Beautiful light, beautiful weather

Even though we've had some unusual weather, I've more or less enjoyed it.  We had rain and humidity in the last few weeks, which is odd so So Cal. But many plants are enjoying the tropical vacation.  In particular the giant dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia gigantea) is reveling in heat AND humidity.  Usually if it gets hot and dry these comically large blooms get seared by the heat and often don't even open, burnt crisp by the sun.

The other night I took some photos in that fabulous sunset produced light.

Santa Cruz Island

Last weekend I was invited to join a group going camping on Santa Cruz Island.  The island in known as the Galapagos of N. America.  I was delighted to see many of the endemics as well as island variants of mainland species. Below are some of my favorites.  Some of the ones I didn't photo were mounding mazanitas, oaks, toyon, saltbush, and one of my all time favorites, Eriogonum grande.

If you can take the time go to the island. It's only an hour ferry from Ventura, and there are some great trails as well as incredible kayaking.  We did a 4 hour guided kayak tour of sea caves which turned me into a little kid. It was Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland plus the movie Goonies.  SO FUN!

Calochortus luteus, the closest thing to the look of tulip in Cal Natives

Dudleya nesiotica, I think one of the more horticulturally worthy Dudleyas I've seen

Mimulus flemingii,  lovely bright red flowers on diminutive plant

Erigeron glaucus, seaside daisy

Bloomeria crocea, I thought this was a Triteleia, what was I thinking!

Eriogonum arborescens

Hazardia dentosa, so silvery

Eriogonum arborescens

Is this what we've come to?

Home Depot's idea of colorful cactus

So,  I'm just going to boil this down and keep it simple.  If a gardener at home spray paints a plant it can either be fun or tacky or really fun because it's so tacky and wacky.  When nurseries spray paint plants it's just tacky and pathetic.

Monocultured

I admit that in my own garden it's very difficult not to plant a confetti of varieties.  Last fall I decided that is was time to calm things down a bit in the garden. So, I removed all of the green succulents in my "green succulents bed" and planted one of the objects of my many obsessions. I think it was about five years ago when I found that I could get the variegated form of St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum 'Variegatum'), which of course is a tropical lawn grass.  For years I grew it in a small pot, and loved it. Then when I had the new garden I put into my "lawn chair".  And that was great but not enough.  Back to the ex green succulent bed where I planted the equivalent of a couple flats of plants.   Of course planting a tropical grass in the Autumn is not the best thing to do.  The plants we in a state of suspended animation for about six months but now have begun to really take off. I hope to get this to spread the length of the whole bed even in some shady areas.  I'm addicted to the cream light that comes through this plant in the afternoons.

And,  see what Denise had to say about the plant here.

New monoculture bed.  Maybe it's a lawn, but I'll just call it a ground cover.

Variegated St. Augustine grass

Lawn chair





Lawn chair

Native job

Up to this point I haven't blogged much about my work, and I don't plan to make this about business,  but I thought these photos were so nice that I though I'd share.  This garden was planted in July of last year and it's a case of where the normal thoughts about natives were bucked.  By that I mean that not only did we plant in summer but we also planted in 90+ degree heat.  We lost only one plant and that was a Ribes 'Claremont'.  Losing natives in the landscape is considered common even when abiding the usual rules of planting in cool weather etc.  And this garden is in Pasadena so it saw a lot of near 100 degree heat last summer.  You can see the client wanted as much lawn as possible but I was able to talk her into nice swath of California natives. I was able to sell the concept on natives based on saving water as well as the enjoyment of wildlife. I think this exuberant flush of color is a nice benefit too. You can't see it from the photos but there's a nice little flagstone path that wanders through the gravel and wildflowers.

California natives, and annual wildflowers

Catalina ironwood Lyonothamnus, and California poppies

Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' , native, small, and blue!  Such a winner!

Bee box prep

Beekeeping is a lot of work, or at least it can be. If you're thrifty like me you'll probably buy your boxes in parts and assemble them yourself. This is fairly uncomplicated but time consuming. So, have I decided to expand to three hives and have assembled some boxes to accommodate.  Now I need to get them painted.  I got up early this morning and got everything prepared, so when I'm actually ready to paint and have the time all I have to do is get the boxes painted.

Cool plants: Eriogonum nudum 'Ella Nelson' California native buckwheat

Just a quickie.  Have to say how much I've been loving this buckwheat.  Eriogonum nudum 'Ella Nelson' is just the best.  Love that sweet yellow and I am a sucker for pompoms.  This first started blooming in Feb,  and the photo below is the second crop of flowers. I hope it holds up when the heat turns on this summer.

I got this baby from Annie's.

enjoy.

Hard to capture the beauty of this plant!

Over priced? Or undervalued?

I love Annie's Annuals.  But even I, the seasoned and obsessive gardener scoffs at paying $5-8 bucks for a 4" size annual. As I look at the catalogue I begin my roller coaster ride of thrifty gardener emotions.  Will it grow?  Please God tell me it will reseed at a price like that!  Will one be enough? Hell, I want hundreds.  But do I have the space? Will it be worth it? This vacillation goes on for a while and then I settle down and place my small order.

Yesterday I ordered something that I feel is really frivolous,  marigolds.  In the main I don't even like them. You see them there, in Home Depot by the hundreds, uniformed solders, a phalanx of flowers. They're all dowsed with growth retardants and fertilizers and so on.  Basically they are as close to a silk flower as a real plant comes.  But there are other marigolds.  I remember when I was an intern at Great Dixter,  Christo would have loads of stripped marigolds waiting the in the wings. The moment a perennial was looking shabby he would have some fun annual like marigolds put in amongst them to take that part of the garden through the summer. And these are full grown loose habit NICE marigolds,  with REAL flowers.  So I chose 'Harlequin' to grow this year, of course I will save seeds and it will be great for the vegetable garden where I will be growing it.

But the question comes back,  is $5 plus shipping and tax too much to pay for an annual? I think the answer is no.  When I think of the joy I will have each day when I see the red and orange stripped flower in the garden it will all be worth it. And as a horticulturist I think it's really important to support the great resources we have.  Annie's is always delighting us with new and wonderful plants. We should support them and other great nurseries.  And just think of the fun you have when that box shows up at the house.



 

When Agave isn't masculine enough try a Mangave!

Remember the Manwich?  LOL.  It was a man's sandwich. 

Well, now there's  X Mangave.  X Mangaves are an intergeneric hybrid between Agaves and Manfredas.  They have the architectural interest of Agaves with the speckled fun of Manfredas. Why hasn't someone come up with a Manfreda called 'Kahlo' yet?!

Anywho,  a couple years ago I bought an unnamed Mangave from a succulent grower at the Riverside garden tour meeting area.  I had no idea how big it would get but now I know. And judging from the pups I would assume mine is full grown. It's about 2' x 2'.  The deep burgundy ends of the leaves and the spots are a real treat. I hate that I don't know the name of this beautiful clone. If I had to guess I would have to say that it was a hybrid of Agave desmetiana and a Manfreda. 

If you know the name of this plant, it's history or anything at all about it, will you please tell me? Thanks. 

Honey update

Nearly a year on and the beehive is finally in gear.  Just three weeks ago there was only a little honey stored in the top box, and so you can imagine my surprise when I could barely remove the top box just two weeks later.  I would estimate that they made about 35-40 pounds of honey in that two week period.  The bees were getting cramped for space so two medium supers were added.  This will give the gals plenty to do in the coming weeks.

We did feel empowered to take a little reward for the efforts.  With a steak knife and a bowl we cut out a stick of butter sized chuck of comb.  Seeing the honey ooze out of the comb switched on my inner Pooh bear. The taste was awesome, surprisingly not floral but more of a fresh bread flavor.

underside

medium frames being drawn out 

tasty void

chunk of honey goodness