Hummingbirds

My thoughts this morning somehow turn to our hummingbird friends. They are everywhere these days, zipping here and there. Here are a few things I like about hummers:
The males are fearless and will defend their territory, even if that's just one nectar feeder, with a zealousness that borders on the pathological.
Males will even try to scare off much bigger birds from infringing on their nectar source.
Hummers have tongues. Well, of course they do but you don't normally see them until the very moment they thrust them into a flower or nectar cup.
Hummers are the most expert fliers in the world. They can drop straight down or shoot up in an eye blink. They can also fly backwards (yes backwards), something that virtually no other bird can do.
Hummers lower their body temperature and heartbeat at night, sometimes to an extreme that seems hard to recover from. It's their way of preserving energy while they're not actively feeding.
Hummers do indeed migrate, some very long distances. That said, some in warm places like Florida stay there year round.
Unlike most birds, hummers will have two or three broods of young per year.
Contrary to what some think, hummers' diets include lots of insects, which they mostly catch in the air.
The most common Bay Area hummingbird is the Anna's. It's also one of the larger species and the only N. American one with a bright rose-red crown and throat (males).
Hummers are both fearless and curious. They will often come right up to within a foot of my face to see who I am and what I'm doing and have been known to alight on people's hats.
And for those who worry that having one or more nectar feeders will domesticate their hummers (having them rely only on sugar water), don't worry. They will still seek out their favorite flowers for nectar.

And now this week's photos!

Primula Primlet. This specimen proves that these common primroses are not annuals as is often thought. This one is in year three and going strong. The Primlet series are double form, 'budded' primroses that resemble tiny roses.

Flower or creature? On land or on the ocean's bottom? This 'Key Lime' chrysanthemum (mum) has both an otherworldly color and smaller, tightly bunched flowers that to me resemble sea anemones.

This simple flower belongs to a Rain lily (Zephyranthes). They earn their common name by popping 

up when the fall/winter rains arrive. They come in a variety of colors but somehow the white is an

ideal complement to the bright green grass-like leaves.

Celosia 'Cramer's Burgundy.' My first thought was 'It should be Kramer's Burgundy with a K because Seinfeld's Kramer kind of had hair like this. Fuzzy, phosphorescent and weird - what more can you ask of a flower?

Caryopertis 'Hint of Gold.' Though it's late, my Caryopteris is finally producing the distinctive purplish-blue flowers. A great combo with the chartreuse foliage.

Leucophyta brownii. If this Cushion Bush kind of looks like a silver tumbleweed, then well, it does to me too. Native to Australia -- where else? -- it's very drought tolerant and adaptable (though it does really like sun). It forms a 3' x 3' rounded shrub and does flower, though the tiny pale yellow flowers aren't that noticeable.

Not quite "Who goes there, friend or foe?" one might instead ask, "Who goes there, shrub or succulent?" And if this plant could answer it would say "Both." It's a Senecio barbertonicus and it's a shrub-form Senecio. It can reach a pretty good size, to 3-4', thus needs the space in which to flourish.

My Edgeworthia chrysantha is acting strangely this year. It took forever to leaf out, nearly June, and then has stayed very low. But at least it did 'recover' and is nice and lush now. This genus is commonly known as Paper bush, for the Chinese reportedly used the peeling bark as a kind of parchment.

Staghorn fern. These ancient ferns are quite adaptable, doing well as an epiphyte or grown in soil. This clump was somehow detached from the mother plant but it has since rooted and is prospering.

Deppea splendens. This summer and fall bloomer is just starting its bloom season. These bracts have yet to open to produce the golden yellow flowers. Endemic to Chiapis Mexico, this rare plant is thought to be extinct in the wild so thankfully several growers are keeping it in circulation.

I'm always taking closeups of individual flowers so am trying to break myself of that habit. Here's a newly planted Passiflora 'Coral Seas' that is climbing up a wooden trellis sprayed a yellow color.

Plectranthus 'Mike's Fuzzy Wuzzy.' One of the great names in the bot world, this tough little low growing plectranthus is taking its time spreading but it does help to lighten up a shady area.

Amorphophallus kiusianus. This is a leaf shoot that's about to open. A member of the Arum family and related to the huge Corpse flower, this more compact guy is proving very vigorous.

Five finger fern (Adiantum aleuticum). One of the prettier California native ferns and tough to boot.

Swainsona galegifolia, the white flowering form. This resilient Aussie native nearly died on me but after a complete haircut is springing back. Fern-like foliage and pure white flowers make for an attractive combo.

Readers of this blog will know that I love dwarf conifers. Here's a new one, kindly donated by Lisa at Sebastopol Growers. It's a Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard.' It will eventually get 10' tall and 6' wide but it's still a modest two feet right now. Love the color and the way the tips curl.

Fall-ing into Summer

Our strange climate here in the Bay Area, especially near the bay, raises the question of what exactly constitutes summer. For most of the rest of the country, summer is the period with the warmest weather, the main time one is outside, be that at the beach, out in nature or even just in the back yard BBQing. Not so here. September through November is often our warmest period, while June July and August can be cool, as it mostly was again this year. This observation may be a specious one except when it comes to gardening. Though the nights are indeed cooling down, the warm days allow plants to continue to thrive. Flowering is extended, deciduous plants wait a bit longer to do so. A longer paradise if you will. I for one am not complaining, nor seemingly is my garden. I'm being more conservative with the water but have not gone whole hog and told the plants "You're on your own." I don't have that type of garden. My way of dealing with this reality is to use as little water elsewhere as I can, save my shower water and get as many things out of pots and into the ground as I can. So far so good. Then again, I've never had a lawn and I water carefully, so no liquid goes to waste.
All of that said, here's some photos of the garden taken this morning. Enjoy.

Rhipsalis 'Limey.' I love this genus, which has many interesting species. Many of them cascade, as this one is beginning to do.

Passiflora 'Lady Margaret.' This new variety is a real showstopper. Wine red petals with sort of striped filaments make this a real find.

My Halliana honeysuckle is popular with moths as well, as this visitor demonstrates. The white petal is the perfect 'backdrop' for his subtle colors.

Caryopteris 'Hint of Gold.' This new variety of bluebeard features chartreuse foliage and eventually wispy purple flowers.

Calluna 'Firefly.' This type of heather acquires more red color as the weather cools, though my specimen has decided to get a head start on that chameleon-like change.

Do Asclepias curavassivicas self seed? Yes, as this little guy demonstrates. And it wasted no time in flowering.

It's a little hard to tell from this photo but this is a flowering quince (Chaenomeles), in this case a C. 'Fuji.' It is one of a group of plants that produces flowers directly off its trunk or branches, as you can see here.

Echeveria pulvinata 'Red Velvet.' A new addition, this gorgeous Echeveria features dramatic red coloring to the leaves and orange flowers. C'est magnifique!

Kalanchoe 'Chocolate Soldiers.' No idea where the strange common name came from but this fuzzy kalanchoe is one of my favorite succulents.

My Begonia 'Illumination Yellow' is almost done blooming but I managed to get one last photo, here using the wood background to make the buttery yellow petals really shine.

Fuchsia 'Firecracker.' I had to cut this nearly to the ground but it has sprung back, showing even more color than before. Sometimes the garden gods smile on you.

Ampelopsis. This has been the best year yet for my Porcelain Berry vine. Many more blue and purple berries to help put on a show. 

Nematanthus wettsteinii. If this name draws a huh? maybe the common name Goldfish plant will ring a bell. Normally grown as a houseplant, it can actually be happy outside for all but the coldest nights. Mine has adjusted to its location of bright shade.

I'm still not sure which bromeliad this is but its smooth speckled leaves eventually produced a many-branched spear and finally, and I mean finally, it produced simple little chartreuse flowers (seen here at the very tip of the 'branch').

Tecoma stans 'Bells of Fire.' My specimen is happy, happy, happy and in full bloom, only a month plus from me bringing it home in a gallon container.

Cassia phyllodinea. Last week I posted a photo of this new addition to my garden (and wrote about it). Here's a close up of the lovely gold flowers. Silver and gold, a wonderful combo.

Speaking of silvery foliage, here's a photo of my Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius ‘Silver Jubilee.’ It's just beginning to sprout its tiny white flowers, adding a brighter accent to the downy foliage. One of my favorite plants.

Grevillea 'Moonlight.' One of the most spectacular grevilleas around, it produces eight inch long cones of buttery yellow flowers. Long blooming and nectar rich, it's a favorite destination for bees and hummers.

Chamaecyparis pisifera juniperoides 'Aurea.' This new addition to my dwarf conifer bed is a lovely charmer. It will top out at two feet and the new spring growth is more of a golden color.

My mimulus would be one of those 'summer' plants that is convinced that summer is a long way from being over. Here it's a M. aurantiacus 'Pete' care of Susan Ashley.

Shimmering Silver

Color is an important element in any garden, be that flower or foliage. One of the 'colors' that can occasionally be overlooked is Silver. The curious thing about plants that feature silver tones is that despite the color generally being considered a 'cool' color, when it is placed with plants where the dominant foliage colors are green and blue, silver becomes a shimmering standout. Case in point, a new and unusual Cassia that I've just added to my garden. Other than the recognizable gold, cup-shaped flowers, one wouldn't pick this phyllodinea species as being a Cassia at all. It is a 6' shrub not a 10-12' tree and its leaves are a shimmering silver not a verdant green as with the most popular Cassia (or Senna as it's now often classified), C. corymbosa.
And it doesn't get any more lovely a silver than this tough, drought tolerant shrub (see photo below). It's sheer mass makes it an immediate standout in any mixed planting. Or it can be used as a focal point in a colorful container, which is how I plan to feature mine. Sometimes all that glitters is not gold -- it's silver!
And now the photos!

Cassia phyllodinea. Put to the side everything you know about the popular Cassia trees. This dense, silver-leaved shrub will get to six feet high and wide. It's drought tolerant and of course has those brilliant gold flowers. A standout!

Bat-faced Cupheas are all the rage these days and why not? They're tough plants that put out an endless parade of colorful flowers from July to at least October. Instant color to a sunny bed.

Echeveria species. I love the way the sun picks up the subtle pink shades on the inner new leaves. For you succulent neophytes, Echeverias are one of the easiest succulents to grow. And one of the ones that most readily blooms.

A top down shot of my Glaucium flavum (Horned poppy). Still waiting on the flowers but the foliage is pretty in the meantime.

Haitian oil drum sculpture. Many of you have, or have seen, these lovely metal sculptures made from recycled oil drums. And the profits go entirely to the artists who produce the work.

Name that trunk! It belongs to my large-leaved Philodendron in the back yard. The 'patches' you see are where I removed lower branches, mostly because those leaves had gotten so huge you couldn't get by the plant! It does however make for an interesting photo n'est-ce pas?

Silene uniflorus. This hardy little ground cover is also a great choice for spilling out of a pot, as it does here.

Okay, today's groaner joke is -- "What do you call a pen with multiple personalities?" A Schizo-stylis of course. That word play aside, this is one of my favorite bulbs. Love that color and it's easy to grow.

Justicia fulvicoma. This hard to find Plume Flower plant has joyful, tropical colors and is surprisingly easy to grow (at least in the milder zones of the Bay Area). One of my faves!

Speaking of color, here's the first flower on my still maturing Protea 'Pink Ice.' It hasn't fully opened yet but is already showcasing that lovely salmon pink color.

Today's photos are displaying lots of color - a bit of a coincidence - and none are brighter than this Celosia 'Cramer's Burgundy.' This is one of the tall species from Annie's Annuals and is at the very beginning of its bloom season.

The plant of 2014 (in my mind anyway), Tecomas offer a variety of orange, apricot and gold colors. This T. stans 'Bells of Fire' showcases more of the orangy-red spectrum. This is a dwarf variety, meaning it will only get 4-5' tall.

Mimulus = summer, no? No! My various Mimulus aurantiacus varieties typically bloom well into the fall. That could be due to the warm weather stretching so late in the year.

Begonia rex 'Escargot.' The name is self-explanatory and this is one begonia where the leaf trumps the flower. My favorite Rex (sorry, dinosaurs and Marc Bolan).

Euphorbia trigona 'Ruby.' So many Euphorbias, so little time. You might even say, so many succulent Euphorbias ... This little cutie makes Prickly Pear like branches, kind of a desert cactus on a miniature scale.

Under the 'Nature is funky' heading, here's the flower on my Haemanthus albiflos. The genus is known as Blood lily, though that isn't apparent from this white-flowering species. This plant is sometimes called the Shaving Brush plant because of the flower.

Aloe striata. File under 'some plants just speak to you,' this lovely Aloe is one of my favorites (and that's saying something as I have 500+ species/varieties in my garden).

SB5. That's my code for Succulent Bowl #5 (the most recent). It's turned out pretty well and is placed to greet both passersby and folks coming up our main walkway.

Though it may not look like it at first glance, these vertical 'climbing' branches are part of a Pelargonium (geranium). In this case, it's a Pelargonium crispum 'Variegated Golden Lemon.' A closer look will reveal intricately twisted leaves and a gentle rub of the fingers will reward the olfactory senses with a heady lemon scent.

Kalanchoe 'Flapjacks.' Enough said.

Though tuberous begonias are common, that doesn't take away from their beauty. This yellow variety helps to brighten a shady area.