Good Morning! Theodore is gone with the car, taking it to be diagnosed by Witt Lincoln-Mercury in Mission Valley. He'll be brought back by the shuttle in an hour or so.
I am here at a loss as to how best to use this alone time. I think when I finish this post, I'll just walk through the house and bask in silence. I 'll have to turn off CNBC first, though. It is still blaring away in my left ear, behind me in this room.
I thought I'd tell you what's growing out in front of the house today. I ran down the list of wonderful plants in front of the garage, did I not? So let's get to the rest. As I stand at the front door, those plants cannot be seen. To my direct right is a large Cape Honeysuckle which is not a honeysuckle (cheval-feuille) at all. Cheval-feuille is goat's foot, which refers to the shape of honeysuckle leaves. This plant is a large bush with dark green leaves and brilliant orange tube-shaped flowers much beloved by the many hummingbirds and the few honeybees we have around here. It has a hard woody trunk due to being so old (planted with the building of the house, I'd guess) and cut back so much....tall thin branches come up out of the hard wood part. It is definitely not a native plant! In its same bed are three rosebushes planted by our former renters the Caballeros. They were languishing when we moved in here, but have been spectacular after my rose treatments which I shall delineate later on.
There were freesias, until this year, when no grasslike sprig of freesia foliage has reared its head. I think I know why. They often get pulled out by my zealous grasspuller, Taterton, and I guess he finally pulled out the last plant. I love the freesia over all bulbs because of its beauty and fragrance. These were all blue-violet or golden yellow. They even look beautiful when they dry out in the neglected vase. I love 'em.
There is quite a lot of kalanchoe, the small ground cover size, with red bloom. I like those in winter but not in spring or summer. There is a large onion-like lily sprung from I know not where (Caballeros?) with long curving stems on the blooms. The blossoms are cone shaped with multiple little white flowers that bloom in stages. Very striking and I like them.
There is a large coral tree which I had for years in a pot. We set it in the ground several years ago and it is now huge. It rarely blooms. This year I did not fertilize before the rains and that is always a mistake. No flowers at all this year. That is the centerpoint of the right side (from the porch view). Underneath that tree are pots of baby oak trees, white lily of the nile, white periwinkle, and white--oh, what are those flowers that are white with black-purple eyes? Those, anyway. I like white flowers under a shady area.
That area is more shady because of a conglomeration of cedars and junipers that we have trimmed and encouraged to arch over a dark area where the garbage cans are tucked away. The trees make us a shelter from the comings and goings of the Picazos, our neighbors on that side, who are generally as quiet as mice except for the constant car traffic going on there in the driveway. And in the trees is a brilliant blue plumbago, huge and airy and trailing and arching, which softens the lines of the cedar. In front of all at the street level is a large pink rose bush which I had transplanted and brought over from next door when we sold that house. That was the best bloomer and rose bush I ever could want. It's still feeling the shock of that move,now five years ago. But it's alive, and blooming periodically. And there's a little clump of verbenas in front of that too--bright pinky lavender in color.
Here is how I prune roses in Southern California. I can't vouch for how I'd do it elsewhere because I have never gardened in any other climate. In the fall I give it its most severe pruning, cutting the green stems way back down. I used to give the bushes a cold winter type pruning (bare sticks) but it is not necessary here. I do not fertilize at this time, but as the winter rains start, I do. This usually results in heavy growth and blooming from the refreshed rosebush. A lady taught me to always cut roses back to the five leaved part on the stem. So I go back that far, and, yes, they do bloom profusely by that process. Even on my little Caballero drugstore roses I get huge, crepe-papery cabbage roses by my method of pruning. The one out in front, the one that's suffering, puts out smaller roses now than it used to, but they are still beautiful pink and I usually leave them on the bush for show. I often cut the ones by the house, pink, yellow, or white, and bring them in a few at a time to look beautiful in the bathroom. The yellow is the most capricious bloomer. I do not know why. Anyway, I call my style of pruning, giving the rose a haircut. This probably wouldn't work in any other climate but it works for me. Aphids? I tap them off, pinch them off, or otherwise physically remove them. If things get bad I'll use a small spray of poison. My roses get earwigs and the caterpillars thereof. They roost inside a bud and dine from the inside out. Again, knock on any door and remove the offender personally and thoroughly. When all the blooms seem to die down and the bush looks straggly, I go through the haircut again, but on these subsequent trims I use fertilizer right after, and water profusely...It works. YAZZYBEL
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