Once again it's time for the Tuesday View with Cathy at
Words and Herbs. Here is the South Border, early August.
The weather has been tough on the garden this past week. After a heavy dust storm, followed by a light rainfall, temperatures soared and everything dried out rather quickly. In fact, I think I depended too much on that rainfall and failed to get water to some plants when they needed it. The result of it all has been another round of plant losses, most importantly including Alyogyne huegelii, a structural plant in the South Border.
I'm a bit surprised at this one since the Alyogyne seems a sufficiently sturdy plant. But it was planted last winter; and although it has looked fairly good overall, I don't think it had fully settled in, and this summer has been particularly difficult for new plants. I do intend to replace it with another as I think it should be a good choice here in the long run.
Nearby, Perovskia atriplicifolia is holding its own, though not able to bloom much.
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| Sparsely flowered Perovskia with browned leaves of Alyogyne huegelii in front |
On the other hand, Iris "Clarence" is set to try blooming again.
Notice the buds on Leucophyllum frutescens also; hopefully it will soon be in bloom as well!
The rest of the border looks fairly good. The rosemary hedge has perked back up. And Lagerstroemia indica "Rhapsody in Pink" is in its summer glory, despite its small size.
One of the most noticeable changes as the year wears on is the lengthening stems on both the grasses. Pennisetum setaceum rubrum is now tumbling over the Catharanthus in front of it.
And finally, despite the weather, I decided to go ahead and plant one new addition: a very small one.
Melocactus azureus will be protected by the nearby miniature rose so I thought I could afford to slip it into the ground. As it had been blown clean out of its pot by last week's dust storm, I thought it was just as well to protect it from further indignities of that sort. I gave it a week without water according to the advice of desert gardening author Mary Irish (though I believe her recommendation applied chiefly to bare root cacti), and then gave it a little nook at the front of the border. It can just be seen under the rose bush.
It may not last very long here; apparently it is fairly cold-sensitive, which I didn't realize when I bought it. But I wanted to give it a try in the border as that was why I purchased it to begin with. I think it is pleased to be there for now after its adventures rolling around in the storm!
There is another chance for rain tonight...!
Weather Diary: Partly cloudy; High: 100 F (38 C)/Low: 84 F (29 C); Humidity: 29%-52%
The Pennisetum looks so lovely next to the pink Catharanthus. In fact it would probably look good with anything, I am becoming a great fan of grasses altogether. What a brave little iris! I always assumed all irises like damp ground! Good luck to your little cactus, and I do hope you get a drop more rain Amy. Thanks for joining me with your view again!
ReplyDeleteYes, the grasses are proving their worth in this border! I'm hoping to find more good choices for other parts of the garden. Irises actually come highly recommended for this climate - very much to my surprise also as they grew so well for me in my much-wetter first garden ;-) And a drop more is about what we've gotten, but thankfully temperatures have been a little lower... Thanks, Cathy!
DeleteI think Alyogyne does take its time to get established. I have 3 in my back border, all of which were looking peaked until I upped my irrigation schedule. My neighbors have several plants along the street which seem to have only hit their stride this year, after 4 or more years in the ground.
ReplyDeleteI hope the promised rain arrives this evening!
Thanks for the input on Alyogyne, Kris! I must have let it go too far before I realized. This has been a bad summer for establishing plants! We've had only a smattering of rain here, but temps dropped nicely -- and humidity went up! Oh well, that's better for the plants... ;-)
Deletelovely soft, natural textures in that last image, Amy. I am enjoying all these garden views which make me think I should share more blog posts from my own garden but have been so busy working in other people's gardens recently to have time to work in my own. Ah well, such is the life of a gardener!
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you find a chance to start posting from your own, would love to get some glimpses at least ;-) I'm sure you make a fabulous gardener for others as you are so conscientious and have an eye for details, but I hope you'll get some enjoyable time in your own too...!
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