Transplants (and raised beds)

 I didn't realise how long this blog had been dormant.

Last year we agreed in principle to have the front and back yards, but not the east side, professionally designed and landscaped.  So anything in there that I wanted to keep had to be moved, except the plum tree.  I'll also ask the designer (we have not yet selected one; soon) about including the grevilleae that flank the plum, a "Noell" to the east and another of similar size to the west.  Oh, and the yard-wide strip under the north wall of the house can stay as is.

Anyway, a few years back we had to have the house termited, so the Clovis that had been growing undisturbed for years -- as the Book advises -- by the front door had to shift.  That was quite a diaspora, with at least eight clivillae.  As of today, they are replanted in smooth, moist soil under the north wall, in a place where I used to have some Salome and Ice Follies narcissi.  Those have moved to the west rim of the southeast yard, and its east rim is occupied by about half (so far) of the "paperwhite" and Falconet narcissi from the front yard.  Tomorrow I transplant my few remaining (sob!) daylilies and perhaps a salvia greggii from the back yard.  Next: the remaining watsonia, perhaps into a raised bed.

Over the end-of-year break, I used some stepping stones set on edge, and concrete pavers, plus hardware cloth underneath, to build two raised beds in the SE, about five feet by two feet by six inches (not on oath!).  On MLK day, a third.  Not much is growing in them; I intend them for vulnerable bulbs.  Neither gophers nor other sane animals will eat narcissi.

Also over the break, I dug up some offshoots of the Godzilla and moved them to the NE.  Wonder of wonders: both are putting forth leaves and seem likely to establish themselves.  I could have bought another, but this feels better.  The teucrium fruticans, fun as it was, may have to die where it is, though I could conceivably put one of its offshoots near the Paraguay nightshade.  It grows to a ridiculous size, and spreads underground too.  Think about it

dry-climate lawn work

I've killed half the grass in the back lawn and planted six each of chamomile, Reiter's thyme, and creeping thyme. We'll see how they grow.

The columbine by the back door is reblooming rather well. The ipomopsis are just about over, as are the gaura and the gladioli. The purple achimenes is bloomig quite generously, but not yet the others.

I haven't deadheaded the godzilla at all, and it doesn't seem to care. Most of the yarrow has gone to seed; I've been pulling stems for weeks, but not many new ones grow. The alyogyne -- aha, I haven't told you about that -- is still small, but has already shown one flower. The echinops are blooming well, and some withering already.

it thundered

... last week, with a little rain. No, it was the week before last.

The rockroses are now over, after providing a three-alarm show in early May. The watsonias are also finished, but the gaura are picking up from them very nicely. I've pulled out the majority of the gilia capitata and got some seed from the eschscholzia. Various daylilies are blooimng, though a little later than last year, and one or two lonely flax.

More importantly, the Godzilla has started. I've already had to cut it away from the garden path and the sidewalk; we'll see what it does next. The oenothera are also in grand bloom, indeed they have been so for weeks. The plumbago looks terrible; it should have recovered from the frost by now. I haven't the guts to cut it back. The perovskia are starting out quite well.

In the front walkway, the last anemone bloom is gone, but I see a few shy little achimenes shoots. Some of the morning glories are looking all right and climbing tall.

In the corner lawn, I have indisputably got three different colours of yarrow: white, lemon yellow, and a slightly disappointing pinkish-red. The vibrant, almost strawberry, red from the catalogue has not materialised.

a few things

We've had just a little more rain.

The calochortus venustus are in bloom, all three of them, and very lovely indeed. We also have plenty of watsonia and some, umm, clarkia unguiculata I think; loads of gilia capitata and perhaps the last of the California bluebells. The scarlet flax is still alight, as are the Ca. poppies. The oenothera are well and truly started.

In front, the ixia are doing well, and there are two ixolirion (I think), one quite magnificent, the other merely good, both in danger of being crushed by the Godzilla, which is not yet blooming, but growing very broad. Some white yarrow is showing; no other colors yet. Astonishingly, the IteucriumI is still blooming.

The cyclamen are dying down. The alstroemeria by the gate is great; the other one looks as if it regerts ever moving to the hot strip behind the house. The blue nigella by the back door has far exceeded my expectations, so I hope I get plenty of seed from it.

spring

Many of the tulips are withering, as are some freesias, but the recently planted Darwin hybrids at the corner look lovely still.  The sparaxis still look great, though some are spent.  Two of the new cyclamen have suddenly yellowed and may well be dying.  I'm starting to see some zantedeschia by the garage.  The anemones are a bit less vigourous than they were.

There are plenty of flax and eschscholzia open, and a few gilia.  The solanum still is covered in blooms, and the lithodora and saponaria are nearly so.  The ceanothus is not yet out of bloom, which surprises me.  There is more anagallis and loads of osteospermum.  The primrose seems almost over.  The alstroemeria by the back gate is getting more blooms; the one behind the house has none yet.

I've pulled out the hibiscus.  It was pretty clearly dead.  Maybe the frost got it, but maybe I just hadn't given it the right soil; the root mass had not filled the tub.  The teucrium still looks good and colourful.

bouquet of bulbs

The daffodils are over (I've beheaded the last of them, except a few by the south fence) but the tulips are doing nicely: most of the Darwin hybrids, all of the T. bakeri etc., and some "Lady Jane" T. clusiana. The sparaxis still look great, the muscari still look good, more anemones are open (a pink and a white near the drive), and more and more freesia are showing up. There are more calochortus.

There are a few scarlet flax, a fair number of California poppies, ditto osteospermum daisies. There has been one bloom from the dietes. The alstroemeria are opening more; the lithodora diffusa is looking very good on the east side of the fence. A few anagallis, but not enough to make a summer.

The ceanothus is still in bloom, and the solanum was spectacular yesterday when wseen from the south.

I've been thinning out the gilia and clarkia in the Zone.

warming up

We had one frost scare two or three nights ago, but everything survived.  I've now taken away most of the insulation I had put on last year.

Two weeks ago I forgot to mention that a very daring cosmos was open behind the house.  It's only knee high, from a strain ('Sonata') that is supposed to grow head high, but still.  The red primrose I mentioned then is doing very well indeed, as are the cyclamens; of the three I planted at the south fence, the third (bright red) finally seems happy.  In the back, the hyacinth is opening and so are a few daffodils, though I think I'll move them; in front, the 'Ice Follies' and 'Barrett Browning' are looking very good, and I want more of them in the adjacent bed that now has only zantedeschia and lobularia.  All manner of tulips are threatening to open, and the ones I planted in fron of the corner lawn (where the erigeron also is) are at least up.  Another sparaxis is open, just, and the freesias are covered in buds.  Most of the ipheion are blooming, and the dwarf iris are nearly over after making a good show in the daylily part of the Zone.  Several red anemones have joined the blue one: two in the tubs in the southern Zone and one or perhaps two in the front lawn.  I've also seen a first scarlet flax, a first few anagallis, and a first 'Johnny-jump-up' viola cornuta.  The ipomopsis seems nearly extinct in the western border -- oh well, I wasn't quite happy with it there anyway -- but is growing behind the house.  The bloom on the plum tree  was within a few feet of the tops of the branches, and I hope there is some left after today's storm.

I managed to mow the back lawn yesterday, and cut the biggest epilobium down to roughly knee high rather than try to keep a cage around it.  For the rest, the only work I've doen is weeding.  Oh, and I've pulled out most of the gilia capitata, except in the Zone.  Not that it's ugly, but in the lawns I have better uses for the space and light.

In the western border, neither the berberis nor the hibsicus have done anything yet, but the teucrium does its best to make up for them.  The grevillea are both in bloom, as is the loropetalum, though the latter is hard to see because it has not added any height to speak of.  The 'Newport Dwarf' escallonia is doing slightly better in that respect.

a few things are up

Actually, many things are.  Two weeks ago the first anemone coronaria began to open.  More recently we have a few yellow daffodils, muscari, ipheion, and dwarf iris.  First of all was just one purple crocus.

I pruned the plum tree in early February, but probably should have done it sooner.  I've also hacked back the plumbago.

Over the winter I've transplanted a few things.  Most of the erigeron karvinskianus has moved to the front of the "corner lawn", where it is doing well despite rather rough handling.  I also moved some sprigs of the salvia chamaedryoides to just behind the e.k. and several of them look to be growing.  Better yet, I've put some suckers of the malacothamnus in the northern Zone and all seem to have taken root, or at any rate are growing new leaves.  I transplanted four lenotis leonuris seedlings into the Strip, whereupon a frost took them out; I put one more in, with some protection, and it has lived.  Best of all (perhaps), all of the watsonia that I transplanted last year are growing.

New plants in the corner lawn are a ceanothus griseus horzontalis and, umm, a "Mount Tamboritha" grevillea lanigera (hope I haven't confused that with my other grevillea).  Neither has died yet.  The yarrow in that lawn looks much denser now that it did last year.

In the back, we have one red primrose looking very well.  The alstroemeria by the gate looks ready to bloom -- it never quite died down even in summer -- and the one behind the house is sending up shoots.  The lithodora shows a few flowers, as does the gaillardia, which also hung on through the winter, and the osteospermum.  The cyclamen, of course, are doing very well.

At the west edge, both the berberis and the hibiscus are quite bare.  I don't see why the latter should have died, but can't rule it out.  The teucrium is blooming nicely, and has been for months.  The nameless ceanothus in the northern Zone is also blooming, and slightly bigger than last year.  At the south end of the Zone, the rosemary looks wonderful and the juniper unchanged.

start of autumn

It actually rained last weekend, possibly as much as half an inch. Some bulb shoots are coming up, probably freesia and muscari. I've watered the grevillea and the ceanothus myself, and hope it does them some good.

I've hacked a lot off the godzilla; its flower production was down, after a month or two without deadheading. Most other plants are unchanged.

season of mists

The epilobium are now clearly in bloom. The ceratostigma look quite well too. One of the leonotis in the Zone is close to nine feet high, and the ones behind the house (which I had to cut down for some painting work) are, ahem, roaring back. The "Grandpa Ott" by the east fence is showing some lovely big flowers, while the ones in the front walkway try to re-grow after they were cut down (yeah, yeah). Also in that walkway, some cyclamen and are coming up, and the achimenes are showing their true colours, two of which I quite like (and two varities are missing; not sure why).

I've demolished the southerly of the two plumbago after deciding that (1) I didn't like its yellow leaves and couldn't see how to cure them (2) it really wasn't needed since its brother grows so well. Speaking of which, the godzilla is overunning everything. The hibscus acetosella is now as tall as I am (admittedly in a large pot) and I may well keep it, if I can decide where. The yarrow in the corner lawn, which I cut short recently, is looking rather sad and in some places dessicated. Possibly gaura would have been a better bet.

I'm also pondering a replacement for the salvia greggii but I don't think the hibiscus is it.

another one bites the ant

Last weekend I put down some gopher traps, without much optimism. This morning I lifted them up, and found that one of them had worked. Some ants had got there before I did, so no photos (and a pair of latex gloves).

Since my last, the daylilies have shut down except for "Happy Returns", and the oenothera are blooming much more sparsely. I've pulled out a good many flax and gilia and so on; some clarkia and even a few brave eschscholzia are still in bloom.

The penstemon and the berberis both seem to be sending up bright new shoots. The dry-climate plants, godzilla and malacothamnus, bloom on unperturbed by the weather; the solanum and plumbago also look good, except that the southern plumbago is almost all yellow again, depsite vast amounts of nitrogen last winter. I may take it out. The ceratostigma has started to bloom. I've demolished most of the sweet peas, including the one in the front walkway, partly because the dry summer did not seem to suit them, and partly because they were too much work for too few blooms. In the walkway I've put a volunteer morning glory in the vacant spot.

The achimenes that I planted in the front walkway in May are coming up in some fair number; of the babiana I see but two, which is two more than of the ixia that I also planted then. The "Durban" canna is growing well; the red ones in the back garden are blooming strongly. One of the nasturtiums that grew under the south fence after I dug the old ones out has bloomed already. Oh, and two of the white catharanthus are in bloom: one by the telephone pole, which is doing quite well, and one down on the street. The alstroemeria behind the house has had a last hurrah and I don't expect to see any more of it; the one by the gate is still sending up shoots, or was as of a week ago, and blooming. The dietes have been blooming wonderfully in this warmth.

Down on the corner lawn, the anagallis that I sheared a week or so ago are not coming back; the yarrow is still growing, but I have cut much of it back, and perhaps should water it.

very HOT

... enough to crisp the petals on the daylilies. Well, 'Custard Candy' still does quite well, as does 'Ginger Bread Man'. The newer ones are a mixed bag: 'Scarlet Orbit' is quite wonderful, 'Quannah' pretty good, NT a disappointment, AAPlum quite gorgeous when backlit by the sun, and 'Cade Stewart' a little too soon to tell but perhaps good. Not sure yet about 'Velvet Rose'. Soon I'll take some out and order new ones. Not in that order.

In the southern Zone, some of the sweet peas are coming back, to my surprise. The new hibiscus has not bloomed again, or not that I could see. The gaillardia is still on the job; one of the ipomopsis behind the house has bloomed, a fairly pure yellow by comparison with the ones at the NW corner, which are mostly mixed pink and yellow. The leonotis all seem to be growing nicely. The plumbago are gradually adding blooms at higher altitudes.

The plum tree started bearing two or three days ago, helped by the heat, I imagine.

summer flowers

The perovskia are now clealry, if shyly, in bloom, and some of the ipomopsis are not shy at all. The teucrium is effectively over, and the berberis seems ... stuck. There's even a cobweb on it. The "Durban" canna is sending up one strong-looking stem, but there's no action from the other spring bulbs. The godzilla continues to sprawl, and I've hacked off some of its outlying stems. The lavender are still in bloom, as is the malacothamnus.

The hibsicus I bought last weekend must have been in bud, because it bloomed yesterday. The burgundy-red bloom was hard to spot against the maroon foliage! There's one sweet pea trying to grow in the southern Zone where snap peas used to be; I wonder how it will last with no water. The solanum looks very well, as do the clarkia, though a few of those are withering. Of the flax and eschscholzia a sturdy few linger on; I've been harvesting seed from the latter, and must do the same for the former.

The santolina has lots of its little yellow flowers, and is sprawling more than I like. The anagallis are sparse but visible. Under the south fence, one of the Stella d'Oro put up a single bloom a few days ago. The antirrhinum seems over, as is the alstroemeria under the back of the house.

new stuff

The lantana that I said was coming back to life was in fact doing nothing of the sort. I've torn it out and put in a convolvulus sabatius, which should harmonise better with the overhanging malacothamnus; a short distance uphill from that is a penstemon "Midnight". I also gambled on a hibiscus acetosella, which looks rather exotic: it's in one of the tubs in the southern Zone, where I can easily see it from the window.

I've terminated the snap peas, and done a quixotic pruning job on the sweet peas by the east fence. A few more daylilies are blooming, and many in bud.

after the heat wave

The godzilla is flopping over (except for a few stems nearly straight up) and opening several blooms on some stems. The lavender are still blooming and clarkia are quite glorious but the flax is just about gone, the eschscholzia mostly gone to seed, and the gaura and plumbago only gradually coming in. All but one of the rockroses have gone quiet. The malacothamnus is blooming well, and one salvia nemorosa is doing very well even in the shadow of the godzilla. The solanum has a fair number of flowers on. The daylilies are making progress; see spreadsheet. The alstroemeria behind the house is clearly over.

Both sweet peas look good, and I've even trimmed the one in the front walkway. There, the morning glories have also started to bloom, though they're still not very tall. At the SE corner the gaillardia now has four or five blooms, and looks good. Of the aquilegia there, one has not yet done anything and I've deflowered the other; the ones by the back door are doing well. The snap peas, by the way, are winding down. Of the leonotis behind the house, one is up to seven feet, the other about four. Both the tanacetum and the santolina are in bloom; the cerastium are finished, and rather to my surprise some triteleia laxa are open in various places. The corner lawn sports a great deal of yarrow -- mostly white, but one yellow and one pink -- and the anagallis as before. There are also some white nigella in the western strip and just east of the garage.

I've pulled out a lot of gilia as I said I would.

The purple aquilegia is losing a few blooms, perhaps because of the heat wave. The little red one behind it has one; the others are as before. The salvia greggii is losing a few. The red catharanthi are gaining, though. The flax behind the house still show a few bright red blooms. Well, more than a few. Another nasturtium seems to have been severed by a gopher, but three are still doing well.

Out in the Zone, the snap peas are probably coming to an end; the sweet peas could in theory do with deadheading, but I don't think I'll take the time. The big yellow daylilies are very productive. We still have plenty of gilia and eschscholzia, not to mention the santolina blooming. I should probably pull out some of the phacelia campanularia and many gilia. Further north, the cistus are doing well, three in quite conspicuous bloom and only one (out of seven) with no flowers at all. The solanum is very sparse, but the gaura are adding blooms quite quickly, and the dietes look ready to bloom in a day or two. The plumbago are adding blooms more slowly. There's quite an ocean of oenothera. Near the house we have white nigella and sky-blue ones further downhill.

In the corner, we have plenty of white yarrow and anagallis plus the big leonotis; hard to see what the smaller ones are doing. And there is one good clarkia (many more of these elsewhere).

By the drive, the old gaura looks dead, as do some of the daylilies I brought in last year. The lantana is coming back to life as it always does, but slowly! The bulbs I planted last weekend are not, of course, showing. In the walkway, the cyclamen are over; the biggest of them has two seed pods, which I shall try and use. The sweet pea is well over my head and blooming dark red; the "Grandpa Ott" morning glory are more like knee high.

In the front lawn, the godzilla has three or more full-size blooms and there are plenty of clarkia, including a rather effective row of them behind the lavender (also in full bloom). The rhaphiolepis are out of bloom and the escallonia fading. I've cut off all or nearly all the flower stems of the ixia and am waiting for the ipomopsis to open; meanwhile, there are a few white nigella. The malacothamnus is still lightly blooming, and the salvia chamaedryoides is starting.

All the perovskia are growing like banzai, and some are in bud.

quick update

The malacothamnus is starting to bloom, but the solanum has lost its heavy spring covering. There are now six rockroses in bloom, though two of them have only one flower. The sweet pea in the front walkway has its first flowers, and oddly enough the clivia still has one that looks fairly fresh; the maroon cyclamen still has flowers, but the red one is over. Some of the ixia are hanging on. In the back, a burgundy snapdragon is starting. The aquilegia by the back door is quite astounding, with eight flowers; the one behind, in dark red, is also starting, and the larger of the two by the back fence looks good. The one out in the Zone looks insect-eaten and may have to go. Outside the window, the taller of the two leonotis that I transplanted to the back of the house is now easily visible, with one flower head in bloom and one waiting to open. Near it, the alstroemeria seems to be fading, but the one by the back gate still looks great.

I think I'll take out the gilia everywhere except the northern half of the Zone; elsewhere, it just gets in the way and adds little. The clarkia are now doing well almost everywhere, and the oenothera look wonderful. The eschscholzia are starting to turn yellow and flatten out.

I have some new bulbs (what a time for them to arrive): ixia, babiana, alstroemeria (Ligtu hybrid), achimenes, and crocosmia. Watch this space. And this one. And this one ....

gopher again

... I've set traps.

I've hacked away a big chunk of the godzilla and some of the malacothamnus. I've dug up what I hope are some tulipa clusiana bulbs that had been under the godzilla, and hope to re-plant them this autumn; the hacking also revealed a very handsome ixiolirion, which I have watered. In the strip just west of the drive, I've pulled out a great deal of spent foliage from bulbs and flax, leaving a few flax that are still in bloom and some clarkia that are opening. Nearby, the anemones are gone and the "Eye of the Tiger" iris starting to wither, along with all the white iris, but some of the blue iris are still good. The rhaphiolepis continue. The "Hidcote" lavender are blooming nicely, as is -- still -- the teucrium. That calla has gone, but one or two more have taken its place. In the front walkway, the sweet pea is taller than I am, but has still not bloomed, whereas the one by the east fence is magnificent.

In the southern part of the Zone, the gaillardia has its first flower open, and so does the red aquilegia, though it's behind the purple one by the back door. There are plenty of big yellow daylily flowers and a few Stella d'Oro; I'll update the daylily spreadsheet, and a few others are in bud. There are also a few nasturtiums open and some anagallis. There are plenty of gilia, though I'm taking some out, and more Calochortus venustus plus one C. superbus. Further north, both plumbago are blooming and so are four cistus, with a fifth almost certainly on the way; the dietes are blooming and plenty of oenothera interspersed with eschscholzia and ixia. The corner lawn is much as it was: plenty of yarrow and anagallis, to say nothing of the weeds, and a pretty fair leonotis. The first gaura has opened.

feels like summer

... and a long time since I've been here.

Latest to bloom are the aquilegia by the back door, one of the cistus ladanifer, and a few clarkia. Before that, there was one (one) zantedeschia and two calochortus ... I think these are C. venustus, anyway, the white ones with the lovely markings inside. The oenothera have also started. The freesia are just about gone (some shrivelled ones left hanging on the stem) and some of the flax are starting to fade; but there are still plenty of these, many eschscholzia, and quite a number of gilia.

I've pulled out a lot of flower stems from the flowering stachys, which were probably a mistake to buy in the first place, and a lot of clarkia ?unguiculata and gilia from the corner lawn, which is being overrurn by anagallis, not that I mind that. The "Eye of the Tiger" iris are proving more numerous than I had thought: there are at least eight in front of the house, though apparently only one in the Zone. The big yellow daylilies are starting to bloom, and several others are budding. The sweet peas outside the fence are quite splendid, as is (still) the solanum. Nothing yet from the "Grandpa Ott", and the cyclamen are losing blooms; the clivia has been withered for a week or so, but I'm thinking of trying to get a seed from it. The alstroemeria seem very happy: behind the house there are four stalks blooming and two more to come, and by the gate very many stalks in bloom simultaneously. But the ones behind the house are starting to lose leaves already, even though I give them extra water. It's hot there.

The ixia are mostly open, but I wish they weren't all pale cream with deep red centres. Well, one of them is rose-pink. I should try and buy some better ones. Several of the transplanted watsonia look dead.

The godzilla is already huge. There's not much to be done for the plants under its spreading footprint. Oh, the berberis is now fully clothed in dark red leaves; the grevillea has opened some spidery red flowers; the ceanothus is blooming fairly well for its size, but the lower leaves are yellow and I daren't flood it with nitrogen as I did (apparently successfully) the plumbago.

not yet warm

But the tulips are mostly withered anyway, even unto the two remaning T. clusiana chrysantha (beautiful), and there is only one "Ice Follies" representing the daffodils. The ipheion are nearly gone, freesia starting to wither, sparaxis about half gone, and ixia just in bud. The watsonia seem to be suffering from transplant shock. Only the clivia, cyclamen, and anemones are doing well, relatively speaking. The alstroemeria look promising, though. The calochortus frankly do not.

The sweet peas are starting to bloom at the south-east fence, and the snap peas are almost yielding a useful harvest. This autumn I'll plant an entire row in November instead of half a row. The saponaria is starting to bloom and the lithodora is looking very pretty. We also have several eschscholzia. The nameless ceanothus has some bloom, which is rather hard to see. The loropetalum is unmistakably out, the flowers much brighter than the leaves, and the berberis has more leaves, including green ones near the ground. Nothing from the zantedeschia yet. The lavender at least look nice and green; there are more nemophila open, I think three plants.

The solanum is most impressive viewed from the south. The osteospermum are also very showy, to say nothing of the flax. The dietes muster four blooms between them. Oh, and the salvia greggii is sparse but very bright red; the nasturtiums are climbing well and have some good deep orange flowers.

I'm after that gopher again. I've ripped out some more allium neapolitanum and transplanted various gaura and catharanthus, plus a couple of leonotis. All in all a busy weekend.