Name that Pea

A hale and hearty New Years to everyone. 2014 was a bit of a hangover but hope springs eternal.
Today I'm going to raise a topic that may be of limited interest to some but quite curious to others. It turns out that the description "pea-like flowers" actually applies to an astonishingly varied number of plants, spanning the entire globe. This thought has been brought to mind by a newly flowering plant in my garden, the curious Brachysema celsianum. This one, whose common name is Swan River pea (owing to its Australian homeland) comes by its common name honestly as it's part of the Fabaceae (pea) family. It features lovely beak-shaped deep red flowers that look like they will open to ?? but in fact stay closed. It features slender grayish leaves that provide an engagingly soft backdrop to the bright red blooms. It stays low, about two feet, and spreads. Being from Australia it is tough and drought tolerant. It blooms in the fall and winter so offers a splash of color during the 'off season.'
Interestingly, Fabaceae is the third largest family of flowering plants behind only Orchidaceae and Asteraceae. Its 16,000 species are spread all over the world (here a legume, there a legume).
It may have turned very cold in the Bay Area but for us sun lovers the blue blue skies are literally heaven sent. And of course our gardens love the one-two punch of rain and sun (as do the birds).
Here are a few photos, some taken today plus a few taken from my archives, showing plants that I'm noticing in my garden these days.

Cyclamen 'Salmon.' I love how this photo came out, with the deep shadow and then the pink flowers kind of exploding out of the darkness, like shooting stars.

This spotted bromeliad always looks interesting, no matter the season.

Bidens 'Hawaiian Flare Orange Drop' keeps popping out these colorful little flowers, not bothering to check its calendar to see what month it is. It looks more 'painted' than a live plant but then Nature is truly grand in its expression.

Where that Bidens is full of color, the leaves on my Eriogonum giganteum are a cool silvery gray, which is its own lovely color and somehow appropriate to the season.

Aloe striata plus Oxalis latifolia. This little corner of my front yard bed has become one of my favorite micro gardens. This area also includes some Sparaxis, a Hemizygia to the right and behind it my colorful Datura Blackcurrant Swirl. I am starting to discover the charms of densely planting a small area, including layered planting (bulbs underneath, ground covers on the surface and then vertical plants rising above).

This unidentified succulent in my neighbor's yard is beginning to bloom and I couldn't resist capturing its bright bursts of color.

This aloe, also in my neighbor's yard, has put up multiple spikes and is putting on quite a show. The Aloe genus contains over 500 species, distributed mainly throughout tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar and the Arabian peninsula. There are also a few species found in Mediterranean climates. Tough and prolific, with striking flowers, what's not to like?

Cupressus glabra 'Blue Pyramid.' This is a new addition to my dwarf conifer bed, though this guy will eventually get quite big. But at a growth rate of one foot plus per year, it's not going to get there very quickly. I call it my 'Icicle' cypress and love its look.

Here's the immediately recognizable leaves of Alpinia 'Zerumbet,' displaying the telltale gold and green striping. This is a great foliage plant where you want to add a bit of the tropics to your garden. It's not an edible ginger but does add loads of drama.

Jade plants may be common and almost invasive but that doesn't mean the flowers aren't pretty. This older specimen in my neighbor's garden is in full bloom right now so thought I'd share it. Botanically, it's Crassula ovata. Jade plants are a popular choice for those into bonzai and there are many varieties out there, offering gardeners a good choice.

This bird house makes a lovely silhouette against the sunset sky. That's a Japanese maple in front of it, now finally bare.

The first of my Hellebores is about to bloom. This one is H. 'Wayne Rodderick,' one of the 'purple' hellebores now in cultivation. Unlike many hellebores, that feature a green background and then a splash of pink or white, this hellebore is a solid burgundy color.

My Felicia amelloides keeps on flowering, impervious to the calendar or the weather. These guys need good drainage and once established are quite drought tolerant. For those of us who like blue flowers, it's one of the few winter blooming plants that will give us that blue fix in this season.

Nobody said Mahonias weren't tough and here's another case in point. I had to move this container of M. lomariifolia and 'temporarily' put it at the very back of my driveway, under an overhang. Of course that's where it's been for the last four years! But it still flowers reliably every year.

Speaking of reliable, my Winter Wonderland White Fairy orchid is a force of nature, blooming at least twice a year, even though it's been outdoors its whole life.

Chaenomeles 'Kurokoji.' Ornamental quince are one of the most colorful winter/early spring blooming shrubs. Noted for their toughness and ability to get established and thrive in almost any soil conditions, they are nonetheless tres, tres beautiful. The 'Kurokoji' offers blood red flowers and with a bit of water produces an abundance of flowers in late winter.

And finally here's the Brachysema mentioned in the opening. I didn't have a good photo of mine so borrowed this one off the web. Given the time of year, these little bursts of color almost look like Christmas tree lights. In any case, this guy will make a nice addition to my Australian native shrubs bed.

Drying Out

How happy are we to see the sun here in the Bay Area? Let me count the ways. Wait, I don't have enough fingers! It's a bit of blue heaven for us sun lovers and for everyone else, we get to finally dry out. On the down side, no more kayaking down main street.
Our gardens have loved the rain, though I suspect enough is enough for the moment. And we're in for a good dry spell now so that's a bit of relief. For those of us who are not 'ducks' it's a chance to get out in our gardens and get back to work. The combo of rain and warmth has caused everything to grow way too quickly and that means trimming and weeding. I know, I know. Weeding at Christmas time is an odd concept but until the weeds go to Hawaii for the winter I'll be out there yanking them out.
Here are a few new photos, most of them taken on Christmas day. The first two shots are of a new Ladyslipper orchid and I post them to illustrate how dramatically the light conditions can affect the look of the photo. The first photo is taken indoors, the second outdoors. Partly it's the flash that brightens the indoor photo. Elementary principles to be sure.
Hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas!

Paphiopedilum 'Be Happy Dots.' I love Ladyslipper orchids for their large, dramatic flowers but also for the tremendous variety of colors and the spotted or not spotted leaves. This color combo here is one that's less common.

Edgeworthia chrysantha. It's interesting to me, the way certain plants like Edgeworthias or Pieris show their hand early, offering tightly held clusters of unopened flowers for an extended period before they finally open. I walk by my Edgeworthia every day and then one day the first little bursts of bright yellow will appear, bringing with them a heavenly fragrance.

Dianthus. Outside of roses, there may be no common plant that's been "messed around with" more than carnations. They've been cross bred to infinity (and beyond!), giving us just about every color and pattern. But, hey, who's complaining?

Luculia. Now in its third year, my Luculia pinceana has really put on a growth spurt. And it's blooming prolifically as you can see here. This is one plant that's not confused. It's naturally a late fall and winter bloomer so it's in its element. Still one of the most intensely fragrant plants I've ever encountered.

Well, after the seven year wait my Melianthus pectinatus has finally bloomed and ... well ... not exactly a big show. Red flower buds open to small rust-colored flowers. Still, just to finally see it bloom offers a good deal of satisfaction. 

My new succulent bowl. Very simple but these bowls are a great way to display one's favorite new little succulent treasures.

Daphne odora marginata. Everyone's favorite daphne (or at least the most commonly available one). This year I've noticed how pleasingly dark the leaves are. These are the first flowers. This is one of my "success" stories, having nurtured this plant along from a 4" pot size. As I tell our Ace customers about daphnes -- think sun! Mine has very much responded to getting a good amount of late morning/early afternoon sun.

Echeveria 'Pappy's Rose.' Simply put, great color!

Speaking of color here's your winter dose of chartreuse! Amazing how this Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious' retains its golden/chartreuse colors, sun or not, summer or winter. A great way to brighten an area, in this case the walkway back to my apartment.

This shot isn't mine but my Mimulus 'Jeff's Tangerine' is still in bloom -- in December going on January -- and even for a mimulus that's pretty brave. Love that color!

Lepechinia hastata. For some reason this photo stayed large. Oh well, that's sort of appropriateas my specimen is now huge, requiring me to keep pruning it back. This salvia relative offers the loveliest burgundy flowers and the bloom season is a long one!

Finally, my long absent Camellia 'Buttermint' has begun to bloom. This is a shot taken last year at about this time. It's in a new location, at the back of a shady raised bed, and I've kept an eye on it, wondering why I didn't see any flower buds. I'd forgotten that this camellia is different in that due to its flowers being substantially smaller, the buds are slender and don't show much color before suddenly bursting open.

Not this Nature

So, we live with bugs of every kind, many of them in our gardens. But it's a different bug -- the common cold -- that's got me under the weather today. So, no enlightening comments in the foreward here and probably not too many pithy comments describing the photos either but I hope the photos themselves will bring a bit of joy to you on such a wintry day.
About today's photos. The first seven were taken yesterday; the rest are from my archives.

Here's my Paphiopedilum in full bloom. I'm so very happy that is decided to rebloom and this was from it being outside year round. There's nothing quite like Ladyslipper orchids!

Here's another shot of my Lachenalia aloides 'orange.' It's proving especially prolific this year, even though it's still in a container. Lachenalias make good container plants as it's easier to give them the dry summer they need. I still don't see any orange in this aloides variety but no matter, it's certainly pretty enough.

Trachelium caeruleum 'Hamer Pandora.'  The Hamer Pandora variety is the one with the purplish tint to the leaves, as you might spot here. Though this guy is still small, he'll get bigger and most likely bloom well before spring. Tough and versatile. And floriferous.

I've attempted to stump readers before with this plant. Not sure how many of you recognized it as a Melianthus. It's the little known M. pectinatus. It hasn't done as well as I would have liked and I attributed that to poor soil. Just read that it actually likes lots of water so the recent rains have made it very happy indeed. And I think I spotted a few tiny flower buds, big news since it has yet to flower after 8 years! I know what you're thinking "Wait, a melianthus that doesn't simply go wild?" Ahh, but that would be the vigorous Melianthus major.

Begonia 'Gene Daniels.' Partly damaged by the storm, I had to pin it back with a small trellis and in doing that it propped one of the leaves upright. And that showed off its glorious burgundy underside as well as -- look closely -- a small cluster of pink flowers. 

And now the prize of prizes. Russell Wagner, noted propagator, brought in a F1 cross of Lachenalia viridiflora and L. quadricolor. The aquamarine of the former is better seen in the photo below, whereas the four colors of the latter are on better display above. This is such a new cross that there are only a handful around. Beautiful isn't it?

My Impatiens congolense (syn. niamniamensis) is still in bloom, though this is a shot from last year. Bi-colored waxy flowers are curious enough but see how they sprout from the stems not the leaf axils? Intriguing.

Another shot from my archives, I liked how the unusual angle of this dianthus (carnation), afforded one a different perspective. It almost looks like a pinwheel or a very, very tiny carousel.

My Justicia brandegeeana just never seems to go out of bloom. Okay here's a groaner joke. Which plant that you know is polyamorous? Why it's this plant of course, having three girlfriends named Brandy, Gee (a Filipina name) and Ana.Your job is to come up with a plant that has three 'boyfriends!'

Salvia splendens 'Sao Borja.' I'm loving my new Salvia splendens and crossing my fingers it will survive the winter. This photo is borrowed from Annie's Annuals. Such a pretty photo, doing justice to a vibrant flower.

This is a shot of my Choisya ternata from the spring. But wait, it's budding up for a second show, with quite few intensely fragrant flowers already open. In my mind, this 'Mock orange' is the most fragrant of the three plants called by this name. Very heady perfume!

This isn't the best shot of my black bamboo but it's looking especially full these days, after all the rains. Bamboo really is happiest when it gets regular water, though once established it's tough enough to survive dry spells.

Lastly, a shot of my Tiger's Jaws (Faucaria tigrina). Though it's finished blooming, there's still the fun, tactile effects of its nubs. Kind of like a tiger that's had his teeth removed and is gumming it. That awkward image aside, this little guy is one of the most prolific bloomers in the succulent world.

Ahoy, mateys!

Yes, for all you friends outside of the weird and wonderful Bay Area, those really were people kayaking down city streets yesterday! Indeed it did come down in buckets. I had a few near casualties in my garden but it mostly survived intact. Speaking of survival, that brings me to today's spontaneous topic -- Great Garden Victories (known as GGVs). Veteren gardeners will know immediately what this refers to -- the wonderful experience of getting something struggling to finally do well or in some cases, bringing plants back from the dead. While we all love each and every plant in our garden (except maybe the weedy ones), there is a special satisfaction to plants that fall under the GGV category.
Example # 21 in my garden is represented in today's first photo -- Agapetes serpens. It's a long sad story but hey I've got the time here so ... Just kidding. It was doing fine in a large pot on a sunny porch; had to be moved so was put 'temporarily' in a shady corner; no preferable place opened up; thrips set in; it nearly died; sprayed for the thrips and saved it only to have thrips come back; finally I fed the heck out of it, a pruned brugmansia opened up more light, I got rid of the thrips for good and voila! So, don't let anyone tell you that this plant isn't tough. We could start a new saying "Tough as agapetes!"
A word about today's photos. Due to the rains and things being a bit beaten down, I make an exception and raid my archives for photos of plants that I would otherwise have photographed today.
With that caveat, here they are:

Hopefully you'll be spared the above plagues when growing Agapetes. And it's worth it, as not only are the individual urn-shaped flowers very pretty, but they develop in rows beneath the branches and have a papery feel. As the Orbit gum woman says in the commercials - "fabulous!"

From difficult to super easy, meet Anomatheca laxa. This genus is so closely related to Freesias that it was once classified as such. It however appreciates some shade and is a prolific self-seeder. There are subtle variations in color (and there is a white form) but the straight species offers charming coral-red flowers. 

This is a 'blue hibiscus.' No, you're not color blind and it's not really a "blue hibiscus" but its species mate, Alyogyne huegelii, is commonly referred to by that common name. This is the harder-to-come-by A. hakeafolia, which as you can see has yellow flowers. My specimen seems to bloom whenever it feels like it though in theory it's a summer and fall bloomer.

Who you calling a wallflower? Put up your dukes! Okay, wait, I am a wallflower, otherwise known as Erysimum. This is E. 'Winter Sorbet' with its delightful mix of purple and orange flowers. It is aptly named, as this variety seems to bloom later than most others.

My Shiny Bristle fern has filled in since this photo was taken (last year) but wanted to showcase one of the loveliest if not well known ferns that do well in our area. 

I'm making one exception in including this Dianthus 'Chomley Farran' photo. It normally blooms in the late summer/early fall but is late this year. Still hoping it makes it. There is some disagreement on whether this variety is one of the famous 'Bizarres' from the 1800s. They were especially showy, variegated types that fell out of favor. Hard to understand why when you see this madam's beauty.

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Lutea.' One of the denizens in my dwarf conifer bed. It's a personal favorite of mine and I somehow imagine its twisting 'panels' as DNA strands. In any case, it's been one of the stars of this bed and has nary a brown leaf.

Salvia 'Vanhouttei.' Thought to be a S. splendens type, meaning it likely won't survive the winter, it's nonetheless very showy right now. What you see aren't the flowers but the rich, burgundy-red bracts.

Borage officinalis. This is the simple borage that self-seeds like crazy but I love its pure blue nodding flowers almost as much as the bees (note the bumblebee on the lower right).