The Garden Waits

 It's been a busy month with little getting done in the gardens. I had bunion surgery in late October and have been somewhat incapacitated for too much activity. I did get a walk through the gardens once in a while, which was a little frustrating because there is so much to do and this is such a good time of year to do almost everything.  

 Most of the color is coming from a few potted plants I added for a dinner party we had last month.

 I'm almost healed and looking forward to getting back out there and keeping busy - at least until this expected monster El Nino sends me back indoors!

Yesterday I tagged a number of shrubs that have not fared well during the hot, dry summer to be removed by my garden helper this week. Hopefully I will be able to get to the nursery to pick up some replacements that can get established over the winter. With the holidays coming and the house filling up with family next week, I know my priorities will be elsewhere again soon. Luckily the garden isn't going anywhere, it's always waiting and carrying on without me. Thank goodness!

Fall Bloomers

'Frequent Violet' Iris

 I have been meaning to write a post about all the plants that have disappeared over the past couple of drought ridden years in my gardens (these are not them!), but it was kind of sad so I decided to focus on a bit of color that is still enjoying the hot weather.

Duranta erecta 'Sapphire Showers'

 I've had to remove a bunch of photos from my computer so it will not punish me, so I have been reminiscing about plants that I had kind of forgotten about.

Hybiscus

 I have also been visiting nurseries this week to start thinking about the fall planting plans. I want to take advantage of this forecast El Nino year with the added rain it is supposed to bring.
 

Queen's Wreath

 It is too hot to do any planting yet, but October is our best month of the year for establishing new trees, shrubs and perennials.

Bird of Paradise

 I am much more disciplined and savvy about sticking to natives and drought tolerant plants after this long hot summer than I am in the spring when I just get carried away!

Rose 'Evelyn'

 It has been a rough year for some of my favorite plants (ahem - roses) and I am rethinking whether or not they are worth the work and anguish they put me through.

Salvia leucantha and Guara

I'm trying to make smart choices and add more of what already is working well. Of course that is the plan. We'll see how it plays out when I actually go to buy the plants!

For The Birds

 The Fall is such a wonderful time of year for gardeners in Southern California. It is the best time of year to plant almost anything other than tropicals since the soil is still warm, the air is still mild (or at least in theory) and the rainy season is on its way. Plants like trees, shrubs and perennials planted in the fall have a chance to establish their root systems in the warm soil before the spring growing season starts, giving them a distinct head start. However we have been having such hot weather along with the continuing drought, it has just not been the right conditions for doing any planting yet. This hasn't kept me away from the nurseries though, as I dream of cooler days to come.

 Instead of bringing home plants doomed to struggle in the heat, I decided to enhance my bird friendly accessories in the way of a few pretty new birdhouses and a new feeder to hold nyger seeds. Rodents don't like these bird seeds and since I stopped feeding the birds a few years ago due to the growing population of rats and mice that were making the feeders their local dining preference, I'm hoping this will attract the small songbirds that do like the seeds.

There is something about the light that is especially lovely this time of year. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler and soon it will be time again to focus on the indoors and family and holidays, but hopefully there will be a window of opportunity to replace many of the plants that have disappeared during this long, hot dry summer, that just couldn't tolerate another year of drought.

Refreshing a Winter Focal Point

October 2014

 Somehow it has worked out that most of our entertaining at the SJC house takes place in the winter months. Dozens of relatives come from all over the country to visit and dare I say hundreds of friends stop by some time between Halloween and Valentines Day. Needless to say, they are certainly missing the prime time in the gardens which I would have to say is spring, followed by summer and then fall.

November 2014

By the time winter rolls around most of the prettiest scenes are tired and taking a rest. Roses are either spindly or cut back, most iris are sleeping and of course the clematis, wisteria, flowering shrubs and vines are either bare or devoid of blooms at best. Even the willowy grasses are often cut back to bristly stubs. I am thankful for the azaleas and camellias, of which I have planted many, and there are always the plants that look good consistently year round which add the foundation to the gardens. I do try to add some seasonal color in the way of cool season annuals that I probably would skip if not for the onslaught of guests. As you can see by the top picture, the Moonlight Garden was showing signs of a long hot summer a couple weeks ago, so a carload of bright white perennials and annuals in addition to some organic fertilizer has brightened up this focal point and will go a long way to keep this garden looking good until the spring plants start to wake up. If you look closely, my 'Golf Ball' (more like Basketball) pittosporum look terrible, having been covered with blight all year. They are supposed to stay small and round, hence the name, but these became so large and gangly they were trimmed back at the wrong time and have become a mess. I'm debating whether to remove them all together or just cut them back and
give them another chance. But enough about problems! I've been out every weekend with a watering can and some seaweed fertilizer to make sure this area is robust for the upcoming months and all our guests because next weekend there will be soccer balls, baseballs and maybe even a few Frisbees landing among the newly planted daisies and phlox and they need to be as robust as possible!

Just for fun here's a look at years past. If you are on Pinterest and 2010 looks familiar to you, it has probably been pinned a few thousand times!

2009

2010

2011

2012

Getting Busy

I have been very busy recently and happily I can say that some of that activity has been in the garden! After almost a year of a bum knee and a really sore shoulder I am feeling better and getting out and getting my hands dirty this past month. Of course the up coming holidays are the main focus and sprucing everything up for the big Thanksgiving family reunion is a priority followed by the Christmas holiday events, but there are still just a lot of fall chores that I am happy to be able to undertake this year. I've planted some bulbs, cut back some shrubs, and added some fall annuals. We have even made sure to add a new rock to the garden for our new little granddaughter, Rosetta. I'm sure her big brothers will check to be sure there is one for her when they arrive next week!

I have also been busy doing a new task for the UCCE Master Gardeners. It is one that I am really enjoying and that is writing posts for their blog! They are short posts focused on what is happening in the Southern California garden based on topics that are currently trending on their hotline where local gardeners turn for help as well as other current topics in the backyard garden. You can read and subscribe to their blog here --> UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County.

Its good to be back in the garden!

Fall Has Finally Arrived

Chrysanthemums

 I have to admit that when I left for a trip two weeks ago during yet another heat wave here in Southern California I was wondering if I would ever find the passion for working in my gardens that I have always had, again. Talking to other gardeners confirmed I wasn't the only one.

'Evelyn' Rose

A walk through the gardens at that time showed that what the heat hadn't ravaged, the insects had damaged. The heat loving natives pretty much just shut down in the summer and wait for cooler weather. The succulents, although alive, look a bit boring in the hot sun without any complimenting plants. Drought conditions make watering a guilt-ridden activity and so everything just gets enough to survive but not enough to thrive. Nothing new had been added in a while and as plants died off as they do, bare spots were left bare. Summer annuals never went in because it was just too hot and they used too much water so nooks and crannies that usually were filled with charm and sweet smelling annuals were naked all summer. Pots were left empty that usually housed annuals.
 

'Yuletide' Carmelia

 Most of the summer was spent in the house with the air conditioner on and the doors and windows shut, something I can't ever remember doing. Our Laguna House without any air conditioning sat empty waiting for a cool-down before we would even consider spending a night there.

Japanese Anemones

 But as is always the case, eventually fall arrives and with the shorter days come the cooler temperatures and upon arriving back home after two weeks away I was so happy to walk through the garden this morning and see signs of what the cooler months ahead had in store.  The azaleas are already starting to bloom and the 'Yuletide' camellias that I planted in the Gravel Garden last year (and immediately regretted, why would I ever plant a red flower?) even looked cheerful and made me happy.

Camellia Sasanqua

 Roses and iris that struggled all summer perked up and looked nice and healthy. Chrysanthemums were flopping over with heavy blooms, a fine problem to have! Graceful Japanese anemones had obviously been blooming for a while and had grown immensely since last year.

'Frequent Violet' Iris

The sunlight is so lovely the way it comes across the sky and through the trees and lights the garden in October. The temperatures are just perfect for working in the garden and taking care of all those issues that cropped up over the long hot summer that it is hard to believe that there was ever any doubt in my mind that there would be any place else I would rather be than in my garden this time of year. It's good to be back!

A Success Story

Although there are some pretty pathetic looking scenarios this fall in the garden, there are also some happy ones. This is my little lemon tree that I wrote about last spring. It was suffering from a long list of bugs and diseases and looked very sad. I think I only got one lemon from this tree since last April. But after cutting back the damaged foliage, I fertilized it with an organic fertilizer, gave it long, deep soaks all summer and hosed it down every once in a while and now it is rewarding me with tons of sweet, sweet blooms that fill the air with their lovely fragrance, on top of an already abundant young crop of lemons with not a bug or yellow leaf in sight. No pesticides or insecticides were necessary, just some nutrients, a lot of sunshine, some thoughtful watering and maybe a little love!

Weather Woes

 Our weather continues to be unusually hot and humid. Days where the temperatures hit the 90's are not unusual for October for us, but they are usually accompanied by dry Santa Ana winds, not high clouds and humidity and they don't go on for weeks at a time. We are becoming addicted to air conditioning  and rarely head out to the yards because there are no enticing breezes at all to lure us to visit.

 



I must admit I've been feeling terrible about how the fall months are slipping by, usually the best months to get things done in the gardens, without much being accomplished, until I talk to other gardeners and they share the same sentiment. I'm not the only one with bare ground where there once were lush beds. Other than the professionally kept up affluent grounds that are planted only in heat and drought loving plants, almost everyone is feeling the pain of the drought and high temperatures.  The ocean fishing has been exceptionally good this year, which usually means there will be a wet winter. Let's hope that holds true. I am at least thankful for the shade trees in the back yard. It at least looks cool. The Mexican sage that I planted last year doesn't seem too bothered by the weather, but it is a stand alone oasis of color in an otherwise sad looking garden bed. I must admit I have been seriously considering tearing all the flower beds out and replacing everything with a tall fescue that would not need mowing. Kind of just make the back yard a wild field of abandon. But.. maybe I should wait and see how I feel next spring.

My Asian Pears

I love surprises in the garden and this was a pleasant one! This pear tree was here when we moved in and there were many years I could have sworn it was dead. Few leaves, even fewer blooms led me to believe it was very unhappy as were many of the other fruit trees that were planted here by the previous owners. I fed it and watered it along with the others and it continued to sulk, but not quite give up entirely. Occasionally it would produce a couple of these rather round Asian pears, usually going unnoticed until they fell to the ground before I had a chance to taste them. But this year I was pleasantly surprised to see it bearing a good sized crop! I'm not quite sure whether they should be picked while they are still green or wait until they turn yellow so I think I will pick one every few days and see what is the best time so I don't miss the peak time, as I often do with my tree fruit. What a nice way to start the fall garden experience!

A Little Late Fall Color

We are having summer like temperatures this week, but my SJC liquid amber tree thinks it is autumn and the leaves are just starting to turn yellow and fall to the ground. I had planted this tree, of which there are many in our neighborhood that turn beautiful shades of red, burgundy and orange in the early to mid fall, right outside the dining room window to add an ambiance of autumn color to our Thanksgiving holidays, but it is putting on the show a little late, not to mention somewhat less colorful than I had imagined. I am going to be patient and give it more time, assuming it is still young. I still love it though for the pretty color of green and the shade it gives us all summer, but I am still hoping for next year.

Just One More

Boston Ivy

 Just a few more pops of fall color and then I am done.

Chrysanthemum

 After such a beautiful couple months of sunny days and warm weather, it is definitely starting to feel like autumn.

Chrysanthemum

Enough lollygagging around and time to get busy, or I will regret it next spring!

Autumn Details

Begonia

 Although I should be focusing on refurbishing the gardens this month, I get a bit distracted at the nurseries and bring home autumn colored potted plants to decorate the fringes of the house.

Ornamental grasses and Chrysanthemums

 Most of these plants will end up somewhere in the gardens after they finish this bloom, so it is all good.

Zinnia

 I am hoping against the odds that they will hang in there for five more weeks so that I don't have to replace them before the family starts rolling in for Thanksgiving.

Zinnia

I haven't even bought any pumpkins and gourds yet!

Sparklers

The Moonlight Garden is filled with white fall flowers right now. Chrysanthemums, Japanese anemones, reblooming iris, and azaleas are doing their best to put on a show, but there is still a lot of bare dirt waiting for some cool season annuals to fill in the details throughout the upcoming holiday season. 

I reeaalllyyy need to get busy!

Hydrangea Basics

Among the fall colors I have to include the drying hydrangeas. Many of them actually dry right on the plant without turning brown and can be cut and brought in the house. 

It seems like every year there is one question that people keep asking me about their gardens and this year is was about hydrangeas. Specifically hydrangeas that aren't blooming.  I just ask them a very simple question. Did you cut them back last winter while they were dormant? Inevitably they say yes, often proudly that they kept up with what they perceive to be annual maintenance.  But you can't cut back traditional hydrangeas in the winter without cutting off the next year's blooms. Hydrangeas bloom on last year's growth, so when they are bare and terrible looking in the winter, they are filled with flower buds and if you cut them back you are removing all the next year's flowers. The best time to cut back a hydrangea (although you never really need to) is right after they bloom in early summer when there is still time for them to grow and form buds the rest of the summer. I advise people to plant their hydrangeas where the dormant plant blends in with other plants and is not in a spot where bare sticks coming out of the ground for a few months in the winter will bother them. 

That being said, there are some new varieties on the market that bloom on old and new growth and will continue to bloom all summer even when you cut the dormant stems or flowers. They are the Endless Summer Collection and I have planted a few of them and am very happy with them. They happily bloom all summer even when I cut them to bring inside for arrangements.

Lovely Weather

Although I hate to see the days getting shorter, this is such a beautiful time of year in the garden. The weather has been lovely, with warm days and cool evenings and even a nice day of rain last week, rare for us this time of year. But there is something special about the light during this season. The lower it is on the horizon the softer it seams to get, casting a pretty veil over the still thriving gardens. October is the best time of year to plant almost anything (except tropical plants) in the Southern California garden, giving it time to acclimate before it gets too cold and allowing the roots to become well established in the still warm soil before the time for vigorous growth starts next spring. Time to get busy!

Autmumn Reds

 Someone once said that every room should have a touch of red, and I have found that to be very true. When I add a bowl of red flowers to my otherwise serenely colored living room it just makes the whole room pop! Think of when you add red poinsettias around the house during the holidays. It really warms things up. Although I don't have a lot of red flowering plants in either of my gardens, this is the time of year I do appreciate them most. The red chrysanthemums are actually blooming in the fall at the appropriate time this year (they have been known to bloom in the summer in past years) and the red salvia bush actually blooms almost year round. Come to think of it, it may even be a penstemon! It would get about six feet tall if I let it grow. Either way, it is a nice warm fall color!

Summer Color in the Fall

 I wish I could show you all the progress I have been making on my fall garden projects, but I'm afraid I haven't made many advances. I've been busy doing other stuff. 

 I did go out to photograph some of the fall colors in the gardens, but once again I got distracted by something else.

 There are lots of blooms that look more like spring, or maybe summer, blooming right now!

 I planted a number of dahlias (that I thought were purple, not pink) later in the season this year and they have just started blooming all over the perennial garden in SJC. I don't know where they were during the less-than-colorful summer season out there, but I hope they get an track next summer! They are beautiful!

 For the past month the front door garden in SJC has been a lovely show of reblooming iris, 'Frequent Violet'. They are long and prolific bloomers!

Not exactly fall-like garden shots, but I'll take what I can get!