Better Late than Never

I guess spring has decided to 'drop by.' Let's hope it stays. The rain certainly has helped, especially now that some sun has come our way. Full speed ahead!
Lots of photos today, as things finally are coming in to bloom. Enjoy!

Summer Garden asiatic lily mix + Dicentra scandens climbing the trellis. Of the four main lily types - Asiatic, Oriental, various Tiger lily species and Trumpet - the Asiatics are usually the first to bloom. They offer the greatest range in color, usually produce multiple flowers per stem and are good repeat bloomers. Only one downside and that's they are not fragrant. Dicentra scandens, seemingly gone from the trade, is a vigorous bleeding heart vine with pure yellow flowers. Lovely.

Layia platyglossa, better known as Tidy Tips. This CA native annual tends to wander a bit, as you can see from this photo.

Here's my 3 year old calico cat Phoebe, keeping an eye on things.

Though it's only May, and given our weather more like April, my Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy is already up. The waxy pink flowers are pretty but I chose it for its striking foliage.  

Cuphea Strybing Sunset. This 'cigar' cuphea features little orange flowers that hummingbirds especially like.

This unusual plant is Fabiana imbricata violacea. It features heather-like foliage and pale lavender tubular flowers. Hard to find!

Papaver Drama Queen. I always grow 2 or 3 breadseed poppies each year and in 2019 one was this dramatic fringed poppy. The key is lots of water, extra bloom fertilizer and immediate deadheading.

Some of you will remember that I wrote an article on interesting seedpods for Pacific Horticulture magazine. This seedpod for Asclepias cancellata (Wild Cotton) certainly makes the list. It looks quite frightful, with its thorny edge, but it isn't sharp. For some reason, this seedpod never split open like the others, to reveal that distinctive fluff that carries away the seeds on the wind.

Calibrachoa Mini-Famous Rose Chai. This variety in the double Mini-Famous series offers pink and apricot colors. 

Speaking of milkweeds (as the aforementioned Asclepias is), here's another member of that group - Tweedia caerulea. That's the star-shaped blue flowers. The yellow and orange poppy is a CA native 'maritime' poppy, this one a perennial unlike most of the annual types.

Callistemon viminalis. This dwarf, bush-type bottlebrush tree only gets ~ 5' tall but has the same red bottlebrushes. They provide a good nectar source for hummers and bees.

I've lost the tag but I believe this salvia is S. canariensis var. candidissima. Love the silvery foliage!

This pot holds uncommon species/varieties of two common plants. The plant in the rear, just starting to produce lavender flowers is a Phacelia but one that many haven't heard of (I hadn't). It's P. divaricata and is lovely. In the foreground is a Teucrium (germander) Summer Sunshine. Its claim to fame is its golden foliage. Very lovely!

Also pairing up is my rebounding Epilobium canum (CA fuchsia) and a pink-flowering Mimulus. Both are CA natives, drought tolerant, long blooming and a favorite of bees and hummers.

Not the best photo but sometimes the Papaver Orange Chiffon flowers are so orange that the camera has a hard time processing that in full sun. It's something I grow every year, as I love that color.

I had an unexpected visitor yesterday, a bee I'd never seen. It looked like a very large, fuzzy, golden bumblebee. I googled it and it turns out to be a Valley Carpenter bee (a male). He's gathering nectar from the Lathyrus Blue Shift sweet pea. This bee is reported to be California's largest bee and has the unique ability to regulate its body temperature - cooling itself on hot days and warming itself on chilly days.

It's true, there really is a purple Thunbergia (T. battiscombei). Vivid purple trumpets have yellow throats, on the bush form of what is normally a vine. Vivid!

Anagallis monellii. This CA native annual has remarkable gentian-blue flowers and while it doesn't have a long bloom season it makes the most of it!

Most people associate Bidens with smallish yellow flowers but lately more and more of the bi-colored varieties are making it to market. This one is B. Bidy Bop Blaze. 

Echinopsis chamaecereus may not ring a bell but perhaps Peanut Cactus does. In any case, it produces dramatic (and large) reddish-orange flowers in summer.

I can't seem to get a good photo of a new Pelargonium that a friend gifted me. It's P. Claire and as you can see it has burgundy upper petals and bright red lower petals. Striking. 

It's not a jungle, it just looks like it. This is the walkwasy to my back yard, with Philadelphus bushes on each side, a Lonicera sempervirens climbing over the arch and a very floriferous Cuphea oreophila on the left, sporting orange tubular blooms. 

Here's another of the Summer Garden asiatic lilies. They usually feature spotting on the petals as this one does.

Sphaeralcea Newleaze Coral. This member of the mallow family has 1' flowers that are, yes, coral red. Scalloped leaves are a plus too.

Many of you are familiar with Love-in-a-Mist, most commonly Nigella Ms Jekyll. This variety, Persian Jewels, produces a darker flower.

Though it's in a bit more shade than would be ideal for the photo, this Diascia Picadilly Appleblossom is in full bloom. Similar to Nemesias, Diascias are short-lived but prolific bloomers.

Sweet Smell of Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is such a popular garden plant - who doesn't love that delicious fragrance? - that it may surprise some to know that there is a whole world of honeysuckles out there, including some that aren't even fragrant. The genus Lonicera is comprised of 180 species scattered throughout the world. The most common one is Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle), with its familiar butter yellow and white flowers. Two European species are popular, L. periclymenum (Common or Dutch honeysuckle) and L. x americana. Both feature bright pink buds, with the latter opening to pale yellow flowers and the latter having a multitude of colorful varieties. Vining and fragrant, like most honeysuckles, they are sun lovers that have long bloom seasons. America is represented by L. semeprvirens, a honeysuckle native to the east coast. Called coral honeysuckle due to its vivid Coral-red flowers, the trumpet shaped flowers also feature golden throats. This is one of the non-fragrant species but is so lovely I wanted it in my garden anyway.
Want to go big? L. hildebrandiana (Giant Burmese honeysuckle) sports yellow flowers that can reach an incredible six inches. My neighbor has it growing up on top of his carport and it's quite the sight when in bloom. Want something rare and beautiful? Annie's Annuals is selling Lonicera pilosa 'Strybing Honeysuckle,' an exceptionally colorful species hailing from Mexico. Huge clusters of slender red trumpets open up to golden-orange flowers. Long blooming like many honeysuckles, it blooms from spring to fall.
And just when you think you know everything about honeysuckles, along comes the bush type L. caerulea. Its calling card is the fact that it produces edible blue berries! Wow.
So, after that quickie tour around the world of honeysuckles, here are some photos from my garden, capturing another moment in time.

Mitraria coccinea. This woody climbing shrub hailing from Chile offers up bright green foliage and in late winter through early summer little orange tubular flowers. Totally charming.

For such a small succulent, this peanut cactus sure puts out large showy orange flowers. 

It's the start of lily season in my garden. I have over two dozen different varieties and usually the first to bloom are the Asiatic types. Though they are not fragrant like the Orientals, the color range is fantastic. This raspberry-colored one is part of what's called the Summer Garden mix from Easy to Grow Bulbs.

The yellow flowers are my Calibrachoa Lemon Slice, while the red ones belong to Pelargonium Fireworks Red & White. Both are happy campers it would seem.

 CA native Phacelia viscida isn't long blooming but does offer up vivid gentian blue flowers when in bloom. They contrast nicely with everything around them.

Speaking of lilies (and unusual flowers), this Lilium Apricot Fudge has a funny name and odd flowers to match. Yes, that's a lily. It's an Asiatic type as well but very unique.

Neoregelia Morcom. This easy to grow bromeliad is on its way to acquiring its red-spotted golden form. One reason neoregelias are popular is that they're beautiful even when not in bloom.

Alstromerias may be common but they are nonetheless beautiful and always remind me of spring.

Here's another photo of my Thunbergia battescombei. Sometimes known as Blue Clock vine, it actually grows as a shrub, producing curving, flared trumpet-shaped flowers. One of the most intensely purple flowers out there!

I pruned my smoke bush back hard last fall and then held my breath. Though it was late leafing out this spring (so was everything), it has come back nice and bushy, with good leaf color and now the first wave of 'smoke' flowers.

One would be hard pressed to identify this plant as a Wisteria but that's what it is. W. 'Kofuji' is a dwarf bush-type wisteria. No blooms yet but I love the foliage and its sprawling habit. 

I don't seem to have much luck with regular (hybrid) Gladiolas but have discovered a wealth of species glads. Here's G. 'Halley' and its sporting its distinctive red splashed on white flowers.

Gazanias are a dime a dozen but this double form is a bit trickier to find. It's proven just as hardy and long blooming as the single types. 

Here's the more typical Thunbergia, this one T. 'Arizona Red', and as you can see it's taking over my east facing fence. It's supposed to offer the darkest of the 'red' varieties.

Cuphea oreophila. This much larger bush cuphea hails from Chiapis Mexico and can easily get to 5' tall and wide. Now that it's settled in, it's blooming nearly year round.

Stop start stop

Spring, sort of summer, then winter again. Is that how it's supposed to happen this time of year? No matter and it sure beats sweltering heat! Want to extol the virtues of mallows this week. That in the widest sense is every genus in the Malvaceae family. Putting aside Hibiscus and Hollyhocks for now, I want to recommend four prominent members of this family: Lavatera, Anisodontea, Sphaeralcea and Malva. These shrubs, or in the case of Sphaeralcea munroana a ground cover, are tough, drought tolerant and very long blooming. Keep an eye out for my column on these four in an upcoming Sunday Chronicle.
Lots of photos today and since I used my zoom lens, more closeups. Don't forget to click to enlarge.

Daffodil Tahiti. I love the so-called double daffodils and this one features a ruffled orange center.

Sometimes a photo just naturally emphasizes the true color of a flower and that's the case here. Dianthus Super Trooper Orange is certainly a colorful variety.

The yellow flowers belong to Eriogonum Shasta Sulphur. Most CA Buckwheats offer up pink or white flowers but there are a few yellows too and this is one of the best.

One thing not always mentioned about milkweeds (in this case Asclepias curassivica) is that they are strong self-seeders. Thi8s specimen seeded itself in a pot holding my Pavonia and has made itself at home. 

Leucospermum Veldfire. Love this sugarbush as they are called in South Africa. It's managed to establish itself in a minimum amount of soil.

This unusual double lily is called Lilium Apricot Fudge. Not quite fully open but you get the sense of its unique shape. One of my favorites and an early bloomer to boot!

Laburnum anagyroides. This Golden Chain tree as it's called made a speedy recovery from being heavily pruned. To my amazement it's already blooming.

California maritime poppy. This perennial form of the CA poppy is a vigorous plant that spreads by underground rhizomes. Tough, long blooming and pretty. Pretty much all you want in a plant.

Drosanthemum micans. This version of Dew flower certainly offers intense colors, with the red border especially just jumping off the screen.

Neoregelia Marcon. This bromeliad is courtesy of Bromeliad Paradise on the east coast. It's suppose to get more golden as it matures.

Here is this week's flower ID quiz. Any ideas? Look at the leaves and not just the flower. No? It's an unusual Flowering maple - Abutilon vitifolium. I'd never seen before with lavender flowers. Very pretty!

Exbury azalea red. The Exburys as many know are the deciduous brightly colored hybrids, offering up oranges and golds not found in traditional evergreen azaleas. Plus red obviously. And too, they are sun lovers as opposed to the evergreen types, which are happier with a bit of shade.

I've not generally had a lot of luck with Kangaroo paws but this JoeJoe Yellow is blooming its heart out.

Welcome back Marmalade bush! I whacked it back pretty hard in the fall of 2017 and it's just now fully back and blooming.It was a good plan, as it had gotten kind of unruly. Possibly my favorite non-bulb in my garden.

Mitr4aria coccinea. This hard to find sub-shrub is noteworthy for its reddish-orange tubular flowers. And for the fact that it blooms in late winter/early spring. Lovely!

Now you see it and now you don't. My Philadelphus Covelo burst into bloom almost overnight! Though flush with flowers, this variety doesn't possess much fragrance and certainly not compared to the P. Belle Etoile.

Camellia Jury's Yellow. Yellow flowers in a camellia are hard to come by. This variety from Sonoma Horticulture Nursery is a delight.

Pelargonium Raspberry Twizzle. The name kind of says it all!

My Passiflora parritae x tarminiana 'Oaklandii' has taken over my apple tree. That's okay because the apples are useless and the white flowers brief. This passion flower cross is a prolific bloomer, from late spring till nearly XMas.

Aquilegia Flore Pleno. This red and yellow columbine is one of my favorites.

Good things come in small packages. This petite Aquilegia buergeriana 'Calimero' packs a picturesque punch! Delicate, soft colors but it has returned faithfully each of its 5 years.