Thursday, May 31, 2012

Here we are now going to the north side…

Every once and awhile I go around to the north side of our house and make sure the Clematis montana isn’t growing up into the Bamboo. Not that I mind mingling plants (actually I love them) but I fear over time the Clematis might start to pull down the Bamboo, and I don’t want that.

Don’t you just love the white dots left behind after the Clematis blooms fade? The purple stems are pretty cool too.

I also have to keep a watch out for the nasty Virginia Creeper (the shiny brown leaf)…

I call it nasty but I love it, I just have to keep an eye on it because given the chance it could take over.

After I finished pulling back the Clematis I stopped to appreciate how well it, and the Fatshedera ‘Aureomaculata’ (Tree Ivy), are covering the ugly wooden fence that provides a secure (doggie secure) enclosure to our back yard. The brown structure is our house; the grey structure is our neighbor’s garage…right on the property line. Ya gotta love how they did things back in 1948!

As I stood there gawking I realized I was staring at a perfect albino leaf on the Fatshedera ‘Aureomaculata’…

Isn’t it striking?

Then again all the variegated variations are pretty…

Remember the Mahonia × media ‘Charity’ I planted last fall (also on the north side)? Well it’s doing that berry thing that I love so much…

Purple ones too!

The Himalayan Maidenhair Ferns are looking fabulous, I need to plant more of these where I can see them every day. I like my neighbors but they shouldn’t be the only ones getting to enjoy these…

And the same goes for the ‘Angustifolia’ Hart’s Tongue Fern…

Gorgeous color on the Mahonia fortunei ‘Curlicue’

It's time for a BIG confession (are you ready?)…I hate Heuchera.

It feels so good to finally say that! I bought the one shown above to go in a pumpkin when I was in the Halloween spirit. Then it just wouldn’t die! I respect that, so I planted it where I wouldn’t have to see it. Besides I liked the combination of the dark foliage with the chartreuse Hakonechloa. Now the darn thing is blooming…

Finally, here is my other Fatsia japonica…

Planted just last spring but already growing big.

Since I like the illusion of something a little more tropical I’ll trim off the old leaves around the bottom. Being able to see a little of the trunk makes them more glamorous, and besides the old leaves aren’t as big as the new ones.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Back from a quick trip to Southern California…

We spent a long Memorial Day weekend visiting family in Fillmore, California (approximately an hour north of Los Angeles). The plant related highlight was my second ever visit to The Huntington Gardens in San Marino, CA.

No, I’m not ready to post about that visit quite yet (we just got home last night), but I got to thinking about how many wonderful gardens and parks I’ve visited since I began blogging in March of 2009. The posts on those visits are scattered throughout the blog archives and difficult to find, so I thought I would make it easier by putting together a state by state list of these destinations with links to my posts. You'll find a link to that page at the top of the right hand column, or you can find it here. A warning...the older posts have smaller pictures of somewhat dubious quality (I started the blog three cameras ago). I hope you click over and check out a garden or two that you’re curious about.

In the mean time I’m sharing images of restaurant planters along a sidewalk in Pasadena, CA. They were gorgeous and full of the sort of succulent abundance taken for granted by those lucky enough to live there. More California plant fun to follow, as I work through the hundreds of pictures I took.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Are you a member of the National Geographic Society?


My parents subscribe to the National Geographic magazine as a gift for my husband. Every time I see a new issue in our mailbox I hear Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life…“A new magazine! (I never saw it before) Of course you never. Only us explorers can get it. I've been nominated for membership in the National Geographic Society.”

I wonder exactly how many people still subscribe to this magazine? Probably not many.

The current issue has a story on Socotra Island which is 220 miles from mainland Yemen. There are fabulous pictures of the Dracaena cinnabari (Dragon Tree or Dragon Blood Tree)…
(photo source)

And Adenium obesum (Desert Rose)…
(photo source)

Both of which were detailed in The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World. The article as it appears in National Geographic is interesting reading..."Research around the turn of the 20th century proved that this tropical island, despite its size of only 83 by 27 miles, ranks among the world’s most important centers of biodiversity, combining elements of Africa, Asia, and Europe in ways that still puzzle biologists. The number of endemic plant species (those found nowhere else) per square mile on Socotra and three small outlying islands is the fourth highest of any island group on Earth" read it here. The fabulous photos from the article are available here. And if you’re still curious about the island and it's flora there is more to read here and here.

(and I hereby nominate you for membership in the National Geographic Society)

Monday, May 28, 2012

How did my garden end up so colorful? The front garden, now…

Coming back from a dog walk and glancing at our garden from across the street the riot of color (by my standards) caught me by surprise. How did I end up with so many things blooming? I’m supposed to be a foliage gardener! So since I’m overdue in sharing an update on how the front garden is filling in since it’s “remodel” last spring here are a few pictures taken last week, in the rain.

Above and below are from the driveway looking northeast.

Standing on the public sidewalk looking northwest.

Moving down the sidewalk, looking west now.

And standing at the end of the neighbor’s driveway looking southwest.

Now I’ve walked up their drive and I’m looking back at the Tetrapanx and Genista Lydia blooming its brains out (if plants had brains). If you look close you can see one of our Genista aetnensis and the ground cover on the left is Ceanothus gloriosa ‘Pt Reyes’…

Under the big window to the north of the front door and in front of the blooming Rhodendron is this mishmash…

The most exciting part of which is this…

And this…

Which are both on the same plant! Verbascum olympicum.

There is no simple way to describe this next group of pictures other than to say it’s the center of the garden, what I can see from right out the front door. The blooming “groundcover” is Grevillea juniperina ‘Molonglo,’ the Calliestemon is C. viridiflorus, there is also a Dasylirion wheeleri and Kniphofia hirstuta…

The light green spidery plant just up from the blue Agave americana is Puya coerulea.

There it is again with a (new to the garden) unlabeled Agave (from the dregs of the Cistus Parking Lot Sale) up front and center…

Rosa sericea ssp. omeiensis f. pteracantha (Wingthorn rose)...I LOVE THIS PLANT!

And here the Rose joined by Echium wildpretti and lots of spikes from Echium russicum.

Leaving that area and walking back over to stand on our driveway here is another Verbascum olympicum getting ready to bloom, and another Genista aetnensis behind it.

In front of the Verbascum the Pulsatilla vulgaris var. rubra is starting to form it’s fabulous seedheads!

Here’s a new (this spring) Agave bracteosa…

Euphorbia lathyris

How perfect are those leaves lined up along the stem? I've realized that somehow the garden has ended up with a lot of plants that are blooming (or going to bloom) and die this summer. The Echium, the Verbascum, this Euphorbia…of course if I can be patient (what?) they should seed around a bit.

My second (new this spring) Agave parryi 'J.C. Raulston'

And a couple of close up views of the southeast corner of the garden…

Finally a picture taken later, after two days of heavy rain…TIMBER!

The leaning Echium x wildpretii 'Rocket' falls to the ground.
Its blooms look good with the Black Mondo grass don’t you think?