Progress

of sorts. Once again I find I am digging my way out of the backyard disaster - Last year it was stripped and clear and ready for sod, and we didn't do it and now it is growing in, the nice clover has dried out in the heat and been replaced with what I call knotweed, with berry vines and tall grass, too tall to cut with the mower, a job for the weedeater. Not as bad as it was last year prior to the stripping, but on its way.

I have control over a small area, and I am starting from the deck and moving out. With a hoe, shovel and rake. At this point, my plan is to clear out the edges, and get the Nursery landscapers in to take care of stripping the center, laying the sprinkler system, putting in the perimeter (sidewalks or mowing strip) and laying sod.

THEN, it will be done and be a simple matter of mowing, something I used to be able to keep under control.

THEN, I can tackle each of the side areas, the garden by the greenhouse, the area a round the playset, the back area where the secret garden will someday go, and little by little, it will become what I have envisioned and planned for.

Today, I re-cleared the area which will be a patio just below the deck where the firepit and chairs will sit. I bought benderboard (expensive sh-t) and blocked it off.

The skies are still hazy from smoke, though it seemed the inversion layer lifted late in the day and we actually had clear blue sky. Temps up to 80 in the shade again. No records were set.

What's blooming? - roses, the styrax, watsonias are about done, poppies, daylilies, passionvine, the mockorange... crocosmia is starting...

(Update: I got sidetracked and it got away from me again, so I'm digging it out AGAIN, years later)

Beauty.

I have Pink jasmine planted all over. Climbing fences, on the shed... evergreen, flowers profusely, smells amazing.
from Wikipedia: Jasminum polyanthum is well-known as a house plant in the USA and Europe. It can also grow in the garden, when climate conditions are good. USDA hardiness zones: 8 - 11. It grows fast and easy and flowers nicely[1]. Outside it can be used to cover walls and fences etc. It can grow in sun and light shade as well. It is propagated by seed and by suckers. Jasminum polyanthum was given the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the RHS in 1993[2]. It was chosen on the Bicentenary list of 200 plants for the RHS: “This popular houseplant is an easily-grown, evergreen, half-hardy climber with loose panicles in summer of many strongly-fragrant pink-backed, white, trumpet-shaped flowers. It does not suffer pest or disease problems and is simple to propagate.”[3]

I wouldn't have believed that at first, then one day I found I had a bunch of layered rootings in the bark around the kids play structure, which was cool, because it meant a bunch of baby jasmine for friends...now a few years later as I am weeding I find not only layered rootings but what resembles extensive electrical wiring - like cables funning along the fence line, just tons and tons of shooting runners, very difficult to control. I don't know if it's just due to benign neglect, and that if you stayed on top of it you wouldn't have this problem, or whether it is, as they say, hugely invasive.

I still love it, it's just not as simple to control either the top growth or the runners as it seems at first.

Nice and hot.

Still hazy smokey, but 80 degrees in the shade. (I know it sounds cool to you when it it 114 in some areas, but this is really hot for us.

Matilija Poppy, The Fried Egg Plant

(Romneya Coulteri, native to California) Looks like crepe paper, absolutely beautiful huge blooms. This one's still in the pot, thinking of planting it near the deck because I want to SEE it - AND they are very fragrant, I hadn't realized that before. I have another one planted in the far back, and it has migrated under the fence into the alley, so near the deck might not be such a good idea. A little further out...
Care - Once established, Matilija poppy doesn't need fertilizing or extra water.
Cut old stems back to the ground in late spring using bypass pruners. Propagate by dividing the rootball or, from seed; direct sow outdoors in fall. Bag seedheads to capture ripening seed. Allow pods to dry on plant; break open to collect seeds.
Interesting note, though - Very much a Fire plant, this native of dry, California canyons is often found in burned areas. These seeds are a challenge to germinate. Since this plant's seeds are triggered to germinate by smoke, one way to get them to germinate faster is to sprinkle them lightly with moist soil, cover that with pine sawdust, and light the covering (don't use any accelerants). Burning that continues for at least 15 minutes is best. Water when the fire is out to wash the smoke chemicals down to the seeds, since it is the smoke rather than the fire that induces germination. A less effective way is to burn pine sawdust, mix it with potting soil, moisten, and plant seeds in this mixture. A third method is to smoke the planting medium with burning pine sawdust.

Passion flower!

Homegrown, no attribution necessary. Planted a couple of weeks ago. Need to train it up the fence.

A few years later and it has taken over. Covered the fence, and climbing up the house. Going to cut it back severely. See what happens. It's beautiful, though. Lush and the flowers are awesome.

Cutting back the jasmine has been a massive undertaking, it has sent out cables almost the entire length of the property.