In a Vase on Monday: The Lisianthus are showing off

The lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) I found by happenstance in my local garden center a couple of months ago are blooming with some vigor now and I couldn't ignore them when it came time to put together a floral arrangement for "In a Vase on Monday" yesterday.  In fact, I cut several stems for two different vases.

The first features a green-flowered lisianthus.  I hadn't seen this variety in years, despite looking for it in both garden centers and online.  I bought the only two plants the garden center had when I stopped by - if there'd been a dozen of them, I probably would have bought them all.

I selected Leucadendron 'Jester' to complement the pale green flowers of the green Eustoma.  As that plant has pink tinges, that led me to add a few other pink elements to fill out the vase.

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Antirrhinum majus, Cuphea 'Honeybells', Eustoma grandiflorum, Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', L. 'Jester', and Prostanthera ovatifolia 'Variegata'

My second vase features the blue lisianthus, which really does look as close as any of us will ever get to a blue rose.

I was surprised to find a few stems of Hebe 'Grace Kelly' with purple blooms to add to the mix.  This Hebe is known for its variegated foliage but half my plant has reverted to green.

I included a couple of stems of another Hebe, 'Purple Shamrock', to dress up the back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Billardiera heterophyllum (syn. Sollya heterophyllum) with its purplish fruit, blue and white Eustoma grandiflorum varieties, Hebe 'Grace Kelly', H. 'Purple Shamrock', and Osteospermum 'Violet Ice'

It's still very dry here.  Mother Nature spit at us a bit on Thursday afternoon.  It was enough to deliver a gallon of water to one of my empty rain barrels, even though our roof-top weather station didn't register it.  I suspect the gauge is clogged but, at most, it wasn't more than one or two hundredths of an inch.  The fire that broke out in Malibu last week in response to high winds was forty-two percent contained as of yesterday after burning over 4000 acres.  All evacuation orders have been reduced to warnings.  Only nineteen structures, including eight homes, were destroyed, but that's still hard on the affected residents, especially with the holidays just around the corner.  Wind warnings were back in place yesterday.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

A neighbor's viewpoint on my garden

Chickadee Garden's "Facility Manager" recently presented his favorite picks among the late spring blooms in the garden he shares with his spouse.  That reminded me that I hadn't asked for my husband's input on our garden in some time.  (The input he provided on our summer garden last year can be found here.)  To compensate for cutting his hair, a chore I somehow acquired decades ago when he was still in graduate school which I've never managed to shed, I asked him to provide a current take on what he liked about the garden.  He grumbled that he'd already done that once but he didn't refuse so, when his haircut was done and I suggested a stroll around the garden before dinner, he proposed foisting the task on asking a neighbor to provide input.  He argued that because he's severely red-green color blind he couldn't fairly assess the garden - and then he shot across the street to see if our neighbor was willing to fill in before I could respond.  Neighbor S was accommodating and the two of them were back to join me on a spin through the upper level of the garden within minutes.  (Note: Familiar with our fire ant problem on the back slope, S declared it off-the-table at the outset.)

Here are the plants that grabbed S's attention:

Front Garden

He surprised me by picking Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink' almost immediately.  I asked him what he liked about it and he referred to the flower's color and the plant's lacy foliage.

The next choice, Agave 'Jaws', couldn't have been more different.  S said the plant had "personality."  I offered him a large pup I recently found growing nearby but he said he didn't want to worry about having a grandchild fall into it.

The magenta seedpods of Cercis occidentalis (aka the western redbud) earned favorable comment next.  (I know one SoCal blogger who is probably shaking her head over this choice but I have to say it hasn't self-seeded in my garden.)

The color contrast provided by Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' earned it a thumb's up.  S was less than impressed by the flowers of Grevillea 'Superb' behind the Cuphea.

South Side Garden

The selection of Hymenolepsis parviflora (aka Coulter bush) startled me, even though the flowers stand out from the surrounding plants.  I love this plant myself - until the flowers turn this mustard brown color.  Earlier in the season, the yellow flowers provided an echo of other yellow colored flowers in the back garden, carrying one's eye along the full length of the area.  (Mum's the word but I cut the flowers back the day after S voiced his appreciation of the plant.)

Back Garden

Daucus carota 'Dara' grew from seed.  The four foot tall flower S pointed out (left) popped up on the edge of the flagstone path opposite the larger, taller clump of Daucus in the back border (right).  Like the flowers of Hymenolepsis parviflora, the Daucus forms umbels.

Lilies often draw people and this pink one, no longer at its best, received S's nod

This Hebe 'Wiri Blush' is one of my oldest plants but people seldom notice it.  I love the red of its stems and leaf undersides, as well as its flowers but the shrub is currently a mess.  Something, probably a gopher, tunneled underneath it last year, causing die-back at the plant's center.  S noticed the flower and the foliage but not the shrub's misshapen appearance.

This photo may give you a better idea of the shrub's current shape.  I'm vacillating between making an attempt to divide it or simply replacing it. 

Nierembergia scoparia 'Purple Robe' deserves more acclaim than it generally receives.  S loved its purple flower color, delicate foliage and low-growing habit.

The selection of Arbutus 'Marina' (aka strawberry tree) wasn't a surprise.  Nearly every visitor remarks on the beauty of this tree and I'm lucky to have inherited four of them with the garden.

The red trunk and peeling bark of the tree, which reminded S of manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), were major factors in its appeal

North Side Garden

Although I recently gave Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' a major haircut and most of its flowers are gone, it also earned a thumps up.  S cited its "exotic" flower for its appeal.

In the process of our walk-through, there were also a couple of what I'll call "honorable mentions":

Heuchera 'Marmalade' was noticed due to its unusual foliage color

This pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana), with flowers already giving way to fruit, drew S's attention as he prepared to return home.  I commented that the squirrels seem to be paying the plant a lot of attention at the moment.  When asked what drew them, I said I wasn't sure whether its the developing fruit or the flower petals, which have a sweet taste.  I offered him a petal to chew on his way home.

It's always interesting what draws someone's attention in the garden.  Several times during our spin of the garden, S asked "what's that?" and walked briskly ahead while I tried to ascertain what he was referring to.  I was almost always wrong on my first guess.  Do visitors ever surprise you with their preference of certain plants over others?

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Fabulous February Foliage

As the title of this post indicates, I do love alliteration.  But before spring formally arrives and flowers dominate the scene, February is a good time to take stock of the foliage plants that add so much to my garden.  This won't be a comprehensive review as I've skipped some of the major players that are at risk of overexposure after repeated inclusion in my posts, like Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'.  I should also note that many of the plants I've included here flower at some point during the year; however, I want to emphasize that these are plants that won a place in my garden in large part because of their foliage.

I'll start with those that shine in different shades of green.

Acanthus mollis was a major player in my former shady garden.  In contrast, the plants have struggled here, although I have at least three clumps like this one that appear in response to rain every year.  They usually fade away as the soil gets drier and our temperatures rise.  I only occasionally get flowers but I value those large leaves, which are relatively unusual in my climate.

I introduced Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily), a New Zealand native, to my garden in 2011 and it's proliferated, mostly through divisions of my original plants.  I've found it to be an excellent plant for use in dry shade.  The graceful foliage is evergreen and the flowers that appear in May are a plus.

I expect most people grow Echium webbii principally for its brilliant blue flowers but I'd grow this plant even if it didn't flower.  It has a beautiful shape (at least until it gets old and woody) and the foliage gives off a silvery-blue glint in the sun.

Next up are the standouts in shades of silver.

Centaurea 'Silver Feather' is another plant I'd grow even if it didn't flower.  I planted an excess of these in my back garden, underestimating their mature size but, positioned at appropriate distance from one another, they make a stunning statement in the garden.  One of my plants in the front garden died back but I rooted a cutting to fill the empty spot.

I wish these Helichrysum thianschanicum 'Icicles' didn't bloom.  After bloom, they looked misshapen.  I cut them back hard in late summer, not sure they'd survive, but I'm happy with how they look now.

Salvia canariensis var candidissima has fuzzy silvery-white foliage.  It produces interesting flowers in summer.

Variegated plants and those with unusual foliage color also play important roles.

I determined that, in my garden, Cordyline 'Can Can' is happier in a pot than in the ground.  The smaller plant is Cordyline terminalis 'Chocolate Queen', a recent mail order purchase from Little Prince of Oregon.

Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' has great presence in my front garden in bloom and out.  It does get woody over time and in another year or so I expect I'll have to replace it.  I'll try taking cuttings this spring to get a replacement queued up.

Hebe 'Purple Shamrock' is a dwarf evergreen shrub.  It needs a regular trim to keep its shape (something I don't always handle on a timely basis) but it's otherwise a carefree plant.  It produces small purple flowers in summer but, with foliage like that, who cares?

Yucca 'Blue Boy' has wonderful purple foliage.  It's supposed to grow 4-6 feet tall by 3-5 feet wide but mine have stayed smaller (or are just biding their time).

When we acquired this garden just over ten years ago, the only succulent plant in the garden was a single clump of Agave attenuata in the front garden.  In every year since, they've gained a larger foothold.  If I were to venture a guess, I'd say succulents now account for roughly one quarter of the plants in my garden.  Many of these, like the larger agaves, regularly crop up in my posts so I've included just a few of the more demure specimens in this one.

These two 'Joe Hoak' Agaves have been in place since 2015, slowly growing in size.  One came to me as a pup from blogger friend Denise of A Growing Obsession.   

I showed this Crassula Senecio amaniensis in a recent post but here it is again.  I love its shape.  The one in my street-side bed develops long decumbent branches, which is apparently a response to receiving less water.

Years ago, I stuck a tiny cutting of Crassula ovata 'Gollum' below the Xylosma hedge running along the street.  It's become a nice accent with its orange-red tips and I've now used other cuttings as fillers among succulents elsewhere.

Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', shown here in front of three Hesperaloes, remains one of my favorite succulents.  It's tough as well as pretty.

Mangave 'Jaguar', a birthday gift from my husband the year before last, has proven to be a very attractive plant.  I need to surround it with more succulents that'll pick up the copper and burgundy tones in its foliage.

Mangave 'Spotty Dotty' has been happier since I relocated it to this sunnier spot.  Its coloring is unusual, even for a Mangave.

I took numerous photos of Aeoniums in preparing this post but I decided they deserve their own separate post, which I'll share sometime later this month.

That's it from me this week.  I had my first Covid-19 vaccine shot yesterday and I'm starting the weekend with a positive outlook as a result.  I hope you find something to put a positive spin on your weekend too.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Focusing on foliage

Despite my flower fixation, I've been making an effort to focus more attention on foliage over the last few years.  In Spring, it's easy to ignore foliage altogether as there's always another flower making an appearance but during the last couple of weeks (when I've had so much unexpected time at home!) I've paid more attention to the foliage in my garden.  Here are some of the plants that have stood out:

I featured the Cordyline 'Can Can' shown in the background here in my February foliage post but the focal point of this photo is Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'.  I cut this particular specimen back harder than I usually do and it's responded by coming back as a very tidy mound.

I have 3 Japanese maples but this dwarf variety, Acer palmatium "Mikawa Yatsubusa', is the first of these to leaf out

This Aeonium arboreum 'Velour' forms large ruby-tipped rosettes

I added 2 drought-tolerant Astelia 'Silver Shadow' to my back garden in February in the hope that they'll survive in this particularly dry area

I seem to have become a Begonia collector.  From left to right in my shade house I have: Begonia 'Champagne Bubbles', 'B. Escargot', and what I think may be B. rhizomatous 'Nautilus Lilac'.

Several specimens of Calliandra haematocephala (aka pink powder puff bush) came with the garden as foundation plants.  As such, they get sheared several times a year to keep them from spilling into walkways.  However, as you can see here, their fresh new foliage is very attractive when the plant's actually allowed to do its thing.

This isn't the flashiest Hebe in my collection and I value it mostly for the flowers but Hebe 'Wiri Blush' holds up better than most members of this genus in my garden and flaunts touches of red in the undersides of its glossy leaves

I've allowed this grass to spread in one area of my garden in the hope that I've correctly identified the seedlings as Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass).  If I'm wrong I'm going to be very unhappy in a couple of months.

This small shrub is one I routinely forget about because it's grown so slowly and tends to get hidden underneath surrounding plants when they flush out.  It's Ochna serrulata, a South African shrub commonly known as the Mickey Mouse plant because its black berries and red sepals are said to resemble Mickey's face.  Although the plant's been in my garden for 5 years, I've yet to see its flowers or its berries.

This is the foliage of Itoh peony 'Keiko'.  Planted in 2013, its foliage appears regularly but it has yet to flower for me.

This moss-like plant is Scleranthus biflorus, aka Australian astroturf.  I planted 3 of these clumps near the Astelia shown earlier because it's supposed to get by with little water once established and spread as much as 3 feet while maintaining a very low profile.  We shall see if it lives up to its reputation.

That's my wrap-up for this week's blog posts.  Be sure to give your foliage some attention while you're admiring your Spring flowers!


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party