Persistence Pays Off

I do love an arch in the garden and I have lots of them. I add them all over to create height and add a vertical element as well as acting as a way to separate spaces. Most of them are wire ones that I purchase from catalogs or a nursery.  This also allows me to utilize a whole new group of plants that would otherwise be left to an occasional fence or wall - vines. This arch in the Moonlight Garden has had at least four different kinds of vines growing on it that I can think of off the top of my head. When I put it in about seven years ago I planted the very prolific and popular at the time 'Avalanche' clematis. Of course the more I thought about it the more I regretted the chance to put one of my favorite fragrant vines in,  Madagascar jasmine, so I added that too. Neither vine flourished the way I hoped they would. So I decided to just go for it and add a white passion flower vine and at least have butterflies all over. I probably added a star jasmine too. One thing about vines that should always be a warning is that they can be very aggressive. By nature they are meant to grow from the floor of the forest, and scale up tall trees to get the sunlight at the very top. All of the vines I planted on this arch had no intention of scaling much of anything and most barely made it over the arch but the most frustrating thing was they just weren't interested in blooming. Here and there would be a bloom but nothing like I was used to in my other gardens. It may have been too shady. I have a hard time realizing that this area doesn't get as much sun as it seems due to the tall queen palms. The hard ground isn't very fertile either because of years of chemicals used on the lawn that was here previously. Then finally I broke down a bought a white Mandevilla vine. I am not crazy about Mandevillas for some reason. A little too showy and tropical for me, so I have no idea why I bought two and put one on each side of the arch last spring, just desperate I guess. But just to keep me humble I suspect, those Mandevillas are just as happy as can be and are blooming for months now! Go figure!

Wisteria and Roses

 I just can't get enough of my wisteria and roses.

 When they start blooming I actually get a little sad because I know they will only last a few weeks.

 Their beautiful scent, the buzzing of the bees, the sparkling of the sunshine peeking through the flowers will only be fleeting for the first few weeks of spring.

 They seem to be the first signs that winter is on the way out and the warm weather is on its way and soon all the other flowers will be appearing.

I really need to learn to spend more time just sitting under this pergola enjoying the beautiful arrival of spring and less time regretting how quickly it passes.

Learning Lessons

 So, I was going to write this post about my weeping cedar tree, and how much I adore it, and how much it has grown, but now I will probably write about how much your learn writing a blog about your garden!

When we moved into this house in 2008 there was a big awkward King palm in this little carve out that had out-grown the spot and was learning over the driveway. It was the first thing I had removed and relocated and I chose a weeping cedar to replace it for two reasons. First, it can be trained into a rather columnar tree which is perfect for this tall, narrow space, and second because I love this graceful, soft tree. Sure, it didn't look like much at first, but I had faith and sure enough as you can see in the top picture, with some staking and some pruning it has filled the space nicely (in hind-sight an Italian cypress would have probably been ideal and fit in with the feel of the house too).

 But in searching for pictures among all my files over the years for photos of this spot to show the progression I have made a few observations.

At first I was going to qualify the top picture saying that the 'Black and Blue' salvia that fill this planter, along with the bright orange daylilies are all dormant and cut back so it looks rather bare at this time of year, but is lovely most of the time. I then spent a long time looking for at least one picture of it looking "lovely". There were none. I take a lot of pictures, especially when things are looking good which leads me to believe that this area, which is right next to where I park my car every day, (you can tell by the tire marks on the edge of the planter) rarely looks good. Now this bottom shot with the snapdragons is not bad, but I would say that is a good four years ago. Part of the problem is that this east facing planter is very shallow and narrow and right up against the color of the house and therefor the colors of the flowers I can use is very limited and must be carefully chosen, and there is not a lot of air circulation so the plants must be tough. There are some lovely stained glass windows here too that have a rather tropical feel to them (Toucans and such), so they must also be taken into account. When I think about it, it is no wonder I have had such a hard time filling this little space successfully!

Another observation I have made today while writing this post is that I take a lot more pictures of my grandchildren now than I do my gardens! That doesn't bother me a bit!

Maybe Some Container Veggies

Sooooo.... I went to the nursery yesterday to buy rose fertilizer, but I have to go  back today because I came home with everything but fertilizer. Mainly I stocked up on one gallon lavender which it seemed like I looked for all last fall and couldn't find at all, although I still couldn't find any Spanish lavender yet. I also was seduced by a beautiful camellia and some complimentary azaleas because let's face it, the window to plant them is going to close soon. A few flats of fairy primrose also made it home with me because I plant them every year this time. 

But I really wanted to buy some beautiful lettuces and peas that I haven't planted in years due to being discouraged by the rabbits that have their way with most of my gardens. But I have really been missing the vegetables and now I think I will try to grow them in containers around the fountain on the back patio. The fountain splashes everywhere, making it rather damp and I started putting plants around it years ago when one of the dogs was a puppy that kept climbing in it and to discourage toddlers from getting too close. I am not crazy about the choice of prickly plants that my garden helper has grown from slips there and I think I will try to replace them with veggies and see how that works out. It is right outside the kitchen, gets lots of sun and is a ways away from the rabbit territory so maybe it will work. I'll let you know!

I've Been Busy

In addition to my role around here as Head Gardener, I am also Chief Facilities Director, a title I would be happy to relinquish, but I doubt that will happen any time soon. The past couple months I have been busy checking off projects on a long list of things that need to be done around the houses, many of them waiting years while I focused on the new gardens in SJC.

Most of the projects were rather mundane and have no significant outcome as far as a visual difference, with the exceptions being painting most of the inside of the house a different color entirely, and redoing the swimming pool.

Although it may not look so bad in the top "before" photo, the plaster was really old and the grout and tile were in desperate need of refurbishing.

Although it was messy, the job was executed expertly and timely by the amazing team from Alan Smith Pools. We are very happy with the results. Now if only it would warm up enough for us to try it out!