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Unexpected raindrops
We received a small amount of rain on Friday and an even smaller amount the next morning, totaling 0.07/inch in total. I haven't tried to calculate how much rainwater my barrels collected but at least...
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Wide Shots - October 2025
On a quarterly basis, I take time to capture wide shots of my garden, which gives me an opportunity to track the good and the bad for future reference and planning purposes. As summer's heat's backed...
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In a Vase on Monday: Hustling to the exit
My dahlias are clearly on their way out the door now. It's possible that I may be able to cobble together another arrangement including a few stems next week but I'm not counting on that. I've pulled...
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What happened?!
I walked into my lath house to water my shade plants and discovered that one of my three Epiphyllums (aka orchid cacti) had fallen from its pot. All three were mounted in relatively small pots...
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Going, going, gone
Consider this a requiem to my dahlia season. Although I plopped my tubers into temporary pots in mid-April to give them a head start in sprouting before transplanting them into the raised planters of...
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In a Vase on Monday: Going out with a bang
My efforts to clear my cutting garden are continuing in earnest now but, as I'd hoped, there were enough dahlia flowers left to put together two more arrangements. In addition to missing the flowers...
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Bloom Day - October 2025
It's scavenger hunt time in my garden. I'm never utterly without flowers, winter being virtually a foreign concept here in coastal Southern California, but, at the end of summer, having had months...
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Flip-flop on fire risk zones
I addressed Los Angeles County's adoption of "defensible space clearance" requirements in a post on March 28th. The requirements were applicable to all homeowners in areas facing significant fire...
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In a Vase on Monday: As luck would have it
I fully expected to be scrambling to find material to fill a vase this week. This was indeed the case with my first arrangement. I identified two flowering plants that might serve as centerpieces, a...
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Wordless Wednesday: House plants find their happy place
 All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
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Recent garden edits
My sister-in-law was in town this week and I didn't have a lot of time to work in the garden, much less put together blog posts, but I made a few edits to my south-side garden last weekend I thought...
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In a Vase on Monday: The Lisianthus step up
It's considerably harder to determine what to use to fill a vase now that the summer bloomers are, for all practical purposes, gone. A few new flowers have emerged here and there but they don't send...
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Local rambles around town
My sister-in-law was here for a short visit last week.The last time she visited, we took her to the Getty Center but on this occasion we remained closer to home. We took a long walk through South...
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Happy Halloween?!
I'm finding it hard to get excited about the holidays this year given that every news release leaves my head spinning and sends my blood pressure up. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday in any case...
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In a Vase on Monday: A November surprise (but without pizzazz)
I disposed of all but one of my dahlias about two weeks ago, the majority because they showed signs of the mosaic virus, and a few others simply because they hadn't performed well. The one I left in...
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Further steps to manage our fire risk
"Zone zero" is back in the news here. California passed its "zone zero" law in 2020 with the intention of creating five feet of "ember-resistant" areas surrounding homes located in very high fire risk...
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Cleaning up, clearing out, and giving away
I dislike clutter in any form, possibly because I grew up with a mother who became something of a hoarder. While life in my childhood home never led to visits by the fire department or public safety...
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In a Vase on Monday: From Big & Bold to Dainty & Demure
The weekly "In a Vase on Monday" meme is hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden. As this is the meme's twelfth anniversary, Cathy threw out a challenge for this week's post, asking participants to...
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This and that
I woke up Monday morning to find a thick blanket laying over the Port of Los Angeles below us. This happens periodically each year but it still feels queer, like a scene from the Twilight Zone. We're...
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Bloom Day - November 2025 (Early Edition)
I got an early start on my November Bloom Day selections. My post is in keeping with my Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule but I also had my annual appointment with the tree service on the...
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In a Vase on Monday: Sodden flowers
An atmospheric river has been moving through Southern California since late Thursday night. It's delivered a lot of rain, albeit not as much as I was led to believe it would at the outset. It's come...
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The Case of the Missing Bulbs - or All's Well that Ends Well
Before I get into my little garden mystery regarding missing bulbs, I'll start with a few beauty shots of my back garden during what we expect will be a very short reprieve from the rain. My "water...
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The trees got their annual trim
I have a tree service in on an annual basis but I don't have every one of them trimmed each year. However, this year, I included more of them than usual. This year's exercise included pruning...
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In a Vase on Monday: Bits and pieces
We received a great deal of rain between November 13th and November 21st, at least by our standards. According to my rooftop rain meter, it was nearly three inches and it could've been more as the...
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Bird feeder traffic
When I think of Thanksgiving, it's mostly about getting together with family and eating, not necessarily in that order. It seems an appropriate time to make sure that I feed the birds too. I used to...
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