Fridays are for touring nurseries and possibly plants shopping. Today was a good day as I finally found some gorgeous Rose Of Sharon trees/shrubs from the enchanting Chateau™ series which will survive in my climate zone. For years I tried variety Hibiscus, none of which made it pass Winter. Today, I am hopeful that I can enjoy these Roses of Sharon for many years.
Chateau De Versailles Rose Of Sharon.Aphrodite Rose Of Sharon.
Also, how beautiful is the Rose Cherub Daylily below? This is yet another cold-hardy plant with dark-green leaves and graceful ruffled rose-pink flowers with chartreuse-colored throats. It will be a great companion plant for the other variety of daylilies in my garden and humming birds and butterflies alike will love it.
Rose Cherub Daylily.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend and happy gardening.
It has been a busy day around the backyard garden. The weather has been cool lately, allowing us to trim most of the dead Pine Tree branches which were on our side of the property. Summer is another synonym of fire season and it never hurts to remove any fire starters around a home. That part has been completed on our side, the neighbors just have to continue working on theirs and it will be perfect.
On Friday morning we picked up a Vintage wrought iron tripled plant stand from a local store and the set of 3 cobalt blue glazed ceramic planters I bought last month look beautiful on it. The planters are filled with a variety of Echeveria succulents. Going forward with the cleanup, I have been trimming and shaping the Japanese Boxwood as well as the Common Broom shrubs, which are hosting the Genista Caterpillars, the larvae of the Genista Broom Moth, LepidopteraPyralidae . Yes, it’s that time of year again. I will be using a solution first thing tomorrow morning to get rid of the pests before they completely damage the plants.
The first Donkey’s Tail Succulent also known as Sedum Morganianum,blooming.
Donkey’s Tail, blooming.
Yesterday we spent the day in Crestline, CA, shopping, sight seeing and of course, eating. It is such a beautiful and friendly little city that you can’t help but fall in love with. We stopped at a nursery and almost took the stunning Black-eyed Susan home, when I remembered that we have too many yellow flowering plants. I will be ordering the Rudbeckia “Cherry Brandy”, a new addition and different color to the garden.
I just realized that it’s the first day of Summer and we are already half way through the year. A couple of months ago I couldn’t stand the cold and here we are, getting ready to brace ourselves through some incoming heat waves of the season.
We have not been able to enjoy the outdoors as much as we would have loved to. The weather has been quite unpredictable;we enjoy those Santa Ana winds, just not when combined with heat and humidity.
Not much is happening in the garden. Unlike the other Daylilies, Siloam David Kirchhoff Daylilies are now awakening with beautiful blooms. The Gauras are thriving with vigorous growth and hosting the Caterpillars of the White-lined Sphinx.
Siloam David Kirchhoff Daylily.
Earlier this month I dug up the perennial bulbs and got rid of them all, except the Allium Drumsticks which I relocated. I love their eye-catching oval shaped burgundy blooms.
It’s hot out here and there isn’t much to do, except walk around and enjoy the beautiful plants.
So what’s happening in my garden? A few day ago, I got rid of the perennial bulbs, all excluding the Allium Drumsticks which I really like. I pruned and shaped the Autumn Sage, Texas Sage, Lavender, Boxwood and the Dwarf Myrtle. We also completely removed and got rid of the second Navajo Globe Willow tree on our property. These trees are easy to grow from cuttings, but don’t thrive in the High Desert and are susceptible to diseases.
English Lavender.
The Daylilies have started to bloom.
Pretty Woman Daylily.Stella D’Oro Daylily.
I planted a few Ornamental Grasses at the right corner of the end of my property along side some Spanish Lavender, Autumn Sage, Miniature Rose bushes and Agave Ovatifolia (which I recently transplanted).
Fountain Grass.
The Pomegranate tree is blooming and producing fruits.
Pomegranate tree.
I have quite a few Yellow Bird Of Paradise Bush ll around my property which I constantly prune and shape. They are one of my favorite ornamental trees along with the Desert Willow.
Yellow Bird Of Paradise Bush.Desert Willow tree.
Once in a blue moon we have some unfortunate events going on around the garden. Today we found a damage on the irrigation tubing caused by either a thirsty gopher or Ground Squirrel. These rodents have figured out where things are around here and the are becoming quite sneaky. These Agave Ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ have all been dug out and relocated. The mature Agave was damage by a Gopher.
Tuesday night was so noisy and I barely slept. There were probably three to four stray cats going around the house and making weird noises by the windows.
I used to love my neighborhood and neighbors. I use to think our block was the best and had the best – and for a while it was so. Most of the folks we met here when we bought our home have either died, sold the home and moved or have become landlords. Nothing is the same and we are now surrounded by dishonest individuals; they put on a mask in public, but behind closed doors their true nature comes thru.
Although I do not own a pet, I am against all form of animal cruelty. I despise careless and abusive pet owners. Why get an animal when we can’t care for it properly? When we can’t guarantee it won’t become a nuisance to a neighbor? Just don’t do it because it’s wrong. The neighborhood is filled wit stray animals and it started about two years ago. I am not sure if lousy animal owners come and drop off their furry companions here or if perhaps to save face, some neighbors let the animals roam freely.
There’s a family in the neighborhood who lies a lot and who has been taking in cats and dog regardless of being told by the landlord not to do so. Our cameras have caught the animals as well as other irrefutable proofs we have, still they are set on the lies and deceits. How can people stoop so low? How can people deliberately ruin the peace of a neighborhood for their selfish needs? These people are always on the lookout, fearing that they will eventually get caught. I was told a story about a lady who was so guilty that one day, when she saw a car parked by her house, she immediately texted the landlord saying that she couldn’t go outside because she was sick. The landlord replied saying that she was at her home. This is exactly what I call ugly people, fake people.
Cat hair and damaged plants.
This morning I found cat hair everywhere in the yard as well as damaged plants. The poor cats are probably hungry and I do not have pet food. Besides, feeding one will attract the others and before I know it, they will all take refuge on my property.
Please, do not own pets if you are not serious about the responsibilities that comes along.
By JM Perez
