Spring Bounty

As many a gardener knows, it can be feast or famine in the garden. Where there was little in bloom a month ago, mostly just camellias and Lachenalias, suddenly my garden is awash in color. So, today it's just photos.

Leucospermum Veldfire. Still my favorite Leuco.

Hard to stay away from photographing the brightly colored Freesias.

I had to wait for this self-seeded bulb to open but when it did I recognized it as my alabaster Tritonia.

I think of Ixia (pictured here), Freesia and Sparaxis together. They all bloom in early spring; they come in a variety of colors and they naturalize readily in one's garden. 

Osteospermums are the gift that keeps on giving. Tough, drought tolerant, disease-free and long blooming. Case closed.

So many Mimulus, so little time!

Here's another Sparaxis, the one a color combo that's not always easy to find.

Mimulus Pamela. That white edge and lemon yellow make this variety a standout.

The show this spring has been my Banksia climbing rose. Prolific!

Part of a mixed colors Freesia mix, this is sort of a reddish-orangy-pink. Lovely.

My CA native Penstemon eatonii finally bloomed (in year two) and though there's nothing special about the flowers, sometimes the hard won victories are the sweetest.

Arisaemas can sometimes be finicky but this A. thunbergii var Urashima has proven reliable. 

Reticulata camellias are sometimes called the Queens of the camellia world, given their traits of intense color, large wavy petals and attractive form. Here's my C. Bill Woodruff.. This was labelled as a retic but the flower itself seems different.

Rhodie Sappho. A Sonoma Horticultural Nursery selection. Reminds me of Blackberry Swirl ice cream!

Camellia Anticipation Variegated. The variegation of the flower isn't as noticeable from this angle. 

Here's my cat Phoebe, posing with my Ribes Claremont.

Melasphaerula  ramosa. This cormous plant from S. Africa is in the Iris family. Though the flowers are tiny, it blooms prolifically and readily self-seeds (almost too much so).

Ninebarks are one of my favorite shrubs. Here are two. The golden-leaved variety starting to bloom is Physocarpus 'Nugget.' The darker-leaved variety is P. Monlo. They make a nice one-two punch.

Apollo Dutch iris with my Marmalade bush (Streptosolen) in back.

Here's a wider view of the eastern side of the front yard. 

I couldn't resist including a photo of my neighbor's Leucospermum bush. It's glorious now, fully in bloom.

I'm a bulb fanatic and am forced to put quite a few in pots. To spice up those pots while I'm waiting for the (mostly) lilies to appear, I plant annual color on top. The foreground pot has a Viola 'Columbine' and the one behind has a red Nemesia. 

More freesia.
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My dwarf conifer bed has really filled out. Where once there were gaps between the selections, now they are starting to crowd one another.

Layia platyglossa. Better known as Tidy Tips, this CA native has charm to spare. 

Here's a wider view of the front yard. The low bed on the right is filled with Dutch iris, Sparaxis, Freesia, Ixia, Ipheion and very soon, with Tiger lilies. It's proof positive that you can indeed plant beds densely.

Clivia miniata. Tenacious and a reliable bloomer.

With my telephoto lens I can capture the way the flowers on my Passiflora 'Oaklandii' are smothering the back yard apple tree.

My Erica speciosa never seems to be out of bloom. Here's a closeup of its flowers.

One more shot of the Layia. Now how did that sneak in here?

Babianas are a classic South African bulb and they come in a variety of colors. Most notably that's purple (or purple and white) and a deep maroon.

Hot pink Ixia.

Here's one of the purple and white Babianas. Also known as baboon flower because, yes, the baboons do eat the flowers.

Not sure which ornamental onion (Allium) this is. It has small but sweet flowers.

Here's that maroon Babiana I mentioned.

Ornithogalum caudatum. I love the way this bulb opens its tiny flowers from the bottom up. 

Gladiolus Lemon Moon. One of my favorite S. African gladiolas.

Ecuador Birds

A friend recently returned from Ecuador and regaled with stories and photo from that trip. As fellow birding enthusiasts, he knew to show me a few of the wild birds he'd captured on film. Parrots, macaws, tanagers. That got me curious as to what might be available online, as to bird photos from that region. What follows is a brief photographic journey into the avian wilds of Ecuador.
The first batch have been identified, while the second batch has yet to be named. If you happen to know the identity of any of the second group of birds, do let me know and I'll update this blog list.

Blue and gray Tanager. Love the soft blues on this exquisite fellow

There's simply no bird quite like the Blue-footed Boobie. You have to find video of this bird. Quirky!

Blue-necked Tanager. Lots of tanagers in Ecuador and throughout northern S. America.

Frigate bird (I think).The males have the very distinctive throat pouch that they display during courting.

 Glittering-throated Emerald hummingbird. That's quite a mouthful for such a tiny bird!

 Long-tailed Sylph hummer. One of the most magnificent birds found anywhere.

That's a Red Macaw on the left and a Blue & Gold macaw on the right. Though most of us will only see them in zoos, macaws are quite common in South America.

This forbidding looking character is a Masked Tragoon. As opposed to ... umm ...? I think of him as a No-neck tragoon. Just kidding.

Silver-beaked Tanager. As I mentioned, there's a LOT of tanager species in our southern lands.

Here's one of my favorite common names - Violaceous jay.

If you stare too long at this Yellow-tufted woodpecker's eyes, you may get hypnotized! Maybe we can invite The Donald to gaze into his eyes and follow the hypnotic command to step down and move to Russia ...

Not sure of this butterfly's ID but is truly one of the most dazzling butterflies I've ever seen.

Okay, we're into the unidentified batch now. This colorful guy puts on quite a show! Likely to be a tanager but can't find his picture anywhere.

I'm guessing by its prominent beak that this is a species of Toucan. 

Our green fellow here is one of many parrot species in the tropics.

I love the colors on this little peeper! Might be a Blue-Winged Mountain tanager.

 I think this unusual and colorful guy might be an Andean Cock of the Rock. Wild!

I think this may be a Flame-faced tanager. Tanagers often draw from a diverse color palette!

Grey-breasted Wood wren. Very curious coloring. The grey on his head seems to stop half way!