It seems that once I break my self-imposed rule on summer planting I then feel free to run amok. During the long holiday weekend, I decided to make a quick trip to
Roger's Gardens in Orange County. "Quick" in this instance means 3-4 hours as it usually takes me an hour just to get there and another hour to get back, assuming that traffic isn't heavy. As it turned out I chose a good time and shaved about 10 minutes off both the trips there and back. What I'd forgotten was that Roger's Halloween boutique had just opened so the place was swarming with people, although most of them were checking out the decorations rather than shopping for plants.
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| Roger's replants the vertical garden at its entrance at regular intervals. It was looking very lush on this visit. |
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| They'd also replanted the large oblong bed in the front area since I was there in May, styling it as a sensory garden. I walked around it and photographed it in segments as shown above. |
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| The colors in this display drew me in (and subsequently sent me home with a few new plants) |
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| Some plants drew my attention immediately. Clockwise from the left, these included Manihot esculenta 'Variegata', a new coleus 'Peter's Wonder' and Heuchera 'Obsidian'. The last was deeper in color than this photo shows. |
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| As always, there were a host of potted plants to admire |
I made a pass through the Halloween boutique of course. I've always enjoyed Halloween and, although it's a bit early to jump into decorating from my perspective, I don't begrudge retailers for using the opportunity to bring in additional revenue.
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| This year's Halloween boutique is called "Hocus Pocus" and conjures images of a magical school akin to Hogwarts |
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| These are a few examples of the decorations for sale. The demon babies emerging from pots are a popular feature on Roger's Gardens Instagram page. All were marked as sold at the time of my visit but I overheard a woman say they were priced at $175. |
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| Two portraits on the wall morphed as you watched them. The pretty young woman in blue is gradually transformed into the crone shown on the right. More scenes from the "Hocus Pocus" display can be found here. |
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| I didn't plan on buying any Halloween decorations but I did. I brought home one of the toads on the left, as well as a set of pumpkin vine arms and legs like those shown on the right. |
My real objective in heading off to Roger's was to pick up 2 more planters like one I purchased there several months ago. I didn't go crazy buying plants but I brought home a few of those too. Other than a handful of succulents, all the plants have been tucked into place.
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| I bought the Artstone planter mounted in the middle here to hold Epiphyllum 'Queen of the Night' last May. I picked up 2 more on this trip, one to hold Epiphyllum 'Monastery Garden' (right) and the other for another noID Epiphyllum (left) I've had for years. This grouping is in my lath (shade) house. |
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| I brought home Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit', Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Rustic Orange' (coleus), Oxalis 'Sunset Velvet' and a 6-pack of mixed orange and yellow Lantana. Most of these went into a half barrel formerly occupied by seed-grown Calendula that had developed mildew. |
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| I used the yellow Lantana to fill in this area on my west facing slope |
I'd planned to work on garden clean-up this weekend in preparation for future fall planting but weather forecasters are predicting the return of 90F+ temperatures so that plan may be put off awhile longer. Wherever you are this weekend I hope you manage to avoid any weather-related challenges and eke out some late summer fun.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
