Fall photos

I've had a bit of a break but am back with not one but two new posts. This first is more the usual order, photos of plants in my garden, accompanied by comments. The second will be a posting of an upcoming Chronicle column on Large Non-Spiny dry garden plants.
Without further adieu, here are the photos.

Cornus florida. Most dogwoods offer great fall color and mine is one of those. 

Agave tricolor. A new addition to my garden. Thorny but oh so beautiful. 

Two Billbergias, adding texture even when not in bloom.

A friend gave me this bluebird door knocker and I decided the fence was a better (and more visible) location. 

There are summer oxalis and winter oxalis. Here's one of the latter, with its mint green leaves and white flowers.

Some Moraea flowers are extravagant, such as the Peacock Moraea. This M. polystacha's flowers are simpler but still a very pretty dusky purple. 

My Asclepias cancellata went bonkers in the blooming dept this year. Literally thousands of tiny white flowers. I knew the butterflies would like the flowers but the big surprise is how much the bees love them.

My sunny front bed is still sporting lots of color. There's the red Digiplexis, a red mimulus and a yellow, the CA Fuchsia (Epilobium) pinkish-red flowers to the right and not quite visible another wonderful milkweed - Tweedia - with its sky blue flowers.

Aloe arborescens variegata. One of the 'soft' aloes, it is gradually maturing. No flowers yet but they will come in time.

Echeveria gibbiflora. This species of Echeveria is noteworthy for its dramatically fluted leaves. 

Correa is one of my favorite shrubs. This Aussie native can thrive in sun or some shade, in good soil or poor, with regular water or dry conditions. This is a new variety simply called 'Orange.'

Agastache is truly an amazing plant. This hummingbird mint always seems to be in bloom!  Plus the fragrant leaves, the regular visits by not just hummers but bees as well.

Tillandsia tectorum. My favorite 'air plant.' That's mostly for the exquisite silvery foliage and the way it has clustered out. 

Big event this week was my 2 year old Plectranthus chirindensis FINALLY blooming! You can see why I'm excited. Electric blue flowers that are unlike nearly any other plant. It's huge too, easily 8' tall now.

To quote Foghorn Leghorn from the Bugs Bunny show "I say, I say, I say HOLD ON THERE son!" That would be a suitable directive for dwarf conifer species in a bowl, where the plan is to sort of bonzai them. 

I came acroos this rare shrub Trochetiopsis ebenus. Thought to have gone extinct, it's been preserved in the horticulture trade.

Lastly, 3 new additions to my succulent collection - Echeveria variety on the left, Aeonium Sunburst up top and Sempervivum tectorum Greenii on the right.