Blue skies

I know there's flooding in the mid-west and a hurricane is pounding Florida but I for one am so glad to see the sun the last couple of days. It feels like the first week of sun all year. I'm pretty sure our gardens have a similar feeling, as many of our plants have been waiting for some warmth, if not the sun itself. I'll gladly put in the extra time to water to wake up to sunshine for the next while.
I want to put in a good word for Agastache today. Hummingbird mints as they are sometimes called, they have an astonishing range in leaf form, flower form and color, variety of scents and uses in the garden or kitchen. And that's not all. Most are tough, thriving in a variety of environments, can handle poor soil, are quite reliable in returning each year and of course attract hummingbirds (and bees too!). I think of them as one of the 'super plants' in a flower garden. And they're easily found at your local nursery/garden center, often in inexpensive 4" pots.
And now here are this week's garden photos.

Philadelphus Belle Etoile. A very fragrant Mock Orange member, this 8-12' tall guy blooms seemingly in direct proportion to the amount of water it gets during its bloom season. Did you know that the genus name owes to an ancient Greek king of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus? Sounds like a good Jeopardy question to me!

Speaking of fragrant shrubs and more particularly other mock oranges, this Choisya Sundance is in its glory now, offering brilliant gold foliage.

I know I photograph my Dicentra scandens frequently but I keep thinking some reader will discover the blog and in particular this plant for the first time and go 'Wow!' Wow, indeed.

Okay, most of you are wondering, what the heck is this photo for. First off, it's a Lilium martagon 'Claude Shride' and on a personal note, it's one of the plants that Annie's Annuals asked me to write a sign for. I opened that sign with 'Tall, dark and handsome, this 4' high European lily produces masses of 3" flowers.' Martagon lilies are a type of Turk's Cap lily, known for two things: their spotted flowers and the fact they face downward on arching stems.  You can already see here that the start of the flowering stem is beginning to curl.

My herb bed has had a couple of additions this spring. To the right is a tall Centaurea Blue Diadem and back center is a Clarkia 'Salmon Princess.' Truth be told, both clarkia and centaurea flowers are edible but I'm growing them for the vivid flowers.

I'm always being prodded by friends to take photos of whole beds, not just individual flowers. Okay, okay. Here's a shot of the first of my three median strip beds. It's ringed by potted plants but there's lots planted, including a Chantilly Purple snapdragon, two ornamental quince (Chaenomeles), a lovely yellow flowering CA Buckwheat (Eriogonum crocatum), a Phlomis and anchoring the center a yellow blooming Magnolia (M. Butterflies).

If this looks like a sea holly, well, it is. You don't normally find golden-leaved varieties. This one is Eryngium x zabelii 'Neptune's Gold.' The metallic blue flowers will really jump against this background!

My favorite tree, and one of my favorite plants period, this Cotinus Royal Purple has burst into bloom. Smoke bushes are much easier to grow than people think and this variety can be kept smaller if desired.

There are plenty of 'Tiger lilies.' This handsome guy is from a variety mix and I love its rich orangy-red color. Lilies - easy to grow, fantastically beautiful flowers, return reliably each year. Case closed as to their appeal.

Here's another tiger lily from that variety mix. It's a pale pinky-orange and not quite as spotted.

There's nothing quite like the blue of Tweedia caerulea. Would you then call a hummingbird that comes to this flower for nectar a 'Tweedia bird'? Okay, moving right along ... As many know this is a member of the milkweed family and in fact the seedpods look remarkably like this group's most famous member, Asclepias (the host plant for Monarch butterflies).

Gladiolus nanus 'Halley.' I just love this species glad. Pale peach colors plus the bright pink lips that almost look painted on.

Here's exhibit A why people love Arisaemas (Jack-in-the-Pulpit) so much. This is my A. speciosum var. magnificum and the spathes on this variety are particularly vivid. 

Though it's just getting started, the first flowers on my Echeveria setosa deminuta are nonetheless colorful and seem to be seeking the sun. Hummers will soon find them.

The common name for this Hebe speciosa - showy hebe - kind of says it all. Like other hebes, its flowers are a magnet for bees.

One last shot of my Black Eye lilies. The Asiatic types tend to be lower, quicker to bloom and multiple quicker. 

Calibrachoa Mini-famous Pink. These smaller but double flowers are a real delight. Good things do indeed come in small packages sometimes.

I'm sure you've read on many a plant's label 'Reseeds' only to discover it doesn't. No worries with Nigella damascena, better known as Love-in-a-Mist. Heck, sometimes it'll reseed twice in one season. 

My Ornithogalum Coconut Cream has been a success story this spring. Its flowers have ranged in color from alabaster to what you see here, a kind of buttery yellow. Beautiful!

Mystery shot two. This is my Lilium philippinense and I show it before blooms appear to offer an educational moment that the leaves on different kinds of lilies can be very, very different. Incidentally, this wonderfully fragrant trumpet lily reminds me of Lilium regale (Regal lily).

Euonymus japonica aureo-marginatus. This shrub form of wintercreeper is as you can see a mix of golds and greens. Right now it's mostly golds. It's formed tiny little flower buds which have yet to open. 

My Helenium 'Mardi Gras' is just getting going for the year. It's a blooming machine much beloved by bees. 

And finally a new addition to my caudiciform collection - Senecio kleinia. It would get very big if planted out (over time) but I'll keep mine in a pot.

The long hello?

I want to take a moment today to encourage all nature lovers to visit the great variety of regional parks here in the East Bay. They number in the dozens and cover every type of environment imaginable. For a good resource check out the EBRP website. A friend and I visited Coyote Hills regional park near Fremont today and as usual it was wonderful, even though we were a bit late for the best birding season. Still, we saw egrets and herons, redwing blackbirds, terns, various kinds of ducks, cormorants and one of the park's main attractions - tree swallows. That's because there is a row of swallow houses in a dirt road near the back of the park. The park features an extensive marsh filled with reeds which in spring is teeming with life. There are even muskrats there. The highlight of our trip was spotting a grey fox kit.
If you're like me you probably spend a bit more time indoors than you'd really like so here's the chance to peek at all the great east bay parks awaiting you.
Now here are more garden photos.

My mystery fern is having its best year ever, thick and full, almost too much so for the narrow bed it's in. 

Calceolaria Kentish Hero. Here the first flowering branch seems to hover detached in the air, like a flock of orange birds.

Hydrangea quercifolia. My oakleaf hydrangea is also having a wonderful year and put out a number of huge flowering panicles. As with many hydrangeas, the individual flowers begin green then, in this case, color up white. Oakleafs like a bit more sun than your lacecap or mophead hydrangea and can handle drier conditions.

Also happy this spring is my Plectranthus zuluensis. It has more flowers than in previous years - and earlier. Here the sun shows off the almost translucent quality of the petals.

Another shot of my Nigella 'African Bride.' It's true, most people are partial to the more common blue-flowering Love-in-a-Mist but this is a pretty species as well.And the burgundy seedpods on this species are much more decorative.

Clarkia 'Salmon Princess.' One of my favorite Clarkias and it's in full bloom right now. Did you know that Clarkia is named after the explorer William Clark?

I'm a lily junkie and one of the first of my many varieties to bloom each year is this L. Trebbiano. Large flowers, a rich gold with a hint of green at the throat. 

Penstemon Volet-Kissed. Aptly named beardstongue. It has proven quite the profuse bloomer.

Only one of my three new Ornithogalum varieties, grown from bulb, did well and that's this O. Coconut Cream. It's more than making up for the other two.

Ixia variety. I like the cream-colored ixias for some reason. More subtle but still pretty. 

I thought this Salvia madrensis leaf was interesting enough itself to warrant a photo. Love the color and also the texture.

Alstromerias have to be one of the easiest flowers to grow ... and the most prolific.

Cistus McGuire's Gold. This rock rose has yet to bloom but that's okay. I love its golden hues and it has adapted to a filtered sun location.

Here's a nicer shot of my Lilium 'Black Eye.' Not sure about the variety name. How about Burgundy Splash? 

Pachypodium lealii v. saundersii. This caudiciform has leafed out nicely, after going dormant in the winter. 

Chrysocephalum apiculatum. This low growing spreading perennial is a blooming machine and much appreciated by bees. 

Those in the know will recognize this as a species gladiolus. It's G. nanus 'Halley' and I love the salmon colors of the petals, as well as the bright pink 'splashes.'

Aquilegia chrysantha 'Flore Pleno.' This charming columbine packs a lot of punch in its small flowers, including them being a fully double form.

My amazing Dicentra scandens is such a profuse bloomer it's "scandens-ous." Okay, that didn't come out as close to scandalous as I'd thought but this is one miniature vine that nonetheless fills in densely and offers a steady stream of yellow 'hearts' from late spring to fall.

Hebe speciosa. Often called Showy hebe and for good reason as it turns out, this species is nonetheless tough, drought tolerant and popular with bees. 

I'll admit I'm a bit dazzled by the rich color of this Chantilly Purple snapdragon offered up by Annie's Annuals. 

Every garden needs a bird bath and this ceramic one of mine is in a sunny front yard. I see jays, chickadees, wrens, bushtits and even hummingbirds all taking quick baths in there.

Summer? Heck, we'll take Spring

We're living in the age of fake news but ... fake weather? It's mid-May and it feels like mid-February. Shouldn't we have retired our winter coats by now? Plus the heavy sweater? And the lighter sweater? The cool cloudy weather is confusing our gardens as well. They want to be bursting with the exuberance of late spring but where the heck is the sun and the warmth? The botanical clock keeps on ticking though so the plants in our garden keep progressing. Today, the photos reflect the range of plants in my garden.

Philadelphus lewisii 'Covelo.' This native mock orange may not be as fragrant as some of the non-natives but it blooms prolifically. It hasn't reached anything close to full size but is already covered in pure white flowers. The blooms are especially pretty against the dark green foliage.

My golden-leaved Weigela (Rubidor) has yet to bloom but is leafing out more fully this spring. It has so far stayed lower than expected, perhaps due in part to it reaching for my light.

Sambucus canadensis. This elderberry is one of the best shrubs for berry-loving birds. It puts out sprays of delicate tiny white flowers followed by dark fruits in summer. Mine has eclipsed its stated size, now a good 12' tall. Native to the eastern U.S. it does quite well here as well.

Pelargonium 'Frank Headley.' This variegated leaf geranium has the prettiest coral-colored flower. This isn't the best shot and of course the sun wasn't out but it serves as an introduction.

Nigella 'African Bride.' I cringe at the variety name of this plant, given that the flowers are, umm, white, but I love the various forms of Love-in-a-Mist. This variety sports an especially deep maroon 'Jester's Hat' (developing seedpod), making a nice contrast with the white petals.

Agastache 'Raspberry Summer.' This variety has turned into the most vigorous, most floriferous hummingbird mint of the half dozen varieties in my garden. It wasn't dormant for long and despite it being a summer bloomer, mine put out its first flowers in late March.

There's nothing quite like the colors on the Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy.' The vibrant tones will eventually fade to a ruddy dark green but  for now I get to enjoy the wine-reds.

I'll admit, Penstemons have sometimes been a challenge for me to grow successfully. This P. 'Violet Kissed' though has been easy as pie. Bloomed its first year from a 4" pot and is really on a roll this spring. 

When they say Asclepias (milkweed) self-seeds, they aren't kidding. My A. curassivica self seeded in a pot that was already filled up with my Pavonia and here it is, already filling out and in bloom. Not a bad plant for Monarch butterflies to choose as a host and food plant. BTW, the toxins in this plant help make the Monarch caterpillar less enticing to eat by predators. 

Crocosmia Pina Colada.  Certainly one of the more colorful Mirror plants.

Chamelacium Bridal Pearl. It's now mixing in with self-seeded nasturtiums, giving it a woodsy kind of look.

Chamaecyparis Nana Lutea. This dwarf false cypress features twisting panels of gold tipped green branches. It's part of my Japanese Garden bed.

Iris douglasiana hybrid. This lighter purple flower is a result of Iris douglasiana being crossed with ??. Still, a lovely and original color.

Though my neighbor planted this, it's a Louisiana Iris of some sort. Simple but lovely.

This little guy has a big name - Echinocereus pectinatus v. rubispinus. Uhh, that would make it a cactus, right? Right.

Another shot of my oh-so-lovely Tolmiea menziesii 'Taff's Gold.'

I love the look of nearly emerged leaves on my split-leaf Philodendron. So glossy!

Trachelospermum asiaticum Ogon Nishiki. This variegated form of star jasmine stays low and is very slow growing. Here I contrasted its yellows, greens and oranges with a blue gazing ball.

Always one of the first lilies to bloom, my asiatic Lilium Black Eye offers up the richest, most satiny burgundy colors.

Though this Mimulus aurantiacus variety is called Bronze, you can see it has a lot of orange in it.

This is my neighbor's Leucospermum bush. Could be Scarlet Ribbons, I'm not sure, but in any case it's very happy!