{"id":92214,"date":"2019-08-09T23:15:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-10T03:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=92214"},"modified":"2019-08-09T23:15:47","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T03:15:47","slug":"views-of-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=92214","title":{"rendered":"views of August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Continuing with the year-to-year comparison…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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back garden in 2010<\/a>, (technically September), when a dwarf purpleleaf grapevine and fatshedera still climbed up the pergola, before it had a corrugated roof, right about where a passiflora with grape-like leaves was planted last week. Young tetrapanax, now tree-like, can barely be seen deep middle, just above the variegated agave. That was a killer Agave bovicornuta that I adored on the left. Then as now, also growing was manihot, tropical salvias, cordylines, etc. Upright branches belong to Cotinus ‘Grace’ whose hybrid vigor proved too much for a small garden so it was removed. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love plant-intensive gardens, planning them, planting them. I’ve learned a lot about spacing and air flow over the years, so the garden isn’t as dense as in previous Augusts, but I’m still just as plant crazy after all these years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the tetrapanax in 2019 tops the pergola. Evergreen fernleaf acacia replaced Cotinus ‘Grace.’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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August 2012<\/a>
looking east under the pergola, valerian, fabulous Senecio anteuphorbium and kangaroo paws in the foreground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2019, kangaroo paws replaced with the slipper plant, Pedilanthus bracteatus, with most of the planting reworked. (Wire baskets are used to protect young plants, in this case a small Aloe tomentosa.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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I’m not exactly practicing minimalism in 2019 either<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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New addition to the pergola, Passiflora vitifolila ‘Scarlet Flame<\/a>,’ a hybrid by the mysterious Patrick Worley, who’s responsible for another passiflora in the garden, the late-summer blooming ‘Witchcraft’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I still have the tendency to up-end things and throw a wrench in the garden, like a passion flower reputed to grow to 20-30′ — I’m hoping to train it up and then across the horizontal beams of the pergola, so the flowers dangle at eye level. But I’ve also developed more of a feel for a zone 10 garden that doesn’t slight the remaining months of the year in favor of one season over another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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August 2013<\/a>, perennial knotweed Persicaria amplexicaulis in the garden, that rare perennial that thrives in zone 10. Native to the Himalayas…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was crazy about knotweeds for quite a few years. Still am, actually, but I no longer grow them or many other perennials in the garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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variegated Polygonum orientale from 2010<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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August 2013<\/a>, a Southern Californian take on the plant-intensive “new naturalism”
Helicotrichon, anthemis, agastaches, persicaria, yarrow, crithmum. Along with other big grasses, that’s a Giant Reed, Arundo donax ‘Golden Chain,’ in the left background that we removed in the nick of time. So beautiful, so treacherously invasive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally, like in 2013, the garden was very summer-forward<\/em>. Working out the longest perennial show possible in zone 10 was incredibly absorbing but still left seven or eight months of nice weather with lots of bare ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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August 2019, annual knotweed Polygonum orientale (in a container)
Thank you for growing this rarely seen annual, M&M Nursery in Orange, Calif.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I still like to try out summer stuff in containers though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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dark-flowered Thunbergia alata getting trained up fishing wire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Senecio confusus requires a little more intervention to train up fishing wire but I’ve got high hopes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Then as now, manihots make lush growth for the dry garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Xanthosoma ‘Lime Zinger’ in 2010<\/a> when I plunged the pot into the garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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‘Lime Zinger’ 2019. In August the leaves develop more substance and become extra-velvety <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thinking small helps — a single pot of coreopsis can stand in as a microcosm for summer daisies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apart from garden styles and trends (“the new naturalism”), in a little home garden, balcony, sunny window, there is a wonderful freedom to simply celebrate that emotional connection to the plants themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Calif. native Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another agapanthus planted in July (the hottest month on record), ‘Purple Delight’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Living surrounded by these once-in-a-universe masterpieces is a privilege that just never gets old. Hope you’re getting lots of garden time this August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continuing with the year-to-year comparison… I love plant-intensive gardens, planning them, planting them. I’ve learned a lot about spacing and air flow over the years, so the garden isn’t as dense as in previous Augusts, but I’m still just as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-nZk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92214"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92214"}],"version-history":[{"count":125,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92342,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92214\/revisions\/92342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}