Renee,
Your backyard looks fabulous! I love it. Thank you very much for sharing these pictures.

Lynn

Looking very lush Renee, and the hanging basket approach to the Sprenger Asparagus is probably a very smart way to grow it. They are certainly MADE for such conditions; tolerating fairly deep shade, sporadic watering, wind, etc and still looking good. That full shot of the Asparagus retrofractus really shows the great form of the plant, but worth mentioning that the stems also have some serious thorns on them, so don't plant this where you need to squeeze by it. The vining species is Asparagus verticillatus, which is a classic cut foliage plant in filler bouquets from florists.

The next time I go to Dr. Levine's, I'll get a photo of the asparagus ferns in his office atrium. They are planted in second floor balcony boxes and cascade down five feet. The building is ugly ugly ugly, but the atrium! Wow.

If planted with enough soil depth and moist conditions, Sprenger Asparagus can easily cascade almost 8 feet. Probably one reason that I mostly use Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri Compacta' for in-ground landscape plantings, the regular form can be too much of a good thing sometimes.

you have my dream backyard!! thx so much for the pics. What all do you have there? Also, my niece near Phoenix has Asparagus ferns that don't look like any I have seen, tho I am not a pro. thx, Joyce (judystwin)

Judy, you're too kind. Every plant there is common and overused in Southern California. The ever-useful Nandina domestica is the backbone plant. Algerian ivy covers the chain-link fence. Phoenix roebellini (pygmy date palms), New Zealand flax, pittosporum "Wheeler's Dwarf" and asparagus and sword ferns. A giant bird of paradise and an escaped indoor ponytail palm that always looks half dried out. The main problems are trimming ivy and pulling out rampant sword ferns. Otherwise, it's a really easy part of my garden, and I scarcely ever do anything to it. It doesn't take much water either, believe it or not.

Beautiful, Renee! I especially LOVE the form of Asparagus retrofractus. And do I see some Nasturtiums coming up?

That is what makes a good Gardner. They know what and how to place them for the best displays. Thank you for your wonderful skills and for sharing them with us here, Gives me hope that I will someday enjoy more beauty in my flower beds also.

Just beautiful, Renee! So lovely and relaxing looking. A perfect example of how even "well-loved" plant species can still create a lovely scene. Those plants will make some of your more unusual plants, like Asparagus retrofratus really pop, as well as anything that blooms. Just lovely, thanks for sharing!!

Patty S.

The poles are interesting. What are they, fence posts? How do you secure the objects to the poles( baskets and bird baths)? Your brugmansia looks a little sad now. I planted one last year because yours was so beautiful. I am hoping it makes it through winter. If it dies I will just try again. Yeah, just ordinary plants around a flag stone patio, rock walls and decking with poles and birdbaths. Not a leaf out of place. I don't think anyone is buying that you do little to create or maintain it. I think most of it you don't consider work except for your constant struggle with the Hose. Good winter time bones!

Those are nice photos. I have a retrofractus that is big like a tree with thick trunks, but I don't show it off because it is in front of the house. It hides the p g and e meter. I have the sprengeri on the side of the house in an area where nothing else will grow. I have the lace fern in back, but it is newly planted and not very big yet.

Thanks. You're all too kind.

Peggy, I cut that brugmansia to the ground this year because it had gotten too big. I have another one that has spider mites and I'm thinking of giving it the same treatment.

Mikey and I used round fence posts dug about two feet into the ground (so the termites would have something to eat). Then we nailed a huge finishing nail into the top of each one and stuck a square wooden pot on top with the nail through the drain hole. The ferns quickly popped the seams of the wooden pots like the Incredible Hulk popping out of his clothes.

Then I had the brilliant idea of using moss and wire baskets instead, so we nailed them onto the posts with big washers to hold them up. Now they are all crooked from the tree trimmers dropping branches on them, and I can't adjust them because they are filled with dirt and fern roots.

The bird bath is secured with Liquid Nails. Mikey cleaned the algae and rust out of it once and it sprang dozens of leaks that I had to patch with PVC tape and silicone. The scummy algae covered the bottom again and it's good as new.

Renee

I have trouble with level too. I walked out into our little orchard today and there are hundreds of little piles of dirt where the worms have been working. Even if the tree trimmers didn't drop limbs on your pole garden the ground is constantly moving. The trouble with tall vertical elements is that little errors in the ground results in a large swing in the top end. My DH welds vertical elements for me because I am also impatient for tall things. After our nice rain I have lots of leaning objects. The pole garden gives a hanging basket effect, pretty clever. Level is over rated.
Maybe you can strip your mandevilla. If you cut it to the ground you will have to wait for the Y to develop. I hope I am trouble by your problem of the mandevilla growing so big that I have to cut it back.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/6566080775/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6566080775_1835bdc17d.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/6566080775/]Hanging baskets at back deck[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/20217462@N02/]David Feix Landscape Design[/url], on Flickr

Here's a shot of the mature Asparagus retrofractus in the background of this photo. I've used it as an 8 foot tall screen at the fence line for privacy at my raised deck from the neighbor's view over the fence.

Mission accomplished Renee and everyone. I have been converted, previous to your posts i have paid zero attention to asparagus ferns, so I have no clue to their potential. Now I just arrived home from the nursery with a retrofractus. I had been searching for a mannerly vine to green up an area, but I think this will work better.

I might have a spot for another, depending on how close to the fence line I can plant it. What do you guys recommend? I don't want it to bring down the fence,when it bulks up.
Thanks!

(and Bahia, your link does not show up)

Beautiful garden, Renee!

More questions about retrofractus, do the gophers like it?

And now I am realizing I have to site it carefully, in case of a freeze, San Marcos Growers lists it between 20- 25 degrees. If it freezes, do the canes die, or just the foliage, and how long does it take to come back?

Thanks!

Everytime I visit this site and see pictures of your yard ... the same wild thoughts come sneaking into my brain ... like ...how can I get hosenemesis to come to my barren 1/2 acre ...
I'd do just about anything to get her over here ...lol

Wow - what amazing inspiration photos. We are just gearing up for a major garden overhaul in our new-to-us Temecula home and I've been searching for ideas for several weeks and haven't had much luck till now. I LOVE your gardens!!!! Absolutely gorgeous and actually looks "do-able".

Renee?? May I ask about the fertilizer program you use to get such robust growth? Thanks in advance :)

Linda

Wow, I'm flattered! You guys just put me into a great mood after a hard day at the office. Thank you so much.

Linda, I don't fertilize this part of the yard. Sometimes the Sprenger ferns in the pots turn yellow and I pour some diluted Miracle Grow on them. Once I put a bunch of grass clippings on the soil in the pots in hopes they would require less water, but that's it. All of these plants grow too fast without fertilizer.

Elvie, I don't know about the gophers. I have not had one attacked in five-six years, if that's any help. Frost: I lost a frond once in that really bad year we had- when was it? 2007? When everything was frozen all over Southern California? Since then, no problems. I have all of mine planted too close to the fences, I think. Remember they get huge. I may have to hack them back some day, but they appear to be growing slowly enough that I might be dead by then.
Thank you again for all of your kind comments. Sib5, I want to put you in my pocket and take you to work with me for a little pick-me-up when things get rough!

Renee