Steve’s Southern California Garden

Beauty despite erratic weather

Today ’s picture are from Steve in Southern California .

You boast my garden some twelvemonth back(A Drought - Tolerant California Garden),and I thought your visitors might wish to see some updates from around the garden , particularly this yr , with all of the weather everyone keeps hearing about inSouthern California .

I live right in the heart of L.A. , in an domain many people have heard of called Laurel Canyon , which is a block or tel from my home plate . I go in a little subvalley , if you will , the last little pouch before Studio City and the San Fernando Valley sprawl beyond . It is a place with a lowly brook that ladder in a year like this , where we might get frog at Nox soon and the crickets resist most aloud inAugust . For a gardener like me , the fun is attracting all the visitors to the garden , and I ’ve focalise onnative plantsand trees to do that , but also on all the other item likehost plants , nest - construction plants , edible berries , etc .

ThisCereus peruvianus(Zones 9–11 ) andArbutus‘Marina ’ ( Zones 8–10 ) anchor thepollinator garden , but there arecitrus , manzanita , rosemary , and plenty of other seasonal flub to keep them happy . My California poppies(Eschscholziacalifornica , annual ) have been confused , no doubt , by the current bike , where each week has take in a severe act in weather , from inch of rainwater in a night , to 40 - mph winds , to picture - double-dyed spring years of tumescent jauntiness , then a hot flash for a couple of days , and back to rain . Our storms have been Arctic , tropic , cyclones , and streams , and we are glad for them — but we ’re ready for spring now . ( Apologies to all of you currently roll center . I ’m an L.A. aborigine . ) By now my yard is usually orangish with poppy and white with Five Spot , but only a few have made an coming into court here . I am hoping for a later appearance of the poppy ,

MyCeonothus(California lilac , hardiness varies by mintage ) is so spectacular and would usually have beenpruned back , but it ’s showing so amazingly that I ’m just letting it hang out for now . you’re able to see beneath it that the first major bloom of my yellow leucospermum is about to bump and should be with child . And in about a month or so we should have a nice showing from theProtea giganticaandEchium candidansto go with it . If my try at ecogopher controlworks and mybulbshave come through the onslaught , there should be a funsummer bulbshow — or a replanting . I ’ll let you know how it conk out front .

In the back is the current province of acontainer gardenand a deck that is about to be overhauled . flora are bountiful , and you ’ll see my lifelong compulsion withpots . Some of these are orotund enough for trees , many of which are unusual anddrought tolerant , like the sonchus , grevillea , and feijoa Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . I have many species ofaloe , echeveria , aeonium , cacti , some aboriginal California species .

On my hillside I have two ash tree , a palm , and a span of ponderosa pine that have mature on the Benny Hill and are frequented by the neck of the woods throwaway . This picayune vale I am in is usually a bit of a stopover for migratingbirds , and even butterfly stroke swarms , coalesce in with our general showing of Anna ’s and Allen’shummingbirds , menage finch , warbler , sparrows , opprobrious phoebes , Wren , and often cracking horned owls , red - shouldered hawks , lot - tailed pigeons , spotted towhees , hooded orioles , and more . It ’s a symphony in bound and its own trivial ecosystem , to which we look forward to help flourish .

The individual flowers on this aloe flush fade from red to yellow-bellied as they grow and open , create this bicolour spike of flower .

Leucospermum cordifolium(Zones 9–11 )

Aloe blooms from above

Have exposure to share ? We ’d get laid to see your garden , a particular aggregation of plants you love , or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit !

To submit , send 5 - 10 photo to[email protected]along with some information about the plants in the characterization and where you take the photo . We ’d enjoy to hear where you are located , how long you ’ve been garden , succeeder you are proud of , failure you learned from , hopes for the future , favorite plant , or funny tarradiddle from your garden .

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