A couple years ago I planted a kadota fig tree in SJC. Although there are lots of wild fig trees around here, I wanted one that I know has good figs and this green fig is what I chose. It was less than a foot high when I planted it, and every year it had two or three figs that always seem to disappear before I picked them. This year the tree is about six feet tall and there were a number of figs on it that were not ripe yet (figs need to ripen on the tree) when we left for vacation last month. I forgot all about them until I noticed a smashed fruit with lots of seed in the driveway. It was most likely that a bird dropped it and a car ran over it. Upon closer inspection it dawned on me that it was a fig. I hurried out in back to check my tree and there was only one ripe fig left on it. I am happy with one ripe, delicious fig if that is all I have this year. Unfortunately after I took this picture something came up and I put it down on an outdoor table while I went off to take care of whatever the distraction was, and when I remembered it, two days later, it was mushy and bad. Oh well, I will have to wait until next year for my figs, cheese and honey. I think I will plant a brown fig tree this year too. If it ever cools down.
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| First Year |
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| Third Year |
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| Fifth Year |
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| Fifth Year |
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| Fifth Year |
The weather is still in the high 80's around here. Although September and October typically have some very hot days, overall it tends to start cooling down. I am waiting patiently, still pretending it is summer, although the days are getting considerably shorter and the calender says it's fall. After a year of little change or additions, there is one big thing (other than the privacy screens) that needs to be addressed. When I put in this large island in the middle of the backyard lawn a few years ago, there were two things I wanted to accomplish. First I wanted some shade. The yard seemed very hot and unappealing in the summer. Second, I wanted something interesting to look at from the windows and the chairs on the patio outside the living room doors. When we moved from Laguna Beach, we gave up a lovely view that we really missed. I decided to create my own views and Flying Rabbit Island was one of the first (named after a lovely sculpture we installed the first summer). When I planted the island of dirt that we dug out of the middle of the lawn, I planted three California Pepper trees. I know they aren't everyone's favorite, but I like their fern-like foliage, the way they sway gracefully in the slightest breeze and their multiple trunks. I know they are messy, but in a large bed, away from any pathways or patios, the debris doesn't bother me. When they were planted they were rather small. Fifteen gallon pots were all we could easily get through the gates. I planted a whole bed of flowers all around them that was quite stunning for the first few years. At first the trees suffered from too much water as I tried to get the perennials established, but then we cut back the water and everything was happy. Until this year. It turns out the trees have grown into a lovely respite of shade, making the sun loving roses, iris and daylilies quite unhappy. Although one side of the "island" still gets enough sun for those plants to thrive, my other lovelies are without blooms this year. It is time to make a change to a more shade loving group of plants that don't need a lot of water. As soon as it cools off a bit!
The first anemone (I had previously posted this as an aster, another fall flower) of the season is opening in the Moonlight Garden. I am thrilled because everything else is looking a bit ragged and tired in this heat. How nice to have a fresh new autumn flower to greet me!
This is the time of year that most of the hundred plus palm trees we have bloom. This is also the time of year I call my tree trimmers. I am not an overly tidy person, at least not in the garden, but there are a few palms that are situated where the falling flower debris makes a constant mess for weeks. There are some paths, chairs and patios that are covered daily in yellow "stuff" from the blooms that are way too high for my gardener to safely reach. It is still a bit too early to trim some of the other trees that have sap running. I've learned the hard way not to trim the Monterey Pine over the wood steps in Laguna except when it is truly dormant during the cold months. Sap dripped all over the stairs gets tracked into the house and it is a mess! It would be nice to get all the trees trimmed at once, but they just seem to need it at staggered times of year. Luckily I have a nice tree trimmer and I don't mind having him around more than once a year!
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| Duranta |
We're back from a vacation full of rest and relaxation and I am eager to get started with the fall gardening. My shoulder is feeling better and I am ready to resume what I had little enthusiasm for all year, thank goodness! Unfortunately the weather is prohibiting much activity other than watering, due to the heat. Upon returning I have noticed that many plants are showing signs of stress. Of course the ferns and tree ferns are taking it the hardest and I have had to do some spot watering to give them a break. Other plants like this duranta thrive on the hot days and are loving this summer weather. I had purchased a number of pretty one-gallon summer perennials that I slipped into various pots around the house, but they were all expired when we returned. I had hoped to enjoy the blooms for a few weeks and then plant them in the garden for reblooming next year, but I guess I am the only one that bothers to water some of my pretties. My gardening chores this week will focus on watering, planning and list making and enjoying the rest of summer!
This is the garden right outside my front door in SJC. It is a bit of a hodgepodge, but the color scheme is pretty consistent. Purple with lots of shades of green and a bit of gold thrown in for good measure. It has not been looking great this summer, but as the temperatures climb it is starting to bloom beautifully and the cool tones are a much appreciated view on these hot days. I have been considering removing the purple fountain grasses because they only look good part of the year, but they are such a lovely touch now with lots of movement, I am reconsidering. The reblooming iris, Frequent Violet, are all blooming in unison after a long rest and they are lovely. Not the fanciest iris out there, but their tendency to bloom at times when most iris are only a memory earn them lots of real estate throughout the gardens. I need to think long and hard about how to enhance this area in the fall, but for now I'm just enjoying the show!
I thought I had lost this lochroma (Royal Purple Queen) earlier this year. It always had weak, sickly leaves after the winter and I asked my garden helper to finish cutting it back after I started and didn't finish. He must has though I said "cut it to the ground with no chance of it ever surviving" because that is what he did. There was a small woody stump where this six foot shrub had been. Much to my amazement it came back with a vengeance and is bigger and more beautiful than ever. It is a member of the brugmansia family which is evident when you look at the leaves. Come to think of it, my brugmansias could use a good cutting back too!
Obsessed gardeners have crazy things growing in their gardens. Summer bulbs that defy logic tucked in here and there to add an element of surprise to a walk around the garden. For the life of me I can't remember the names of these bulbs (kind readers have taken the time to identify them for me as pineapple lily and hymenocallis) or where they came from. Most likely a freebee with another purchase of bulbs at a garden show. They always make me smile because they grow so easy and proud every summer, as if they are the stars of the show, instead of random give-aways!
The dahlias are blooming, at least those that are still around. I have not had much luck with them in SJC. The first time I ordered a box of dahlia tubers they all rotted before I got around to planting them. My bad. The second box got in the ground in a timely manner, but failed to be very impressive the first year. Because we don't have wet weather we don't have to lift the tubers out of the ground every year. The second year a few of them were lovely and I had high hopes, but this year there is only one plant that I have seen. I will try again. The soil was so very dead and depleted when we moved in here and instead of spending the time and energy needed to recondition it, I just started planting. Maybe now after five years of compost and organic fertilizing, the soil with be ready to nurture some lovely dahlias, because I think they are great to have in the garden all summer!
