Vigilance

Hopefully one and all are being vigilant about the coronavirus. But now add fire safety to the list. Yes, we're into fire season so make sure to employ extreme caution when BBQing and try to weed or cut down any dry weedy grasses or brush. And at the risk of suggesting water use, use enough to not let your plants go dry.
On a happier note, I hope all the time spent in your garden has yielded pleasing results. It's getting harder to find the usual array of perennials at our favorite nurseries so I'm glad that my garden is 95% perennials. And lately my passion has tended towards bromeliads. Just in the last month, I've added nearly 20 new varieties to my garden. It turns out that they are a relatively safe and easy thing to ship so online stores are a good source. I can recommend three - Bromeliad Paradise, Michael's Bromeliads and Bird Rock Tropicals in southern California.
More photos of the garden this week. The bounty continues.

Lily Mister Cas. Love that splash of honey-orange.

Lily Flavia. A new one this year that has proved quite prolific.

Satureja mimuloides. That would be the orange two-lipped flowers in the center. A cousin of Yerba Buena, it also belongs in the savory family.

Agastache Blue Fortune. My favorite hummingbird mint this year.

Pavonium missionum. This malva family member has lovely coral-red flowers.

I can't seem to stop taking photos of this vigorous honeysuckle (Lonicera x americana).

Lily Sweet Surrender. Looks like this bee has surrendered ...

Epilobium canum. This CA fuchsia has been a fixture along this railing for almost 10 years.

This mystery Trumpet lily came in with the bag of  9 Roselily bulbs. A nice mistake to be sure.

I'm into dwarf varieties of much larger trees and shrubs, partly be necessity. Add this Jacaranda 'Bonzai Blue' to the list. It grows as a 5-6' high, densely leafed shrub.

Begonia odorata White. I don't get any scent but the flowers certainly are lovely.

These Curcuma Bicolor Wonders have a one-two punch. Tropical foliage plus gorgeous pink flowers!

Scabiosa are a great high ground cover, whether they're somewhat low like my S. Harlequin, or taller like this S. Florist's Blue. And of course the bees love the flowers.

Unfortunately I've had a few misships among the many lilies I bought this year. Here's one. This was supposed to be Salmon Party but instead is yellow with a golden-orange throat. Still pretty but ...

Abutilon Tiger Eye. There's no mistaking this 'flowering maple' variety.

Evolvulus 'Blue My Mind.' A reliable bloomer every year.

Begonia Illumination Apricot. Annie's Annuals is currently growing 3 colors in this series. Prolific bloomers and oh so handsome.

Long before it blooms, I love the 'hooked' tips on Gloriosa. 

Not sure if someone was a U2 fan but this lily variety is called The Edge.

Here's another mystery lily that was a misship.

Cotyledon orbiculata var. orbiculata. The summer warmth is bringing on flowers for many of my succulents.

Just to show how flowers can differ, here's another flowering stem of the Lily The Edge. Here there's just the faintest pink rim to the white flower.

Walkway bed. A riot of color these days.

Here's the Epilobium again but this time with the low spilling Calylophus in the foreground.

Okay, I promise, one last shot of my Agastache Rosie Posie.

The flowers may be small on Salvia uliginosa but love that color!

Dicentra scandens. Taking over. As usual.

Hakonochloa macra Aureola. Japanese forest grass or Hakone grass. Loves the sun here in temperate Oakland.

Lily Solution. Such a dull name for such an exquisite flower!

One more shot of the 'mistake' lily (in place of Salmon Party). This flower has more golden-orange in the throat. Beautiful.

But the real star of the lily show this year is this L. Labrador. The flowers are immense - a good 10" wide! - bigger than any lily flower I've ever seen. Lovely color too.

Chantilly Peach snapdragon. The Chantilly series sold by Annie's Annuals are the hardiest snaps I have yet to come across.

Though the bottom flower is fading, the top one shows off the lovely raspberry red tones of Lily Double Sensation.

One last photo of my Lily Mister Cas. 

And one final photo of Begonia Illumination Apricot.

Drive through Eden

A friend and I once joked that we should start a drive-through nursery. You pull up to the kiosk and order your plants then drive further to the Pick-up station to pick up the plants that nursery staff has gathered for you, pay and be on your way. That's a great Pandemic business model these days. One friend's nursery in fact did a version of that. People called in their order then were given a time to pick up their order, left just outside the front entrance. Ah the times.
Here are the latest photos of my garden. It is nearing its peak now so there's more things blooming than I can even photograph! As the saying goes, a nice problem to have.

Clematis Roguchi. Yep, this is a clematis and yep, they don't get more purple than this.

Lily African Queen. This is my older one (see further down for the difference in the more recent one (different vendor).

Lily Double Sensation. Love the rich raspberry colors!

Agastache Blue Fortune. Love the fuzzy flowers on this guy.

Another photo of my new favorite Agastache - Rosie Posie. Almost burgundy.

It doesn't look like much yet but my Banksia nivea already has an interesting form to me.

Linum grandiflorum Rubrum. This red flowering form of Linum is a real beauty.

Mimulus aurantiacus variety. This is a lovely golden-orange variety of Monkey flower.

Fuchsia Autumnale. This trailing fuchsia is pretty even when not in bloom.

Bouvardia ternifolia. Red, red, red, red!

No one told my Anisodontea Strybing Beauty that it wasn't supposed to get as big as a Lavatera. It's huge and a real bee magnet.

One of my two favorite lilies from last year, Lilium Giraffe has oh-so-vivid colors and is a prolific bloomer.

My favorite variety of the driveway Tiger lily mix. 

One last shot of my blood-red Lily Corleone.

Roselily. This new category of lily takes a double form and comes in a variety of colors (mostly pinks and whites). So far, each of my four stems has produced only pink flowers.

My Portulaca 6-pack has settled in and is producing a whole rainbow of colors.

Neoregelia 'Takemura Princeps. 'Neos' as they are called make up the largest genus of all the genera considered to be bromeliads. They are noted for their colorful leaves and spotting.

Viola Columbine. This Viola just doesn't know when to quit!

Tweedia caerulea. Too bad this milkweed member is so hard to find in the trade. It has the prettiest blue flowers one is likely ever to see.

Begonia Belleconia Soft Orange. This is a new series, featuring a peony-style flower. Lovely!

Begonia Funky Pink. This charmer is just starting to bloom.

Begonia Gene Daniels. It's all about the foliage with this durable cane begonia.

This lily was sold as Salmon Star and was supposed to be a large salmon-pink with prominent spotting. Instead I got this variety. It's not all bad but I sure did like the real Salmon Star flowers.

Here's part of my Neo and Aechmea collection. 

And here's the other half of the collection resting under a fir tree.

Lilium regale. One of the oldest lilies still on the market. This trumpet lily is a beaut (and fragrant too).

Neo Fanfare. One of the more colorful Neos.

Helenium Mardi Gras. A real trooper and a real bee magnet!

Lily African Queen. You can see that this AQ, from a different grower, has a lot more orange in it.

Neomarica caerulea. This iris relative gets huge (5-10') and puts out the most dazzling flowers come summer. The photo below shows off each flower's intricate center markings.