A Woodland Wonder

Today I am enchanted by a new woodland garden plant I have discovered. It's Patrinia scabiosifolia 'Golden Lace.' This member of the Valerian family (Valerianaceae) has a passing resemblance to Cow Parsley (Anthriscus) in that both have tall, multi-branching stems, very little in the way of leaves and unbels of tiny flowers. Anthriscus' flowers are white however, where this Patrinia has bright yellow flowers. Both plants would be considered "airy" plants, in that the sparse foliage lets light through. These plants are also nicknamed 'See-through' plants for obvious reasons. They can reach a substantial height, five to six feet, most of which are the stems holding the flat sprays of flowers. It is native to Japan, where it has long had a place in that country's art and poetry as one of “the seven grasses of autumn.” It likes sun/part shade and seems ideal for a woodland garden area.
It's always a treat to discover a new gem of a plant. For those wanting to add it to their garden, Annie's Annuals has it for sale in four inch containers.
And now today's photos, reflecting the diversity of the garden in its June clothes.

Begonia boliviensis. The hybrids of this species are famous for their vivid colors and profuse blooming. Mine is just getting started.

Another photo of my Passiflora 'Oaklandii.' They're such fabulously beautiful flowers that I couldn't resist posting another close up.

Kudos to those that can ID this vine. It's a Clematis viticella purpurea 'Plena Elegans.' Whew, that's a mouthful! This summer bloomer's flowers are small but I love that matte burgundy color and the double form.

It took so long for my Duranta 'Gold Mound' to do anything that I'm celebrating its new fullness. Aptly named, it holds that golden color all year.

Calceolaria calycina. Another shot of my red pocketbooks. There's something charming about the simplicity of Calceolarias and the way their narrow opening still invites pollinators in.

There's red and then ... there's this red Phlox. It's kind of a glow-in-the-dark red. Don't-touch-it-or-you'll-burn-yourself red. Is that fire engines you hear getting closer? Certainly not for the faint of heart.

Painted Tongues. Here's a question. If these Salpiglossis became evangelicals, would they pick up 'Speaking in Tongues?' Okay, that was lame.

And now my official greeter, for those coming up our main walkway -- Epilobium canum. This CA Fuchsia, as the genus is called, is just starting to bloom.

Amaranthus 'Giant Purple.' As many of you know, certain North American native tribes used the seeds from the seedheads for food. They even ground it for use as a flour.

I share this photo of my Mimulus Bronze to show that Sticky Monkey flowers can also scramble, given the right conditions. They have been prolific bloomers in my garden (I have 8 varieties).

Lotus 'Flashbulb.' This amazing plant always seems to be in bloom. When an Ace customer says "I want something colorful as a cascader" this is one of the first plants I think of.

Honey bees are of course industrious creatures and fond of many flowers but clearly Gaillardias are high up on their list of favorite nectar sources.

Is it an iris? Sort of. It's in the Iris family, this Neomarica caerulea. Prolific bloomers and the flowers appear on tall (to four feet) stems, making this a very showy plant indeed.

And finally the star of today's posting, the Patrinia scabiosifolia. This photo is from the Annie's Annuals site. It gives you a good idea of just how showy the plant is in full bloom.

The June Swoon

Though the phrase 'June Swoon' I think refers more so the hot weather, here I'm using it to reflect the wonderful shows our gardens are putting on. June is a great gardening month, at least here in the Bay Area. There's still a few things from spring that are going strong but already summer perennials are kicking in. Case in point in my garden is my Helenium 'Mardi Gras.' It's already begun to produce its multi-colored blossoms, little suns (the prefix 'Hel' means sun) attracting as always a collection of bees. Agastache too are returning, bringing with them their pleasing collection of aromas. Adding to the early summer joy are lilies of all kinds. The spring rains are not too much in the rear mirror so our shrubs are taking advantage to offer their blossoms. For all these reasons and more June is one of my favorite months in the garden.
Okay, and now today's photos. I tried to mix it up this week, with some photos focused on flowers, some on foliage, some on the ever increasing variety of succulents in my garden and a few shots where I was after a certain 'mood' in the shot.

Though Edgeworthias are primarily grown for their aromatic yellow flower clusters, the foliage is attractive too. It almost has a tropical look to it. In the same way perhaps that Eskimos have 50 words for snow, gardeners have many words (and images) for green foliage in their garden.

Dudleya gnoma. I just adore this dwarf Chalk Live-forever. Lately I've begun to appreciate the dwarf forms of plants and of course I have limited space so the smaller the better for certain things.

I know I've posted this Aeonium and Sedum before but today for some reason I had the thought that the
Schwarzkopf above was the father or mother and the multi-branching golden sedum were its kids.

I'll admit to being a 'blue junkie' and this Evolvulus gives me a regular fix. It's proven surprisingly durable as a ground cover and I'm glad that I planted it along our main walkway so everyone can enjoy its bit of blue heaven.

Astilbe 'Fanal.' 'If at first you don't succeed ...' I haven't had luck in the past growing Astilbes but am trying once more. When they're happy, as in my nephew's yard in Vancouver BC, they're vigorous as all get out.

Okay, Better Homes & Garden won't be impressed by this shot but I'm posting a photo of this walkway bed to illustrate how much you can put in a narrow strip. This strip is less than two feet wide and yet it's filled with low growing perennials (Lotus, CA poppies, Scabiosa, Eriogonums, Monarda), taller perennials (Agastache, Mimulus, Heleniums, Cupheas) plus bulbs (in spring, Ipheions, Dutch Iris, Ixias, Freesias and now in summer lilies and Gloriosas).

I always fold in some annual color in spring and summer. Here's a six pack of Salpiglossis, better known as Painted Tongue. I love their colors and they are surprisingly durable plants.

Annie's Annuals grows a stable of unusual Marigolds and here's one called Harlequin. Very aptly named and to me they somehow invoke summers gone by and the circus being in town.

Last week I posted a shot of my Eriogonum giganteum's developing flowerheads. I didn't want the exquisite silver foliage to be left behind so here's a photo. I happen to love 'silvers' and they are hard to come by.

Purple and gold always look good together. Here it's my North Shore sweet pea and my Hint of Gold Caryopteris. For some reason last year I had zero luck with my sweet peas but this year the two I planted are doing fine.

Speaking of silver, my Cassia phyllodinea has started to produce its distinctive cup-shaped yellow flowers. Cassias as a genus aren't well known. They are found in many parts of the world, some tropical and some not. A few species are native to North America. This species is native to Central Australia. Many cassias are now classified under the genus Senna.

When in doubt add water. That's been my Rx for some of my shrubs and it's worked for my Cunonia capensis. This guy apparently doesn't like drier conditions. It did go dry awhile back and nearly died. It's not only revived but is leafing out down below, a development I'm very happy about. I'm still waiting on the fuzzy, Banksia-like cone flowers though.

Can anyone ID this Salvia? I know I should know but damn if I can remember. Here it looks like an arm that's stretching out for ... ? No matter, it's purple and white flowers plus its rough-textured leaves are worth keeping it happy.

I can never seem to get a good photo of this Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea' and this is as close as I've gotten recently. I love its twisting 'panels,' giving an extra dimension to this dwarf conifer.

I liked the 'mood' of this shot. It's almost as if this Echeveria peacockii is shy and the sun has caught it hiding in the shadows. Speaking of silver-leaved plants, the bluish-silver foliage here is tres, tres delightful.

My other sweet pea, Lathyrus Erewhon, is just now hitting its stride.

Calceolaria calynopsis. Not well known, this red pocketbook species offers dazzling red and yellow flowers. It may act as an annual in our climate but that's okay. Calceolarias are super easy to grow. Not sure if this species will self sow as readily as C. mexicana but I'll enjoy it while it's around.

Mystery fern. No word yet on the horticultural ID of this fern but it has proven very durable. I love the way that the fronds come out at all angles.

Though I didn't intend for the shot to come out this way, the pitch black background and the bleached out white flowers make for an interesting look on this Hydrangea quercifolia.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here filling out, putting out sprays of little white flowers, looking good year round." Or at least that's what I imagine my Nandina domestica is saying and it's all true. It's one of my go-to plants that as a nurseryman I recommend to customers for a 'problem' spot. On the rare occasion when a customer comes in and says "My Nandina died" I'm always amazed. They're just one of those 'takes a licking and keeps on ticking' plants.

The Philodendron that ate Miami. Or so it seems. The biggest leaves on my specimen are easily three feet long. I have to keep cutting it back or there's no getting past it. File this under "Be careful what you ask for." (I wanted it to prosper).

Summer preview

Our mini heat spell here in the Bay Area recently has sent many of our gardens into summer mode, notwithstanding the fact that the summer solstice is three weeks away. As we know gardens have their own cycles, human calendars be damned.
One delight I noticed this morning is that my two Mandevilla vines have produced their first flowers. Mandevillas aren't as well known as vines such as Jasmine, Trumpet vine or Passion Flower vines but they are both beautiful and easy to grow. The flowers are red, pink or white and their flaring trumpet-shaped flowers are large and very striking. And the pure white-flowering M. laxa has some of the most intensely aromatic flowers you will ever encounter. The Chronicle column I did on this plant was one of the most popular, if not the most popular, columns I ever wrote. Mandevillas will climb on anything you provide or even up into a tree, as my red-flowering one is doing. They can also be trained to grow along a fence, although you may need to train them and keep the vines from wandering. There are also bush-type Mandevillas, a popular choice for those who don't have a place for a vine. Although they do go deciduous in the winter, this sturdy vine will be back in the spring, and for years to come.
Today's photos include a few new summer entries, such as Tiger lilies, Helenium, honeysuckle, Scutellaria and the first of my Agastache. Enjoy.

Not the ideal shot, shooting out of the shade into the sun but my Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' is just so beautiful. And I wanted to mention that my next Chronicle column will be on Mock oranges, that being Philadelphus, Choisya and Pittosporum tobira.

Though not yet smothered in blooms, my Lonicera sempervirens (Eastern honeysuckle) has already produced its first batch of yellow and coral-red flowers. Though not fragrant, the exuberant colors are worth making a place for it in your garden.

Begonia Gryphon. This cane-type begonia will eventually get big, to 3' tall and wide, so allowances need to be made for its eventual size. Its recent inclusion in my garden is due in part to an article I did for the upcoming summer issue of Pacific Horticulture magazine on Cane and Shrub begonias.

I know I've said more than a few times that I'm mystified why more gardeners don't have a certain plant in their garden but well, add this Ledebouria socialis to that list. This unique and hardy plant has attractively spotted leaves then puts out sprays of tiny white flowers in summer. Formerly known as Scilla socialis or Scilla violacea, this bulbous perennial belongs to the huge Liliaceae family.

Clematis niobe. Another shot of my favorite clematis.

I always think Brodiaeas are going to bloom earlier than they do but inevitably it's early June before they do. Here's my B. californica with its first pale violet, star-shaped flowers.

I've been waiting for my Scutellarias to begin blooming and finally the older of my two S. suffrutescens has put out its first rosy blooms. They're called Skullcaps, though the flowers may be too cheery to be in a garden whose theme is the deceased!

This Black Lotus (L. jacobaeus) flowers aren't really black but their midnight burgundy color is still pretty darn dark (and pretty). It has proven to be a hardy plant, its delicate foliage notwithstanding.

Here's a better shot of my new Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee.' The eventual purple flowers will really pop against the golden leaves.

Today's Zen Koan is: When is a Bidens not a Bidens? Well, the answer of sorts is that growers have begun developing bi-colored varieties, some with quite a bit of red or orange on the petals. Any way you paint it, Bidens are tough denizens, whether used as ground covers or to cascade out of a pot.

Say it with me, this snapdragon is just 'peachy.' It's a 'Chantilly Bronze' from Annie's Annuals and it's loving this warmer weather.

Just in case we'd forgotten, my amazing Cotinus 'Royal Purple' is still going strong. Just an amazing tree. There's so much 'smoke' one has to hold back from calling the fire department!

Pass the shades! My Coprosma 'Pina Colada' is so bright that one needs to shield one's eyes. They're not called Mirror plants for nothing.

Okay, plant quiz. Anyone know what the plant with the huge divided leaf is? If you guessed it's in the Arum family you'd be right. Here's a clue - the genus has a nod to Lord of the Rings. Yes, it's a Sauromatum venosum, better known as Voodoo lily. It's very vigorous, though after the first appearance blooms, succeeding shoots have yet to follow suit.

Though the bush form of this plant may take some getting used to, there's no mistaking the exquisite flowers of Jacaranda. Love it!

I know I've shared several photos of my unknown Echeveria but as it keeps spreading it looks more like a slowly spreading tide.

There's something about this Verbascum thapsus that is so intriguing. Love the 'dirty' and rough look to the leaves. Very felty too. 

Lilium 'Flore Pleno.' This double form Tiger lily is a sight to behold. As John Coltrane once expressed "These are a few of my favorite things." For me that would be the color, the spotting, the double petal count, the recurved petals and their popularity with hummers.

Helenium 'Mardi Gras.' No need to start a war over this flower (Helen of Troy anyone?) but this hardy and amazingly floriferous flower is to die for.

My Erewhon sweet pea has put out its first purple and pink flowers. Can't wait for the whole show.

And I've saved the best for last, a photo showcasing the brilliant white flowers of Mandevilla laxa. They're the first of (hopefully) dozens to come.