Tuesday View

This week's look at the South Border proves two things: I finally pulled out the last of the Oenothera which had become an eyesore in the middle of the bed, and in its absence a lovely head of pale pink bloom can be seen from the Crape Myrtle behind.

Lagerstroemia indica "Rhapsody in Pink" (with such beautiful flowers, why not wax poetic with the name?!) is still quite small...

 ...but it is bursting with flowers at last.

For this week's Tuesday View, I am also including a shot of the lower part of the border, on past the Pennisetum.  The bottom of the South Border is dominated by Eremophila maculata "Valentine".  This wonderful shrub is not particularly showy at this time of year.  In winter the foliage takes on a deep, smoky hue, and, of course, in spring the bush explodes into bloom.  Just at present it has a few wan flowers dotted here and there.

With fantastic spring bloom from Eremophila and Penstemon parryi, this end of the border is at its best early in the year and clearly needs some work to make it more interesting later.  I added Salvia leucantha "Santa Barbara" (just visible in front of the Eremophila and behind a blur of Gaura in the photo below; I was shooting through the Central Bed).  When the Salvia finally takes hold, its bloom season should extend the interest.  And when I finally have Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) growing up and over the area, it will also provide some summer bloom and structure.  Its spot is back behind the Eremophila, where it can arch over the border and the rosemary hedge behind it.

In an earlier post I mentioned that the Chilopsis planted there last autumn had succumbed to overwatering.  More recently I've discovered it is putting out a new set of leaves.  So it looks like perhaps I will not be replacing it.  I'm in two minds about this since I would have used a larger plant this time and hopefully gotten shade a little faster.  But the one I originally planted is a deep pink/purple flowered cultivar (Chilopsis linearis "Lucretia Hamilton") and so a bit special.  They are said to be fairly fast-growing little trees, so I will just try to encourage it nicely and see what happens!

Joining again with Cathy at Words and Herbs for this weekly view of a single spot in the garden, which encourages me to focus much more directly on this area.

Weather Diary: Fair; High: 108 (42 C)/Low: 86 F (30 C); Humidity: 8%-25%