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Past Gardening Photos |
This
photo shows the garden from the kitchen doorway. There is a semicircle of lawn
which is bordered by old brick. This leads into a brick-paved herb garden which
is backed by a low stone wall. A bay tree and a Yucca are planted at the back
corners.
The next photograph shows the view
from the other side of the low
stone wall. A Juniperus horizontalis and a Grevillea rosmarinfolia
are planted below the Yucca gloriosa
The following scene features a low
triangular stone bed which is planted up with Cycas revoluta and
what I think is a member of the
Cereus
family--"Torch" or "Column" cactus. Unfortunately both plants are thriving
and one or the other will have to be moved.
This is a view of tiered stone beds which run along the west side of the back garden and end by a trellis which is covered with Asarina. The adjoining arch used to be covered with Bouganvillea glabra and a Pyrancantha coccinea. Both plants were recently removed because of the constant need for pruning to keep it within such a confined space. The asarina has proved to be a huge success for quickly covering the trellis. A solution for the arch is still wanting.
This past summer was perfect for the garden The raining season lasted until the end of May and the summer was not marked by excessively high temperatures or endless drying winds.
An annual Morning glory
adorns one of the arches. Their lovely display was
enjoyed
from early morning until lunchtime.
,A second trellis was covered by a
lovely half hardy perennial,
Asarina
scandens also known as the 'Twining Snapdragon'. It grows to 12 feet on a
delicate vine. It self seeds within limits the following year.
The other side of this trellis boosts an early
flowering Clemantis. As long as
its roots are growing in the shade, this type of vine thrives under the local
growing conditions.
Echinacea purpurea, the purple
cone flower, is a perennial which blooms
from early summer to late fall. It then dies back only to come up the
next year.
Lagerstoemia
indica or Crape Myrtle is a large bush or small tree bearing profuse
crinkled late summer flowers.
Here you can see the blue Salvia
farinacea growing side by side to the
red Salvia coccinea
As usual the Aubrieta made a stunning
display during the months of
April
and May. Here it is growing amongst the paving stones.
This garden hybrid Cytisus is a
drought tolerant deciduous shrub
which puts on a beautiful display for weeks during the spring with its
pale pink pea-like flowers. Here it can be seen growing in a raised stone
bed, backed by a new white wall.
Growing beneath it is a Juniperus horizontalis. The graceful trunk
of the Yucca can also be seen.
This
photograph boasts the common lilac, Syringa.vulgaris, It grown next to a
raised stone bed which will soon be adrift with color from the verbenas,
purple cone flowers and the red and purple salvias .
Here is a picture of a section of the
garden taken in early March.
The
dark mass in the center is a bay tree. To the right is the deciduous
Ailanthus altissima
a.k.a. the Tree of Heaven. To the left is the deciduous spiny-branched
Punica granatum a.k.a. Pomegranate. The daffoldils are in full
bloom and Euphorbia myrsinites has self seeded below the low stone
wall.
One of the stone beds hosts a ground
hugging pink moss verbena,
the perennial, yellow flowering Alyssum.montanum and the purple
flowering Verbena.rigida which self-seeded in a gap between the wall and
paving.
A successful combination is created when
the pink wax pelargoniums, growing
in
a stone bed, blooms at the same time as the white dianthus growing directly
below in a gap in the paving.
Another interesting corner is formed by the
variegated
Euonymus japonicus which grows behind the Tulbaghia--wild garlic.
Out of all the plants I sowed this
winter, the purple ageratum proved
the
most hardy and thrives in a gap between the stone
wall and paving.