Gully looks good this spring
We've had several days of cool, partly cloudy weather. A good time to plant the new Valencia orange tree.
Next, while relaxing under the pergola, consideration as to what small, mostly temporary plants could be placed in the area until the 'Valencia' grows enough to fill the space. A volunteer seedling lavender and Agave bracteosa 'Monterey Frost' are there on the left next to the stairs. A Cuphea 'Firecracker', a rooted Pelargonium peltatum cutting, and a rooted start of Rhodanthemum need sunny homes--so perhaps those.
The 'Amistad' Salvia next to the Key lime tree has become a hummingbird battleground:
Hummers like the Metrosideros and Callistemons,too:
Clipped some of the Eugenias, so the mid-gully "hallway" is unobstructed. Used the choppings as an undermulch near the pergola. The choppings will dry and be mulched over:
Pulled what of the neighbor's weeds I could reach through the fence--quite a few--filled several buckets:
"Gully look good this spring." That's the understatement of the year! The gully looks gorgeous! And "hummingbird battleground" is an interesting turn of phrase. Territorial little buggers, aren't they? Chihuahuas of the sky. Glad to see you are benefitting from the rain too -- it's pouring over here. I moved my precious third-try clematis over a bit to take full advantage, and the extra trash cans are all out to collect as much as possible. Yes, this is a beautiful spring. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteIt's that magical rain, and we got 0.51" (13mm) of rain this morning. Wheeeeee!!!! I lugged my barrels (put away for the dry season) up out of their gully hiding spot yesterday and got over 100 gallons of precious rain. Unexpected treasure.
DeleteFlying Chihuahuas! Hahahah! That's perfect! There are a pair of Chihuahuas a couple houses down and I hear them yapping regularly. The hummers have the same feisty attitude.
OMG, that first photo of gully is magical.
ReplyDeleteIf only there was a way to deter rodents from moving into vines... it's foremost on my mind as my akebia vine is bursting with new growth. I'm merciless with my pruning!
How fast do you expect the Valencia grow? The "temporary" planting may get to stick around for a while.
I'm salivating over the Callistemon bloom and gray-green foliage... wow!
Chavli
The vine on the wall topper belonging to a neighbor is a real rat problem, sigh. Didn't want to add to it. :( Best to keep pruning!
DeleteThe 'Cara Cara' orange on true-dwarf rootstock shot up like a weed. Two 'Valencia's I planted some years ago unfortunately at the start of the terrible drought never did much of anything and I removed them. So--I don't know--about 3 years would be my guess, so seedling lavenders and annuals (maybe Zinnias this year because the rabbits never touched them last year) should work fine.
That's 'Little John' Callistemon in 2nd to last picture which I like a lot. Got it from the big box "death rack". That is one plant that can recover from a terrible state of drought.
You have been busy! The amaryllis are so pretty and BIG. The greenness of the leaves of Amistad stand out almost as much as the purple blooms do. Gorgeousness everywhere!
ReplyDeleteI've been busy and now I'm tired!
DeleteThe amaryllis loved the rain--as did 'Amistad'--well everything did, including the gardener.
I will be thrilled if my Hippeastrums look half as good as those you've established in the ground! So far, they're looking rather sad, which probably means that I still haven't found the right spot for them (even after trying several spots). I've no doubt you'll find the right companions for your new orange tree. Kudos to you for tackling the neighbor's weeds so they don't procreate in your garden - I need to make a similar effort with respect to that blasted ivy creeping across the property line (even if I'm not entirely sure where that line is).
ReplyDeleteNo idea what I did right with the Hippeastrums. No idea.
DeleteThe weed seeds will blow straight over into my property. I pull them through the fence or I pull 10x as many the following year. I just don't understand why people don't have their mow-blow guys whip the weeds before they set seed, instead of always after.
Ivy is way worse. Don't envy you that task! Best of luck with it.
Very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Sorry I'm so behind on comments have been out in the garden all day every day lately!
DeleteThat area between the steps is such a visually interesting space - can't wait to see how it turns out. It seems like everyone has problems with neighboring properties. Our neighborhood weedy "gifts" include clouds of floating canada and bull thistle seed from the clearcut to the west and an ivy invasion from the woods to the north. I've been secretly pulling ivy there, but I don't spend a lot of time doing it because I don't want to spend my valuable garden time working on someone else's property.
ReplyDeleteWell eventually the plan is it filled with an orange tree which are quite ornamental plants.
DeleteI hear you about the "neighbors with weeds" problem. Ivy and thistles are really bad that must be hard to deal with. The physical effort would take everything out of a person. The local nature park working at restoring habitat has the thistle problem though they have made some progress.
I'm thankful mine is not worse than it is. I have a friend who had a spectacular garden who lived next to a weedy mess. She would pay to have their property cleaned up every so often--it wasn't so much the way it looked there was a massive rat infestation too. There was a family tragedy that created the situation so she did it mostly out of compassion, but also the rats. Finally she moved and once again has a gorgeous garden at her new house, and tidier neighbors.
Oh my that first photo is a stunner. I see wall art in it. You have been busy. Satisfying getting these jobs done. I purchased a calistemon when I was in Vancouver last week. Will try growing it in a container and overwintering in the garage. I am always admiring yours. Wish me luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you I am thrilled with that area of the garden it looks so pretty right now.
DeleteThere are some more cold-hardy Callistemons than the one I grow--‘Woodlander’s Hardy Red’ is estimated to 15F or subzero if you can accept it coming back from the roots, from what I read, but "cold hardy" is not something I know anything about really. Best wishes for some beautiful flowers and happy nectar-feeders from your plant!
Let’s not talk about weeding through the fence. An issue on all three sides of my garden. Looks like you’re spending serious time in the garden. May is the best and worst garden month, so it’s nice to get some work done amidst the beauty.
ReplyDeleteI wish the fence in the back was a 10' tall block wall, but that's not possible. Three sides instead of just one is much tougher--and you have more weeds because you get more rain. :(
DeleteYes it sure is easier to get things done amidst May beauty. May is not really the worst here because we get the May-Gray overcast that is so very comfortable to garden in. Can we not talk about August heat instead?
Fending off rodents at our bird feeder. Need to clear lots more ivy I guess.
ReplyDelete