I took a much needed break from the noise and chaos of our home remodel for some retail therapy this week, meeting up with Hoover Boo of
Piece of Eden at
Roger's Gardens in Orange County. There'd been quite a few changes since my last visit in April. However, putting the focus of the trip where it belonged, we caught up on what was going on in our respective worlds, shopped a bit, and had lunch before I returned to make the rounds with my camera prior to heading home.
Roger's new vertical garden was of particular interest. It serves as the backdrop for the free weekend seminars regularly held there.
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| One side of the new structure featured a range of foliage plants (Ajuga, Alternanthera, Dichondra, and Ophiopogon among others). The other side was planted entirely with assorted succulents. All the plants were inserted into soil-packed socks or what HB more descriptively called "sausages." |
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| It looks as though there's an automated irrigation system of some kind but I didn't take a close look at the mechanics |
Roger's features a lot of vertical plant displays, starting with its front customer entrance.
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| The current display is somewhat austere, featuring succulents in hanging metal containers |
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| This was the lusher display I photographed in April |
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| And this one, which may be my favorite, dates back to last September |
Unlike the current entrance display, the earlier versions shown above utilized plant pockets. On this visit, my interest was captured by another such display elsewhere in the garden.
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| This display combined wood boxes containing decorative items with a diverse range of foliage and flowering plants in felt planting pockets. It spurred my thinking about how I might better use the vertical space in my lath house. (My apologies for the poor quality of this collage, which I cobbled together from 2 separate images.) |
I also liked these succulents mounted on a wall in metal pots.
There were a number of other vertical plant arrangements to admire as well.
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| These rain chains had been filled with succulents |
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| Densely planted succulent wreaths |
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| Roger's has a houseplant sale going on at the moment and this hanging planter was stuffed with a Monstera deliciosa, wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris) and a variety of ferns |
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| There were conventional hanging baskets with flowers too |
I didn't come home empty-handed of course but I didn't go hog-wild buying plants either. Even though we've avoided major heatwaves thus far, summer isn't the smartest time to plant here. I mainly picked up items to cram into the raised planters in my cutting garden as I continue to pull out cool season leftovers.
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| Well, at least the Amaranthus and Cosmos are intended for the raised planters. I picked up 2 more balloon plants (Platycodon grandiflorus) too as the one I have in a semi-shady area of my front garden did well. The Festuca glauca plugs are intended to replace the Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' that got out of control in the back garden this year. |
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| HB also gifted me with a cutting from her Begonia 'Irene Nuss' which she wrote about here |
After seeing the displays at Roger's I'm considering trying out a few felt planting pockets my lath (shade) house, assuming I can figure out where to fit them in there. I also find I'm still thinking about a group of tiny (yet not inexpensive) vases I saw while shopping. One of those may have to come home with me on my next trip.
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| The tallest of the vases shown here was 3 inches or less - and they weren't cheap but they looked like little works of art to me |
If forecasters are correct, we're going to have a cooler-than-normal span of weather through the weekend. Once the construction workers leave on Friday afternoon, I'm planning to make the most of it. I hope you enjoy your weekend too.
All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
