YARD UPDATES

[aimeekitty]

Got interviewed by LA WEEKLY regarding my artshow this weekend! Go take a look!

And again, for more info on the artshow, see this post or facebook RSVP.

Am officially sick today. Why you do this to me, body? WHY?
Dayquil totally makes me useless and loopy, too.

whatever, lets look at flowers. I keep meaning to post this, so I had it backlogged, anyway... FLOWERS IN MY YARD.


Here's the new babies I bought this past week.
I mostly bought wandflower, Golden Fleece (dyssodia tenuiloba), blue mountain (nierembergia hippomanica), snowland (leucanthemum paludosum... which perhaps I may be dermatalogically allergic to. OOPS.), penstemon, salvia, heatwave glitter sage (salvia greggii), Grosso Lavender, English Lavender and Thumbelina Leigh (dwarf) English Lavender. I liked the lavender that our initial installation gardeners put in,... but it was all French and Spanish, and to me, it's the Grosso and English that smells the most traditionally lavender. And it's all pretty drought tolerant and works well with roses.


Here's what the yard looks like now with most of the new plants put in.
This is my rose ghetto. I potted the bands up a bit to help them relax and then I'll plant them into the ground a little later. I'm planning to put some tall bearded reblooming irises in here, too. (I'm going to sow some perennial varieties of foxgloves and plant some spuria iris bulbs on the other side of the yard...)


You can see the new La France (Early Hybrid Tea climber 1893) rose on the back wall. La France was one of the first Hybrid Teas (1867)... but I got it because I like how it looks. This was a gallon plant... but look how big it is! I bet it's going to be a vigorous rose. Next to it you can see one of the irises from my mom, about to bloom!
That's rosemary in front of it. Tempted to move the rosemary forward a bit... I think La France has enough room, though. Hmm.


The next day... the iris bloomed! :D Isn't it beautiful?




My best idea in the past week, I think, is putting some short daisies and english lavender along the "path". They smell so good and define the path, more! Eventually, there will be a rose covered arbor there to GO TO, but for now, it is the path to NOTHING! :D You can see some penstemon, guara and nierembergia hippomanica in there, too.


PENSTEMON. YOU ARE THE BEST FLOWER. You come in my favorite colors of deep pink, light pink and cobalt. You are a perennial, you are drought tolerant and hummingbirds love you... and you have that romantic look that I love.




Also pretty rad is Chinese Foxglove. Looks kinda like foxglove,... but is more drought tolerant, not biennial and has babies. Probably will not be invasive in our hard clay soil, but I'll watch it.






cl. James Galway (David Austin) is sprouting more!


Sydonie (Damask Perpetual 1847)


My other roses, about to bloom. These were planted about 2-3 months ago as bareroots from DA
cl. Eden


Sombreuil (large flowered climber, approx 1880?)




William Shakespeare 2000 (David Austin)


A tiny tiny found china rose called Martha Gonzales. (cute story around it!) This was a free plant from Longagoroses.com


Does anyone know what this mystery rose is?






BABY SEEDS! I'm going to have to separate them soon. This pot is like way more happy than all of the rest of them, it's so funny! These are from Jocelyn.


One of the Moonvines from my mom finally sprouted!


One of my poppies that grew from seed is about to bloom!
SINGLE WHITE POPPY! :D


----------
IN THE FRONT YARD

Wildeve (David Austin)




Felicia (Hybrid Musk, prior to 1926)

Comments

[braisinhussy.livejournal.com]

Irises! ♥ They're my favorite.

Rosemary took over my parents' backyard.

[calalillith.livejournal.com]

Love seeing you garden.. *love* your roses.. feel better!

[citrusgoldfish.livejournal.com]

i think a mint plant would be nice!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

mint's invasive!
(are you trying to trick me? :) )
but I do have one in a pot.

[stormyheart]

I <3 you for planting native Penstemon. Not only do hummingbirds love it, so do butterflies and native bees (don't worry, they're usually not aggressive like honeybees). And many of the Penstemon species sure are pretty too.

It looks like you've got a pretty good idea what you want for your garden, but if you need any more recommendations for the hummingbirds let me know! This is the kind of thing I do for a living :)

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

thanks! :)
I'm really trying to use as many drought tolerant or native plants as possible, barring, of course, the roses, sakura and irises. :) And even the roses I chose are ones that supposedly do well in heat. So once they are established they should require less water.

As long as the natives, etc, are in shapes and colors that I like, I don't see why I shouldn't use them. Penstemon are just as beautiful as snapdragons and they take less water and come back the next year. It saves me money on water and plants... the hummingbirds, butterflies and bees, as you said, like them, and they're more likely to live well and look beautiful.
It would be foolish of me to plant a ton of tender plants (especially annuals) that need a ton of water. They'd just end up looking bedraggled in the end anyway. :)

I did a lot of research on http://www.bewaterwise.com/ and also I take my Sunset Western guide with me when I shop to make sure that most of the varieties I buy are drought tolerant and like my zone.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

thanks man!

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Lovely!

[citrusgoldfish.livejournal.com]

well yea in a pot. I just remember growing up and my mom had mint everywhere in the yard with tiny pink roses and lavender. was a lovely combo.

[stormyheart]

Going drought-tolerant is a wise move indeed! It sounds like you pretty much already know what you're doing. We always tell people to plant native species since they're adapted to the climate and won't require extra watering/fertilizer/etc. Drought-tolerant species (which may or may not be native) are basically going for the same idea, though often without the added wildlife value.

All my friends will tell you I'm a bit of a natives freak, but as long as you're not planting invasive species (like butterfly bush) in your yard, there's really no harm, and you'll be enjoying what you plant cos you wanted them there :)

www.wildflower.org is a great place for finding native recommendations for your region, and it's relatively easy to navigate. Each species's page should list its water needs, though I'm not sure about the drought tolerance.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

yeah, I have a list of criteria that makes it a little difficult to find suitable plants, because even if they are native, they may not be low-water, or they may not be the type of color I like. I really don't like orange or bright red that much, for starters.

I think Chinese Houses are adorable, (and are almost only found in CA) but they need more water than I like.
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/species.php?id_plant=COHE

I just got some Phacelia campanularia (SO COOL)

I already have Coreopsis calliopsidea on my list, but haven't found some at my local nurseries yet. or some Layia glandulosa instead.

Erodium texanum is kinda awesome. I'll have to find some. A geranium that would do well here, fabulous.

I also really want Trichostema lanatum (HOW CUTE IS THAT. and it likes CLAY.)

I already wanted to plant some Lupinus... I really want to find out what the variety is growing wild up the hill near my Target. Cause it's obviously happy with no care. :)

sadly Rhododendron occidentale doesn't do well in my SW zone and needs to much water, but very cool!