Hoya santo

There was an undercurrent of cool in the air this morning.  It almost felt like fall.  Almost.  But the forecast for today is 97.  No kidding.  Unbelievable.

Standing on the front porch watering pots, the light was beautiful, highlighting a very shady corner of the garden with the only sun it ever gets.  Surrounded on 3 sides by house and growing under the high canopy of majestic oaks and a pomegranate, it only gets a dribble of filtered morning sun through the trees.

Because it’s so protected and the area takes a long time to dry out after rain or watering, it doesn’t need a lot of extra water, which is a plus.

Root beer plant (Hoya santo ) – which means sacred leaf in Spanish) forms a commanding background for Pam’s pink Turk’s cap (Malavisious drummondii ‘Pam Puryear’)and Persian Shield (Stobilanthes dyerianus). Look closely and you can see the Poms coming on in the tree.

I’ll propagate the Persian shield before it gets cold and those new plants will live through the winter in the greenhouse.  It is an annual here and I have to replace the plants every year.  Such a striking plant in the garden, I wouldn’t be without them.  The deer will eat them, but these are up against the house and I’ve been lucky with them in this spot.  The deer would almost have to ring the doorbell to get at them. (And now, of course, they’ll get eaten since I bragged that I’ve outsmarted them!)

Though it’s a later bloomer than it’s red Turk’s cap cousin, I love the pop of pink it adds to this space.

This umbrella plant (Cypereus involucratus), just across the dry creek from the other plants, comes back year after year, giving a great texture and contrast to this space.

This is one of my favorite spots in the garden.  And, it requires absolutely no care and it bursts forth beautifully every year without any help from me.  You can’t beat that kind of performance.