Front Garden - Review

For today's picture, I went out early and took a picture of my front garden, like the ones I took earlier this year:


on 01/04/2013

For reference, here's what it looked like in the summer:


on 07/14/2012

And earlier in the spring:


on 04/27/2012 - not sure why this one is blurry...

It's pretty colorful in the spring, but it definitely needs more summer and winter interest. I've taken some steps for that - there's a few plants hiding under my neighbor's tree's leaves (some Coreopsis, if they survive the winter), and there's a hardy Lantana in the back, near the window. Some other changes I'm planning is removing at least that front-and-center Mexican Feather grass with something more interesting - at least a purple fountain grass, or maybe something more unique/interesting/local (any ideas?)

There's also a longer term project that will happen in the area with the cherry tree, which is pretty dark at this time of the year, that's the north side of the house. I'm planning a gravel garden with a dry stream bed and some agaves and optunias. I'm laying out the plans right now! There's no irrigation back there, so whatever I plant will have to live off the rain and my neighbor's lawn overspray.

Tomorrow I'm going for a hike - so I'll have some pictures of something other than my garden!

Weekly Front Garden - 09/09/2012 and future plans

It's been a while since I posted a picture of my front garden - I was trying to do it every week. And while I have been taking pictures (mostly), I haven't been posting them because, well, they got a little boring!

Here is the garden back in July (07/24/2012):

07/24/2012 Front Garden - before the real heat of summer

And here is it this week (09/09/2012):

09/09/2012 - After the first few heat waves, and several prolonged absences

They're the same! That clump of Mexican Feathergrass is still split down the middle, the blue fescue to the right of it is still more grey rather than blue, and the colors are the same - blue, green and yellow/straw (is straw a color?). The turf grass is the September picture looks better only because it's longer and needs to be mowed...

Some of the plants under the window have started to grow in:

A clump of glads and iris, pink muhly and society garlic...

Except those glads and irises have rarely bloomed for me (never for the iris) and the pink muhly still looks so wispy, it has no presence... It will in a few more months though!

So obviously some changes are needed! And October is coming, which means I'll be able to do a little planting when it's less hot. Here are some things I'm considering, based on what has worked in the back gardens:

Purple fountain grass, Optunia and a Coreopsis (badly in need of dead-heading)

The purple fountain grass might be hardy here, and could replace a clump of the Mexican feather grass. The clump that's split I'm thinking of replacing with a Phormium, preferably one of the pretty ones like I saw at the Getty a few weeks ago (pictures coming soon!). And I'd like to replace some of the non-performing flowers with Coreopsis and maybe a Penstemon - they're supposed to do well here.

And then there is this whole area:

Ugh.

Besides a good weeding, and a hacking back of the (bloomed-out) clump of Oenothera speciosa, it needs a little something - maybe a clump of Optunia along the back wall? This area gets almost no supplemental water except for the tree and the rosebush, and overspray from the neighbor's lawn...

Some of these changes will have to wait until Spring, when more plants are available and the weather is nicer, but next year it should all look a lot nicer... and Winter will be spent planning!

Weekly Front Garden - 07/14/2012

This week in the front garden:

After a week of hot weather, the garden still looks sort-of lush. The roses are starting to rebloom, which is nice! Digging up and dividing a bunch of the grasses has been added to the fall to-do list, and the Jackimanii is making another stem! I'm probably way too excited about that...

Other than that, not much has changed. Just today (about 3 days after this picture was taken) another lily started blooming! It adds some color and a lot of scent to the area right by the front door. Maybe I should take this time to think about what I would replace the lawn grass with... Or what kind of other plants I want to add here. I love planning the plantings and finding new plants to use.

Weekly Front Garden 07/05/2012

This is what the light in my garden looks like at 6am in the morning:

I went on a trip this weekend, so I took the picture a day early, and very early in the morning! The sun light looks so different. Nothing too exciting changed in the garden from last week, and I still really want to pull out that two-horned clump of mexican feather grass. There's also some of the bleu fescues that need to be dug up and divided... I think bed will look better on the right side of the mexican feather grass if the blue fescue were actually blue again. All the "extras" will go into the back garden, of course!

One of the things I did notice before leaving is that my Tricyrtia formosana 'Amethystina' is forming buds!

Blue buds are forming! It gets part-shade for most of the day (except at 6am!)

I just got this plant this year (as a birthday present.) and I really wasn't expecting much from it this year. But maybe it will bloom in time for July Bloom Day!

I'm caught up to "present time" now, so I'll only do these posts once a week (on Wednesdays). Hopefully that will make for more varied posts, and more pictures of the back garden, which is starting to fill out some...

Weekly Front Garden 07/01/2012

This week in the front garden:

That clump of mexican feather grass in the middle is starting to look really strange. I think it's split into 2 clumps, or the middle has died out. I'm thinking of digging it up (in the fall, when its not in the 90's to 100's for weeks on end) and replacing it with something. Maybe a big Phormium (a P. tenax or P. hybrid). That would look really cool if it bloomed.

Alternatively, I really, really want a yellow-flowing red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora). That would be a smaller accent, but the flowers would be fun! I haven't been able to find any for sale yet though...

Weekly Front Garden 06/22/2012

I'm almost caught up! After Wednesday, I'll just post pictures on Wednesday, and post something else on Mondays. Hopefully it will add some variety...

This week:

Front Garden - 06/22/2012 - Morning

I deadheaded the roses, so hopefully they'll make more blooms soon. The grass needs mowing (that's why it's turning brown right in the center. Grass is too much work !) The Gladious is blooming again! About 10 minutes after this picture was taken, this flowering stem also got blown over. So I added some stakes to tie the rest to. Next year - do that earlier!

In the shade next to the cherry tree, the random sunflower is blooming! I want to do a post showing the different sunflowers in the garden. I'm happy they self-sowed themselves in a couple of places!

The pink muhly right under the window is starting to come back! I'm excited - I miss the extra "filler" it brings in the bed. Hopefully I'll even get some plumes this year, although it might take another year for that to happen...

Weekly Front Garden 06/16/2012

Now we're in the middle of June:

See that white flower on the left? It's one of the lily blooms - blooming for the first time ever! And this one is not deformed like the last blossom was... It is plain white though, but the fragance is very strong! The roses still need to be deadheaded (on the list for this weekend!)

Also blooming for the first time since they've been planted are the blue plants in the center (near the clematis trellis). I think they're Gladiolus. Last year, they just made leaves and some flowers that were shriveled up before they even bloomed. This year, at least 1 is blooming, but when I tried to take a picture of it later in the day, something had knocked it over! Probably the curtain getting blown around by the wind. But another one is developing a bloom spike, so I'll try to take a picture of that one!

Staying away for a week and watering the grass more doesn't seem to be doing anything to make it look better. I think one spot is due to a neighborhood dog, but I'm not sure why that one spot in the center is turning brown. Grass is so much work!

Weekly Front Garden 06/08/2012

The wind continues....

The front garden on 06/08/2012

I'm not sure why the Mexican Feather grass clump in the middle of the bed decided to grow back in that strange shape. I think it will get dug up and divided in the fall.

I took this picture a little bit later in the day, which put a lot of the bed in the shade already. The mexican evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) is still going strong. The little vertical plant next to it is a sun flower (I think!) It grew up between the daffodils, which kept a lot of the bugs from eating it! I'm not sure how big its going to get yet, and its certainly no where near as big as the sunflowers in the back garden pipes, but i am excited that it popped up! The seedpods in the center of the picture is from the one blue fescue I didn't pull the seed stalks from. I like how it kind of echos the shape of the feather grass, but I don't like how the tan color detracts from the blue grasses. I do intend to dig that one and one right next to it up this fall and divide them. I should figure out where the divisions will go!

The lawn grass is starting to go yellow-ish already! I water it for 5 minutes daily, but I'll try an experiment and increase that to 5 minutes twice a day for a week, and see what it looks like next week.

Weekly Front Garden 06/02/2012

The first week of June!

Week of 06/02/2012

It was very windy this week. Getting a picture of the Mexican Feathergrass (Stipa tenuissima) standing semi-upright was not easy. All the ice plant flowers are gone now, although some rebloom is starting on the purple ones. The roses are still going, as is the society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and mexican evening primrose (Oenothhera speciosa). The false red yucca clump has made three bloom spikes this year - one of them pops against the blue of the house. But mostly, the front garden is blues and greens right now - the blue fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue') peeks out from the rock border. I wonder if I should consider adding some summer blooms in the main bed? I kind of like the quietness though, especially with the pops of yellow (Sedum x rubrotinctum flowers) and purple.

Weekly Front Garden - 05/25/2012

This week, the weather turned a little strange for Zone 11 at this time of year...

It was windy! See the S. tenuissima? Oh wait, crazy wind is normal for here, no matter what time of year... The strange part of the weather is better shown here:

Which also shows the cherry tree at full height for a change. Poor tree always gets cut off in the picture. But see those strange dark things in the sky? We don't normally get those in the near-desert, in the last weekend in May. Even though it did get a little cold, the clouds only teased though, because we didn't get any rain. Just wind. Which is too bad, because we could use the rain (as always...)

All the red ice plant is done flowering now (well, mostly). So now I have a lot of deadheading to do, and maybe they'll bloom again later in the year. As this bed calms down some, the bed next to it is starting to bloom. The right side is just visible in the weekly picture - it has two butterfly bushes in it (Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight') and they are starting to smell so good...

Weekly Front Garden - 5/19/2012

And we're back on the regular schedule! On 5/19/2012, the front garden looked like this:

The grasses have grown - a lot. The Stipa tenuissima is starting to make its seed heads. Its not a horrible re-seeder here, although one did show up that I let stay. Its peeking around the stone column. The roses are nearly tipping over with their blooms. Who planted climbers without something to climb on? The pinkish-white flowers that have shown up by the roses are Oenothera speciosa, Mexican Evening Primrose. It is borderline annoyingly invasive back there - it spreads by rhizomes, and gets in the lawn. It usually dies out in the summer heat though, and it is very dought tolerant, and the large non-watered area around the cherry tree keeps it contained.

The society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) doesn't show up too much in this picture, but they're the light purple flower stalks in front of the roses. They are actually also orginial to the garden, although not in that spot. They were going under the roses (without flowers though), and so survive the massive overhaul. I moved them without knowing what they were, because plants are expensive (and extensive landscaping even more so) and I figured I could always get rid of them later. Now, they  add some interesting color from late spring through fall, don't need a lot of water, and are multiplying to the point where some will probably get moved to the back garden in the fall. I love surprise success stories!

Weekly Front Garden - 05/16/2012

Continuing the catch up...

This picture is a little bit later in the week than normal - I was on vacation on 5/11, and just got back. So lets see how the garden faired in my absence:

The roses are doing really well - and with the red ice plant (Lampranthus spectabilis) taking over the blooms from the purple ones, there's a lot of red in the garden. The mexican evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) is also starting to bloom.

The ornamental grasses are almost back to their normal height. Looking at this picture, there is an obvious "blank" in my mind - by the corner of the house, right by the window. There used to be a large clump of pink Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) there. It's still there, but I had to cut it back significantly this spring. The backyard garden plan called for some pink Muhly, so the clump was dug up and divided. Sadly, the landscaper separated half the rootball from the remaining plant! It's slowly recovering now, but I can't wait until its back to its full glory again...

Weekly Front Garden - 05/05/2012

A look at the garden this week:

I took this picture later in the day, and you can see how the shade now covers the whole planting bed. The front garden gets full morning sun, but even before noon, the area near the stone column is in the shade. More of the red ice plant is showing up while the purple fades away.

This week, the roses also decided to bloom! They are Rosa 'Blaze', from the Star Roses series. They're climbers, even though they have nothing to climb on. There are three bushes along that (north) side of the house. I've added a trellis to two of them. Some day, I'd like to add a trellis they can all climb, or replace them with bush roses. But they certainly look very pretty with very little work from me. They are one of the few remaining elements that were in the front garden when I bought the house.

Weekly Front Garden - 04/27/2012

I'm posting these weekly pictures on Sunday and Wednesday until I'm caught up, then just Wednesdays...

Continuing the weekly front garden pictures, on 04/27/2012, it looked like this:

Yes, that is also the banner picture for the blog (for now)

The purple ice plant still dominates, although some of the red (I'm almost certain this is Lampranthus spectabilis, since that's how it was labeled when I bought it) is starting to show. The Mexican Feather grass (Stipa tenuissima) is starting to grow back, and the yellow flowers of the Sedum x rubrotinctum are starting to show. S. x rubrotinctum is also not supposed to be hardy in zone 11, but this one has been alive since the front garden was put in almost 3 years ago. Maybe the rocks it grows on/near help it survive the winter better?

Also new this week is a trellis for the Clematis 'Jackmanii' to grow on. It's been 3 years since I planted that thing (from a dormant tuber/root thing), and it finally looks like its doing something...

Weekly Front Garden 04/21/2012

This is the start of the third year for my front garden. Since the saying is "first year - sleep, 2nd year - creep, 3rd year - leap", I thought it would be interesting to take a weekly picture from about the same spot and see how the garden changes. Someday, I'll do a more detailed post about how it got to where it is, but for now, I want to see where it's going.

I'm going to post these posts on Wednesdays and Sundays until I get caught up, then just on Wednesdays.

To start - on 04/21/2012, the front garden looked like this:

You can see some left over daffodils in the back (right), by the cherry tree (whose top is cut off in the picture). They don't last much past April around here, but they are supposed to be one of the few spring bulbs that will come back year after year. I guess we'll see next year!

The dominant feature right now is the purple ice plant, either Lampranthus spectabilis or Delosperma cooperi. Judging by the bloom time, L. spectabilis is more likely, but its not supposed to be hardy in Zone 11, says Sunset, which these ones definitely are. D. cooperi is hardy here, but is only supposed to be 3 inches tall (these are way taller than that) and blooms in summer (these don't).

The front garden also depends on ornamental grasses, besides the stupid lawn that will go away one day, but they've all been recently cut back, so they're not as noticeable right now.