A Gardener's July 4th fireworks

As cities and the nation celebrate the Fourth with fireworks displays, I'd like to suggest that our gardens offer their own 'fireworks' on this day of independence. With colors galore and certain flowers doing their best to shine, even dazzle, we have our own floral shows. The show isn't lost on several of my garden denizens -- the collection of local bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Here are a few photos from my July garden, which shows no sign of slowing down.

Echinacea 'Hot Papaya.' Speaking of fireworks, this double coneflower has them in spades. In fact, you're forgiven for thinking "That's a coneflower?!"

Stokesia laevis. This Stokes' aster might be the prettiest flower no one's ever heard of. And that's a shame because it is durable and incredibly floriferous. 

Masdevallia. Love these guys and they're about the easiest orchid to grow. I love the two tone colors on this one.

Ampelopsis. Anyone who's ever seen the "ripe" berries on a porcelain berry vine never forgets the experience! If ever a common name nailed it, it's for this plant. The speckled turquoise berries really do look like they have been glazed and fired in a kiln. My specimen is finally settling in and this year has loads of tiny white flowers. Can't wait!

Filipendula ulmaria. Known as Meadowsweet, owing to its habitat (moist meadows, stream sides) and its delicate, sweet fragrance, this is a plant that is also not commonly grown. Once classified as a spirea, it shares that genus's delicate foliage and wispy flowers.

Eriogonum grande rubescens. Everyone's favorite CA buckwheat. They have a well deserved rep for being great habitat plants, attracting a variety of pollinators and birds. I also have an E. giganteum (St. Catherine's Lace) in bloom,a very popular destination for bees.

Michauxia campanuloides. Speaking of plants that many have yet to discover, here's a photo of my industrious Michauxia. A Mediterranean member of the Campanulaceae family, it features peculiar nodding white flowers that look like dive bombing birds to me!

Echinacea 'Summer Sky. I could say I waited for hours to get a shot of this coneflower with a bee harvesting nectar but nah, they're on it all the time. Beautiful, prolific and nectar-rich, what's not to like about echinaceas?

Sauromatum venosum. Extra points for those of you who know what the heck this plant is. Yep, it's a Voodoo lily (got to be one of the all time great common names). This vigorous Arum is on round two and even though the spathe only opens for a day or two, it's weird, wonderful and yes a bit stinky.

Campanula punctata. I just discovered a list of species definitions and that was for this plant geek very exciting. Qualities I'd always associated with a commonly used species name turned out to largely be true. Here 'punctata' is a variation of 'punctatus,' which means 'dotted.' That's true of this bellflower; it has speckles on the insides of its flowers.

Tillandsia sp. A gift from a friend, this glowing silver air plant is my favorite new plant. There's "silver-ish" and then there's this pure whitish silver.

Fuchsia denticulata. The subject of a recent column, this parent of F. 'Fanfare' is a dazzling and hardy species. You want fireworks? When this species is in full bloom, it sports massive cascading clusters of these colorful blooms. So many fuchsias, so little time ...

Abelmoschus manihot. I'm not intentionally focusing on hard to find plants but here's another one. If your first thought is "That looks like a hibiscus flower" you'd be right. This 'Musk mallow' produces large cream-colored flowers with a small dark burgundy center. I cut mine back nearly to the ground after its first flowering and it's bounced back.

Hibiscus stamen. I think the stamens on hibiscus can be almost as pretty as the petals. Vibrant!

Lilium citronelle. Although this isn't the best shot, I'm posting it anyway. I'm a lily junkie -- they're my favorite common bulb -- and this yellow tiger lily is particularly lovely.

Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem.' I went for a different shot here. I noticed a local bee harvesting nectar off of fallen stamen in the "bowl" of a flower petal and it looked kind of neat. I couldn't get the damn shot in perfect focus but this comes close.

Bromeliad sp. This unidentified bromeliad has the loveliest orange flowers with dark brownish-purple tips. The shot is a bit dark but here it is anyway.

And saving the best fireworks shot for last, here's my Begonia 'Dazzler.' It's a B. boliviensis hybrid and it's a riot of color. One can almost imagine the flowers 'exploding' out of the hanging pot.

Happy Solstice!

I'm always a bit conflicted at the summer solstice. We've arrived at the longest days of the year, which for gardeners carries its own delight. To be able to be out in the garden till 8 pm if one chooses is a pleasure. On the other hand, soon the days will start inexorably to grow shorter. Sigh. In the spirit of embracing the moment, here are more photos from my early summer garden. I keep thinking 'Well, spring is over so the garden will be slowing down any day now' but each week I do my walk through I find buckets of new things going on. This week's delights included discovering that almost overnight my orange masdevallia has a half dozen flowers about to open. Yea! My second year ampelopsis (Porcelain berry vine) is much happier this year and is filled with tiny white flowers, offering the promise of exquisite blue berries in the late summer. My cheerful Canary Creeper nasturtium is now bursting with bright yellow flowers and to its right, the Mandevilla laxa is blooming away, its large white flowers offering an intoxicating fragrance. I discovered that one of my new additions, Filipendula ulmaria 'Aureum,' not only has sprays of delicate white flowers but they're also fragrant. The bees are going crazy as usual in my Helenium patch, the showy Cuphea Vienco is back better than ever and the vigorous Passiflora 'Blue-eyed Susan' is filling up with flower buds. It's currently my favorite passion flower vine -- that vivid blue! -- though the simple P. citrina is as lovely as ever this year.
Here are the photos. Enjoy!

Petunia 'Phantom.' Apart from the beauty of the flower, this plant has bittersweet memories for me. We had a cat named Phantom at Grand Lake Ace nursery where I work who was the sweetest, friendliest, most laid back cat ever.  

Clematis integrifolia. Love this vivid blue color and the bell-shaped flowers. I used to think it finicky but in year two it has settled in nicely.

Amorphophallus kiusianus. I love the patterning that many aroid stalks possess. This one is especially pretty.

Ampelopsis. Here's a photo of the previously mentioned porcelain berry vine. Though not in perfect focus, it still shows off the lovely variegation and cute clusters of tiny flowers.

Fuchsia boliviana 'Alba.' When I finally heard that the fruit (seed capsules) this fuchsia produces were edible I kept waiting for mine to 'ripen,' not realizing that in the alba variety, the fruit stays this off-white color. Someone wrote that the fruit sort of tastes like kiwi and I agree.

Fuchsia Autumnale. Though prone to fuchsia mite, this guy puts out beautifully colored foliage every spring.

Thalictrum rochebrunianum. This shot, of the flowers reaching out for the sun, makes them look a bit like a flock of tiny birds, hovering over the walkway.

Mandevilla laxa. I kept trying to take a shot of this plant but the flowers are so blindingly white that it kept throwing off the camera's attempt to balance the colors and they came out dull or dark. This shot is far from perfect but it does show off the pristine white color. Plus there's that heavenly scent.

Sarracenia species. This shot was meant to show off the intricate veining in this American pitcher plant. It's not an ideal shot but is sort of interesting nonetheless.

Gladiolas. This glad was supposed to be a deep purple and, umm, that's NOT a deep purple. Not purple at all. What, the photo on a bulb's packaging isn't accurate? I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Sedum 'Jelly Beans.' I'm loving my little jelly beans sedum, with its uber shiny foliage.

Speaking of the camera not always being to handle a great disparity in color between the foreground item and the background (on the Auto setting that is), check out this Scabiosa ochroleuca. This was a sunny morning, shooting the flower against a wooden fence. Wow, so not what I was expecting. Then again, wow, the flower looks like it just paid a thousand bucks for a great "head shot," to help it land a starring role in the next big movie.

I thought that my plant of the year, the exquisite Lupinus pilosus, was done blooming but here it is putting out more flowers. It looks swell beside the gold scyphanthus. Nothing like blue & gold.

My exuberant Helenium 'Mardi Gras' is in full bloom and swarming with nectar seeking bees.

Cuphea Vienco. This deciduous cuphea has returned looking better than ever. Such a striking color, set off by two silver-leaved plants nearby.

Lotus 'Flashbulb.' The easiest plant to recommend for a hanging basket or to cascade over a low wall, this colorful plant can also be used as a ground cover. Like little dancing flames over a green sea.

Where the glads were pictured as purple but were really hot pink, this Salpiglossis is called Kew Blue but is in reality a vivid velvety purple. Mon dieu!

Here's my yellow Alyogyne (A. hakeafolia) again, showing off two unopened flowers. It's much happier now that it's in the ground.

Speaking of bees, they seem to love my Eryngium planum. This little guy was so engrossed in collecting nectar that he gave me time to focus.I see all manner of bees in my garden, not just the common honey bees.

My median strip that houses the Alyogyne. It's meant to feature golds and reds, accomplished with the inclusion of the day lilies, a yellow flowering magnolia (M. Butterflies), yellow flowering bidens and the rock rose relative Halimium lasianthum.

Speaking of unintended but beautiful surprises, this shot of my Lilium regale came out with the petals looking positively creamy. Very lovely!

Salvia patens. Nothing beats this species for the richest of blue colors and it helps that the flowers are quite large for a salvia. I wasn't sure mine would return from going deciduous but it's back and offering its royal blue delights.