Places I Couldn't Access For Five Weeks

 'Gruss an Aachen' ('Gruß an Aachen')

There were several areas of the garden I wasn't agile enough to visit for five weeks.  I got to some of them yesterday.  But first, more roses and rose companions...  

First Agapanthus flower of 2024 'Prunetucky Summer':

'Yves Piaget':

Iris 'Clarence' with Geum 'Totally Tangerine':

'Princesse Charlene de Monaco':

'The Poet's Wife':

Now, on to places I haven't been able to access.  Of course I can see the towering flower stem of Agave marmorata from a far distance, but I can't access the weeds at its base which desperately need pulling.

The arrow indicates a hummingbird trying to keep the Agave flowers all for himself.  Dream on, buddy!

Two extra rainy winters filled in this area by the street.  Lavenders 'Silver Anouk', 'Meerlo', and a random seedling, Calylophus, two Leucospermums around the right edge of the photo, and a few other plants.  There was a weed or two, which I manged to pull.

Hemerocallis 'Little Missy' flowers are in the same color range as Aloe capitata foliage in the background.  I don't know if that works or not:

One of the Leucospermum hybrids the big box stores were selling last year.  No flowers yet but the plentiful new foliage looks excellent.  Artemisia 'Sea Foam' at its base doesn't look too bad either--not great but better than last year:

This is another big box hybrid that doesn't look so good.  It needs some chelated iron to help it green up:

Leucospermum 'Red Sunset', purchased in the Monterey area a few years back.   Not seeing a lot of red in the flower...

...less opened:

Those plants were either on sloping ground I could not handle or out front by the sloping street.   Couldn't handle even slightly sloping for five weeks.   

The next photos are from the back gully.

I was able to make it down the stairs supported by a cane in one hand and a shovel in the other.  Felt very steady.

Sweet pea 'Cupani' with 'Mystic Spires Blue':

Crammed together jungle of Hippeastrum 'Apple Blossom', Salvia 'Wendy's Wish', and rose 'Cinco de Mayo':

 The above flowers from the other direction.  They crammed themselves together by growing so much:

Noticed a Damsel fly landing on a Metrosideros leaf.  Damsel flies are predators of other insects.  They do not eat plant material.

Pulled what weeds I found--the chop-and-drop mulch I put down last spring and summer prevented many.  

Hunnemannia seedlings here and there, not weeds:

Acer palmatum 'Ryusen' , definitely not a weed, just growing like one:

'Climbing Iceberg' doesn't get any direct sun in fall and winter.  In spring and summer it is somewhat sunnier, enough to enable it to flower:

Back out of the gully, I squeezed the camera lens between a rose and a Clematis to get a shot of the garden's first Foxglove flower. 

Nice.  A recent visit to a local nursery had a mass display of blooming foxgloves arranged on blocks at different heights.  It was stunning.  Regret not getting a photo.  The price of each large potted foxglove was stunning, too.  They are easy from a package of seed.

Are there parts of your garden you don't get to often, even with two healthy knees?   Why is that?