Summer Begins, Gardening Ends

Welcome, fiercely bright sky July

Summer begins--the last of our 'June Gloom' days are gone--and real gardening ends until after Labor Day. Now begins emergency spot-watering, move-potted plants-to-shade season.

Monarch breezing through Pentas:

The gardener will deadhead and remain ever-alert for plants under water stress. She may soon regret not planning for, and planting more, heat-loving summer annuals. Such is summer gardening in Southern California.

I did mange to sow the Zinnia seeds--it was Sunday--and they are already germinating in warm, warm soil.

Maybe there will be some late summer Zinnia flowers. Or maybe next year I'll get Zinnia seeds sown earlier.

In the meantime, Leucanthemums:

I got the metal screen attached to the Wobbly Arch and arranged the Hardenbergia on it as best I could. The vine has a twining habit, so once it figures out there's something to grab on to, it should find its way, hopefully up the Wobbly Arch.

The area of the garden uphill from the Wobbly Arch hasn't gotten much attention of late.

Looked decent in late afternoon backlight, though:

A delightful surprise discovered there: Aloe 'Hellskloof Bells' has its first flowers. I looked back through the blog to see when and where I'd bought it. Huntington special plant sale, March, 2015.

Lens cap there lower left to indicate size:

Here it is. Ten years to flower. Possibly when it comes to plants, I'm somewhat patient. Worth the wait? Yes!

Aloe 'Hellskloof Bells' is a hybrid of A. personii, a gorgeous, rare, slow-growing, and difficult-to grow species.

The other parent is A. distans, a somewhat similar, far faster and easier-to-grow Aloe. 'Hellskloof' is a lovely plant, pinking up in moderate light and reddening in light more intense.

Aloe x noblis may be a hybrid of A. distans x A. brevifolia, or it may be A. mitrifomis x A. brevifolia. Whatever it might be, it's also flowering time now for x noblis: