120429 - Delphiniums

Yesterday afternoon, I took this video of the delphiniums at the bottom, left of the terraces, where you can also see cala lilies, red California poppies, ranunculus, bachelor buttons, snapdragons and echeveria in bloom.

Some of the dephinium flower stocks are two feet long.

1110 - Echeveria

A section at the top, left of the terraced gardens was purposely left at a steep angle, and it was here that Phil planted mostly succulents, which require excellent drainage.

These echeveria have all grown from one cutting stuck into the ground near the brick used to slow down soil erosion from the terraces above.

1106 - Terraced Gardens

June, 2011 turned out to have strange weather: a few drizzly days at the start of the month followed by a week or so of record heat, which was in turn put out by a sudden drop in temperature and a full day and night of steady rain.

I took this photograph a few days before the record heat transformed the gardens. I especially like the foxgloves and bachelor's buttons in bloom.

Last year, we planted the pink-and-white penstemon near the top of the terraces, and it has grown more than ten times in size.

1103 - Poppy

In early March, between downpours that seemed to last for days, I photographed this poppy blooming at the top of the gardens.

It is a hardy perennial that has been in the gardens since we were first able to reach this area after terracing the hillside five or so years ago.

110214 - Heart of Hearts

On Valentine's Day, Phil arrived home from work after the sun had set, so I gave him a flashlight when I led him into the backyard.

I also gave him a little heart on a stick, telling him it was a clue. He was confused in the dark for a moment or two, then shined the flashlight around and spotted the trail of hearts leading up the terraces.

At the top, he found a little box inside the heart of hearts.

In the box was the hanging vase that we've since put up in the kitchen window.

Phil says he likes the hanging vase and was surprised by the treasure hunt.

On the other hand, as you can see in one of the photographs, Tac was clearly underwhelmed.

Nursery

Here you can see growing inside the nursery Phil made for Christmas, 2007, six packs of canterbury bells, winter sweet peas and stock. The columbines planted in the six pack to the far right haven't come up yet.

The bottom row has two pots with clarkia, which readily reseeded itself from fall, 2008. Out of view are six little pots containing a red echium each. These are the descendants of the nine-foot-tall mammoth, commonly called "Tower of Jewels," which grew in the fride (FRont sIDE) garden in 2008.

The second photograph shows the view of the terraced gardens from the nursery. Everything's pretty much dormant or growing steadily for a spring show. The fountain works rather well now, though there's still a leak somewhere.

Phil loves the cala lilies near the blue base of the waterfall.

The tinfoil you see hung from string is the most effective way I've found to scare birds out of the yard. It's a bit unsightly, but not nearly as bad as bird netting I used to string up like beleaguered tents across the backyard.

080428 - Gardens

I took several photographs of the gardens today to show how much they've changed in just a month or so.

In the winter, when it rains every day, I find it hard to believe the muddy beds will give way to such beauty.

07 Spring - Seaside Hollyhock

In early winter, 2007, a little plant appeared at the top of the terraces to the left of the stairs.

I thought it was a weed and was ready to pluck it, but Phil stopped me, suspecting it was some sort of hollyhock.

So, we took care of it and watched it grow over ten feet tall. It burst into bloom in late winter and was stunning all the way through that summer, when sky-blue sweet peas climbed over it and went in bloom.

07 Summer - Upper Terraces

These are two photographs from early summer, 2007, when the poppies to the right of the staircase were putting on a show.

The sky-blue sweet peas climbing the fence at the top of the hill were amazing, too.

07 Late Fall - Waterfall Views

These are three photographs I took of the waterfall on the same day late last fall.

Phil thought growing nasturtiums over the waterfall would look nice, especially when they were in bloom. But he's recently pulled up whole sections, since the plants grew very densely, blocking the view from the stairs of much of the terraced gardens.

I think the cacti were especially happy to say Bon voyage! to the nasturtiums, which had grown over them and blocked their afternoon sunlight.

In January, 2008, we had a terrific winter storm with hurricane-strength gusts. The wind shoved through that fence at the top of the terraces the huge cactus in its container, shattering both fence and container. It also bent upward the copper sconce draining water into the waterfall's blue basin.

We transplanted the cactus into a larger container and put it to the far left of the stairs, but left the shattered fence where it dropped. We're going to build a trellis there later this year.

The copper sconce hasn't worked properly since the storm, so Phil recently took it apart and is re-foaming it later this spring, when he plans to rework one section of the waterfall that has had a slow leak.

080306 - Terraced Gardens

I took this short video of the gardens this afternoon, when the sun was descending behind the evergreens southwest of our house.

I'll do a similar video in a month or so to show how rapidly the gardens change, as spring approaches.