Goodbe Solstice

Hard to believe but the days are slowly getting shorter, now that we've passed the Summer Solstice. Mind you we're still having the longest days of the year, a luxury that many of us get to enjoy a bit more often now that we're not working for the time being. Mind you, the garden soirees mostly have to be among family but still, long evenings are always a joy.
Here are more photos from my ever evolving garden. There's a good mix today, with the first lilies, flowering perennials, as well as bromeliads from my ever expanding collection. Enjoy!

Part of my lily collection. The dark red lily is Corleone.

Thunbergia battescombei. A purplish-blue Black-eyed Susan vine? Yes! Though this species grows more in bush form.

It's somewhat hidden by the Melaleuca foliage but that lily is a Golden Splendor. This trumpet lily is well-named!

Clarkia rubicunda blasdelei. Took forever to bloom but the flowers are worth waiting for!

Swainsona. This Aussie member of the pea family is a gregarious shrub.

Neoregelia Blotches. Note the purple tips to the leaves.

One more shot of my Hibiscus Adonis Pearl. Lovely!

Lily Fusion. This is a hybrid between Lilium longiflorium (the familiar white Easter Lily) native to the Liukiu Islands off the southern coast of Japan and Lilium pardalinum, native to Northern California.My favorite lily from last year.

Tiger lily mix. Here's that peachy-pink variety from the tiger lily mix.

Magnolia grandiflorum Little Gem. This slightly smaller version of the southern magnolia offers up the same velvety pure white flowers.

Another shot of my Tiger lily mix + the Corleone.

Platycodon grandiflorus. Did you know that this 'Balloon flower' is used in a number of Chinese medicines?

Lily Red Flavor. Vibrant glossy red!

Tweedia caerulea. This member of the milkweed family bears the all too familiar seedpods that split open to reveal the fluff that contains the tiny seeds. The fluff is so that the wind catches it and carries it away from the mother plant, thus increasing the plant's chances of survival.

Bumblebees are 'generalists,' meaning they'll collect pollen from just about any flower. Here's one perched on a grape-scented Salvia melissodora flower.

Lilium leitchtlinii. This species is supposed to have more orange and more spots but oh well. It's still pretty.

There are many kinds of gingers and one of the showier ones is Curcuma. Here's a C. Bicolor Wonder beginning to flower. 

I think this is a Billbergia, though it has yet to flower. Love the dramatic spotting.

This all golden lily is, I think, a newly added Rising Moon. If so it's supposed to be dramatically flushed with pink.

It may surprise some to know that not all honeysuckle flowers are fragrant. Case in point is this lovely Lonicera Mandarin. Still a beautiful addition to the garden.

This reddish-orange Tiger lily has flopped over but did still produce this single flower. Gorgeous color.

Eriogonum latifolium. It took 3 years but this CA buckwheat has finally settled in and is flowering away.

Agastache Rosie Posie. I love darker pinks on this hummingbird mint.

Salpiglossis. My Painted Tongue plants have been a major success story this spring.

My Calibrachoa Lemon Slice has been a blooming machine this year.