Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Who Planted This?
I swear, I can't remember planting these beautiful irises, although I do have a vague recollection of a sweet woman dropping off a rhizome as a gift (that is a wonderful thing that happens when you garden in your front yard - other plant enthusiasts will thank you for your neighborhood beautification efforts with gifts from their gardens)
I'm certain I have the freeze to thank for these lovely flowers. Irises all over Los Angeles are as pouf-y and colorful as debutantes at a cotillion - it seems that a little cold does them good. In my garden, however, so much was killed and subsequently cleared that I think room was made for the sun to reach the hidden treasures.
I love mixing frilly flowers with hard-edged succulents, but somewhere along the way the agaves and aloes have crowded out the roses and daisies. This growing season, I'm going to focus on bringing back the balance to my front garden - I don't want it to be a purely macho experience.
By the way, does anyone have a suggestion for garden gloves? I can't find any I like; they're all so thick and clumsy. I'm keeping up the search, but if anyone has the perfect pair, don't hold out on me!
That's such a lovely way of looking at the freeze, Ivy!
I'm coming to the realization that the freeze wasn't the life-changing disaster I thought it was at first. I'm starting to see that even the plants I thought were gone for good are showing signs of a comeback! Gardening makes you re-evaluate your assumptions all the time - I love that.
Unlike my other fashion choices, in gardening gloves I go for cheap in quantity over expensive in quality. I have a good pair of work gloves for hefty chores and otherwise, I go through three or four pairs of those basic $4 cotton gloves that look like you dipped your palms and fingers in rubber. I don't even know who makes them but I get them at the nursery or hardware store. I find they last longer if I keep them indoors versus just tossing them anywhere ouside to face the elements alone.
Another thing: don't bother with gauntlet-style gloves for the thorny stuff. They're overpriced, and by the way, a little cortisone cream makes the scratches go away in half the time (a good tip for parents of kittens).
I'm bummed that only one of my three irises seems to be thriving right now. I bought all three from the same place at the same time (shout-out to World Wide Exotics in Lakeview Terrace). But I agree that I'm seeing great iris shows all over So Cal. Just not in MY yard...grr.
Philosophically, to me this freeze is like nature's urban renewal project for plants. I lost a Traveler's Palm (Google tells me it's Ravenala madagascariensis), one wimpy Iochroma (thanks to the gardener's mistake in pruning it), and I'm not sure the Euphorbias will bounce back though people say they will. All in all, we've been fine.
I think because I'm in a normal suburban SFV lot (7600 sf or so), many things were protected by the house or concrete block walls. Score one for suburbia, I guess.
Omigod, if I'd lost a Traveller's Palm I might have had to stop blogging for a while. Those are so beautiful, Suasoria - how lucky you were to have had one at all! And you are on to something with the protection suburbia provides your garden - the suburban micro-climate is a powerful thing; I think my large stand of bamboo is alive because it was planted between my house and a fence.
I can't believe anything purchased from Worldwide Exotics didn't perform - but you know, sometimes plants get sulky. Ken and Shelly are great, aren't they? I bought my first Brugmansia from them...
You make sense about the gloves - I just hate not feeling the soil, but I have to keep my hands clean. I was going to invest in those new neoprene garden gloves that look like a wet suit. But now that you mention it, spending that much sounds silly. I'll take a second look at the cheap rubber finger-dipped hardware store variety. Thanks! You're a good garden pal -
I was enticed by a recent article about planting tons of bearded irises in beds and have been considering doing so but I heard recently that the blooms are very short lived. It also seems like the foliage takes up lots of precious planting space? What can you tell me about them?
Hi Karyn - this is a great question because it touches on a major planting philosophy. I believe that planting masses of any one kind of plant makes for an unhealthy garden, as well as a pretty boring one. Your instinct tells you that if you plant a bed full of irises, you'll only have flowers for a month or so, and then you're stuck looking at green strappy foliage. However, if you take that same bed and fill it with lavender, white shrub roses (NOT HYBRID TEAS), Chocolate Mint scented geranium, and red fountain grass in addition to your irises, you have an amazing garden that gives you flowers all season long! Not only that, but a variety of plants attracts more beneficial insects, which makes for a more organic garden. I think I have to do a whole post on this topic - I could go on and on!