The July Garden

 

Sheila's Delight - one of the three roses I grow

The summer months of July and August are not big months in the garden. The "show" happens in May and June whereas July and August can even look a little tired. Many plants are past their blooming prime and others are not quite there yet. But still, there is a lot going on and beauty could be found everywhere.

I always love looking from the fence toward our house - look at those shadows on the walkway! The Japanese Maple is doing really well this year. When I bought it, it was tiny and lived in a pot for many years. Finally, 12 years ago I planted it in this big tub after I had removed the bottom of it, so the roots can actually grow into the ground. The tree really took off after that. In July I also cut down the rhododendron that was next to it, and now the little tree can show off all its glory.

Hello Goodbye - the poppies were on their very last leg - usually they don't make it into July - and the California fuchsia (Epilobium 'Bowman's Hybrid') started blooming toward the end of the month. These flowers are exceptionally drought tolerant and display a spectacular color when in full bloom.

Last year my Drumstick Allium (Allium sphaerocephalon) didn't do much and left me underwhelmed, but this year was a completely different story. It bloomed for weeks and weeks and only toward the end of the month showed some signs of tiredness. 

I often have deer strolling through my front garden, leaving little presents. They also determine what I can and can't plant. Often they obviously don't get the message that they're not supposed to eat certain plants (these rascals even nibbled on my young olive tree).

The lavender was still going strong which surprised me since usually they're done by July. Not this year, when everything was at least two weeks late because of the colder than usual and extremely wet winter.

Some of the Echinacea was doing better than usual, some were a bit blah - they just do whatever they want and I'm fine with it as long as they don't die on me (which some of them did). Unfortunately, plants that do well in everybody else's garden do poorly in mine. The worst is milkweed - I never get it to grow. Last year I planted native milkweed that is supposed to do very well in California - but not in my garden. I tried so many times without any success or just tiny, tired plants, so now I've decided to just let it go and not try again. 

On the other hand, my Vitex agnus castus is outperforming itself this year. This variety is called "Sensational" and it sure lives up to its name. This is a wonderful small tree, drought tolerant and thrives on neglect. The deer don't like it either. I have three more of these, all at different stages of growth, and one white one. Behind it (in the left photo) you can see the "puffs" of the Smoketree.

Verbena bonariensis is a favorite of mine and also of the bees - doesn't need much summer water and creates a beautiful accent throughout the garden. It mingles with the blue bog sage (Salvia uliginosa) which despite its name is very drought tolerant.

Another favorite little tree is our native form of Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) which has a beautiful vase shape and gives shade to its surroundings. I don't pick the berries, but leave them for the birds or let neighbors pick them.

My goal is to have more of those trees (Elderberry, Agnus, Western Redbud) in my garden since they cool down the area and are just good for the environment. By now I'm getting more and more of those "woodland" parts in the garden. I was able to plant native Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) as well as Pacific Bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa, which goes dormant in the summer) and so far they have been doing well. I also love to see grasses like this Oriental Fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale) gently sway in the wind.

My tomatoes have been doing very well and I already harvested a good amount. This is "Sungold", a very sweet and delicious cherry tomato. I usually eat it right from the bush, but I also put it into salads. The native grape "Roger's Red" (Vitis californica) has developed into nice little grapes and I suspect veraison will happen pretty soon. That is always very exciting for me (don't ask me why).

In my eyes a California dry garden is not complete with one or two varieties of native Buckwheat. This is such an easy plant - after it got established in the ground you can forget it. It's not fuzzy about the soil, it doesn't want additional water, but it's happy if the flowers are cut back sometime in late autumn. It's popular with pollinators and I often see butterflies sitting on the tiny flowers. Red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens) on the left and St. Catherine's Lace (Eriogonum giganteum) on the right.

The tour through my July garden is coming to its end - I think we need something to drink. That's also required in order to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday where we all get drunk ... uh, show our drinks. Weißbier (also called Hefeweizen) is the perfect beer for summer. We were very happy to discover this Bavarian one at Costco, even though we would have prefered glass bottles. I guess we can't have everything. Anyway - Prost! Cheers! Santé! Sláinte! Salud! L'chaim! Ganbei!

I will take a break from blogging for a few weeks. I'm not quite sure when I will be back, but I expect to be here again sometime in September. I wish all of you sunny and happy summer days (or the arrival of spring if you're on the "other" side) and see you in the fall.

 

Dirt Trails by the Lake

 

This morning I went to the lake again. Most of you know how much I love walking at the lake and that I usually avoid the paved path as much as possible and prefer the dirt trails. About ten days ago I inhured my left leg while riding my bike; at the same time the sciatica (that I have had since I was a teenager) became more painful on my right side so that walking actually did hurt and I felt limited in my outdoor activities (I still walked but it wasn't quite that enjoyable).

Today was the first day that everything felt much better and of course I was off to the lake with the intention to hit the dirt trails again. I started out on the Fisherman's Trail which is an easy trail.

However, pretty soon I left it and ventured into rougher terrain - my prefered choice. After a couple minutes I spotted this California Quail (Callipepla californica) sitting on a tree stump. To my suprise he didn't fly away when I stopped and started to take pictures of him. Usually they're quite skittish and disappear in the bushes.

Next I discovered two deer relaxing away from the trail. Can you see them? They're not easy to spot. Look for those ears!

I was glad to see this sign:

For several years the park has "hired" sheep and goats for their vegetation management. Especially the goats are highly effective, they eat practically almost everything to the ground. I love this kind of natural wildfire prevention. Unfortunately there will be new rules that will probably make it more difficult for the businesses who offer this kind of environmentally friendly solutions. I quite don't understand why these new rules will be enforced, they make absolutely no sense to me and will only result in less "sheep and goat" businesses and higher prices. As far as I understand, these rules concern the shepherds (payment, benefits etc) which is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately the way it is done will not bring the desired results. In my opinion (that no one wants to hear anyway) we need more of these businesses and they should be financially supported (what about if all the big corporations would start paying their taxes? Then there would be money for these small businesses that actually do something good for our planet). But I digress...

I loved this tree with its big hole in front of the huge water tanks (our emergency water).

Purple and Yellow Star-thistles lined my way (Centaurea calcitrapa and Centaurea solstitialis) as well as old tree stumps.

And then I discovered a new trail! I couldn't believe it - I thought that after more than 20 years I know every trail by and near the lake, but I was obviously mistaken. New adventures are awaiting!

This is perfect terrain for rattlesnakes, so I better be cautious and look where I step (sturdy footwear is essential here). Instead of rattlesnakes (who were probably asleep under these rocks) I saw a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) "cleaning up" his plate which looked like a squirrel. He (or she?) also didn't mind me much which surprised me as well. I'm very fond of Turkey Vultures.

Another animal that didn't took off right away - a California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi). I can watch these little guys for hours.

I love this landscape so much - it is engraved in my heart and soul. It might look bare and very dry, even a bit hostile, but it is full of life. Our planet is so incredibly beautiful - and we have done such a lousy job taking care of it. 

Yesterday was the first supermoon in August - yes, there are two supermoons this month, it will be a super blue moon on August 30 (or a blue supermoon, take your pick). Yesterday's moon was a sturgeon supermoon. Did you see it? We had a rather cloudy sky thanks to the coastal fog a.k.a. marine layer. It made a dramatic photo.

What about dinner for Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date? A few weeks ago I found a recipe for sheet-pan chicken with zucchini and basil. It was easy and turned out very delicious. It was such a lovely evening that we had dinner in the garden. Of course, it was accompanied by a glass of cool rosé.