Kyle's garden, late March 2026 (back)

In my last post, I showed you my friend Kyle’s front yard in Sacramento. If you missed it, click here to check it out.

Now let’s walk into the back.

The Cécile Brünner rose above the gate to the backyard was still in bloom. This is an old-fashioned polyantha rose bred in France and introduced in 1881. It’s prized for its abundance of fragrant flowers. It doesn’t bloom for long, but when it does, it’s the center of attention.

I missed the peak of the aloe bloom by a couple of weeks, but there was still plenty to see:

The purple flowers on the left are from Alyogyne huegelii, a floriferous shrub from Western Australia

The burgundy-colored leaves on the left are Hechtia ‘Wildfire’, always a standout even if its barbed leaves draw blood when you get too close

Looking from the back patio towards the fence on the south side; the gate to the backyard is around the corner on the right

With a garden as special as this, Kyle has every reason to smile

Easter lily cactus (Echinopsis oxygona) getting ready to flower just in time for Easter

Kyle has a lot of potted plants, but since they’re in matching or complementary containers, the overall look is neat and orderly — something I should try to be better at

That Alyogyne huegelii again

Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ flowers

Kyle didn’t escape this weird winter unscathed either (and neither did I)

The plant stands above are actually bed posts that Kyle found by the curb while walking the dogs. They fit in perfectly.

Dudleyas growing in a pocket of soil between two rocks

Mangave ‘Purple People Eater’

Wide view towards the house

Wide view towards the office shed in the northeast corner

Irises, too. Kyle’s style is the very definition of fusion gardening.

Fence on the north side

In front of the office shed

Ferocactus glaucescens blooming already

Dasylirion longissimum

One of the first bread poppies to bloom

And finally some night-time photos courtesy of Kyle. When I visit other people’s gardens, I usually see them in the daytime. But after dark, they assume a different kind of magic altogether.

I’ll have another update on Kyle’s garden in late spring when the annuals and perennials are at their peak. At the rate things are unfolding this year, it won’t be long!

© Gerhard Bock, 2026. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.