Back on the farm

Well, not the farm, the garden. Or the Garden Grotto Or these days, the Garden of Eden, that is to say any place not directly affected by the evils of Trumpdom (or is that Trumpdumb?)
There hasn't been a lot to photograph since my last post a month ago but then all kinds of challenges kept me busy the last 6 weeks. I did manage to get some decent ones today and while they may not win any photography prizes, they do give an idea of what's going on in my little 'one-of-everything' garden. Actually there is exciting news but unfortunately taking photos of a variety of bulb shoots isn't going to raise too many people's temperatures. To me though, they are harbingers of spring or in the case of the S. African bulbs, late winter.
So here are a few visuals to enjoy in whatever way pleases you.

I start with some brilliant blue dragonflies, very pretty even if they're not real.

Lepechinia hastata is one of the four season wonder plants. I eventually started over as my old one kind of took over everything around it. Fragrant leaves, very pretty flowers over a long period, drought tolerant and a favorite for hummers and bees. 

 Even though I need to put it in a larger pot,  my Coprosma Pina Colada is still colorful and healthy.

I need a better picture, how the heck could I take this shot and not see the shadow? but it gives an idea of the pretty urn-shaped flowers on my variegated Arbutus Marina. Those will soon mature into berries much beloved by birds.

Oxalis vulcanicola. One of the prettiest of the low growing Oxalis. No beating those oranges and golds.

Kind of an odd photo compositionally but that's just the way the flowers are growing. Low and sticking out is my Helenium Mardi Gras; above it is my Arctotis Opera Fire. And then above it and to its left is the long blooming and hard to find Justicia betonica, with its white bracts. 

Though not in full splendor - it IS December after all -  my Agastache Red Fortune is nonetheless still blooming. It's doing that almost year round now.

Neoregelia Presatress x Touchdown. That's quite the mouthful for a simple bromeliad.

It is and it isn't. Yes, it is obviously a staghorn fern, just not the common one. In this case, it's the sun-loving Platycerium veitchii. Slightly more slender leaves that are a touch more blue.

I debated whether to even post this photo of my first Magnolia stellata Royal Star flower. It's not illuminated by the sun so isn't glowing like they normally do in the sun. But still, the first!

Chamaecyparis 'Ellwood's Pillar.' From my collection of dwarf conifers. Lovely!

I'd buy this lovely Sideritis cypria for the downy and silvery foliage but as it turns out it will eventually produce apple green bracts that are a sight to behold.

Rainbow bush, otherwise known as Portulacaria afra variegata. Always wanted one of these and now I do. It's in with a collection of succulents in my sunny front yard driveways bed.

Wow, the leaves on Trachelium Hamer Pandora really do turn a vivid burgundy purple during the colder months.

Lotus jacobaeus. Known as 'black lotus' for its deep burgundy flowers. Blooms year round and a favorite of bees.