Sierra Foothill Garden

First Views is a meme that Town Mouse started to show seasonal view of larger areas
of your garden, rather than more focused photos of certain plants. She has a Mr Linky widget on her page so others can enjoy this idea, and add links to their blogs. Please visit her page to see her views and add yours: October First Views (Town Mouse)

In California’s ‘Fifth Season’, what Judith Larner Lowry calls the time between August and October, the iron hardy tarweed blooms and sets seed in our fields, there’s no hope of rain and most everything has bloomed and dried.  The primary color is yellow.

After the Rudbeckia fades, after the wildflowers have seeded, the bright yellow tarweed seeds are beginning to attract the goldfinches by the hundreds. The oak trees are filled with them and the raucous Acorn Woodpeckers and Scrub Jays compete for the most noise. The low chirp of the quail bubbles up every afternoon and the deer appear,…hungry.

I’m delighted to see that the deer grass above  has throw off several babies and those can be transplanted further out this Fall.

During these last summer months and September, indicative of this ‘fifth season, ….until today, ….has been without rain, and the hand watering has grown to be a chore hopefully ending with today and tomorrow’s rain storm. I’m ready to go on to the next season of Autumn and begin planting bulbs which are waiting in their box, arrived last week. 

We’ve had a last barbeque with all our friends and it’s seems time to make soup and put away summer worn out gardening jeans.

In the garden, I’ve tamed the monster Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ into a tree form with loppers cleaning up the lower two feet so sun can allow plants to grow underneath. It now also reveals the rustic ‘fence post’ fence I haven’t seen for a year. Last year, I thought I had it trimmed enough, but it will grow big, to 15 feet!

This year I planted three more, C. thyrsiflorus ‘Skylark’ but further out around the natural meadow where they can attain their natural size and shape.

 The mulliein from last month has been cut down and new early rosettes are forming here and there in the garden.  I’ll keep the ones in nice places, such as this one by the steps.

Most everything that needed trimming back has been done, the Euphorbia (carefully, using eye protection), the Shasta daisies I have left, Black-eyed Susans, Salvia, Penstemon, Lamb’s Ears, Yarrow, Lavender, Santolina and Artemisia, Redtwig Dogwood,…all cut back and neatened for Autumn.

Current and “Coming soon” bloomers: The new Anemones ‘Pamina’ have bloomed, the Asters budding and the Copper Canyon daisies are surprises that sit and wait until November.

Reading: The Landscaping Ideas of Jays by Judith Larner Lowry