Cozy Casita II, The Lovely Courtyard

It has been hot, hot, hot in the last couple of days here in San Diego inland with highest temperatures reaching 99F/37C yesterday. Needless to say that my garden is suffering and I often wish, that I had planted a more drought and heat tolerant garden at this time of the year.

There is just one catch, even though it is not politically correct to say, I have to admit that often drought tolerant gardens are not very appealing to me. I simply love my roses too much. But two years ago I had the chance to visit an incredibly beautiful one which was a true exception. I blogged about it already here, showcasing the front yard and today I will continue to introduce you to it and take you into the very lovely courtyard.

You enter the courtyard through a small insignificant wooden door from the street and suddenly you are in a completely enclosed very cozy and colorful space decorated with many, many containers holding drought tolerant plants. I was very impressed by this big cactus, adorned with, what I believe is, Spanish Moss.

The attention to detail in this garden room was incredible. Look for example at the foot of the cactus from the photo above. It is underplanted with many pretty succulents in all shapes and sizes and a small blue and white ceramic sphere is placed just for a pop of additional interest.

Details of the fountain that you can see in the first photo of this post. It looks like all the objects are loosely placed in the stone bowl that is the actual fountain. That certainly makes for a captivating display. The Mexican tiles add plenty of color and cheerfulness to the space.

A view of one corner of the courtyard. Plenty of beautiful containers in many different shapes, sizes and materials and some art objects are keeping your attention.

This looks like an old fireplace, that is not used anymore. More fascinating containers planted with small drought tolerant plants. I love the blue ornate sphere in the right corner. Blue was definitively a color that was often used and tied it all together.

Another container vignette. I love the blue-gray hues of these plants.

This one was my favorite. It really looked like that. The photo is not photoshopped.

This unique table was placed in the middle of the courtyard and shaded by a white sun umbrella. I think this is an amazing place to have breakfast or to end the day with a nice drink. I definitively would feel very comfortable here. 

This is the left side of the actual entrance to the house. The door to the house is open, visible to the right of the photo.

Another interesting pot parade to the right side of the entrance to the house. Do you see the beautiful copper rain chain?  And the Mexican violinist made out of metal? To reach the back yard, which was actually located on a very difficult to plant, steep, hilly terrain, you needed to walk through the house. The backyard was nothing short of spectacular, but this is material for another post.  

If you liked this courtyard and you haven't seen my first post about this garden, yet, I highly encourage to click the link below and go back and take a look at the front yard. I think it is truly special as well.

Cozy Casita I, Front Yard

Hope you are able to stay nice and cool and enjoy the summer if you are living in the Nothern Hemisphere. I am not a big fan of water, but I may consider taking a dip in the pool later today, the heat is really getting to me.

See you in the garden!

Warm regards,

Christina

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Sometimes it is About the Little Things...

...in life and in the garden as well. Even though big tasks like pruning, fertilizing, and mulching all the roses and the unavoidable general autumn garden clean up are hovering over me, I decided to have some fun first and also get some instant gratification by doing some small things that do have a big visual impact.

This bed for example really could need a little something, don't you think? There is a lot of shade in the autumn and winter and it certainly looks gloomy at this time of the year. So I decided to plant a few small annuals to lighten up the space there. That is easier said then done in this area though, since it is packed with palm roots.

My gardener needed one and a half hour to dig six holes of a diameter one foot x one foot and one foot deep, and I assure you he wasn't killing time.




I was so happy when he was done and I finally could plant the six primula obconica 'Libre White' that I had bought recently just because I thought they were so pretty, but hadn't had a clue where to put them. They look so fresh and cheerful with their fresh green leaves.

I think the primulas are just perfect for this areas. Big difference before and after, don't you agree?

The bed to the left side of the front door also screamed bonjour tristesse and I wanted to do something about it. I thought that it needed a pop of color and how is that easier to achieve in autumn than by placing a container. 

I suddenly remembered that I had one more nicely shaped blue container in the garage and to my own surprise I found it immediately. But I hadn't had the right plant to go with it. So off I went to the nursery (not that I ever mind)...

...and found this beautiful cyclamen. Don't ask me about the name of the variety. It wasn't labeled. It really bugs me that not only big box stores don't label the plants properly, but nurseries do that as well nowadays.

Anyway, I popped it into my blue container and it turned out to be the perfect match.

I was even more pleased when I positioned the container in the bed. It has the right size, the right proportions, and it really added some needed interest to this bed. 

When I was at the nursery these two containers caught my attention. I loved the form...

... and they came with little cute feet. So I just couldn't say no to them. 

I had the two perfect plants just waiting in my pot ghetto for the new blue containers. A zonal geranium, sorry the plant wasn't labeled as well, and a bacopa 'Scopia Gulliver White'.

I plopped the newly bought and planted containers right by the walkway to the front door and really liked the result. The blue glaze of the containers is fitting perfectly with the two blue spheres that I have there for quite a while now.

Here is one close-up of the bacopa 'Scopia Gulliver White'. The blooms seem to be decidedly bigger compared to regular bacopas. I hope in time it will trail more over the edge of the container and have a bigger impact.

I promised to show you the containers that I planted a little while ago and positioned close to our front door in a previous post. Here they are! I really like the color that they add to this otherwise plain area. I had some doubts if the geranium would bloom through the autumn and winter here, but so far so good. It has made new flower stalks.

Lastly here is one more blue container with another zonal geranium that I placed on the pillar of our decorative wall. I think it makes this area so much more lively.

For me the little changes that I made are so worth it. It wasn't all that much work, but in my eyes they truly transformed certain areas in my garden.

What are little changes that you made, which led to big improvements in your garden? I am curious to know and maybe learn something new that I can make use of in my own small space.

Wishing all of you who celebrate it a happy Christmas season!

See you in the garden!

Christina

Got More Blue?

Last weekend I went to the nursery to buy two more hardy geraniums 'Rozanne'. But unfortunately they were sold out. But of course I couldn't leave the nursery without buying any kind of plant, that would be really not me. So this is what I got:

(you can click on the photos to enlarge)
 

The plants with the small white flowers are verbena hybrids. This particular variety is called 'Aztec White Improved'. Since they are white and I love the color white, I simply couldn't pass them up. The blue flowering plants are called Laguna 'Compact Blue With Eye', lobelia erinus. They are a type of lobelias that I haven't seen so far. The blooms are decidedly bigger than the regular lobelia flowers and they have a distinct white eye, as the name says. Aren't they pretty? Last but not least I got two lavandula pinnata 'Buchii', a fern leaf lavender.

I couldn't find any time to garden in the week, but yesterday I rushed out when the sun was shining for a moment in the late afternoon and got to work. Inspired by a couple of my favorite blogs I decided I want to plant some containers to bring more color in the autumn garden. So I went into the garage and found two more of my beloved blue glazed terracotta containers and planted a combo of the white verbena, the blue lobelia, and the fern leaf lavender into each pot. I really like that the lavenders give some height and movement to the containers with their long flower spikes. In January this year I started to put blue spheres and blue containers into the front yard already (click here if you want to see the post about it) and I really love the blue splashes of color that those added to the garden, so I am ready for more.

One of the newly planted containers went into the front yard to beautify the walkway to the house close by the front door. It is keeping another blue container company, which has exactly the same shape, but is of a little bit bigger size. The bigger blue container I planted with the Miniature rose 'Sweet Chariot' a couple of weeks ago, already. The Miniature rose is doing quite well and is growing nicely, but unfortunately is not blooming anymore. Its mauve/purple colored flowered would have given a nice contrast to the blue and white of the other plants and the blue containers.

My husband shot this close-up of the lavender flowers. Sometimes I feel when I am looking at a close-up like this one I see a new plant. The little flowers are perfectly build and are growing so symmetrical on the little flower stalks. Mother nature never fails to amaze me!

The second blue container went also in the front yard on top of the small post of the low wall that we have there, right when you enter the walkway to the house. I think of this container as a welcome sign put up to greet any visitor that comes to our house!

I found these blue feet in the garage and think the container looks better with them underneath. Somehow they add more interest to it and "loosen up the picture" a little bit. Unfortunately the blue glaze is chipped off in some parts, but in the photo it is not so obvious. Still I have to see if I can find some replacements. 

When I looked at the freshly planted containers I noticed that I unconsciously have chosen quite spring-ish looking plants. Do you think I am in autumn denial? Hmm, maybe... I just hope, that these plants will continue to flower in the low autumn and winter light.

See you in the garden!

Christina