Garden Tour 2018! The front garden...

All of August I kept hoping for a day with conditions perfect for photography, lightly overcast with bits of blue sky, but not so overcast as to be oppressive. All I got though was harsh sunlight, which creates shadows the camera doesn't understand the way the human eye does (of course I wasn't cursing the sunlight, I was loving it!). When perfection doesn't present itself one just has to jump in and make the best of what they're given, and so on the afternoon of September 11th — just after a small group visited the garden — I finally snapped my annual "garden tour" photos.

This was my choice for overall image of the front garden, because the individual plants show up so well.

But I really liked this one with a little pizzazz, as the sun came out and made things shimmer.

And here the shimmer factor is way up, but you can't really see the individual plants like you can in the top image.

And so we move on...

Where are all the flowers, the seasonal color?

Who needs flowers when you've got Agaves? (A. parryi 'JC Raulston')

But seriously...those brown spikes in the upper right hand corner were Echium russicum blooms, a couple of months ago. And there were 3 different Callistemon blooming, once upon a time. It's just not a bloomy time of the year here.

However I adore this Erica arborea var. alpina, no blooms yet — which is just fine with me. That's a Yucca linearifolia to its right.

Sun shimmer...

And sans-shimmer, so you can actually see what you're looking at.

This year I thought I'd get with the times and do a video tour. Well I managed to do a part of the front garden, I need to work on my technique!

Moving on from where the video left off...

The oddly shaped low plant hugging the Cordyline is a Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Zanzibar', which spent much of the year covered in blue flowers.

The — quickly disappearing, as plants grow — mailman pathway. Spikes on both sides!

I cannot say enough good things about Rhamnus frangula (Fine Line Buckthorn), here at the corner of the house.

It's simply fabulous.

Standing in the neighbor's driveway and looking at the north side of our house, towards the front garden.

Heading back around to the front.

The Poncirus trifoliata foliage changes color early.

The fruit will follow shortly.

Looking backwards...

And looking down from the front steps (again, that's the neighbor's driveway in the background).

To the left of the front steps.

And standing at the end of our driveway.

The dark, dense shrub behind the Yucca rostrata is Pittosporum divaricatum, the Agave is A. ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' and the Arctostaphylos on the far right is A. 'Austin Griffiths'.

Now we've walked up the driveway and are looking at the stock tanks against the south side of the house. The one on the left has become a holding tank, mainly for Agaves I've already given away. It previously held an assortment of lilies — for cutting —  and Moluccella laevis stems.

The one on the right is filled with three different tomatoes as well as basil and a few Agave pups. That's more basil in the short tub in front.

Are you ready for the back garden tour?

Please come back tomorrow for that...

Weather Diary, Sept 30: Hi 70, Low 53/ Precip .02"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.