Essence of Blue

Thank you to Kiki at Awake with Charm & Spirit http://awakewithcharmandspirit.blogspot.com/ for inviting all of us bloggers to share the blue visions in our gardens. Some people may think of blue as in 'Blue Mood'. This blue wall at Cedros Garden Nursery in Solana Beach, CA is anything but moody. It is the perfect foil for all of the bright perrenials on sale in front of it. Truly the most spectacular use of blue that I saw all year.

I use blue in the garden as a cool spot amidst my more favored hot colors. I love this Dwarf Plumbago - Ceratostigma plumbaginoides. As shown here in the spring it's leaves are a bright lime green. In the fall they turn red, sometimes with the blue flowers still clinging on.

True indigo blue in my new favorite Germander Sage - Salvia chamaedryoides. Drought tolerant, & in full fall bloom.

The new pot in our front yard is blue & green, I love the Germander Sage with it.

My favorite blue is turquoise.

A hint of blue in this Hydrangea bud.

And in the center of this Lacecap Hydrangea.

Most of the blue in my garden is really purple as here in this Hidcote Lavender & purple Penstemon.

Russian Sage adds a soft purple accent to this glowing 'Sundowner' Phormium.

Purple Ornamental Kale, you can see a peek of Blue Lobelia, I think its 'Blue Moon'

Red for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Fall days are still warm here, but into the 40's at night, today should be close to 75. Looks like the back yard will be red, red, red for fall & into winter. I had cut back my Salvia elegans - pineapple Sage about a month ago. It has had zero water & is covered with buds & new growth. I love this plant.
The Ruby Glow Tea Tree - Leptospermum scoparium is budding out & starting to bloom. It will be covered in bloom in about a month, just in time for Christmas.

Ornamental Peppers blooming in a pot.

I bought this Abutilon about a year ago for an area in my yard that is partly shady & stays moist. It will bloom from now thru late spring & then take a little break in summer. I love the deep red color, really more burgundy than the photo shows.

I have had this evergreen azalea in this pot for about ten years, it's really a deep pink almost red. It is just starting it's bloom, it loves the cool night air, so it should bloom thru the next month. It gets watered once a week & fertilizer once a year...if I think about it.

Who knows why this Scarlet Meidiland Rose has decided to re-bloom. I'm sure these will only last a week or two & then start to go dormant. Happy Bloom Day & thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/

End of the Line or a New Beginning?

This month's theme for the 'Picture This' photo contest over at 'Gardening Gone Wild' http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=9088#more-9088 is 'end of the line'. The theme can be interpreted as you wish, literal translation or metaphorical, it is also the last photo contest of the year, so that is also an 'end of the line'. I struggled with the theme this month, because in most cases, the end of the line is also a new beginning. My entry above is a fall leaf from my front yard 'Prairie Fire' crabapple captured on a crooked line in the flagstone it is resting on. This leaf will break down, creating compost which will enrich the soil around the tree giving life to the developing roots & hidden leaves & buds of spring.

The rose hips on this Rose plant signify the end of a season of bloom. But will they be used to brew a nurturing tea or bring color to a fall table arrangement? Will they produce seeds for future plants?

These Eucalyptus pods forming signal the end of summer, but will soon bloom & form into seed pods creating new life.

This may truly be the end of the line for my poor ailing Sycamore Tree. We have been nurturing it over the last 2 seasons after an attack by bark beetles. We had the last treatment in September, had all the dead wood trimmed out & the tree cut back by about a third. In response it has sent out a flush of chlorotic leaves. I think it is struggling to survive. We will let these leaves fall & decide in spring if this is truly the end of the line.

Front Yard Redo Part 2

What a busy weekend! We painted the front porch & railing & planted the new drought tolerant front bed. Our new vase is firmly in place with a load of rocks & couple cinderblocks inside to create a level surface for a planted pot. I planted Euphorbia 'Breathless Blush' which should spill over the sides. It is a yearround bloomer here, similar to 'Diamond Frost' but with a burgundy blush to the leaves. In the foreground you can see some Santolina virens 'Lemon Fizz' which is a compact grower & will bloom yellow in summer. I love the yellow/green foliage. Behind that is Salvia chamaedryoides - Germander Sage. I love the blue flowers next to the greenish vase. We also planted some Grosso Lavender & Sierra San Antonio Sage - Salvia x jamensis a hybrid of Salvia greggii & microphylla.

Here you can see the overall palette.

Some more Santolina, bulbine & Rhaphiolepis 'Clara' for structure. This beautiful mulch is given out free by the City of Thousand Oaks. They leave it in piles free for the taking. It comes from all the city plant trimming. This one had Oak leaves & acorns, so I'll have to watch for sprouts!

We also added a splash of Decora Red Ivy Geranium, I love the red/orange with the Lemon Fizz santolina. I was inspired by the colors from our winery visit last weekend.

The little planter in front of the garage has the large Cuphea ignea 'David Verity'. In front of that is a Verbena bonariensis 'Little One' which gets about 18" tall & is not supposed to self seed. Some variegated thyme & native blue-eyed grass - Sisyrinchium idahoense bellum.

Here is Cuphea micropetala which the bees & hummers will love. Behind that is a new Pennisetum rubrum 'Fireworks'. I was so excited to find this, it will get 2-3' tall x 2' wide & peer out from behind the vase. It does go briefly dormant in winter here, that is why I hid it partly behind the vase.

Here is a Salvia 'Ecuador'. I have never tried this one before & am not finding much info on it. The tag says that it will be 2-3' tall x 4' wide & bloom summer to fall. Drought tolerant once established & can take the partial shade of my Olive Tree. All in all the border once established should require water once every couple weeks & not at all through the winter.

Hints of Fall & Wine Tasting in CA Central Coast

Last weekend we travelled to California's Central Coast to visit our son & daughter-in-law. We love this area for it's charm, rural atmosphere, scenic beauty & casual lifestyle. The troops all took off Sat for a concert, so the DH & I did a little exploring. We headed up to the wine country of Paso Robles to look for fall color & a little wine tasting (very little...we are lightweights). The garden here at Paso Port was exceptional & an inspiration for my new front border. I love the mix of textures & color.

This 'Sunset Gold' Coleonema really lights up this section.

Red & purple verbena should bloom most of the year here.

Originally this area was cattle ranches & is still horse country. Someone figured out that the rocky limestone soil combined with the climate was perfect for wine growing. Now there are hundreds of wineries up here, many award winning. It gets HOT here in the summer, so if you ever plan a visit, come in the spring when the hills are green & the lupines & poppies are blooming. Fall weather is beautiful too, we were a little early for good fall color.

Here you can see the start of some fall color at Whalebone Winery.

The walnut orchards were being harvested.

Bags of walnuts waiting for pick up.

Olive orchards at Pasolivo Olive Oil Co.

Beautiful grounds & picnic area at Justin Wineries. This winery is about a 1/2 hour from town, so make sure to bring a picnic lunch.

Grape arbor pathway at Justin Winery.

Proud rooster at Carmody McNight Winery.

We wine tasted here at Carmody Mcnight where they have wonderful reds. We bought a Cabernet to save for a special occasion.

Front Yard Redo Part 1

We bought this house 11 years ago. It was a total fixer....what a project, walls, floors, ceilings, bathrooms, kitchen, roof, windows and the yard...The only thing of beauty was the ancient Olive Tree you can see in the background. We remodeled the landscaping and always planned on removing this front walkway & replacing it with brick. You can see the awkward step and as it meets with the driveway. Now that we have our first grandbaby on the way in the spring...time to get rid of the tripping hazzard!

We also had crabgrass invading the lawn, so we killed that & replaced it.

Of course it would have been the perfect opportunity to eliminate the lawn altogether....but I could not convince the DH. So, we compromised & cut the size of the lawn by 1/3 and added a new border....darn....I'll just have to fill it with plants! We don't have much lawn in the front anyway, it extends around the corner about 10 feet & it is only about 4' wide at that point. At least by planting this time of the year, it can establish deep roots before the heat of summer. We planted Marathon II, an advanced dwarf fescue grass which is perfect for our climate. It has a high disease resistance which required less fertilizer and sends roots down deep which improves the drought resistance. We water 2-3 times per week for about10 minutes only (even before that was required in our area) I usually can turn off the irrigation completely at least several months of the winter. It also grows slowly, cutting down on the amount of mowing required.

Here you can see the new brick walkway blending smoothly into the driveway and the new planter along the front of the porch.

We picked up this chunky vase in San Luis Obispo in the beautiful Central Coast of California this past weekend when we visited our oldest son & daughter-in-law. I plan on planting with lavenders & sages to keep the border drought tolerant. Here's a possible scenario. We will be planting next weekend....just in time for Trick-or-Treaters!

Rocky Mountain National Park

This week Pam over at Digging http://www.penick.net/digging/ is celebrating our National Parks. She already focused on Rocky Mountain National Park in the summer, so I thought I would share a little of this beautiful park in the fall.
We treasure heading back to Colorado in the fall to my DH's alma-matter in Boulder where he & his buds played football for the mighty Buffs & watch a game. Last year the whole family went in early Oct. We stayed with our dear friends Dave & Francie, who live in her family home & have room for all of us. We took a little road trip to Rocky Mountain National Park the day before the game, all piled in their motorhome. Our goal was to view the fall color, see some elk bugling in their fall rut & have a little picnic lunch.

Here's a family shot in a grove that took our breath away. A slight breeze picked up, the aspens started quaking & leaves rained down on us. We had goose bumps......

Here are my 3 kids & beautiful daughter-in-law at a waterfall. This waterfall was formed when a dam gave way several years ago & flooded the valley floor below. We'll keep the waterfall, it's just spectacular. You can see how sunny it is. My kids are in shorts & tee shirts. Less than 5 minutes after we took this photo, the clouds moved in, the temerature dropped & it was sleeting on us! Good thing we came prepared.

Below the waterfall with Dave & Francie.

The valley behind us with the neon color of the aspens.

This is the meadow where we took the family photo.

The fall color was at such peak, the pros were out shooting their photos.

Aspen leaves raining down.

Words are not enough.

Before we left the park, we found a herd of elk close to the road. These tagged females were about 20 feet off the road. We stopped & watched for awhile.

Here is the rest of the harem & the bull in charge. It is electrifying to watch, we could've stayed there all day. If you enlarge the photo, you can see another harem & bull across the meadow. The 2 bulls would call out to each other as a warning to stay away from their harems. If you ever get a chance to visit in the early fall it is really special.

Harvest in the RAIN

Today I am celebrating the first rain after a long season of drought. We Californians are hoping for light rain spread over a long season to spur new growth on the bare & brown hillsides with lots of snow in the mountians to fill our lakes come spring. Over at Gardening Gone Wild, the theme of this month's 'Picture This' photo contest is Abundant Harvest. Please check out all the wonderful entries at http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=8318#more-8318
I love a fresh field after the rain, so I headed out to a local farm to take a few pictures. My submission is the above shot of a field full of corn. Even though it is cool & rainy right now, we will still have warm weather thru October & maybe into November. Where I live in Ventura County, there is much agriculture; citrus, strawberries, raspberries, avocados, lettuce & celery that are shipped around the country as well as fields like these where we can go to the farm stand to buy or pick your own.

Here is some squash still blooming...

Pumpkins by the truckload...at the farmstand

and still in the field waiting for the kids to come choose just the perfect Jack-O-Lantern.

October is the Time to Plant

The mild Mediterranean climate of Southern California is the perfect time for planting, in the ground as well as in pots. The ground is still warm, perfect for roots to get settled into their new homes. We won't see much growth over the fall & winter for new plants in the ground, but come spring...they will be ready to take off! We still have many warm days to come with cool nights. Yesterday was 85 here dropping to 50 last night. The cool nights are perfect for one of my favorites, Cyclamen. I found this yummy deep plum color & decided to pair it with bright gold Variegated Orange Gazania. Cyclamen will bloom outside here from now until April or May. The large pot to the back has 'Molten Lava' Oxalis vulcanicola which will bloom yellow. Oxalis is considered an annual in much of the country...but should keep blooming here for many months. The succulent pot has 2 Crassulas & an Echium. I may have to move them as they grow.

This pot grouping shows a beautiful ruffled leaf Echeveria about to bloom, another Cyclamen & a strawberry pot full of sedum. I loved the color of this strawberry pot & tried several plants in there with no success. This sedum has been thriving for about 3 years with very little water.

Even Coach & CJ like the new pots.

This pot's star is the Japanese Blood Grass, accented with more Cyclamen, Variegated Orange Gazania & 'Molten Lava' Oxalis. A mini birdhouse is tucked in for accent.

The veggie garden will be attended to this weekend. The Swiss Chard is going strong, so it will stay. The tomatoes & peppers will be pulled to make room for Brussel Sprouts, Italian Parsley, Lettuce & Peas. Looks like CJ approves.

The front porch also got a lift with Cyclamen & variegated Thyme in the little wooden box. The Echiveria in the large white pot just finished blooming, but with leaf color like that who needs blooms? The small white pot has sedum. The pot right behind has a fresh planting of Verbena bonariensis 'Little One' a compact cultivar that will get about 2' tall as well as 'Fairy Dust' Teucrium with tiny white flowers & some deep plum stock, 'Blue Moon' Lobelia will trail over the sides. The tall green pot has a Star Jasmine in need of a trim climbing up an obelisk.

Happy October!

Signs of Fall in Southern California

Fall in So CA brings searing hot weather & howling Santa Ana winds. The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that sweep through Southern CA in late fall into winter. The Santa Ana winds usually form during autumn and early spring when the surface air in the elevated regions of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert (the "high desert") becomes cool or even cold. The air heats up during its descent to the lower elevations of Southern CA. This fire pictured above started about 15 miles north of me today, on a day of temps at 105 & winds of 30-40 MPH. If you click on the photo to enlarge, you can see the helicopters filling up with water at the golf course below. You can also see the effects of a fire that came through a couple years ago, right up to the backyards here, 'melting' the native cactus on the hillsides. I am working in this neighborhood to help replenish the trees lost in the fire as well as specifying trees & plants that are not as volatile when the next fire comes close. Critics will say that we are building into areas that should be left wild. Man has always encroached slowly into unpopulated areas....where else is there to go....up? Here in California, new neighborhoods have very strict regulations on fire-safe building materials as well as HOA maintained plant material on common areas & brush clearance on adjacent slopes. Older homes in fire-prone areas usually have until July 1st to clear native slopes 100' from their homes. Most of these devastating fires are started by man, some accidental, some by the arsonists that wait in prey for fall. The biggest fire in recent history, maybe ever in So CA was the Station Fire set by arsonists in August & is still burning 4 weeks later. Thankfully they missed Santa Ana conditions or more homes would have been lost. It has burned close to 250 square miles of areas that have not burned in 80 years or so. It has cost the state of CA $43,000,000, burned over 100 structures & the ultimate cost of 2 firefighter's lives. Click on this link to see more images.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/wildfires_in_southern_californ.html

On a lighter note, there are also lovely early fall images from Southern California. This Floss Silk Tree (Chorisia speciosa) in bloom may seen a little odd to those of you in other parts of the country, but fall is the time for it to bloom here in our mild climate.

Pumpkins are getting ready for Halloween.

Freshly planted Strawberry fields are gearing up for February picking.

This Chinese Flame tree (Koelreuteria bipinnata) is also blooming. It almost immediately starts setting it's lovely orange, red or salmon colored Chinese lantern pods. It is a relative of Goldenrain tree which does not do as well here.

This Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis)is showing some really early fall color.