June heat

 We may have been sitting in front of the A/C this week but the gardens were loving the added warmth. Except of course if you live in Concord or Santa Rosa. Now that it's cooled down to our more normal temps, it's easier to be out in the garden, even if that is only to weed. That aside, here are more photos from my garden, with the highlight being the first of my many lilies.

Lily Orange Planet. Not quite as orange (on the backside) as advertised but still a lovely trumpet lily.

Ornithogalum Lemon Custard. Ever notice how many food names show up in the world of flowers?

Tiger lily mix. This pinkish-orange variety still has the trademark recurved petals and generous spotting found on most tiger lilies.

Lilium 'Trogon.' Though it isn't obvious here, this lily is a rose red with subtle yellow throats.

Alstroemeria. Nothing is easier to grow yet brightly colored as Peruvian lilies.

Lily Royal Sunset. One of the new Asiatic lilies in my garden.

Lily Fata Morgana. A semi-double Asiatic type, it's meant to have more pronounced spotting than what has shown up so far.

Lily Golden Joy. This prolific bloomer is meant to have a golden-orange throat but none so far on mine.

Lilium 'Fusion.' One of the most beautiful of lilies, this heavily spotted variety is also a prolific bloomer.

Proof that Tiger lilies come in many colors, this rich red variety is a real trooper, with 6-8 flowers on each stem.

Magnolia grandiflora Little Gem. Did you know that magnolias are one of the oldest trees on our planet, so old in fact, that they are pollinated by beetles and flies, not bees or butterflies or even moths.

Lily Night Rider. One of three 'black' lilies in my garden this year.

Clarkia variety. I forget which one this is and it self-seeded from one planted last year.

Lily Tasmania. One of the Asiatics that feature a prominent darker splash of color.

Bouvardia. Hummingbirds love these bright red tubular flowers.

Bronze fennel. This is either the emergence of new leaves or more probably the first evidence of yellow flowers to come.

I didn't anticipate it but bees seem to love the flowers on my Allium atropurpureum. Here's one foraging for nectar.

Passiflora 'Oaklandii' (above) and Crinum 'Rosea' (below, just beginning to unfurl).

I lost my ID tag but I believe this is an Aechmea nudicaulis. Bromeliads can, as many of you know, have some of the most spectacular flowers around.

Yet another variety in the Tiger Lily mix, this one a rich gold with generous brown markings. A favorite of mine.

Lily Miss Libby. This fantastic Orienpet lily (a cross between an Oriental and a Trumpet lily), just opened this morning. Orienpets have huge flowers, bloom abundantly and possess a subtle fragrance.