Faster than a Speeding Bullet

No, not Superman (speeding bullet) but the curious and delightful bird known as an Oaktit. Part of the titmouse family, it's distinguished by having a more pronounced crest (or Tyrolean hat as a birder friend describes it). They're around my garden a lot these days, flitting back and forth from a close by tree to the window seed feeder. They're so fast that the human mind can't quite process the microsecond it takes them to get from limb to feeder. They're excitable birds and have a very sweet song. So today's post is dedicated to this garden friend (as well as all birds of course).
And now the photos ...

Salvia 'Sao Borja.' Though an annual in climates that get a hard freeze, here in temperate Oakland, this part shade tolerant Salvia has prospered. Love those burgundy flowers!

This shot is a bit darker than I'd prefer but too much sun simply bleaches out the subtle butter tones of Camellia 'Dahlohnega.' As you can see, it's a double form camellia, with a hint of pale yellow at its center. This proved to be the last of my ten camellias to bloom. Don't know if that's due to its own nature or the fact that it's still a youthful shrub.

Certain things may not have a "snowball's chance in hell" of doing well, but this Snowball viburnum is quite happy in the sun (at least some). The flowers start out green then mature to a blinding white in no time. And it's prolific. No sense in crowding this bush into a tight spot. It's a freedom lover baby and it gots to roam.

In the same area but in front is my equally vigorous Sambucus canadensis. I chose this species for its berries. For the birds. It's on the side of the house with the bird feeders so it's ideally located to tempt our avian friends. That said, elderberries have been used to make wine for centuries.

Aquilegia chrysantha 'Flora Pleno.'  This super cool and rare variety of the chrysantha species makes petite, fully double, red and yellow flowers. Proof indeed that good things come in small packages.

This new lily (L. Black Eye) has made a nice stand in its first year. Despite its name, I'm guessing it's a lover not a fighter.

The bright colors of Mimulus 'Bronze' help it stand out in a 'jungle' of Dutch iris stems, Echium Blue Bedder and yes a few stubborn weedy grasses. Most of my sticky Monkey flowers have begun a new bloom season.

This is probably the last of my flowers this year on the late winter blooming Luculia pinceana. Those that follow this blog know how much I love it, mainly for the intensely fragrant flowers.

My second time around of growing Correa 'Wyn's Wonder' has met with greater success. It's filling out nicely, even if it doesn't bloom this year.

There's a relatively new line of Petunias called 'Surprise.' Here's the 'Surprise Moonlight Bay.' I love how the cross breeding has created a kind of scalloped burgundy pattern, outlined by the butter yellow. Surprises are a cascading type of petunia. I guess I'll see; mine is at the front of a low rock wall.

Lovers of Eucomis will immediately recognize these new shoots. They're from a E. 'Sparkling Burgundy.' The color is most vivid at this point of first appearance, gradually aging to a burnished dark green. Central flower stalks will follow, with distinctive (and popular) waxy flowers.

Okay, not the most dazzling photo but that little peach-colored flower is an Ixia bellendenii 'Peach' bulb. Hard to find these days, I'm glad that at least one of mine has survived.

From the sublime (Ixia flower above) to the ridiculous, here a Passiflora actinia. Last week I posted a photo of it having ascended to our second story roof. Here's a close up of it's showy flowers. Or rather of its showy filaments, as the petals are a plain white. Sometimes it looks more animal than flower, like some sea creature scuttling about the ocean floor with its hundred legs.

Here's a photo of a little terrarium I did. The feature is a Tillandsia but there's also a little blue metal lizard in there (to the left).

Speaking of tillandsias, here's one of unknown species/variety that has produced not one or two but five flower spikes!

My Eriogonum giganteum has lived up to its species name, especially when it sends out its multi-branching flower stems. I love everything about this plant -- its intensely silver foliage; its huge sprays of white flowers; its popularity with pollinators and its toughness. But that's CA Buckwheats for you.

As advertised! That description should appear on all labels for Campanula 'Blue Waterfall.' This vigorous, spilling, long blooming bellflower has become one of my favorite garden plants. Here it is, doing its thing. 

Okay, another entry from the show What's My Line? Are you old enough to remember it? One of the tag lines was "Who Am I?" So, any ideas on this week's celebrity entrant? Did you start by deducing that it's a Verbascum? Good. It's a lesser known species called thapsus and it's native to Europe and northern Africa. I love its heavily textured leaves and that grayish-green color.

When the omnipresent weedy grasses took over my Dwarf conifer bed I gave up on my idea of letting the 'floor' there be just pine needles from above and some Viola labradorica that I was waiting to self seed. Nope, the grasses were way too fast. So I've resorted to microbark, which is way too bright right now but will soon age to a more natural light brown. 

Here's a riddle. When can you have both sunlight and moonlight out at the same time? You do when you have a Grevillea 'Moonlight' in your garden. Here's one of its massive flowering panicles. My favorite Grevillea and one of my favorite garden denizens, no qualifications needed. Hard to find!

Exbury azaleas are a true treat for those of us that like our azaleas with orange, gold and orangish-red tones. Sun lovers and deciduous, their spring glory is all too brief but entirely worth the effort.

Species Diversity

I've been watching a number of the BBC nature series recently and it's one of those 'Cup half full or half empty' deals. The cup half empty is that due to various factors -- predominantly climate change and clear-cutting of huge expanses of forests -- we are literally losing hundreds if not thousands of species every week. Yes, every week. Think about that. That's not counting the fact that in the parts of the world a certain fungus is eradicating huge numbers of the frog population. Losing even a single link in the genus chain, be it plant or animal, can have far reaching consequences.
The cup half full? There is an ever-increasing awareness of such devastation and people are redoubling their efforts to save local and national ecosystems. Now this may be something you feel is beyond you but there are two things you can do as a gardener to maintain, even increase, species diversity. First, buy species plants and not only the sometimes more colorful hybrids. Support growers who grow these plants. Likewise do not support places like Proven Winners who take a big business approach to propagating and selling plants. That is, producing huge quantities of an increasingly more limited variety of plants. Not to mention that they develop and sell mostly hybrids, and by their sales clout, diminishing the availability of true species selections.
Secondly, plant a garden filled with a diversity of plants. Not only is this fun, but especially if one is planting CA natives or Bay Friendly plants, one is inviting pollinators and other beneficial insects/wildlife into one's garden. The gardening business is, like any other business, driven by supply and demand. People buying a lot of natives and plants that do well in our Mediterranean climate means that growers will grow them to meet that demand.
In short 'acting locally' can make a difference, especially when it's hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of people doing this.
All right, where are the steps to get off this soapbox?
Here are the latest group of photos from my garden. This time of year, it's an embarrassment of riches. Ain't Nature grand?

Clematis Niobe. This lovely burgundy flower has an almost velvety look to it. Large 5-6" flowers too. 

Speaking of clematis, here's another shot of my charming C. 'Belle of Woking.' It's a double form that starts out white then colors in to a pale lilac shade. It's always one of the first clematis to bloom.

Lat week I posted a photo of my Physocarpus 'Nugget.' Now a week plus later it's already starting to produce seedpods. That would be the red clusters you see here. It's one reason why this versatile shrub is a three season plus wonder.

Looking down on my prolific Echium Blue Bedder. Though an annual, it nonetheless is a bee magnet. Plus it truly does self seed (I have four plants that sprouted from last year's one mother plant).

Here's a nice trio: the lavender blooming Scabiosa, the pink and red Dianthus and in the middle the CA native Eriogonum 'Shasta Sulphur.' All three are favorite destinations for butterflies, although homo sapiens have been known to linger nearby and enjoy as well.

Kudos to those who can ID this plant. It's a Callistemon viminalis. Not the large Bottlebrush tree that one sees everywhere but a smaller-sized shrub type. This one tops out at about six feet. I'm still waiting for it to bloom but the coppery new growth is certainly pretty in the meantime.

I thought the combo of my Exbury azalea and the broad leaves of Alpinia 'Zerumbet' provided a nice contrast. Although Exbury is the common name for these types of azaleas, technically they're known as deciduous azaleas, of which the Exburys are one major group. Here's this week's bad pun. "I'm thinking of forming a touring flower and rock band called 'The Traveling Exburys.'"  If the reference is lost on you that's probably just as well ...

I've decided to rename this little gardening plot, under and just to the west of a big fir tree, my Woodland Garden. In the front are some lobelia and an Aquilegia; behind them left to right are an Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow, a Fuchsia Autumnale and some Douglas iris; further back is a Francoa, some Louisiana iris, some Galium (Sweet Woodruff) and a Woodwardia fern.

Liked the sun-dappled shot of my pretty purple and white Verbena. Despite them being sold as annuals, my plant returned vigorously this spring. Ditto for the CA Fuchsia (Epilobium) to its right.

Although Plectranthus are tough and adaptable, great for planting in places where few other things grow, they do have pretty flowers. My P. Zuluensis is just beginning to bloom.

I make lists of different categories of plants in my garden, things such as bulbs, succulents, dwarf conifers etc. I really should make a list for 'Phoenix' plants (those that came back from the dead). That listed might be headed by this Azalea 'Mangetsu.' It's had not one, not two but three bad cases of thrips; is still in a container (no room yet) and has survived who knows what else. But here it is, happily blooming away.

Though they are a little hard to make out, this Rhipsalis has finally bloomed, producing a collection of tiny white flowers. Whoa, who knew one could get excited by simple and tiny white flowers?

"First to the roof gets the ... what do I get exactly?" says my Passiflora actinia. It used a phone cable to climb to the second story roof and is now bursting with extravagant blooms.

Also making the Phoenix list, well maybe not that list but the 'Are you EVER going to bloom?' list, my California Blue rhododendron  decided to go all out this year. Below is a closer look at the tres, tres belle blooms.

I posted a photo of my "I'll bloom when I damn well feel like it bub" Canarina canariensis last week. Now it has four full-sized flowers with more on the way. I know, I know, it looks like the easiest thing to grow but those with greater gardening acumen than I have failed to coax orange flowers from this semi-rare plant.

Here's another ID quiz. It might be part of a new horticulture quiz show -- "What is my name and where do I belong?" Note the lightly serrated leaves. It's the color that will throw some. It's Helleborus argutifolius 'Pacific Frost.' Love those speckled leaves!

Ignore the weedy grasses for the moment and just enjoy the pretty purple flowers of Babiana stricta. Babianas are one of the easiest South African bulbs to grow (along with Freesias and Ixias), not needing a dry summer to bloom the next year.

Among the top ten favorite plants in my 500 member garden, this Leucospermum 'Veldfire' is not only one of the showiest Leucospermums but to me one of the most beautiful of all the Protea family members.

Cotinus 'Royal Purple.' Not as eggplant-colored as usual (there's time yet), my Smoke tree is nonetheless already producing panicles of those distinctive airy flowers. I'm using mine as a 'street' tree and the Royal Purple is a good variety for this purpose, not getting as big as say the Grace cultivar.

Here's a look down the walkway leading to the back yard. It gets some morning sun -- more for the taller plants -- meaning that a lot of things do well. Each bed (left and right) is only two feet wide but that's enough to plant a surprising variety of plants.

March showers bring April flowers

On an unexpected day off, I was able to spend some time in the garden and even though I wandered through, camera in hand, last Wednesday, the nature of Spring is such that a lot can develop in a mere four days. I couldn't resist taking more photos today. I imagined myself as a child looking for -- well, not Easter eggs -- but the delightful adult version, new things in bloom! So here are a number of my 'tasty garden treats.'

If this looks like a Glechoma, it is. The variegated form. And who knew Glechoma knew how to flower and that the flowers were so pretty. We frequently recommend this plant at our nursery as a shade ground cover or to spill out of a container, something that blends in with other plants around it. Here, this variegated form  proves that it deserves a spotlight of its own.

Thrips have been such a pervasive problem for Rhodies, Azaleas and Viburnums that I now hesitate to add new ones to my garden. This R. 'California Blue' is from Sonoma Hort and after battling, yep, thrips, it's made a comeback and is finally healthy again. Love the flowers!

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf hydrangea) is to me one of the few 'perfect' plants. It's vigorous (almost to a fault), flowers profusely, is disease and bug resistant and in our mild Oakland climate is only deciduous for weeks at a time. The leaves are lovely and acquire a red blush in the late fall; the flower clusters are large and lovely; heck, even the seedpods are interesting.

This is your Japanese maple ... on drugs. Just kidding but wow, this mature tree leafed out completely in about two weeks and now is just incredibly lush. So many Japanese maples, so little room ...

Viola walteri 'Silver Gem.' This hard to find viola has the loveliest leaves, proving once again that even species violas can be wonderfully varied.

Asarina scandens 'Joan Lorraine.' Back from the dead, this tougher than she looks Asarina has begun blooming again. Love that purple!

Echeveria pulvinata. The drawing card for this Echeveria is its soft, furry leaves. The bright red flowers are a nice bonus too. 

Clematis 'Belle of Woking.' I love this guy, in part because of its dense double form and for the fact that its flowers start out this green-tinged alabaster color then gradually color in to become a light lavender color.

Lilium 'Black Eye.' A new lily on the market, it features midnight burgundy centers that look for all the world as if they've been painted.

Iris 'Red Ember.' Everybody loves Dutch iris and the combo of colors here, a brownish-red below and purple above, makes for a striking flower.

I took this photo of my Lepechinia hastata flower spike at an angle. It's actually coming out at a 45 degree angle but, well, I was trying something new. Same fabulous burgundy flowers on this, another of the plants on my 'perfect' list. Very fragrant leaves, lovely flowers adored by hummers. Tough. Works for me.

Got blue? You do, if you have one of these Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Van Pelt's Blue' plants. Love its form; love its color; love its toughness.

This Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiraliter' may not be as tough as the Van Pelt but it's gradually making itself at home. Love the bright green new growth.

Hmm, another 'perfect' plant (really, there aren't that many in my garden). Streptosolens (Marmalade bush) are just about the toughest things going. I've had mine for 12 years, never babied it, don't give it much water and it blooms all the time and has no bug or disease problems. That = perfect for me.

Here's a shot of my new metal Finial trellis. It's soon to be swarmed by my umm, vigorous, Dicentra scandens. I'm sure someone's been tempted to write a book called "Attack of the 50' Dicentra scandens."

Tillandsia tectorum + Sedum dasyphyllum. The latter is called Corsican Stonecrop but I think you could just as easily call it 'Creeping spruce sedum.' Oh and hey, look, it's blooming (little white flowers). Charming!

Iris Bronze Beauty. This aptly named Dutch iris is one of my favorites, for those rich colors. You don't see many Dutch iris this color and it contrasts nicely with purple varieties.

Here's a shot of my new copper wind spinner. It has a front and rear wheel that spin independently, making for a rather hypnotic effect.

My irrepressible Justicia brandegeeana is back in full boom. It's got to be root bound by now, in the same shallow pot for the last ten years, but it keeps on ticking.

Leucospermum 'Veldfire.' Still the showiest of all the pincushion shrubs in my opinion. Here the first of its flowers are developing the characteristic yellow fuzz, before the flowers finally open. First far flung trip when I retire will be to South Africa.

Here's a shot of my Physocarpus 'Nugget' in full bloom. Notice the similarity of the flowers to those of many Spireas. For those with eagle eyes, there's a little bee perched on a flower cluster in the center of the frame.

Sedum 'Lemon Coral.' Somehow, despite being given too little or too much water sometimes, this golden sedum keeps on ticking. Though it looks as if it's growing upwards, most of what you see has spilled forward from the container in back.

To me, Canarina canariensis is one of the holy grails of gardening. Notoriously difficult to propagate and hard to keep happy long enough for it to produce its gorgeous, tubular orange flowers, it nonetheless can reach a point where it can be quite vigorous.

Although I've spoken of Viburnum plicatum being my favorite Viburnum, V. opulus (Snowball viburnum) is a close second. Here the 'snowballs' are still green but they will soon age to that distinctive pure white color. A prolific bloomer, Viburnum opulus is one of those shrubs that leafs out in a hurry and then proceeds to bloom almost as quickly.

Exbury azalea. Sometimes just called deciduous azaleas, the Exburys have their roots in Britain. They are chosen for their orange and gold flowers, colors not commonly found on the popular evergreen azaleas. They are sun lovers, which means I need to do a bit more pruning to open up more direct sun for this specimen.