New Plants June 2023

First beautiful flowers from a little cactus given to the garden by SucculentsAndMore.  Constant checking of  the plant the last few days lest we miss the flowers opening.  Many cactus flowers are brief, lasting only a day or two.   The cactus was labelled "Johnson Hybrid"--fascinating story here.

Ooooh!!!!  Lighting up a gray day:


Mail-ordered a few succulents.  Agave albopilosa 'Tufts' and Euphorbia resinifera:

I have wanted Euphorbia resinifera for a long time, having seen it at the Newport Beach Civic Center Garden several years ago: 

 It will look good and be happy somewhere on the front slope.   The plant is slow growing. 

And two Mangaves:  'Snow Leopard' and 'Night Owl':

Planted in a temporary spot where they can grow enough to be moved to their permanent location.  

Another 'Mystic Spires Blue' Salvia for the temporary ring of plants around the new 'Valencia' orange tree:

No need for the shade cloths--it has been heavily overcast for a long stretch of days:  

I moved two Callistemon 'Little John's to the area where the Salvia is, but they did not survive.  Bad timing.  Did not get enough root system, and moved them right before a brief, relatively mild heat wave.  Things happen.  One still lives in the garden, healthy and flowering.  There are a couple more Felicia (maybe) seedlings from plants that did not survive last year--I'll move them to this area when they grow a little more.  

We've had a long stretch of May-Gray that has continued into June.  Yesterday morning it drizzled enough to force me indoors.  The garden and gardener dripped from 0.06" of moisture, a little under 2 mm. 

'Francis Meilland':

Echeveria harmsii 'Ruby Slippers' foliage status in this long stretch of mild, overcast weather:

The marine layer of overcast is often so deep its hard to get a good photo, but this one is okay:
Salvia 'Waverly' and Rose 'Molineux' consider newly emerging Agapanthus flower buds. 
Gaura starts to flower:
Campanula poshcharskyana is attempting a comeback thanks to this winter's lavish rain.  This Campanula was extremely aggressive and it took much effort, digging, redigging, and redigging to get rid of it.  It appeared on the stairway down into the gully but never did much because of the drought, so I left it.  

The flowers are lovely, the foliage a sweet green, but the plant, thuggish.

I must pull it all out.  Despite that, it will be back next winter. 

'Rose Rhapsody':

Drizzle is jewel-like on rose leaves and petals:
First Dahlia buds appear, I think on what might be 'Dracula Dark Angel':
So happy to have 'Rozanne' looking good again, thanks to the rabbit-screening on every garden gate.  Every plant last year was constantly eaten down to the ground.  Lucky they survived:


Another week of June-Gloom is forecast.  There's still plenty more to get done before the heat hits. 

Comments

  1. As a child, I lived for summer; as an adult, my favorite "seasons" are May Gray and June Gloom. They are just so pleasant and, besides, the plants love them. Your garden simply sparkles. It must be a very nice way to start each day -- first cup of coffee in hand, taking a stroll through the garden while the day is new and quiet. I can't think of anything nicer. Glad to hear your rabbit-proofing worked. The campanula is so lovely. Would it work in a pot? Elizabeth

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    1. I always loved rain, but M-G and J-G are next best. Day-is-new garden stroll--I agree, nothing better. Coffee and bird song, dew, shadows, golden light--heaven!

      Plants in pots are tough here because the Santa Ana wind we get sucks the life out in hours. Come to think of it, perhaps that Campanula belongs in a pot. 😜

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  2. What a fantastic vision: Euphorbia resinifera ground cover! I hope it won't take too long to create a reasonable size clump.
    'Ruby Slippers' lives up to it's name... great coloring.
    Chavil

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    1. The Euphorbia can take its time. Slow plants are less-problems plants!

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  3. I can just envision your orange tree surrounded by blue salvia. I can't wait to see that combination! My 'Rozanne' geraniums this year are so sprawling and so far do not have a lot of blooms. I'm thinking of shearing them back and try to invigorate them.

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    1. My experience has been 'Rozanne' benefits from some fertilizer to get good flowering. Of course I have light not clay soil--less nutrients.

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  4. The drops of rain look beautiful on the roses, much better than my mid-day photos. I love ruby slippers, it delivers year round. The euphorbia will look beautiful on your slope. Everything continues to look lovely!

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    1. Summer photos in bright sunshine--they are not the best. I've given up taking them. In summer I avoid going out at mid-day anyway--too hot!

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  5. This May and June has been such a gift-I didn't run out of my collected rain water til Memorial Day weekend-usually I'm lucky if it holds out past early April. Good old reliable Rozanne-I'm glad you found a successful solution to the rabbit rascals !

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    1. Yes indeed a gift, and on top of the lavish rainy season. I even collected a few gallons of drizzle yesterday--my Hakone grass got a generous soaking.

      Very glad I stopped being so lazy and got the gates thoroughly screened. All the cylinders of wire fencing everywhere were pretty sad!

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  6. I love the Echinopsis (if that's what it is). I don't know why I've ignored these cacti for so long. I'm coveting a 'Flying Saucer'.

    I envy you the drizzle. As my rain tanks empty, I was hoping for a little more...It's gray here too but the humidity level has dipped to the 55-65% level.

    The Agapanthus are coming on here as well now, followed by Gaura and some daylilies. I'll be interested to see how Mangave 'Snow Leopard' does for you. It's the one Mangave that didn't do well for me - I think it wanted more water than it got where I put it. 'Night Owl' is a winner in my view.

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    1. It's a "Johnson Hybrid" --so something like Echinopsis x--whatever it is, it has a gorgeous flower!

      Grey --the plants don't get so thirsty. That counts for something. Still not sure about Mangaves, but thought I'd give those two a try.

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  7. New plants! Two magic words :-) Can't wait to see how the mangaves and the Agave albopilosa will do for you.

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  8. Would love to have drizzle drive me indoors. Way too hot and dry hear. The sun used to motivate me to get outdoors but now it's the cloudy days I enjoy. However, your garden is as beautiful as always especially the roses. There are a number of Campanulas that have thuggish tendencies. Pretty but beware.

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    1. It's good, the drizzle. Enjoying it. Sorry to hear you have heat and dry weather so soon. Hope it improves for you. You don't see a lot of Campanulas here. The Landscape Architect who originally did our garden picked it. Thanks for the warning! That memories of digging (and digging and digging) out that particular Campanula kind of put me off Campanulas forever.

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  9. That first one is a vibrant bloom, for sure! Lovely photos with raindrops and beautiful blooms. Will look forward to updates on your new plants and plantings.

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    1. Our summer sunshine is so strong and constant here bright colors hold up better than the softer more subtle ones. On sunny days it works.

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  10. What a perfect cactus. Love the Euphorbia inspiration and look forward to seeing how it fares. We need some gloom and rain here.

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    1. Hope you get some relief from the heat soon. It's no fun!

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  11. Those are nice looking new plants! I've lost several already because I can't keep up on the watering. Once or twice a week just hasn't been enough. Your Echeveria harmsii 'Ruby Slippers' is a real beauty.

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    1. Keeping up on watering of new not yet established plants is always vital--here the persistent cloud cover means everything stayed fairly moist! (And the garderner doesn't overheat.) Sounds like you've gotten hot weather up north already? :(

      Thrilled with E. 'Ruby Slippers', yes. It's also not too fussy. One of the best.

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