Grasses wave in the wind, lupines finish their blooming season, new plants adapt to their new home, hummingbirds gyre above native sage and honeysuckle. Aggressive weeds have been pulled, trees trimmed, the compost heap is full, hot and full of insects.
The Gardens Gone Native tour is always a good excuse to work like crazy in the garden to tidy everything up. This year, the tour is a bit late, coming after many flowers have put on their show and retired for the year. Instead of native iris and ceanothus, we’ll have spice bush, native honeysuckle and sages.
We’ve added a bit of sculpture this year. Annette installed her walking stick, the kinetic owl moved over a few feet where he’ll be more visible. A wooden Japanese fish hangs from the rafters along with some driftwood in front of a blue wall for a virtual trip to the coast.
The meadow continues to evolve, with last year’s showy milkweed returning vigorously, hopefully to grow large enough to attract any passing monarch butterflies. The mule ears are almost large enough to flower – maybe next year we’ll have some new daisies in spring. Some plants, like the alkali sacaton grass, are sitting and pouting, but in general everything seems happy.
The darker part of the deck received a new coat of stain, the recovered wood looking once again almost like new. To the right near the bird bath fountain, the sedges and hummingbird sage have finally grown in so that the fountain’s basin is almost hidden by the foliage, to appear like a natural spring.
The owl sculpture looks on as Annette rakes the path. Part of this year’s cleanup was to take all the excess gravel off the paths and use it to create a new path that leads to what will (hopefully) someday be the hammock area – a project for next year.
The result of volunteering at a California Native Plant Society event is coming home with new friends. This is a checker bloom, a hibiscus relative that grows in meadows. Hopefully it will thrive, reseeding itself around the garden. The native bees have already found it, even though it’s still in a bit of shock from being transplanted not even a week ago.
Everything is still looking green, the result of late rains and cool weather. In the background, the Karl Foerster grass is ready to begin flowering, the Hot Lips sage is again creeping over the deck, and the gauras are in full bloom.
Every plant aficionado will tell you to smell the spice bush’s flowers. Expecting spice, you find something quite different, not floral at all.
This is the most eclectic part of the garden, mixing native and tropical appearing plants. There’s a tiger lily, red twig dogwood, morning glory vine, red sage and a few festival grass cordylines that are neither grasses nor especially festive. If they grew easily, luxuriantly and happily I’d be the first to party with them. As it stands, they’re slow, quick to sulk and not especially cooperative when it comes to looking like their photos in the nursery catalog. No matter, most of them are headed to L.A. where the movie star climate will hopefully agree with them more than the Central Valley.
Your garden is incredibly beautiful. It feels as though I am in a park. So sovereign and lovely with all of the delightful and warm floral designs. The scent in the air so kind. The bumble bees, blue jays, and hummingbirds create a tapestry of art while they dance with the music of silence and calm. Awe, what a lovely garden. To my thoughts, a paradise. Thank you.