Happy Labor Day!

Well, everyone raise your hand who wonders where in the hell August went. That's what I thought. Did we really have a summer? One thing about those of us who have a wide variety of plants in our garden - those plants are their own calendar/clock. Allowing for some variation in rainfall and temperature, spring blooming plants bloom in spring. Summer bloomers bloom in summer. If that comes across as a 'duh' statement, there's more profundity to it that a first glance. While we humans are kind of untethered to the biology of the seasons, plants are 'hard-wired' to follow their genetic programming. There's something comforting about that to me. A reminder that despite all the silly things that humans do, Nature is steady and rhythmic. Mind you, we're doing our best to wreck it, as a warming earth can only bring trouble.
After last week's side excursion into native bees, I'm back this week with photos and descriptions of plants in my garden. August and September are transition months in my garden (and in many gardens I suspect), with summer still here but hints of fall arriving. In any case, today's photos are a mixed bag of genera, form and color. Enjoy!

Sundial. This new addition to my garden features several dragonflies, one in 3D as the arm of the 'clock.' 

Begonia 'Illumination Apricot.' The Illumination series is one of the showiest and longest blooming all tuberous-type begonias. Love this color! 

Agastache rupestris 'Coronado.' One of my favorite hummingbird mints. It bears repeating that agastache are one of the great bee plants around. They're around my species gathering nectar for what seems like the whole day.

Ipomoea x multifida. Better known as Cardinal Climber, this unusual morning glory features heavily dissected leaves and small but intensely red flowers. A personal favorite!

Amaranthus tricolor 'Illumination.' This striking annual doesn't get as big as many Amaranthus but that foliage is just so pretty. 

No problem with size on this Snapdragon Chantilly Purple. Every one of the Chantilly series is robust and fills out to an impressive 30" high and wide. And they're very long blooming.

Ditto for the marvelous Ageratum houstonianum, which is much taller and fuller than the bedding types. So, we need a new memorable line. How about "Houston(ianum), we have much success!"

Lilium 'Sheherazade.' One of the loveliest oriental lilies around. I now have ~ 25 varieties of lilies in my garden.

I never get tired of photographing (and sharing) my glorious Tecoma x smithii. They seem to be radiating their own sunshine from within. 

Friends sometimes request I share photos of whole beds or areas of my garden, not just individual flowers. Here's the main walkway leading to the back. The walkway gives you an idea of how narrow the house side bed is. On the right is a foot wide raised cement area that holds pots. In the foreground is Abelia 'Kaleidoscope,' everyone's favorite variegated Abelia. The bright golden bush further down is my Duranta 'Gold Mound.'

These Sesbanii seedpods, large and colorful, almost look like XMas tree ornaments. 

The genus Senecio is so widely varied, you could probably trick all but the most experienced gardener into thinking that a whole bunch of species couldn't possibly belong to that genus. Although this S. amaniensis isn't one of those 'huh?' plants, its size (to 6') and thick wide spatulate leaves certainly make it a somewhat unique member.

Justicia fulvicoma. 'So many Justicias, so little time' is my motto. This orangy-peach one is a sun lover and tough as nails. 

I spoke of unusual Senecios. Well, here's one. S. kleinia is indeed rather odd looking. Here's what San Marcos Growers has to say about it: "A succulent sparingly branched winter growing shrub with gray bark on thick articulated (with constrictions like a sausage) stems that can grow to 6 to 10 feet tall and wide but usually seen in cultivation in the 4 to 5 foot range. It has narrow 3 to 5 inch long gray-green leaves near the branch tips that come directly on the stems without a petiole. Small whitish yellow fragrant flowers appear in later spring to summer on terminal short branched corymbs followed by white fluffy seed heads" Couldn't have said it better myself!

Want more strange? Here's Bukiniczia cabulica, a pretty succulent hailing from Pakistan. Its marbled patterning on the leaves would be reason enough to add it to your garden but it will eventually send up flowering spikes that look like tentacles on some alien creature!

I thought this was an interesting shot. A bit of wildness in a front yard bed. The red flowers are Epilobium canum, sometimes known as CA Fuchsia. The milky white you see is the seedhead fluff of several Tweedia flowers. Tweedia is of course a member of the milkweed family (most notable member being Asclepias) and shares those fascinating seedpods of all true milkweeds.

Nope, I didn't plan this. My Bells of Ireland decided to do a 'walkabout.' That aside, this has turned out to be a more durable and longer blooming plant than I expected. If you are into green flowers, Bells needs to be near the top of your list. Want to have a little fun with a gardening friend? Ask them where Bells of Ireland are native to. You'll likely get a deer-in-the-headlights look and a meek "Umm, Ireland?" Which of course it isn't. This annual is native to Turkey, Syria and the Caucasus.

Inside the Hive (or a burrow)

Let's talk about bees! As the saying goes, bees are a win-win-win experience. Honey bees not only pollinate 75% of California's crops but native bees are also valuable pollinators. Plus, certain bees make honey (yum!). And bees are fun to watch and study, being (for their size especially) amazingly complex and organized critters.
Today I want to share some thoughts about bees found in California. I am no expert on bees but fortunately there are others who are. One of those is the U.C. Berkeley Urban Bee Lab. Here is a description of their work, taken verbatim from their website. "Our research group at the University of California has been working since 1987 on documenting bee diversity and bee frequencies on wild California plants in several northern California sites. This research led to a series of new bee sampling methods that we used to start the urban bee project in the late 1990s. After several years of sampling in residential areas of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) we have found about 90 species of bees, most of which are native to California. Once sampling is completed in other urban residential areas of the SFBA, we expect this number to increase well beyond 100."
They outline 5 major bee groups found in our state so today I thought I'd share a bit of each group, plus some wonderful photos. Almost all the photos come from their website.

Apidae family (Cuckoo, Digger, Carpenter, Bumblebee and Honeybee)
The family Apidae is a large and very diverse group of bees. It contains a diverse array of digger bees, most of which nest in the soil, carpenter bees which nest in soft wood or pithy stems, and bumble and honey bees which nest in large cavities or hives, are social, and have distinctive pollen baskets (corbicula).

Digger bee (Anthophora urbana).

Carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta).

Cuckoo bee (Nomada species).

Habropoda Digger bee (Habropoda miserabilis).

Yellow-fronted bumblebee (Bombus flavifrons). 

Long-horned bee (Melissodes robustior).

Colletidae family (Membrane bees)
The small family Colletidae is known for the membranous, cellophane-like secretions used by females to line burrows they excavate in the soil, or that they construct in tubular cavities.  Most of these bees are medium to tiny, and slender in form. California has two very different-looking genera from this family: the larger, fuzzy bees of the genus Colletes, which have distinctive triangular-shaped faces and often have striped abdomens, and the smaller black, relatively hairless bees of the genus Hylaeus that usually have yellow facial markings, giving them a "masked" appearance.

Membrane bee (Colletes fulgidus longiplumosus).

Adrenidae family (Mining bees)
This is a large family of soil nesting bees, hence the common name Mining Bees. These are among the first bees to emerge and visit flowers in spring.  Most are medium to tiny, and slender in form. There are two very different-looking groups within the family, but only the genus Andrena is widespread and common at our urban garden sites. 

Mining bee (Andrena subtilis).

Halictidae family (Sweat bees)
Sweat bees have earned their common name from the tendency, especially of the smaller species, to alight on ones skin and lap up perspiration for both its moisture and salt content. These bees are rather nondescript in their general appearance and structure, but there are a few very striking species, like the “Ultra Green Sweat Bee,” whose shiny metallic sheen appears like a jewel among the garden flowers.  Many are medium to tiny, and slender in form. 

Ultra Green Sweat bee (Agapostemon texanus).

Brown-winged Furrow bee (Halictus farinosus).

Megachilidae family (Carder, Leaf Cutter and Mason bees)
The family Megachilidae is a large and diverse group of bees. They are the architects of the bee world. They nest primarily in pre-formed tubular cavities (tunnels of woodboring beetles, hollow plant stems, and even abandoned snail shells) using a wide variety of materials collected from the environment, including leaf and flower pieces, masticated leaves, mud, resin, plant hairs, and pebbles to construct brood chambers for their young. Bees of this family may be assigned to different architectural guilds based on the kind or combination of materials they use to construct their nests, for example, leaf-cutting, mason, resin, or wool carder bees.

Wool carder bee (Anthidium palliventre).

Leaf cutter bee (Hoplitis fulgida platyura).

Horn-faced Leaf Cutter bee (Megachile fidelis).

 Orchard Mason bee (Osmia lignaria).

Plants as Herbs

Many of you know that there are plants grown as ornamentals that also have medicinal properties. Some of these are used in Chinese herbal formulations. One of those plants is Platycodon grandiflorum, better known to gardeners as 'Balloon flower.' I have one in my garden and am sharing a picture of its lovely purple flower today. I want to put out that when you think more closely about 'medicinal foods' that in fact everything we eat is in some fashion a medicinal. That is because everything we ingest affects the health of our bodies in some fashion. We may not always make the correlation or the effect may be subtle, leading to the idea of certain plants (in some form or another) that have a more obvious influence on our health being labeled 'medicinal.'
Today's photos reflect the mid-summer state of my garden, with typical summer bloomers like Begonias, Dianthus and Mimulus augmented by a few singular denizens of my diverse garden.

 Gloriosa lilies. I had a bumper crop this year of this prolific lily. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks of them as 'dancing flames.'

Mimulus Sunset. A new variety from local grower Susan Ashley. Love its color!

Dianthus Super Trooper Orange. There's a reason why Dianthus are so popular - they're tough, bloom over a long period, are tenacious and drought tolerant and can be tucked in practically anywhere.

One way to use a median strip. Plant a tree (here a Magnolia Butterflies), a shrub or two (here two Flowering quince plus a Phlomis), tuck in a couple ground covers (Eriogonum crocatum and Helianthemum) then fill in with various potted plants.

I'll admit, I'm 'head over heels' for this lighter blue variety of Salvia patens. It's called 'Patio Light Blue.'

Here's our friend Platycodon, mentioned in the foreward. It's called Balloon flower because right before it opens to the flower you see, it makes an oblong balloon-shaped closed flower.

Not in bloom but I bought this morning glory as much for its variegated leaves as for the pretty rose flowers to come.

Two pots of Begonias, Illumination Yellow on the left and B. boliviensis on the right.

Though it's a bit hard to see from this photo, this Echeveria pulvinata has fuzzy leaves and bright red tubular flowers. The green leaves are prominently tipped in red as well.

Lotus jacobaeus (Black lotus). Always in bloom and always crowded with bees. My kind of plant!

Begonia Illumination Apricot. I adore the colors on this variety. Very long bloomer.

Born to be Blue

If and when we finally find the 'holy grail' I'm convinced it will be blue. At least the gardener's holy grail. Perhaps more than all other colors combined, plants with true blue flowers are the most sought after by avid gardeners. You need look no further than the sheer volume of instances where the description 'blue' is used to describe the color of a plant's flowers, flowers it should be pointed out that in no way contain even some semblance of that color. Unless of course you count 'purple' as blue. Or pink. Or wine-red. So why do those determining the varietal name or the common name or even just the general description of these 'not-blue' flowers use the term blue? Well, because we all love that color. And because of all the common colors not named 'black,' brown' or green,' flowers with a true blue color are the hardest to come by. And by blue, I'm including everything from the pale blue of chichory flowers right through the 'royal' blue of Phacelia viscida. So, there are in fact quite a few plants whose flowers can be accurately be described as blue. It's just that those numbers pale compared to yellow, pink, red, purple and white. And while I'm not crazy with non-blue flowers being called blue, the thing that truly bothers me is when photos of some of these non-blue flowers are photoshpped to make them appear more blue than they actually are. That to me is deceit plain and simple. We've all had the experience of seeing a plant's photo online or on a sign, getting excited and then discovering that once it blooms, the actual flower is nothing like that image. And that's allowing for the fact that there is some difference in the 'experience' of color among the general populace.
So, that's my rant for today. Onto this week's photos where, yes, I share a couple photos of plants that to me are in the blue spectrum. No dispute about Borage, with its nodding true blue flowers much beloved by bees. Anagallis is on the deep or royal blue edge of the spectrum, though very much blue to my eyes. This week's photo of my Ageratum is a lesson in the 'not-blue' for me. It's described as blue but is in fact to my eyes a pinkish-lavender.
One final word. I do recommend googling a particular flower and looking at images to see what that plant actually looks like in people's gardens. Choose those over the Grower's stock photos, which may in fact be accurate. Or not.
Okay here are this week's photos.

'It  came from outer space!' Well, okay this Spider Woman dahlia only looks like something in a Sci-fi movie. For once, the flower is exactly like the grower's photo online.

I have generally not had luck with hybrid (ie. regular) gladiolas but the two species ones I grew this year each turned out perfect. Here's my G. Mirella, sporting coral-red flowers. Now we'll see what happens in year two ...

Here's the aforementioned borage with, yep, a bee on one of the flowers. Borage checks off three pretty big boxes for a lot of gardeners - it has some of the prettiest blue flowers, it's an absolute bee magnet and it's the easiest and most durable thing you'll ever grow.

I occasionally share photos of my slender main walkway bed, in part to show how much stuff you can cram into a tight space (if that is your wish). This bed is only 20" wide.

The walkway bed pictured above contains this wonderful Agastache called Black Adder (and no, the plant is not poisonous like the snake - what were these people thinking?). It's proven to be a prolific bloomer and like other hummingbird mints it is also a favorite destination for bees.

Regular readers know I have a small collection of caudiciforms. Here's one of them - Cussonia natalensis. It went deciduous but is really leafing out now. 

I'm a big Begonias fan. Here's my B. Illumination Apricot about to open its first colorful blooms. The Illumination series are prolific bloomers, pretty much mid-summer through first frost. 

Here's a Simon and Garfinkel reference for true fans (plant with orange flowers) 'For Emilia Whenever I May Find Her.' Yes, this plant is Emilia sonchifolia (and not the Emily in the song). Very pretty orange puffball flowers.

Another Agastache, this one the orange flowering Coronado. So, is it 'aga-stash' or 'aga-stacky'? 

Cuphea llavea Vienco Burgundy. That's a lot of words for a simple plant. This species goes completely dormant but then returns vigorously in late June/early July and is soon blooming.

Anagallis monellii. This plant does have a common name with blue as part of it. Blue Pimpernel. If it seems as if this common name might have been stolen from the book (The Red Pimpernel) it's actually the reverse. The word's origins trace back to the 15th century.

Tecoma stans Bells of Fire. Not as big as some of the Tecomas and featuring fiery orange-red tubular flowers. Curiously, hummingbirds have not paid my specimen much attention.

Here is the Ageratum houstonianum. A great plant and a butterfly magnet. Just not blue from where I'm sitting. This is the tall vigorous ageratum, not one of the little dwarf hybrids you see in garden centers.

There are self-seeders and then there are SELF-SEEDERS. Asclepias, here A. curassivica, is from the latter group. The kind of 'frozen explosion' you see here is actually the 'delivery system,' the method for the tiny seeds imbedded in the cotton to be dispersed by the wind.

CA buckwheats are indeed one of the best things you can plant in the garden to attract all manner of pollinators. Whether it's nectar collected by bees and butterflies or the seeds harvested by small birds, this is one nutritious genus. Here it's a Eriogonum grande var. rubescens. 

Mirabilis variety. Here's my yellow blooming variety of the plant called Four O'Clocks. Why aren't these flowers open? Because I took the photo at noon. So, yes, these flowers do wait until later in the day to open.