The Lamb of March

Yes, time to turn the calendar page, it's March and with the sunny, warmer day ahead it's coming in like a lamb. These last few days of sun have really stimulated our gardens. No matter where you live and how long the winter season actually is it always feels too long. So when the first few days of sun and warm weather roll around, it's welcomed with open arms (and without the rain gear). Time to weed, time to prep the soil, time to plan where new treasures will go. And time to shop! Our nursery (Grand Lake Ace in Oakland) has been furiously stocking up on new spring plants, including a lot of native annuals. I'll be adding some of those to my garden this week.
Here are a few more photos from my garden, with the emphasis on late winter blooming shrubs. The first of the bulbs are also beginning to bloom - Ipheions, Freesias, Crocus, Ranunculus, Tulips and Ferrarias. To me, bulbs are the gifts that keep on giving, sort of an hors d'oeuvre before the main course of full-on spring.

Ranunculus. Though the blooming season is short, the brilliant colors of Ranunculus make it worth our while. I don't have much luck getting this bulb to bloom a second season so just enjoy them as a cheerful late winter annual. Below is a closeup of an orange variety, so intensely orange that the camera has a hard time recording it properly.

Physocarpus 'Nugget.' This golden-leaved Ninebark shrub leafs out seemingly overnight. It features attractively crinkled leaves and pure white flowers that remind some of Spireas. They soon produce very decorative red seed capsules, making this shrub a 'triple threat.' And bees love the flowers.

Here's my conifer tree bed. The big cascading mass in the lower right is Sphaeralcea munroana. The 'alcea' in its name gives away the fact that it's a member of the mallow family. In the rear center is a thicket of Chasmanthe bicolor, a vigorous S. African bulb that blooms this time of year. In front of it are three primroses, still in bloom, and in front of them is an unusual Abelia (Chiapis). Apart from it being a spiller not a shrub, its claim to fame is its fragrant lavender-colored blooms. 

Grevillea 'Penola.' I love this fuzzy-leaved Grevillea, as much for its foliage as for its pretty red and cream flowers. As I tell customers at our nursery, your shrub will only bloom for 2-3 months so pick one where you also like the foliage. Done and done with this handsome evergreen shrub.

Magnolia stellata. I call these types of Magnolias 'finger' magnolias due to the flower petals looking like fingers spread apart. More fragrant than most magnolias and earlier blooming, it's one of the easiest species to add to your garden, as it's a modest size (6-10'). A great plant for a moon garden.

Crassula species. My neighbor's succulent is in full bloom right now. Lovely! It's a Crassula of some time and most likely a Jade plant (Crassula ovata). Crassulas are one of the easiest succulents to grow and they bloom readily.

This lovely fern's common name says it all - Mossy Soft Shield Fern. It's a Polystichum setiferum ‘Plumosum Densum.’It's a new addition to my garden and it joins an unexpected collection of ferns. Slowly over the years I've added a fern here and a fern there and now I have 25 different species. They're so versatile and for the most part easy to grow.

Everybody knows this plant, commonly called Pink Jasmine for the pink buds that soon open to intensely fragrant white flowers. I have the fortune of both my east and west neighbors having planted specimens many years ago and now they scramble over both fences. Fences may make good neighbors but free jasmine doesn't hurt either.

Allium 'Silver Springs.' It's not cold enough here in Oakland for ornamental onions to do well so I plant them knowing it's a one year delight. Incidentally this is the same genus that gives us edible onions, chives, leeks and garlic. By the way, the Greek word Allium means garlic.

I've added a new Leucospermum to my garden (L. 'Tango'). Its first flower is about to open. To me they are the showiest of the Protea family members and there is a surprising variety of colors available. Besides the common reds and oranges, there's salmon, pink and even yellow. 

Chaenomeles 'Fuji.' One of the newer flowering quinces in my garden, this lovely and hardy late winter bloomer is full of red flowers now. By the way, plants that flower before leaves appear are known as 'hysteranthous' plants. It is thought that the evolutionary advantages of this behavior is explained by a mass of flowers coming out together being more likely to attract a greater number of insects. And the absence of leaves is thought to facilitate wind pollination.

Lachenalia variety. Many Lachenalia flowers are multi-colored. This simple, all yellow one has its own unique charms. 

Sometimes the color of Camellia flowers are at their most intense hue in budded form, as is the case with this C. reticulata 'Bill Woodruff.' In this case, the open flowers are still a pretty intense red but here we see the concentrated form of its deep red tones.

Spring beckons

Okay, we've had the rain. And now sunny weather is on the way. And we're about to flip that calendar page and welcome March. At least in the balmier regions of the Bay Area that equals Spring. Time to visit our local nursery. Amend our planting beds. Buy some spring color and add favorite new perennials. Get our hands in the dirt!
My garden has made a quantum leap forward in what is in flower or leafing out. Today's photos reflect that wealth.

Ribes sanguineum 'Claremont.' All the rain this winter has made for a joyful harvest of flowering current blooms. Ribes is a riparian bush so is definitely happiest with regular moisture. Along with its beauty, this Ca native offers a spicy fragrance and lots of hummingbird visits.

Want to grow a Jack-in-the-Pulpit? This Arisaema triphyllum  is one of the easiest. My bulbs sprouted and within weeks the first spathe (flower) has appeared. What you don't see in this photo are the chocolate colors on the inside of the hood. There's green and white veining on the lower portion of the spathe to enjoy as well.

My Dicentra scandens is back. I've taken many photos of it and ruminated on the mystery of it disappearing from the trade so won't repeat myself. One of the easiest and most vigorous plants you'll ever grow.

Although you'd never guess it, this beauty is a Helichrysum ('Ruby Clusters'). Those ruby-pink buds will eventually open to the usual yellow flowers but for now the silver and pink looks fabulous together.

Another one of my Lachenalia varieties. They are one of the easiest and most prolific of the South African bulbs.

Though it is just getting ready to flower, the still bare Magnolia 'Butterflies' has its own charm. I've nursed this specimen through thick and thin and it's finally fully established (as a street tree).

This glorious beauty is my neighbor's Leucospermum bush. As you can see, it's in full bloom. Leucospermums are my favorite Protea family member and this photo demonstrates why.

Another Protea family member, Leucadendron, is shown off in full measure in this same neighbor's yard. This genus's flowers, really bracts at the tips of each branch, can be red, yellow or variegated. Probably the easiest Protea family member to grow, though Grevilleas are easy as well. Protea family members want little or no phosphorus so don't feed them with a balanced fertilizer.

This dark-eyed beauty is a Helleborus 'Double Ellen Purple.' I've always thought that the name should correctly be 'Ellen Double Purple,' unless Ellen has a split personality. No denying the inky purple color, one of the deepest of all Hellebores.

Lonicera japonica. I'm showing this picture just to demonstrate that you can indeed prune a honeysuckle vine to keep it as a bush. Mind you, I need to keep at the pruning ...

Beschorneria albiflora. Beschornerias are native to Mexico and Central America and are sometimes mistaken for Yuccas. This species is from Oaxaca, Guatemala and the Honduras. In summer they put up a tall flowering spike filled with waxy green and pink flowers. Even when not in bloom it's a handsome plant.

Aloe striata. I swear this aloe has become a blooming machine. This is its third flowering within a year. I love the foliage, I love the flowers and I love the fact that hummers adore the flowers.

I have photographed and written about my dwarf conifer garden. Here's another version of that, with three Chamaecyparis (False Cypress) varieties growing as a kind of bonzai pot.

The rains also benefited my shady raised bed, populated with ferns, fuchsias and Oxalis oregana (CA native woodland sorrel). 

Thrips nearly got my Mother fern but I've nursed it back and now it's lush and very happy. 

Agapetes serpens. My latest article for Pacific Horticulture magazine will be on plants with prominent caudices (fat trunks). Agapetes belongs to that group, although as here the fat base is half buried in the soil. Mostly though, people add this plant to their garden for the charming, papery red flowers that dangle from the bottoms of branches.

The good news about my Crocus Orange Monarch is that the flowers are very pretty. The bad news is that they're tiny. Sometimes plant breeders give up something (like size) to gain something else (a certain color). 

My Scabiosa columbaria 'Harlequin Blue' has already filled in well and produced its first flower. This less common type of Scabiosa forms a dense low mat, as opposed to the taller more gangly S. atropurpureas. 

It's the time for Freesias and they are arriving not a moment too soon. For many people, they're the first fragrance in their late winter garden. And those colors!

Speaking of fragrance, this Viburnum x burkwoodii's flowers are intensely sweet. Flowers appear before the leaves and though tiny, there are dozens packed into each head. An olfactory delight!

Not sure why this photo came out this way (the lighting) but I kind of like it. The white on this Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' is a soft almost luminescent tone. 

Though I couldn't get this Iris confusa flower in sharp focus (a camera issue) I wanted to share the flower anyway. This species is nicknamed 'Bamboo iris,' not for its stems resembling culms but for the multi-branching. Simple but charming and they exude a mild fragrance too.

Ditto for the focus on this Melaleuca incana. And if the yellow flowers kind of look like Bottlebrush tree flowers, well, yes they do. An Australian native, Melaleucas are tough, drought tolerant and once established prolific bloomers.

In the sky, is it a bird, a plane ... no it's an ornamental onion flower head. This Allium 'Silver Springs' flower is about to open and unfurl dozens of pink-tinged white flowers. It's not really cold enough for most ornamental onions to flower consistently here in the mild Oakland area so I treat them as an annual.

Though I bought my Abutilon thompsonii for its pretty variegated foliage, the peach-colored flowers are lovely too.

Wonga wonga baby! Not the latest dance craze but the popular name of Pandorea pandorana. Like other bower vine cousins, it likes to climb and in this case it's scaled this tall conifer and has now flowered above its canopy. Make sure and look at the full-sized photo, to get an idea of the charming, small yellow and orange flowers.

Rocking on! My Helleborus 'Amethyst Gem' keeps on blooming. Love its color and that double form. I think we can officially lay to rest that notion that Hellebores are hella boring.

Again, not in sharp focus (I'm using a telephoto lens, don't ask) but the flowers on Edgeworthia chrysantha are so charming I wanted to share. They are meant to be sweetly fragrant but I get only the mildest scent from them. Still, the winter flowers and the lush foliage during spring through fall are reason enough to keep this Chinese bush.

The reason for this photo is hovering near the bottom center of the picture. Note that the hummingbird's wings are moving so quickly that they come off as a blur. Yes, hummers enjoy the nectar this vining Bleeding Heart produces.

What drought?

So were the previous five years of drought just a dream or has the last three months been just a reverie we'll wake up from. And now the Oroville dam is close to flooding out a huge population in NorCal, all the reservoirs are overflowing and sump pumps are suddenly in demand. Even our gardens aren't sure what the heck is going on. Spring rains are great for gardens, to a point. Too much water, like too much of anything, isn't good for our gardens either.
Still, the rains are certainly a blessing for spring bulbs and many of mine are appearing earlier than in past years. Ditto for my deciduous shrubs, which the rains have spurred to leaf out especially early.
Right about now though even our plants are hoping for a stretch of sun.
So here a few photos of new developments in the garden.

The two pots of pink flowers are from my collection of Lachenalias. Though they weren't tagged, I think the one on the right is L. rubida. It's one of the earlier blooming species.

Tillandsia tectorum + Aeonium Schwarzkopf. I love the contrast of silver and black. BTW, don't you think the Aeonium variety's name would be a great candidate for a spelling contest?

The little train that could. That's how I think of this dwarf Helichrysum bracteatum (Paper flower). It just keeps flowering through thick and thin. Some flowers just make you like them, don't you think?

I love photographing my Phylica plumosa in all kinds of light. This morning they remind me of furry jellyfish floating to the surface.

Two of my favorite shrubs. That's Westringia 'Wynyabbie Highlight' on the left and Grevillea Penola on the right. Both are very durable and bloom in late winter and early spring. 

My Calluna 'Firefly' has been especially colorful this winter. The small purple flowers are almost an afterthought when they appear. Callunas are a type of heather, which if you see the full size photo you can better appreciate.

Remember those 'Got milk?' commercials. This time of year one might change that to 'Got Quince?' That is, flowering quince (Chaenomeles). Here's my C. 'Kurokoji' with a backdrop provided by my Wooly bush. I love the blood red color of its flowers. It's almost as if the shrub really does have blood coursing through its veins and some has bled out onto its flowers.

My amazing Aloe striata (Coral aloe) already has two new nestled flower spikes. I swear, it's a blooming machine. Hummers love aloe flowers, another reason to add one or two to your garden.

Although this bed is a bit messy, it's the pretty lavender flowers here that are the subject. They're Iris confusa 'Chengdu,' better known as bamboo iris. It took a couple years to get established but now it's putting out a good amount of petite, lightly fragrant blooms. It's a tough plant too, doing equally well in sun or light shade, in moist or dry conditions. 

Speaking of tough, it doesn't get much more resilient than Chasmanthe bicolor. This vigorous South African bulb pops up in late winter and puts up a seemingly endless number of flowering spikes. The flowers are small, two-lipped red and yellow. People often mistake this plant for a Crocosmia, which also hails from South Africa. Both are members of the Iris family (Iridaceae).

Teucrium fruticans 'Gwen.' To rework that old phrase (two kinds of people), there's two kinds of Teucriums in this world, the lower ground cover types and the taller ones. T. fruticans belongs to the latter. Gwen is a dwarf variety, only getting to two feet not 4-6.' Still, it has all the virtues of a T. fruticans - lovely silvery foliage, pretty lavender flowers and it's just as drought tolerant and long-lived.

Nandina domestica. Here's a headline - "Nandina domestica goes wild!" You see, domestic(a) goes wild. It's a sort of joke you see. Okay, moving along. Actually though it doesn't go wild, this shrub is vigorous and will spread out. Here it's showing some of the lovely coppery new foliage that is part of this evergreen shrub's charm. Another tough customer plus it produces berries for the birds.

Scrophularia calliantha variegata. This species has the largest flowers of any figwort (though that's still only 1/2"). Most people buy this variety for the lovely variegated foliage (as I did). It can handle some shade though if it gets too much it will be straggly. It sends up tall flowering stems dotted with small but curious red flowers.

Abelia 'Kaleidoscope.' This multi-colored evergreen shrub is a four season delight. Spring foliage is a bright green and yellow. These colors mute a bit in summer when little bell-shaped pink flowers appear. The flowers continue on into the fall, which is when the leaves suddenly add red and orange tones. It's an abelia so it's tough.