Today is the last moderate day for the next while, with the temperature rising to 90 degrees tomorrow. I spent an early morning hour pulling Bermuda grass out for the aptenia patch and trimming off the dead shoots. The aptenia is much healthier than at this time last year.
I also spent time digging out thistle just below the retaining wall outside the breakfast nook window. I thought fireplace ashes would render the soil infertile, but apparently thistle will root and grow anywhere.
This year’s prize petunia is already blooming – blood red flower with an yellow center. Quite an eye catcher.
The unidentified succulent in the Back Porch Border Garden has long slender shoots with buds taht mature into deep purple-pink buttercup flowers. Some of both at this point of the season. The ivy in that garden trailed out of the pot and has rooted itself into the ground.
The ice plant on the back slope continues to flourish, a combination of cherry red and hot pink. I supplemented water to the sections that were dry and that only recently came back into full sun. Even the sparse areas on the ice plant strip nearer the Citrus Box are at least blooming.
I hauled out the loppers to remove dead branches from the lemon tree, perhaps a little too enthusiastic. The soil in the Citrus Box is moist, and the lime tree has abundant growth again this year.
To my delight the lewisia now has multiple blooms. I weeded that bit of succulent garden in the back.
I pruned back the Saint John’s Wort by half to keep it from encroaching on the Mexican heather and the Martha Washington Geranium in the Large Box. The dianthus is full and thriving, and the transplant can now be called a success. The heucheras is also daily joy with its long tendrils and scarlet blooms. The huecheras in Oakland has black and white polka dot blooms, just for variety.
A Year at the Snake 