (left) planted under the peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa) in the backyard border are looking better than ever. The 'Cousin Itt' planted in the front garden in November 2014 (right), which I almost pulled several times, is finally settling in. |
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| Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', planted in the same bed as the second 'Cousin Itt' shown above, seems to be thriving. I love this shrub but it hasn't ever had a long lifespan in my garden. I've got hopes that it'll enjoy a longer life in this spot, where it seems to be getting just the right mix of sun and shade. |
Bulb foliage has appeared.
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| Foliage of Amaryllis belladonna (left), not to be confused with its cousins in the Hippeastrum genus, has suddenly appeared everywhere. I received about 2 dozen bulbs from Tammy of Casa Mariposa in April 2015. Planted soon after receipt, they produced foliage off-schedule in spring of this year. An untimely heatwave caused the foliage to die off early and I got no flowers this summer but it's right on schedule now to produce blooms in summer 2017. Meanwhile, the Freesias (right) I planted in areas throughout the garden at intervals since moving here are coming on like gangbusters. |
Seedlings are also showing up.
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| Left to right: Borage, Osteospermum, and Pelargonium seedlings |
There have also been some surprises.
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| Left to right: A late - or very early - Agapanthus bloom; a bud of Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' ready to take off about a month ahead of schedule; and foliage of Helleborus x 'Anna's Red', which I'd feared I'd lost |
But then there are the weeds. Weeds haven't been much of a problem for many months. Apparently, they knew better than to appear when temperatures ran high and water was in short supply. They're popping up everywhere now, though. In addition to the conventional weeds, I've got a healthy number of weed-like thugs that aren't wasting any time spreading wherever there's an inch of bare ground.
The worst is
Geranium incanum, something one of the prior owners of the property must have planted. I've been pulling out swaths of this plant continuously almost since we moved in. It's admittedly pretty but, if not promptly pulled, it spreads everywhere, growing over and through other plants. I shudder every time I see it offered in the local garden centers.
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| Here it is, with its innocently dainty foliage swamping Amaryllis, Lantana and Alstroemeria foliage among other things. By the time I took this photo, I'd already pulled out trugs full of the stuff. |
There are plenty of other aggressive plants also on the move in the garden.
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| Clockwise from the left: Cotula lineariloba, a plant with pretty foliage and flowers but aggressive tendencies, which I thought I'd eradicated last spring; Erigeron karvinskianus, a useful filler that came with the house with which I try to coexist but which will probably consume the entire garden one day; Helichrysum petiolare minus (aka Plecostachys serpyllifolia), also inherited with the house, which spreads with abandon even in the driest areas of the garden; and Lotus berthelotii, planted by me, which is shown here swallowing succulents and daylilies, but which does put off digging by the raccoons |
I'll be back in the garden pulling weeds and thinning out the weed imitators this weekend. More rain, should we be lucky enough to get it, will only support their march and there's no frost here to put a stop to that.
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
