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.