the violence of summer
23/09/2008
Summer is officially over, and this is the second Autumn I’m spending here. Strangely, in SF, autumn (or Fall like they call it) is the hottest season. The hottest months in the year for my area is August, September and October, like an Indian Summer, if you will.
Taking full advantage of the healthy sun and mild weather, I decided to get a move on my Fall planting in the backyard.
I’ve been meaning to do something in the backyard for a while, but something or another would get in the way. It’d be too cold to go outside, or by the time I cleared the inside of the house I had to clear the weeds that overran in the garden, or I had visitors when the weather was great and I would rather be shopping or sight-seeing.
I have to plan a little more carefully for the winter this year, now that I’ve the time in the world and the backyard to talk about. I don’t want to do another massive backyard clearing again, and I really want it to look nice and colourful to outdo my neighbour Snoop. The neighbours on the other side, The Curlies, have a gardener who comes in almost once a week, so it’ll be hard to compete with that garden. The Curlies also have a super lush and green backyard, which probably means a lot of water. I’m not exactly the water-everyday type, so my plants are mostly the drought resistant type.
Anyway, the terraces in the backyard have been sorta cleared, and space earmarked for different plants. I’ve cleared a patch right in the middle for the bulbs – some Hyacinth, tulip and probably some flowering annual in between. Around the sides of that, I’ve planted the Lavender Hidcote seedlings intersperced with some native wildflower seeds. I’ve set aside a windy row for some red sunflowers later on (though those should’ve been planted in Spring, so I might plant the hyacinths there instead).
On the slopes, we’ll have some helleborus. Those fellas are supposed to be super drought and cold resistant, so it’ll be ok at the edge of the backyard where I can’t really reach them. Will be happy if they grow wild too, cos I hate that disgusting Nasturtium that creeps over from Snoop’s. I hate that smell it gives off when I chop it off too. I just hate that plant.
I’m also expecting a batch of Autumn Crocus, though I’m not exactly sure what to do with it yet. Perhaps I’ll divide them out and plant some indoors too. I’m thinking my bulb plot might be a little lonely, since I’ve only earmarked the tulips and hyacinths to be there. I’ll need some summer flowering plants there too or I could pop the dwarf lavender around the area I guess. Ergh, I don’t have enough seedlings then, I wanted the lavender for the window sill.
Once I settle the plants outside, I should be able to just leave them to do their thing, with regular watering, though, and concentrate on the plants indoors. Am going to try to container garden indoors for the winter, and will be starting with a succulent patch.
Altogether a pretty productive day.
