The view from thereIn the gully, a fine place to sit for a few minutes. There's lots to see and listen to: the sound of water in the pond up above, birds singing, breezes rustling the trees.
The view:
Hunnemannia poppies love the decomposed granite path:
Adding sweet peas to one corner of the pergola was a good idea.
'Peter Mayle':
White Gaura adds sparkle when the area is shaded:
'Bishop's Castle' for rose perfume:
A late Hippeastrum--it's almost June!
To the north and east sides of the pergola are shrubs for privacy and shade. Neighbor's trees beyond.
Shadows hitting the walls in late afternoon add patterns.
Backlit by late afternoon, flowers, translucent, glow:
Out of the gully, a delightful surprise. An Iris purchased two years ago finally flowered. I thought it was too late, that it would be another year without it blooming.
'Absolute Treasure':
It looks perfect.Another nice suprise: some actual strawberries. A garden club speaker recommended 'Seascape' for our immediate area. She was correct. Other varieties I've tried were failures.
Speaking of brilliant red, it's Sprekelia time!
The saturated crimson looks good against one of the big-box Leucospermums planted last year:
That Leucospermum took over the long time (12 years+) location of 'Pink Gruss an Aachen', which I moved a couple of years ago to the area near the koi pond. For years PGaA was a neat, 3x3 rose. In its new location where the soil is richer and more moisture-retaining, it is growing larger and flowering even better:Proteana is more ornamental at the moment thanks to all the flowers on the Ligustrum hedge. Aloe pseudorubroviolacea provides the coral orange candelabra of flowers:And it's Brodiaea 'Queen Fabiola's time to flower, too. With a petite Lavender and a dwarf-y lavender-flowered Cuphea.So that's what is pretty here at the moment.
THAT is a lot of pretty things, I love your rest stop down at the gully. The iris is a stunner! I need to add Sprekelia, I love how bold it is. So happy you are getting all around, beautiful photos - you really have a knack for finding the right light.
ReplyDeleteSprekelia is great and very easy at least here. Petite so best in a raised bed or a large pot on the patio table, so the flowers can be admired close up.
DeleteYes its about the light.
Your gully is very pretty - and far less treacherous than my back slope. I could happily spend the day down there. Everything else looks great too. Once again, I only had a single Sprekelia bloom but I also had a fabulous surprise bloom from a Hippeastrum in a pot that I never got around to planting in the ground last year.
ReplyDeleteMaybe give the Sprekelia a deep soak or two and see what happens? They are from a wetter climate...
Deleteoh that'd be my hangout for sure -- and awesome to see hunnemania so happy!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a perennial--snapped off without the roots coming out it will grow back. Baffled it is not easy for everyone.
DeleteWow, the shadows and the angles that you've shared are magical. The photo and view of the stairs area is so welcoming and beautiful. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's really nice in the late afternoon, or a Sunday early morning.
DeleteI remember when you had cleared the area of the gully last year. It is filling in nicely with scent and style. I partial to effervescent white Gaura in photo 6. (I consistently kill Gaura. Sigh).
ReplyDeleteFabulous 'shrubs for privacy and shade': one (or more?) have a blueish tone. What might that be?
Are you doing okey going up and down the stairs? Downstairs in particular can be the last hurdle when recovering from knee injury.
Chavli
Yes, chopping down and digging out the Pittosporum. That was an effort. It's much nicer now that there is a good view of the whole area (and that the whole area had in the meantime become worth looking at).
DeleteGaura is finicky when a small plant here. I've killed a few myself. I think that one might have been a volunteer seedling that happened to appear in a good spot and I let it be.
The bluish one is the neighbor's--I've not been able to figure out what it is--no yellow flowers on fairly mature plants so not Acacia--Olive maybe except I thought Olives were much much slower growing. They are screening out some but not all of the neighbor's junk collection/rat habitat/fire danger they piled up back there.
Downstairs if there is a handrail is easy. It's downhill sloping ground that is still somewhat treacherous.
What a peaceful garden tour! I love the view of the wall with the shadows. You are lucky you got a few strawberries. Competition here is fierce from the chipmunks, who pick them while they are still green. Seascape is a winner for us as well.
ReplyDeleteI have them screened in, the strawberries. A previous dog had a taste for them and he would discreetly nip them off, only when ripe, hold them in his mouth, and then hide to eat them.
DeleteWe give our cats a spoonful of plain yoghurt once a week. But Henry used to prefer strawberry yoghurt. Your Iris is the blue of the sky on a perfect day.
DeleteThat Iris is my new favorite. :^)
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