Blustery day!

We had almost 2 inches of rain overnight.  As it paused, Jerry and I went out in the blustery wind to pull weeds.  Although it is one of my favorite things to do, it is chilly enough out that I had to give up and come in to get warm.  : )  I was not dressed for midwinter weeding.  Another front is moving in.  In spite of the trouble for farmers caused from the rainiest December on record, the rain should mean better ground water supplies for summer.  No weather is quite so fun as a blustery day! 

Rain!

Robby had this poem in third grade.  It was so him that puddly rain to me is always kittens, pansies, diamond rain drops, and fun times with Robby. 

Rain in the Night by Amelia Burr
Raining, raining,
All night long;
Sometimes loud, sometimes soft,
Just like a song.
There'll be rivers in the gutters
And lakes along the street.
It will make our lazy kitty
Wash his little dirty feet.
The roses will wear diamonds
Like kings and queens at court;
But the pansies all get muddy
Because they are so short.
I'll sail my boat to-morrow
In wonderful new places,
But first I'll take my watering-pot
And wash the pansies' faces.

The Dark of Winter

As the Winter Solstice draws near, and I walk out in the dark of a misty rain, the garden whispers in still quiet corners, rather than bursting with the abundance of midsummer.  Midwinter, yet violets bloom.  Wintersweet, blooming behind still green foliage, broadcasts such a strong sweet scent one must bend close to smell the violets.  In other sheltered places the fuschia continues to bloom as do the begonias.  Pansies reach for what sun they may find.  Spring bulbs push up from the blanket of fallen leaves. This year as I work outside in the cold the song in my head is the Heron Carol, in the moon of winter time when all the birds had fled, the mighty Gitche Manitou sent angel choirs instead... I love that the early church chose to celebrate Jesus, the light of the world, in this time of darkness. 
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. I Peter 2:9"

Blog decisions

As this first year of Debbie's Garden comes to a close I need to make a decision.  A friend sent me this link  http://www.plantjotter.com/  for a different kind of garden journal.  Plant Jotter allows one to actually keep records of plants planted, with their locations, as well as keeping track of what's blooming when, and what works best, and so on.  So it might be a more useful option for me.  The other option would be to overhaul this blog with a new look and broader perspective.  I have ideas for the look, thanks to some photos Jeff took while he was here at Thanksgiving, but I am not sure about expanding thoughts.  I do think continuing this is fairly pointless, as I know that while some things change from year to year, more do not. 

Evergreen perennials

Most shrubs are too big for my California sized yard.  Without snow cover, we need some green all year.  The evergreen herbs and perennials serve well in this capacity.  My new favorite is corydalis, shown at right above. This year it is bigger and already blooming. Others are hellebores, geranium 'Biokovo', violets, geum, columbine, lambs ears (although they can get slimey from too much fog), stokesia, and yarrow.  Foxglove shoots up early enough in the season to be a a nice green tuft all winter.  Alyssum is so always present it might as well be perennial.  I also have ferns that keep going all year (as above).  Add in the lavendar, rosemary and thyme and while the garden may not be gorgeous these two months while it hunkers down for winter, at least it stays interesting. 

Deciduous shrubs

I love fall color in the garden.  Keeping in mind a balance of evergreens, I keep adding new colorful deciduous plants.  Our new front yard landscape opportunity really helped!  The colorful shrubs I see now include blueberries, barberries, Euonymus alata "Compactus" (burning bush), dwarf pomegranate, red twig dogwood, viburnum opulus, oakleaf hydrangea, hydrangea paniculata,  Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (plumbago), nandina and Japanese maple.  Wonderful! 

Herbs

The great irony of the garden is that cilantro grows best during the cool months when tomatoes do not grow.  Sigh!  : )   Another fun cool weather herb is Amsterdam seasoning celery.  The happy yellow green color is nice in the cold.

Otherwise, the evergreen perennial herbs are some of the best all year color we have here in the valley.  Lavender, rosemary, oregano, mints, chives and thyme are must haves.  My favorite is lemon thyme, variegated green and yellow, with a red tint during winter, and purply flowers in summer.  Just beware that once in the ground those herbs are there to stay, and removing them may cost a shovel or two.

Winter veggies

Winter is the time for lettuce, chard, spinach, peas, broccoli, beets, carrots and more.  This year I never found decent broccoli plants so I do not have any.  I find broccoli difficult anyway, as it goes moldy when it is too wet out.  Chard and beets need to be up and growing by now I think, at least I have never tried seeding them out this late.  Come first of February they can be planted again.  They both do best from seed sown directly in the ground, and the red stems make them a welcome addition to the garden.  Chard is a new veg to me, and I love it!  I have a new pot of lettuce sprouting.  It took three tries with this head variety, as it evidently wants good chilly weather to grow.  The other pot of lettuce is ready to start eating, and the spinach is almost there.  All these leafy greens can have leaves snipped off and just keep growing.  The peas are looking good.  They also need to be up and growing strongly before frost, or they just sit and mope.

December 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:
Alyssum
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses

Continuing from April 1:

Continuing from May 1:
Clematis
Verbena bonariensis
Pomegranate tree
Annual Lobelia

Continuing from June 1:
Pelargonium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Lavender

Continuting from July 1
Verbena, ground cover
Agastache rupestris

Continuing from August 1

Continuing from September 1

Continuing from October 1

Continuing from November 1
Johnny jump ups
Icleand poppies
Pansies

New for December 1
Gerber daisy beginning again

Amaryllis!

I went to Lowes to check out the seasonal plants.  There were no veggies or herbs left, which is what I was looking for, but when I paused to look at the amaryllis kits on sale the associate said you can have those for $1!  Oh, yay!  So I did.  : )   Here is one from another year...

Wintertide

                         Winter comes, heralded by the violets.

Thanksgiving

A while back I attended an exceptionally well done women's weekend.  While there I just kept thinking how I would rather be in my garden.  I am thankful for the refuge my garden has been over the past five or so years.  I am also thankful for the many plants I have been able to share with others, to help them have a lovely garden place as well.  And I am thankful for the creative outlet gardening is for me, a pallette and board that are constantly changing, and so forgiving of talent.

Winter promise

Freezing temps are predicted for tonight.  Even as the frost finishes off the impatiens and a few other lingering summer annuals, there is new hope in the newly blooming winter annuals, and the promise of cyclamen and hellebore after the New Year.  The most wonderful part of living with seasonal changes is the continuing promise of hope. 

Cold is coming

With frosty nights predicted for this week, I went out and moved my few potted plants that need some babying. The lemon verbena moved near the back door, and the fuschia snugged in near the fireplace.  I usually put the fuschia near the back door so I can continue to enjoy the flowers, but Jerry gets annoyed tripping over the umbrella that I use for frost protection. : )  Where I have it now, I may not even need that umbrella.  Pots of tulips and hyacinths took the fuschia's summer spot.  Finally, the lemon tree went out on the front porch.  We can pull it under the roof when needed, and the lemons add a festive touch to the porch. 

Rain

With rain forecast, I went out Friday morning and pulled all the grass weeds so the rain would not wash the seedheads off and create a new crop of weeds.  So glad I did that, since it really did rain, a good serious overnight rain.  Too bad the rain gauge was full from the lawn sprinkler, but there was enough rain for puddles.  As the season winds down I enjoy some of the fading plants, like these Solomon Seal.  They don't really look like much here, and the snails have gotten to them, but the yellow adds a note of fall to the shady garden. 

Signs of fall at last

It seems so odd that we finally see autumn just as we start thinking about Christmas.  Fleeting as it is, the quiet beauty of the declining garden is delightful.

Blueberries

As the blueberries turn redder and redder Jerry is saying we need these everywhere! 

Mums?

I'm not sure about mums.  They are so monochromatic and stuffy fluffy and overbred and overdone.  A pot on the porch is OK for the fall color, but a yard full is a bit much.  Besides, so many want to overtake their location and grow into huge mounds of bland color.  So for the sake of the season I do have one, and by pinching all summer I can get it to bloom now, in November, which is so obviously the time for mums to bloom.  Sometimes I can even get some for Thanksgiving, although I think not this year.  I chose this mum for the snappy color, burnt red, cheerful golden yellow and lime green centers.  My camera didn't quite get the green, but it makes the flower.  So, not a daisy girl at all, but for the end of season splash these do a good job. 

Rooting a rose

So fun!  A while ago I found a glass cloche on clearance at Beverly Fabric and decided it was cheap enough to go ahead and get one; I have mooned around about these for years  but could not justify the hefty price.  About the same time I noticed a rose I have been hunting for was growing in Rosalee's yard.  This is a sixties floribunda; reddish orange at the outer edges, fading to a bright yellow in the center; a fairly flat open rose with few petals.  I have researched but still do not know the name, and neither does Rosalee.  Today I went over and took a cutting, brought it home, dipped it in rooting hormone and planted it.  Placed inside the cloche it is a dream come true.  8-10 weeks for rooting though, so while it may be cute and fun, there is no guarantee this baby will grow.

November 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:

Alyssum
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses

Continuing from April 1:
"little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
Gaillardia
Impatiens

Continuing from May 1:
Clematis
Verbena bonariensis
Pomegranate tree
Annual Lobelia

Continuing from June 1:
Hydrangea macrophylla
Pelargonium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Lavender

Continuting from July 1
Rudbeckia
Verbena, ground cover
Crepe Myrtle
Agastache rupestris

Continuing from August 1

Continuing from September 1

Continuing from October 1
Japanese anenome
Eupatorium 'Chocolate'

New for November 1
Mums
Johnny jump ups
Icleand poppies, sweet peas and pansies in for winter

Fall color here and there

Visiting in Ohio, enjoying the amazing colors of fall.  Many of the leaves are already down.  Today I saw a huge ginkgo, spectacularly golden.

Back home there is very little sign of fall, but this blueberry is on some otherly schedule. 

Chocolate cosmos

This perennial cosmos actually smells like chocolate.  It is a good example of a plant that requires good drainage.  I know if a plant description says needs good drainage that it probably is not going to make it through one of our soggy winters in my silty soil.  The solution is growing in a pot. 

Lemon tree, very pretty : )

Robby and Candace gave me a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree for Mother's Day. It is blooming now.  When the front yard is finished I think I want a cluster of pots, lemon, pomegranate, and bay leaf trees.  But right now the lemon tree is next to the rosemary and the combination of scents, lemon blossom and rosemary, causes me to pause and take a second whiff each time I walk past.  This is an amazing plant combination, maybe too good to change. 

Down but not done

When I cut the vines from the smashed arbor I laid the clematis vine on the ground.  It just kept right on blooming!  The crazy thing is so did the cardinal climber, and it had been pulled out by the roots and chopped off the arbor. 

Creeping Charlie

When Robby was born the hospital gave me a two inch pot of Creeping Charlie, which is a house plant here as it does not like frost.  I have, however, kept one growing outside for several years.  Last week I dug out a hosta, more beloved of snails than of me, and put Charlie in the ground.  I need to get some clippings going before frost, but right now he is very happy in the new location. 

Good bug

So tickled to get this shot of a praying mantis eating breakfast. I hope he was eating a fly, although I couldn't quite tell what it was.  Why they call them praying, instead of preying, is beyond me. 

Tomatoes

My doctor always says gardening is not exercise.  Next year he can come pull out my tomatoes!  : )   Every fall it is a challenge to decide when to pull the tomato vines.  This year I grew indeterminant plants, which means they grow to be giants.  It was that, mainly, that had me out this morning ripping them out.  I did save a basketfull of green tomatoes that will ripen on the counter.  Not as good as summer vine ripened tomatoes but as good as anything in the stores.  Because the vines grew so large they sprawled all over and the snails have been feasting on and ruining every turning red tomato.  So just as well they are in the bin and out of there.  Now I won't have to wonder if I will end up having to pull black slimey frosted vines. 

Happy thought

Sitting here drinking my morning tea, I suddenly remembered I have a clump of sparaxis.  I saw the emerging leaves the other day and thought what are those?  : )  Sparaxis!  They are not my favorite spring bulb, but the sudden thought of the reddish clusters made me happy enough to sit down to record it.  Actually, sparaxis come in a range of colors, but I pull out offending pinks and keep the gorgeous reds.

Fall blooming perennials

Perennials that wait for fall in our mild climate are rare.  For example, given the chance mums will bloom in June.  Pinched back until August, they will wait to bloom until October or November.  Mine are just budding. 
Some that wait on their own include Eupatorium 'Chocolate', as discussed below, Japanese anenome, asters and heleniums.  My aster is done for the year though, as is the helenium.  Evidently fall to them means early September.  I need to look into the pinching them. 

Other fall bloomers are Sedum 'Autumn Joy', and soldagio, goldenrod, neither of which I have tried, so I am not sure when they actually bloom here. 

I want to try the fall blooming bulbs, Schizostylus and Nerine, but have not been in the mood to shell out the $$ for an online bulb purchase.  They both come in reds. 

Of course there are always the continously blooming salvias, rudbeckias, dahlias and phlox, along with others I am probably forgetting.   

Eupatorium 'Chocolate'

There aren't many perennials that are truly fall blooming here, as the perennial bloom season begins so early for us.  That makes this one all the more special. This year since I did not pinch back the perennials, 'Chocolate' has sprawled, spreading cocoa foamy tufts of flowers across this shady bed.

Arbor down

Evidently the extra water weight from last night's rain was too much for my arbor. This morning it was lying on the ground.  The clematis were at an all time great fall rebloom, but at least the fall did not pull them up by the roots as I at first feared.  The cardinal climber would have bloomed another month, then turned black with the first frost.  So overall the loss is not as bad as it could have been.  We knew the arbor, $5 from Michael's about five years ago, was on its last legs : )  having already rusted through and been re-stabbed into the ground earlier this year.  There is a plan to build a new one of copper pipe.  At some point.  You know how it goes. 

Missed opportunity

I just realized that as I was moping around wishing the hot weather would go away I was missing one of the things I like most about gardening.  Planning!  Gardening can be just like Christmas!  : )  Plot and plan for the next season, put those little seeds or plants or bulbs in the ground and then wait for the great unveiling! lol  Love it!  Of course Christmas may come and go with little recognition of the One for whom we supposedly do it, but in the garden there is no denying the Master's hand.  So this year the books stayed on the shelf, and only last night did I bring one out, Plant Marriages, because I am moving some things and recreating.  I have seeds, bought a year ago.  I knew I had seeds and was just waiting for it to cool off to plant, rather than reveling in what and where and how.  Too bad I missed some weeks of pure enjoyment. 

Cool season timing

It is late for cooling down.  Winter annuals need to be growing well before cold weather.  It is quite a trick to get them in after that last hot week, so they don't sit there and fry, yet early enough that they get enough sun to get up and going.  I like to get things in by the end of September but today was the first day cool enough to even think about it.  So I was out most of the day, except for some heavy phone time for work.  I overhauled one small bed, which took a good 3-4 hours.  Next I probably need to get seeds started and the bedding annuals out.  I also need to plant bulbs, and all those bulb related things, corms, etc.  I just remembered yesterday that I have ranunculus I saved from last year.  Then there are the cool season veggies, broccoli, peas, and all the leafy greens.  I saw today I do have 3 tiny chard plants trying to grow.  Interestingly, some seeds want to be sown at 80 degrees, then want some good cold for a period of a month or two.  Our late warm season and short cold make these easy to do outside. If the cloud cover continues, the next few days should be fun.  : )

Late summer/early fall?

While the calendar may say it is fall, I think summer is still with us.  We went for a drive through Yokohl Valley to Springville today and the hills were beautiful in all their shades of brown, from the ecru barley to the deep umber of the oak tree bark.  My favorite is the burnt sienna of the buckeye trees. They are dormant with that amazing reddish-cocoa color all summer.  Come cold weather, the leaves will drop and the buckeyes will shed their husks, hanging through the winter with that same rich color against the bare grayish branches. Fall is so fleeting here, no more than six weeks, usually less; it would be nice if it lingered a bit.

We had a splatter of rain last night; it moved me to tears.  So silly! : )  But half a year with no rain at all makes even a splatter something new and amazing.

October 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:
Alyssum
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses

Continuing from April 1:
"little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
Gaillardia

Impatiens

Continuing from May 1:
Clematis
Verbena bonariensis
Pomegranate tree
Annual Lobelia

Continuing from June 1:
Hydrangea macrophylla
Pelargonium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Lavender

Continuting from July 1
Rudbeckia
Cosmos
Veronica
Verbena, ground cover
Crepe Myrtle
Phlox paniculata
Agastache rupestris

Continuing from August 1
Cardinal Climber

Continuing from September 1

New for October 1
Aster 'Purple Mound'
Japanese anenome
Eupatorium 'Chocolate'
Still to come, mums (which did get pinched back to keep them for later bloom)

Lady Emma Hamilton

Meet Lady Emma, my new rose. 

Cardinal Climber

A great hummingbird flower, cardinal climber blooms from August into frost.  This year I got it to grow in a second location but check out the difference, one vine in both places... 

Farmers

I am so thankful for farmers!  I cannot imagine how with my green bean bushes turning brown and providing small handfuls of beans that they can grow bins full successfully!  What a lot of work for a very iffy success rate, especially for the organic and natural growers.  When I looked up the worms for my lettuce it said spray nasty poison frequently, up to three days before harvest.  Sort of sounded like either spray routinely or lose your crop.  Farmers deserve our full admiration, prayers and blessings, not to mention whatever we can do politically to keep them going. 

Worms

My second sowing of lettuce is decimated!  I could not figure out what happened.  I have chicken wire over it to keep out the birds, and I could not find snails or slugs.  Finally this morning I found teeny weeny green worms, the same color as the lettuce.  I wonder what they might become should I allow one to live and finish off my lettuce? 

Japanese anenome

I have the standard white Japanese anenome 'Honorine Jobert' and in the back garden I finally resorted to Round Up as it had spread so much.  I noticed today it is still putting up new shoots!  Shoot!  ; )  But a couple years ago on vacation at Pismo I saw a double flowered one and the nice hotel people let me take a bit.  I like this one so much better, and the flowers are lasting well in water, which the other ones never did.  I do not know the name of this one.  This is the first year it has flowered. 

Fuschia

My fuschia is the best it has ever been right now.  It seems impossible to get a good photo, but here it is.  This is the one plant I baby.  I snuggle the plant up against the house for the winter, and cover it with an umbrella if it gets freezy out.  By doing so I have kept it going a good six years.  One reason I like it so is for the memory.  Our state homeschool convention was at the Disneyland Hotel for years, including all the years we went as a family.  That is where I first saw these, planted en masse on a bank.  I was delighted when I saw them for sale in quarts here and bought one. It is lovely to grow something so
reminiscent of Southern California.  I do like fuschias and this is the only one I have been able to keep year after year.  I like the contrast between the red stems and the mercurochrome flowers.

No no, little snail!

Sleeping snail; cute, but no, he cannot sleep on my impatiens!
Interestingly, he was in a pot which is on a multi-pot stand, so he had to slime up a metal pole, across another pole, into the pot and up the plant.  Quite a feat for a baby. 

Wherefore, oh veggies?

I see a month ago I had my fall veggies planted and some sprouted.  Why is it that nothing grew?  Beets especially need to be in the ground 12 weeks before first frost.  I did that.  Either none came up, or they did, only to be eaten or killed by the heat.  I have resown this week, but who knows if anything will come of it?  Is it worth it?  I am not sure.  I bought a pack of cucumbers and got several quite long ones, Japanese this year, but the vines shriveled while I was gone so that season is over.  So, say $2.49 for a six pack of cucumber plants and I got three or four cucumbers.  At the farmer's market they are about a dollar each, so yeah, maybe it was worth it, in that sense.  But why oh why can't I grow veggies? 

More sad

My artichoke bush got Rounded Up.  : (   Accident.  We had a half dozen or more artichokes this year, and it was already putting up new growth for next year.  Oh well, I will plant a new one. 

So sad

You just can't expect to leave town for almost two weeks and come home to a happy garden.  Apparently it got quite hot while we were gone and in spite of care by caring neighbors some plants died.  The biggest hit was to the three flats of campanula I have been babying along for Rob and Candace the past six months.  : (   Half are dead.  That is just the way it goes.  So sad!  : (  

September 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:
Alyssum
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses

Continuing from April 1:
"little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
Gaillardia
Impatiens

Continuing from May 1:
Clematis
Verbena bonariensis
Pomegranate tree
Annual Lobelia
Gerber daisy

Continuing from June 1:
Hydrangea macrophylla
Pelargonium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Annual red coreopsis
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Lavender

Continuting from July 1
Rudbeckia
Cosmos
Veronica
Hydrangea paniculata
Verbena, ground cover
Chocolate cosmos
Crepe Myrtle
Moss rose
Yarrow 'Walther Funke'
Phlox paniculata
Agastache rupestris
Maltese cross

Continuing from August 1
Cardinal Climber

New for September 1
Cilantro
Garlic Chives
Helenium
Budded up and ready,  aster 'Purple Mound', Japanese anenome, hosta
Still to come, mums and Eupatorium 'Chocolate'

Helenium

These no name helenium are one of my favorite flowers, primarily for the combination of colors.  They are blooming sooner than I hoped, and wanting to sprawl.  This is a perfect example of a perennial that needs pinched back in spring.  Pinching back slows the growth cycle and makes the plant both shorter and branchier.  Is branchier a word? : ) 

Hummingbird

Bin

Jerry is not fond of my habit of snipping shrubs and letting the debris fall as it may.  So, he went out and bought me  this cute little wheelie bin to drag around and collect all my weeds and trimmings.  Cute! 

Fall veggies

August seems to be all about waiting for it to be over; really, not much is happening with the garden.  However, as strange as it seems to be planting the tiny seeds in such hot weather, it is time to sow winter veggies.  I have lettuce sprouting already, and chard and a few spinach plants, and have already reseeded where needed.  Today I put new soil in the wheelbarrow and sowed carrots.  I used the old soil from the barrow to fill in one of the back beds where I plan to sow beets and more chard this evening. In September I will plant broccoli and peas.

Yarrow

My third try at a red yarrow was a charm as they say. 'Walther Funke' is just what I hoped for.  These rusty red flowers keep their color, although as the pollen grows it tends to cover the tiny petals.  The other reds I tried faded to pink. 

Playing with color

Every year I plant impatiens throughout my shady garden because they require absolutely no care, yet provide color from March into December.  Usually I plant all red but this year Jerry was with me while I shopped and his vote was for mixed.  So I got red, apricot/salmon and purple.  I really think I like this look.  It is just a bit softer, and blends with the other colors throughout. 

Panacea

I spent over an hour this morning puttering in the garden.  : )  I planted lettuce seed in pots, potted up another echinacea for Robby and Candace's house, put my hydrangea paniculata in the ground, cut back the bay leaf tree to see if I can keep it small and maybe shape it, reorganized pots, and more.  The snails finally won the battle for the ligularia, so I spent some time thinking about a replacement for that big pot. Not sure what to do yet.  I enjoyed the freshness of the cooler morning temperature! 

Rhubarb

Last summer in Alaska Denise made rhubarb pie and it was delicious! So I bought a rhubarb root last winter, and today I cut a few stalks and following a recipe I chopped and mixed them with sugar and tapioca.  Then I wrapped them in one of those uncooked tortillas from Costco, which is what Denise had done, making a little gallette, and baked it.  Ick!   I am so over rhubarb!

Roses

I love David Austin roses.  I currently have six of them.  This one, Pat Austin, is one of the best.  She blooms continuously, from about first April into November or later.  The color is amazing and the scent enticing, smelling strongly of citrus. Pat does not like to be cut and brought indoors where the blooms last only a day.  But since the shrub sits right outside the garden room I can see them all I want anyway.  : )

August 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:
Alyssum
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses

Continuing from April 1:
Thyme
Geum Mrs. Bradshaw
"little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
Gaillardia
Impatiens

Continuing from May 1:
Clematis
Verbena bonariensis
Pomegranate tree
Annual Lobelia
Gerber daisy

Continuing from June 1:
Hydrangea macrophylla
Pelargonium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Annual red coreopsis
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Monarda 'Jacob Kline'
Lavender

Continuting from July 1
Rudbeckia
Cosmos
Veronica
Hydrangea paniculata
Verbena, ground cover
Chocolate cosmos
Crepe Myrtle
Moss rose
Yarrow 'Walther Funke'
Phlox paniculata
Agastache rupestris
Maltese cross

New for August 1
Cardinal Climber

Nectarines

Picking nectarines this week.  At times like this I think they are my favorite fruit...

Pumpkin blossom

Last winter when we pruned trees we put some of the branches on the ground for 'decor'.  The pumpkin vine has twined through one of them as shown here. So pretty!

Busy bees

Look at the pollen sacs on this bee!  Amazing!  I wonder if the pollen from this chocolate cosmos is chocolate flavored?  : ) 

Changes

This pelargonium was sitting in a cluster of pots near my shady, woodsy garden ever since I got it.  I was vaguely dissatisfied with it, but liked the splash of color so it sat there for a couple of years.  This week I moved it, here by my herb pots, and now it is a feature plant and the only color here.  I think it looks great.  It's like getting a whole new garden.  : ) Moving plants in the ground too often can hold them back from growing, but since this one is in a pot it didn't phase it at all.  Go red!

Hummingbird feeder

A couple of years ago I started wishing for a 'cool and cute' hummingbird feeder.  Thanks in part to Robby and Candace, I tried at least four styles. For various reasons they were all rejected and we are back to the standard red plastic with glass bottle.  It seemed the little birds did not care for cool, and just wanted good access.  With the new feeder, they are downing a pint a week and clearly like this one the best.  Here is our baby, busy eating. 

Lilacs

My lilac bush is dying limb by limb.  : (   I have loved lilacs as long as I can remember.  Alcott's influence perhaps? One of my favorite scents since childhood, yet I do not recall ever seeing a real shrub, being born and raised in San Diego.  If we cannot save this one, I will be planting more.  This is a shrub that just sits there most of the year and does nothing, but those few weeks in April earn its place in the garden.

Still to come

I wandered around today thinking about what perennials will bloom later.  In the shady garden there is a hosta, Japanese anenome, eupatorium 'Chocolate', and Kirengeshoma palmata (except that in spite of continuing to try to grow it just gives up along about now and doesn't really bloom at all).  The phlox paniculata 'David' should be blooming by now and isn't so hopefully that is still to come. 
Out in the back garden there are helenium starting to bud up, as well as asters and mums.  The penstemon is regrowing after transplanting and will probably start blooming once the weather cools. It is nice to have more to look forward to when everything is drooping in the heat.

Mid summer, but fall's a comin'

Today's bouquet is so fall!  I love fall. 

Summer rain

We woke up to rain this morning!  So we ran out to replant all the little flowers we dug up to reconfigure the center bed in the front yard.  We were thinking it was perfect timing, that they would be gently watered in and have their first day under cloud cover.  By ten though it was hot and sunny, so oh well. 
I love rain, and summer rain is such a treat, even when it ends in a hot humid day, like someone said at church, a free Florida vacation day.  : P  The up side is cleaner air, and the joy of out of season weather. 

Tiny treasure

I went out to deep soak trees, this being the first week I have had to remind myself of my oath to not complain about the heat.  : )   Look what I found!  Not such a good photo, but these eggs are about an inch long.  They have small holes pecked in them, and their occupants eaten by some predator.  They were by the orange tree.  There must be a nest, but the foliage is so dense I couldn't see one.  But no, wait, google search says these are blue jay eggs, and probably from a nest 20 feet up in a conifer.  That means the jays are nesting in the deodar cedar, makes sense.  We do have jays.  We do not have robins which was my first thought, but robin's blue eggs do not have spots.  I wonder how these eggs got down next to the orange tree.  Said predator must have stuck his beak in and carried them down.  I suppose on the other hand the wind could have tossed them.  Whatever, aren't they great?

Perennial care 2

A few years ago someone from a hot summer area said it helps to whack everything back in late July which stimulates new growth for fall.  Since we have such a long growing season this works for us and I have done it to good results.  Those rudbeckias will be cut back to the basal clump in a week or so when this round of bloom is looking ratty.  With rudbeckia especially I like the break from the color.  The all summer perennials are the ones that need cutting back, along with annuals. The spring bloomers are finished and just hanging on til frost.  The so called fall bloomers are still growing in anticipation of flowering in a month or two. 

Perennial care

Perennials tend to grow tall in my garden.  They end up flopping over like the rudbeckia below.  I have a great book called The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust.  In it she explains how some perennials can be pinched or cut back early in the season to promote shorter bushier growth.  Of course one needs to know which ones can be so treated, but I find most of mine can.  At least all the overly tall tending to flop varieties benefit from this treatment.  This spring I did not do any cutting back, except for the mum, which must be continually pinched until even up to the first of August, here, to get fall blooms.  Otherwise, in this area the mums will bloom in June.   I did get a few plants, the dahlias, and heleniums staked with hoops, and that helps, but pinching or cutting back as the plants emerge in spring is easy and results in a better looking plant.

Baby hummingbird

Jerry and I were so tickled a bit ago when we saw two hummingbirds at our feeder.  I commented that one was much smaller and Jerry commented they were sharing.  Then the larger bird flew over and fed sugar water down the throat of the little one!  She did it several times and the little practiced drinking on her own as well.  Then they flew away.  I wonder if this is the pair I saw the other day, and the parent was teaching the little guy aerial stunts and advanced flying?

Birdbath

I could write three posts about the rudbeckia, and I will, but I thought first I would point out the birdbath.  So far I have not been able to rationalize the $99 any birdbath I admire has cost.  So I have made do quite nicely with simple glazed plant saucers.  I love plain clay pots!  I had this one on an awesome manzanita root my dad left us, but it fell apart a couple of weeks ago.   Jerry replaced it with this chunk from our old pine tree.   I have other saucers on the ground, for ground level critters, toads, cats, birds or whatever else is out there to reach comfortably.  When the flocks of finches come through in winter they really enjoy bathing in this bath.  We were out shopping nurseries recently and I saw lots of cool saucers at Leo's.  I want to think about getting a bigger more colorful saucer, but meanwhile this one is fine, and was only $7 at Target several years ago.

July 1 flowers

Continuing from February 1:
Alyssum (as always)
Wax begonias
Carnations

Continuing from March 1:
California poppies
Roses
Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'
Geranium 'Biokovo'
Alstromeria

Continuing from April 1:
Calla lilies
Corydalis ochroleuca
Thyme
Geum Mrs. Bradshaw
"little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
Gaillardia
Heuchera
Impatiens

Continuing from May 1:
Star jasmine
Clematis
Stokesia
Verbena bonariensis
Annual phlox
Pomegranate tree
Lobelia
Gerber daisy
Oakleaf hydrangea
Lamb's ears

Continuing from June 1:
Lilies
Hydrangea macrophylla
Mimulus
Pelargonium
Drumstick allium
Echinacea 'White Swan'
Annual red coreopsis
Nandina
Dahlia 'Bishop's Children'
Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonsteder'
Monarda 'Jacob Kline'
Lavender

New for July 1
Rudbeckia
Crocosmia
Cosmos
Wine cups
Veronica
Hydrangea paniculata
Verbena, ground cover
Chocolate cosmos
Crepe Myrtle
Moss rose
Yarrow 'Walther Funke'
Liatris
Phlox paniculata
Dill
Lemon tree
Hydrangea paniculata
Lemon verbena
Agastache rupestris

Flight

.  I like to go out in the garden and hold still long enough to become aware of the motion around me:  A pair of hummingbirds; one flying high into the sky, backwards.  A dragonfly.  A big black carpenter bee.  Busy honey bees.  An orange wasp.  And other buzzy little creatures; bees of some sort, I suppose. 

Hydrangeas

Three hydrangeas are in bloom for June.   The top one is oakleaf hydrangea, next is a mophead, and the bottom one is a paniculata.  Since two are new, time will tell which I like better.