End Of September 2024 Activities

 Blogging neglected.   After being stuck indoors for too many 100F days (was it five?  six?) I've been gardening a lot.  Also working hard at physical therapy for my new knee.  That leg is still much weaker than the other one.  The physical therapist pointed out the leg with the new knee has been weakened for many years, so I can't expect it to be strong again in five months.  Oh.  Good point.  

Out in the garden, a lot of chopping down of summer growth.  There's a lot of this out there:

The rampaging patch of Salvia 'Amistad', chopped small, filled an entire green waste bin.  About a quarter of it pilled there in the shadows before I lugged it out of the gully:

Chopping down some (not all) of the Cuphea 'Vermillionaires', leaving several to continue to feed hummingbirds.  

Nicely self mulching!

Ditto for some of the 'Mystic Spires Blue' Salvias, important for various bees.  This one badly needs chopping, but it is still feeding so many bees I need to wait.

An elegant "S" curve around the tutuer ain't bad:

I chopped a different 'Mystic Spires Blue' back in early August, leaving just new growth emerging from the plant's center:

And by August 31st...
So they recover pretty quickly--in warm weather, anyway.  It will be warm here through October at least.  Hopefully just October.  

Had a strange situation with rose 'Moondance', which for fifteen years at least lived in front of this pilaster aside the driveway:

It was getting shaded more and more by the oak tree, which seemed to benefit the rose because of fierce reflected heat from the driveway and street.  Last week, I noticed piles of loose soil all around the rose's base.  Uh-oh.  Gopher.  So I quickly dug around in the loose soil, hoping to save the rose and get the gopher.  I had to trim a few more low-hanging branches off the oak tree to be able to dig, but it needed it anyway:
Very strangely, there was no gopher, or else the gopher tried to tunnel in that area, and gave up.  The rose roots were fine.  A mole?  It would have to have been a huge mole, and there was no sign of that, either.  Since the rose was already disturbed I dug it up, temporarily popping it in an empty space until I could pot it.   

It neared time to either move the rose or discard it anyway, because of the oak tree.  The area is mostly Agaves now, so the rose, good as it was, was a stylistic outlier.

Hopefully it can recover:

Worth effort to save it:

September means time to buy and sow sweet pea seeds.  A fun weekend trip to Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano.

Yes indeed!  Hooray!

 Sweet Pea seeds purchased and started, 'April In Paris' and 'Jewels of Albion': 

Also finally time to try Acacia 'Cousin Itt' again.  Attempt #4.  I've killed it three times.  Traditionally you get three tries at a plant, and if you fail three times, you quit.   I'm giving it one more try in a location I think it might work.  Another reason:  this particular plant had a far healthier root system than the previous three.  We'll see what happens!

Please don't die.  Please become so annoyingly large and thriving and outgrow the space, I get sick of trimming you and rip you out:

A nice surprise:  clearing away some 'Vermillionaire',  there grew good-sized Matthiola incana (Stock) seedlings, ready to grow larger and flower in the coming cool season.   I'd tossed a stem of seeds in the area early this year:

Some beauty shots to end this post.   'The Ambridge Rose' peeks through the gate:

'Harlequin' Leucadendron colors up again:
Cosmos still going.  The extreme heat killed a few, but others continue:
'Holyhill Spider Woman' Dahlia:
Cosmos and Bee:
Pelargonium sidoides
'Souvenir de la Malmaison':
'Princess Alexandra of Kent':
A surprise Orlaya grandiflora in amidst mighty, sprawling Protea 'Sylvia':
There's another 'Sylvia' flower:
Cactus...something like Echinopsis chamacereus?  A gift from SucculentsAndMore:

Pentas lanceolata, a rooted cutting of a lovely tall seedling that appeared in the garden of a neighbor:

The activities of September's end this year. 

Comments

  1. Looking great, I need to be more aggressive when I chop back. I tend to wait on this or that, and it all looks so weird together. Overgrown next to new haircut. Moondance is a real looker, I can see why you saved it. I had to laugh at your hopes of murdering Cousin Itt after it thrives. Isn't that the truth!

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    1. I guess it's a case of "be careful what you wish for, because you might get it."

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  2. On balance, you've had more pleasant surprises than negative ones, HB - with the notable exception of the mystery surrounding the white rose anyway. I've started the long process of cutting back my overgrown and depleted shrubs and perennials while crossing my fingers that there aren't any more serious heatwaves ahead. My biggest positives are that my dahlias are still producing and I've got my first Protea blooms!

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    1. Yes, it's been a good gardening year. :) Lots to chop here too, Congrats on the Protea flowers! They make dramatic focal points in arrangements, perfect for you!

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  3. It's good to hear your knee is getting stronger and you are able to put in more hours in the garden.
    Rose 'Moondance' has such an elegant flower. I hope it flourishes again after the transfer.
    I was wondering about the first photo: do all the blooms belong to one Dahlia? I know there are varieties where each bloom is a surprise as far the color scheme.
    Chavli

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    1. Gardening sure is easier now. Complete recovery is supposed to take about a year. Halfway there!

      Yes that is one Dahlia that changes color. It is supposed to be yellow flecked with red. The clump produces that, but also pure yellow, pure red, and some with a section that is all one contrasting color, like the Bride Of Frankenstein's hair.

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  4. Rehab is so hard! We're nursing Billie thru her ACL tear and she wants to go, go go right now! Great time of year for you to tackle garden work ever so carefully...

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    1. Best wishes for a good recovery for Billie. B&N say woo-woo!

      I thought PT would hurt more than it did. Digging out a rose is a lot harder!

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  5. Maybe the disturbed soil was a skunk hunting for grubs ? I get that here in late summer. If moles I would think there would be a tunnel. I've only killed Cousin ITT twice . Tried a large container but that was a big fail. I wish I had a suitable spot ! On cut-back duty here too,

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  6. A gardener's refrain for the ages "Please don't die. Please become so annoyingly large and thriving and outgrow the space, I get sick of trimming you and rip you out: ". How on earth did you ever achieve that lovely spidery Pelargonium sidoides stem effect in the photo?

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    1. We gardeners do miscalculate at times. Part of the fun (fun?!?).

      The Pelargonium was in a pot in a planting bed in quite a lot of shade most of the summer so it would survive. I decided it was time to give it more sun, so I set the pot atop a low wall. That low wall is the background in the photo. I was surprised at the number of flower stems the Pelargonium had. They had woven themselves into surrounding plants and were not visible.

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  7. That's the way to grow Pelargonium sidoides, against a wall so you can appreciate that wiry habit! Lovely photo of the cactus bloom with the dark aeonium. I'm glad you're getting better and better, you were a trooper during the Fling and that was two months ago!

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    1. Right plant, right place. Will have to tuck it back into a shadier locale for a few days until this week's heat wave passes.

      The Fling was a blast. So glad to have been able to go. Couldn't climb all the paths to see everything, but saw a lot!

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  8. OMG, I don't know where to start! Lots of beauty here. Good luck with the Rose that you moved...all your Roses are amazing. I have a thing for those peachy/apricot blooms, but I love them all. Don't work too hard...be careful on your knee.

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    1. The rose has swelling buds already. :^) I'm doing the easier jobs, the ones on flat ground. Slopes still too iffy.

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  9. You have been getting a lot done for someone with a new knee. As always your roses are so lovely. I have put a few mini's into my garden. They overwintered last year so am hopeful again for this one. One is a lovely cream with an orange edge fading to pink. Not as bold as your varieties but I will take what I can get.

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    1. I hope those roses do well for you. I have read many times that in a cold climate they are difficult to get through winter. Freeze-thaws especially damaging. Here they are so easy except during droughts. :(

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