So here's to 'getting lost' in our gardens, in all the myriad and glorious ways.
Begonia boliviensis variety. This type of begonia is perfect for a hanging basket. It's a tumbler and the dark green, veined foliage provides a nice backdrop to the flame-orange flowers.
Penstemon 'Dark Towers.' This hybrid penstemon features darker leaves and pink-blushed white flowers. One interesting feature is the prominent hairs on the stems and the flowers.
I've recently been buying some beautiful glass objects and one of them, this green tray with a looped handle, was perfect for displaying some tillandsias outside.
Though common and bought as annuals, common mums can actually come back and flower the next year. Here's my copper mum starting to put out flowers in this its second year.
Another of my many Mimulus aurantiacus varieties. I love Sticky Monkey flowers. They're beautiful, long-blooming, drought tolerant and disease-resistant. That pretty much covers it.
2017 is going to be the year of the lily in my garden. This year I added 12 new varieties and now have 24 different ones. This Lilium Trebbiano is always one of the first to bloom.
Royal blue is a good description of Anagallis flowers. If you look closely in the center-right part of the image you'll see a black bumblebee foraging for nectar.
A new addition to my garden (I just planted it today), this Hydrangea 'Glowing Embers' offers exceptionally pretty rose-pink flowers.
Though not the best of photos, my Kalanchoe Elk Antlers has turned an unexpected deep brown.
Though this is my neighbor's Calandrinia spectabilis, it's looking so wonderful I thought I'd include a photo.
Anyone know this flower? It's Franchoa sonchifolia. Not as well known as it should be, this partial shade lover can be a prolific bloomer. My two year old plant currently has 7 flowering spikes in various stages of growth, all off the one plant. Exceptionally pretty and exceptionally tough, always a good combo.
The sun shining on my Lilium 'Pink Perfection' doesn't show off how deep the burgundy-pink color is on this trumpet lily. Like most trumpets, the stalks are tall (4-6') and the flowers large (5-7"). A real showstopper.
Fuchsia Autumnale. People buy this scrambling fuchsia for its colorful foliage, though the pink flowers are pretty too.
The latest 'love of my life,' this dwarf fir bush (Abies koreana Kohout's Icebreaker) is very difficult to find and often expensive. I ordered mine from Oregon. One of the most striking of the extreme dwarf firs (or any conifer).
Japanese Garden. This is my own miniature Japanese Garden. It's populated with dwarf species. It's hard to see but on the far right is the new Icebreaker dwarf fir.
Lathyrus 'Almost Black.' Well named, this deep, deep purple sweet pea kind of disappears into the shadows.
Phacelia minor. Less common than the other Phacelias but just as beautiful, this one is more of a scrambler than a bush and has flowers that are the most pronounced in tubular form of any Phacelia.
Those light lavender star-shaped flowers look like a Campanula but in fact they're a Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud.' It's related to a Campanula but it more drought tolerant, blooms longer and is more tenacious.
Want a bit of gardening nirvana? Plant a Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' in a semi-enclosed spot, where its intensely sweet smell can congregate. Mine is planted along a narrow walkway, and against a wall, and its perfume is simply intoxicating.
Clarkia 'Salmon Princess.' So many clarkias, so little space ...
There's nothing quite like Centaurea 'Blue Diadem.' That purplish-blue cornflower color is simply dreamy. This is my specimen's first flower so I have many more to enjoy in the month ahead.
Gilia capitata. This CA native wildflower is vigorous, colorful and sort of fun. Its common name, Thimbleflower, owes to the thimble-shaped domed flowers. Always popular with butterflies and bees, this is an annual I grow every year. It also reliably self seeds.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Cherie.' Who doesn't love Hibiscus?
I wanted to take more of a closeup of my Cotinus Royal Purple flower/seedhead. The airy, smoky cluster is a vehicle for the dispersal of the actual seeds, which you can identify here as the dark brown 'dots.'
Another, older, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis variety. They're blooming early this year.
Hibiscus trionum. This unusual hibiscus offers up pale butter-yellow petals with a magenta center ring. It goes deciduous in the winter but then pops back up in the late spring as the weather warms.
Asarina erubescens 'Bridal Bouquet.' Vigorous, a long bloomer, soft, felty leaves. Lots to like about this easy to grow climber.
Calceolaria Kentish Hero. Everyone's favorite orange-blooming 'pocketbook.' This one is a short-lived perennial, as opposed to the annual Calceolaria mexicana, though the latter species is known to self-seed.
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