Summer arrives

 It took awhile but summer has finally arrived! Our gardens have taken notice and it seems that everything is in bloom! Here's a sampling of what is flowering in my garden. 

Above and below are two types of Brodiaea. This blue-flowering late spring bulb is always so cheerful.

Tiger lily mix. This gold-with-brown-spotting lily is super vigorous. Good thing I think that it's beautiful!

Trogon asiatic lily. Love the colors on this lily.

This year's other really exuberant lily is a new one called Pearl Justien.

Alstroemeria is one of those Once-you-have-it, you-have-it-forever plants. This is a lovely one planted many years ago.

Lilium 'Pink Brush' Subtle but pretty.

In spring I get lots of lovely chartreuse new growth on my Cryptomeria 'Bandei-Sugi'.

Cotinus 'Royal Purple'. This smoke bush benefitted from all our winter rains.

Lilium 'Giraffe'. Still one of my favorite lily variety names.

Eriogonum latifolium. One of the loveliest of California buckwheats.

Gold Band lily. This Asiatic type lily is usually a more vibrant gold but this year it came out a 'mellow yellow'.

No problem with color for this Orange Ton lily. It sports a vibrant orange color.

Lily 'Patricia's Pride'. Though in the seller's photo, the purple is more of a blotch, I like the fact tht mine have turned out to have a spray pattern.

One more photo of my Lily 'Giraffe.'

One other very successful lily variety this year is the new L. 'Kaveri'. It has emerged through a gregarious Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious'.

Hydrangea 'Firefly.' The attraction for this new hydrangea is its dark foliage.

Peanut cactus. Just give it sun and a little bit of moisture and it will bloom.

Lily 'Eyeliner.' This new lily is supposed to have a dark edge but that's okay. It's still pretty.

Lily 'Pink Planet'. This trumpet lily is a new one this year.

Though this photo is in a bit too much shade to show off the rich blood-red color of the Lily 'Corleone', I include it anyway.

Callirhoe. Known as Wine Cups for its rich, wine-colored, cup-shaped flowers, this vigorous deciduous perennial always returns strong each year.

Crinum 'Rosea'. After I waited like 6 years for this bulb to bloom, it has suddenly become a blooming machine. Here is its first flower stalk & flowers. More will surely come.

Calceolaria 'Kentish Hero'. This colorful pocketbooks features burnt orange flowers.

Wherefore summer?

 That old Bay Area truism - 'If you don't like the weather, wait for five minutes" - seems to have vacated the premises. Each cooler than normal day follows another and we're not the only ones missing the sun and some heat. So are our gardens. Well, it will soon change. Meanwhile, here are recent photos from my One-of-Everything' garden.

Campanula 'Blue Waterfall'. My favorite Campanula and possibly the most prolific bloomer of them all.

Sweet peas tangled in tall lily stems. A little color now and then color to come

Lily 'Lionheart'. Always one of the earliest to bloom of my large collection of lilies, this charming Asiatic type is very cheerful.

Perhaps not exciting quite yet but this long row of potted lilies will soon be a riot of color.

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One of my favorite Haitian metal sculptures.

Tho not yet bushy, this prolific blooming Echium Blue Bedder is a real bee magnet.

Streptosolen jamesonii. Better known as Marmalade bush, this long standing part of my front yard has garnered more 'Wow, what is that?' comments than any other plant.

Lonicera x americana. A prolific blooming honeysuckle but alas not one that is fragrant.

Here's my 'full to the gills' Driveways bed. Lilies, salvias, a Banksia rose, a snail vine and a Laburnum tree are here!

Tho most bottlebrush plants take a tree form, this Callistemon viminalis is a shrub. Same fuzzy red flowers beloved by hummers.

Maritime CA poppy. Unlike the other CA poppies, this species is a true perennial. This guy has been in this very bed for 6 or 7 years.

Here's one of the many Mimulus varieties in my garden.

Tho bare looking here, this Alstroemeria variety has overrun my Driveways bed. If anything is going to get 'weedy' this is certainly a pretty one.

It's not often that a flower's seedpods are as interesting as its flowers but that's the case for this Phacelia tanacetifolia.

Everybody loves flowering maples (the common name for Abutilons). Here's my A. 'Tiger Eye.'

Cotinus 'Royal Purple.' Everybody's favorite smoke bush ...

Digiplexis variety. Tho this cross between a Digitalis (foxglove) and an Isoplexis has now been reclassified as just a Digitalis, I prefer its original designation.

More sweet peas.

The early star of my collection of lilies, this L. 'John Hancock' has produced large, vividly colored flowers.

Papaver rhoeas 'Shirley.' These lovely flowers have a papery feel and are often attractively crinkled.

My Scarlet Peony breadseed poppy has gone wild this year!

Nasturtiums may be common but they still are pretty and they literally grow themselves.

Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy'. This vividly colored Pineapple lily is a knockout.

My bronze fennel has gone wild but no sign yet of Anise Swallowtail caterpillars.

Finally, a photo of my 'recovering' Shady Lane. Every plant close to the house wall on the left had to be cut to the ground to accomodate the painters last year. It's slowly filling back in.

Now the reward

 Well, it may have been a drag putting up with rain day after day throughout the winter and early spring but now we see the rewards for this endurance. That rain has caused a flush of new growth on our deciduous shrubs and trees and given smaller perennials a chance to develop sturdier roots. Now with sun and warmer weather, many plants have burst into bloom. Today's photos give an idea of the breadth of this newfound floral joy. That said, here they are.

One of the stars of this year's garden has been the Ixia paniculata 'Eos'. It looks especially great in a thicket of bulbs.

Marmalade bush always draws attention when it's in bloom. Hummingbirds and titmice love the nectar they source from its flowers.

Leuco spermum 'Veldfire' likewise has that wow factor when it is in bloom. Bees love the flowers.

My Papaver 'Scarlet peony' breadseed poppy is spectacular this year.

I've forgotten the name of this Mimulus variety. Pale yellow and white flowers. So pretty and it's a CA native.

My Aloes are in bloom, including this smaller-sized one.

I'm not sure but I think this geranium might be G. incanum 'Sugar Plum.' It's vigorous and tenancious!

Aloe striata (Coral aloe). Aloe flowers are a great source of nectar for hummingbirds.

This hard to find Phacelia tanacetifolia (Lacy phacelia) is a beauty and a favorite destination for bees and butterflies.

Clematis 'Niobe' has one of the richest flowers in the clematis world.

Although most people think the common name 'Mock orange' refers to Philadelphus species, Choisya ternata also exhibits that wonderful citrus fragrance. Here's Choisya 'Sundance', known for its golden foliage.

Scabiosa 'Harlequin.' This ground cover Scabiosa attracts beaucoups of bees and butterflies.

Echium 'Blue Bedder' may be an annual but it's still a bee magnet and it self-seeds readily!

Tho most people think that all honeysuckles are fragrant, some aren't. This Lonicera x americana makes up for that fact by producing millions of very lovely flowers.

Nigella variety. Love-in-a-Mist flowers can be pink, blue or white but most people prefer this sky blue color.

The rain has definitely benefited my Smoke tree. It flushed out full and already has it's first 'smoke' flower puffs.

The photo above and below are those of an unidentified Ornithogalum (Star of Bethlehem). This vigorous bulb can have white, yellow or orange flowers.

The more common Salvia africana-lutea has brown flowers but this 'cousin', S. africana-caerulea has lavender-colored blooms.

Here's another photo of my Crimson peony breadseed popppy. Notice how dense with petals it is.

There are many interesting species Impatiens out there and one of them is I. usambarensis. It's a prolific bloomer, as you can see here.

I have many, many lilies and the first to bloom are usually the Asiatic types. Here's an Asiatic called 'Lionheart.'

My Bronze fennel is off and running. Now I have my eyes trained for the first Anise Swallowtail caterpillars.

Everybody loves sweet peas ...

One of the 'old world' Clematis, this C. 'Belle of Woking' is uniquely charming.

It's hard to see but this little Sedum species is housed in a decorative blue teacup planter.

This barrel cactus has sprouted its first flowers.

Peanut cactus seems an apt common name for this cactus.

I like this wood planter and it currently holds a couple of Blechnum ferns.

The rain also benefited my Rhododendron 'Sappho'. It's having its best blooming year ever.

Viburnum plicatum. I love the ridged, bright green leaves on this Viburnum as much as I do its flowers.

Wonga Wonga vine is the common name for this Pandorea pandorana.