The Yucca didn't make it. After getting thrashed in a winter storm back in January or December it developed some kind of moldy disease on the trunks, so I took it out. C'est la vie. I've got an orange Canna waiting in the garage for the spot. Also, I think the purple sage it was hanging over will like the full sun now.

Also, I moved the America Rose (one last time!) to the Kitchen Garden, to the corner spot. It's really he best kind of place for a climbing rose like that - it has lots of wall to climb and is a southern exposure that gets most of its sun in the first half of the day.

I got rid of the last of the roses on the western wall - the Peace Rose. It just wasn't right there. I read recently that no rose is happy on a west-facing wall because they stay shaded and wet in the morning and then get burned all afternoon. Yep, that was the way they were.

I'm keeping the Icebergs in their spots for now - they're disease-resistant (sort of) and once the walls are painted a light color, they might feel more at home. If I have to move them I will, but for now it's a wait and see. I had moved the small pretty pink rose on the west wall to the other side of the IG, free-standing, so we'll see. He's all that's left of the previous owner's rose plantings. That's four rose bushes in total.

The IG is really beginning to take on more of a Grecian look, with the dry pebbles on the ground and the plantings still small so they look like specimens. I like it.

I brought the red geraniums that I have been overwintering for the first time. They were putting some flowers on (albeit they were coming out hot pink instead of red), despite the fact that there were bare rooted (not in soil)! They're sitting happily now in some soil with some fertilizer and I am expecting to see them get really big this year. I think I will plant them in white pots for contrast.

Spring Cleaning and Preparation

The weather has been so mild, so good - it's time already to clean and prepare the hardscape because bulbs are already coming up and so are vines (hops are budding and Sweet Autumn Clematis is FINALLY established and beginning to show good growth). The tweeking continues, to make this garden feel as Mediterranean as possible.

So I'm painting the arbor and its fence cream to match the trim on the house and to brighten the garden and banish the darkness from that corner. I need some beautiful creamy walls to grow elegant vines against. I started priming yesterday.

That top spot is going to be hard to get.

I'm not sure if I'm going to paint the door or not. I will leave it undone at first because I want to see if I can end up with an impression like this:

White walls, wood door. We'll see.

The weather has been so mild (January!) that I decided to move the 2 Meyer Lemons outside into the little greenhouse. I read somewhere that they are actually hardy down to 26 degrees, so I thought I'd give it a go. They are definitely not happy in the kitchen where it is too warm and dry. I moved them out about a week ago and so far, they seem happy.

 

 

I also removed the 5 tiny lemons growing on the larger one. The branches are still too green to support much weight and it just seemed like it would make more sense to sacrifice them now for better. stronger branch growth.

January Growth

The very mild day temperatures have produced some growth in the I.G. I took these today - just January 20th.

Baby Lamb's Ears

Out with old Iris stalk; in with a new one

New green on a Grosso lavender plant

Lupine "Galleria Yellow" made it through the winter!

Iceberg Rose sending out shoots

Lilacs

Peace Rose

Spring in January

The weather so far has been amazing. Night time temps go down into the 30's and 40's but the daytime temps have been been close to 50 degrees everyday. Some rain, but also plenty of spring-like sunny days. I've been taking pictures of the many faces of our west view toward the sound.

New Year's Day: Frost, Freeze and Sun

The new year - the fourth since the beginnings of this garden - has started off super cold and sunny. Beautiful! I am reminded of one gardener's advice to enjoy the frost because it kills off bacteria, slugs and fungus and makes what would otherwise be mucky soil walkable.

I took a few pictures around the yard and garden this morning, to show how things are getting along in the cold.

Baby Italian Cypress

Baby Italian Stone Pine

The Italian Garden viewed from the arbor

Baby sweet bay 

One of the recently planted Little Ollies

Skyrocket Juniper

View of the Italian Garden toward the arbor

Front yard facing west