Multi-Tier Showcase

One of the highlights on our side yard (a project which we just started early this year) - featuring some of our favorites in a multi-tier floral display - from Hibiscus (Top tier - above the head) to Fuchsia (Middle tier - eye level) to Hydrangea (Lower tier - below the waistline) and Gardenia (at the corner end), and finally, the evergreen ivy (ground level) along the brick border.  The Hibiscus (long white trunk shown on the right and a newly planted one in the middle) can grow over 10 ft.  During the hot summer, it helps provide dappled sunlight and shade to the Fuchsias and Hydrangeas - at the same time they're loaded with big double blooms.  In the winter, we trimmed out the branches to provide more sun.  We maintained the upright Fuchsias (against the wall) to about 5-6 ft tall so the blooms are within eye level.   The Hydrangeas get full sun in the morning and shade from the Fuchsias and Hibiscus during summer.  This photo was taken in December 2012.  Can't wait for next summer when all four (including the fragrant white Gardenia) start blooming at the same time!

BULBS

FREESIAS

This is one of the earliest bulbs to blooms during the winter months (around February).  They just keep mutiplying by themselves year after year.  They provided colors and fragrance when the roses and hydrangeas are dormant.  Next in line to bloom are the Dutch bearded iris (right behind the white and red freesias).

IRIS

Once the freesias are done, the Dutch bearded irises took over.  They started blooming during spring (March and April) and put up a spectacular show in front of the house.

GLADIOLAS

One of our favorite spring bulbs that blooms right after the irises are gone (between April and June).  They  make perfect bouquets for Mother's Day!  We left all the bulbs in the ground after they bloomed and they just keep coming back every year without fail - for the last 12 years!!!

 

The yellow gladiolas and white Lilies of the Nile dominate part of the garden in summer.  From one single bulb, they multiplied through the years.  We tried to reduce them each year but can't seem to control their spread.  But, who wants to get rid of them anyway?!

DAHLIAS

These glorious dinner-plate dahlias (in pink, maroon, and white) are welcome treats for summer.  They're the last of the bulbs to bloom (around July and August) when daylights are longer and warmer.  Sometimes the heat will cause the heavy blooms to droop.

DOUBLE HIBISCUS



This tropical hibiscus can grow up to more than 12 feet high.  We grow them to provide shade to the fuchsias and the hydrangeas during summer.  They're just so easy to grow.  From one plant, now we have more than 10.

It takes only less than a year for this cutting to grow to 5 ft. tall and loaded with blooms.  Even though the bloom only lasted a day or two but new buds open continously everyday.  We trimmed this down a bit to control its height and prevent the strong wind from knocking it down to the ground.  It's almost Christmas - and it hasn't stop blooming everyday. 

HYDRANGEA

 I Left My Heart in San Francisco...

These hydrangeas always reminds us of the attractions along Lombard Street in San Francisco. Well, we brought our hearts back with us to Southern California and planted our very own hydrangeas.  This is our first pink hydrangea that we bought many years ago.  Recently, it started to change color from pink to lavender to blue (due to soil acidity), and also multi-color on the same plant.  Since then, we started to plant more of them (from cuttings) and also tried other varieties, such as double-hydrangeas and paniculata (Limelight).















Adding aluminum sulfate to the soil will make them BLUE like these cuttings that I propagated from above (which started out as PINK).  It took only 2 years for these hydrangeas to grow to more than 3 feet tall and covered with blooms throughout summer.

Need to complete all the colors of the rainbow in the garden, so why not some green flowers too?  We saw this paniculata (Little Limelight, right photo) at a nursery and so we got one this summer and hope to propagate a lot more so we can plant them around the garden.  We also bought the larger version (Limelight) which can grow over 8 ft. tall.    

KALANCHOE

These are  double kalanchoe that we bought last year (Christmas 2011) and the blooms lasted till early Spring.  We started taking some of the cuttings - planted them in smaller pots and some directly into the ground.  They're so easy to take care of... just sunlight, water, and TLC.

Those that we planted directly into the ground behind the sitting area (red bricks) just took off without any fuzz.  Also, planted some in the red cups as give-aways for the Holidays!   It's only a few days before Christmas and hundreds of buds are ready to pop.