A Peony's Progress

It looks fine:
Itoh Peony photo acer2722_zps0407a025.jpg
Last year I bought an Itoh-type Peony, purported to do well in a no-chill climate.  This spring it looks good, and has flower buds.
Itoh Peony bud photo acer2724_zps7e7eac99.jpg
It's in the same area as not-yet-fully-leafed-out Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene', which I fondly remember chauffeuring home in the back seat of the car when it was about 30" (76 cm) tall.
Acer 'Oshio Bene' photo acer2721_zpsb06f4ad7.jpg
Also in the area are the little Bromelliad offsets I received as a gift from the beautiful garden I visited a few days ago.
Bromeliad photo acer2735_zps7698537b.jpg
This area is by the koi pond, now under netting for the spring.  The other day I heard Natasha shrieking in terror and ran out to see an Egret on the driveway.  The koi are too large for the Egret to eat, but it would kill them for practice.  Time for the net.
Net photo acer2729_zps9b58d3a3.jpg
These relatively lush areas remind me one feature I very much enjoy in this garden are the variety of microclimates. 
Path photo acer2726_zps656bd0f7.jpg
And (relatively) hot, dry semi-arid conditions.  If the gardener is the garden, then the variations in microclimate fit my scattered attention span--or to put it more kindly, my wide range of interests.  

I'm redoing this arid section of the front slope due to the bloom and death last year of the Agave desmettiana trio that lived there for six or seven years.  I tried planting a few largish offsets of the Agaves in that spot, but they were quite damaged and looked, honestly, bad.  So they went in the green waste and I restarted with an empty slate.   So far I've added some rocks dug up from the back for a little variety, somewhere for the lizards to perch, and as a way to get rid of the rocks.  More progress to come. 
Project photo acer2698_zps59d51470.jpg

Comments

  1. Every picture of your garden is gorgeous! Our peonies are just waking up and yours have buds already...hmmm. Sorry about the egret scare, they can be such mean birds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are they mean? That's good to know. I hit one with a broom once to scare it away from the koi (it was not harmed), and if they are mean I don't have to feel guilty about it any more!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Always interested in your thoughts.

Any comments containing a link to a commercial site with the intent to promote that site will be deleted. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.