A time to reflect

Chances are many of us in the Bay Area have been hard at work in our gardens this last month, once all the rain stopped. There was endless weeding, a lot of trimming, container maintenance, fixing of trellises etc. But here we are in mid-May and I think we deserve a little breather to just sit and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Smell the roses as it were. It's funny how easy it is to forget to do that - to simply step back and enjoy our gardens. Chat with the neighbors, especially those who are fellow gardeners. Swap stories of loss but also of triumph in our gardens.
On this note, I once again recommend two activities to you. First is to keep a journal. The mere walking through the garden and jotting down new developments or spontaneous thoughts is itself peaceful and most enjoyable. Secondly, take photos. Nowadays our smart phones offer us the chance to take brilliant photos and it's so easy. Not only is it fun sharing these photos but it's a kind of record in time of where your garden was at that moment. Our gardens are always in transition but taking photos allows you to capture a series of moments, both for the record and to enjoy later ("Oh, yes, this is when that new Hydrangea was starting to fill out").
On that note, here are the latest photos from my garden. Enjoy!

Collinsia species 'Purple Chinese Houses.' This new, deeper purple variety is indeed a richer purple. Not sure what the common name alludes to but in any case this native annual is a colorful delight. 

I joke that my black Aeonium Zwartkop and silver Tillandsia tectorum is my secret Oakland Raiders reference but in case they do make a vivid combo. 

My Pelargonium crispum Variegated Lemon is so vigorous it's grown through the slots of our fence through to the other side. And is blooming. This is a wonderfully scented variety.

Clarkia Salmon Princess.  This was supposed to be the new Salmon Queen, a double form, but a misplaced ID tag resulted in me taking the Princess instead. Still pretty but next year I'll try my luck again with the Queen.

This oriental lily, Black Eye, returned even more vigorous in year two, no doubt helped by all the rain. Love that intense burgundy center and I'm sure that next year, as it continues to multiply, it will put on quite the show.

Cynoglossum amabile. The tall Chinese forget-me-not  as it's known is a prolific bloomer and there's no substitute for that gorgeous robin's egg blue color.

Here's my latest Calibrachoa - Tropical Sunrise. It's just been planted but soon it will fill out and spill over the front of this wooden planter.

My Cotinus Royal Purple went crazy on the blooming front this year. Here's another photo. Sometimes where there's 'smoke' there is no fire, though this tree is worthy of stopping traffic. 

Another shrub that benefited from all the rain, my Tecoma x smithii has begun blooming a little earlier than usual. I'm expecting a bonanza of flowers this year.

Papaver 'Naughty 90s' and Callistemon viminalis. Both flowers are popular with hummers and bees. And, as it turns out, with humans as well, which is why I located them close to the sidewalk.

"What is that bush?!"  I get this question a lot from passersby and most are delighted when I tell them "Marmalade bush." And really, I count this as one of the great and most accurate common names. I sometimes get asked "Are the flowers edible?" Ahh, no, but they do look yummy. Streptosolen answers the question "How much do you really like orange?" The answer has to be "A lot" to locate this in your yard but I do love it.

Though I'm not a card carrying 'pel lover,' I do have several Pelargoniums in my garden. Here are two more. The variegated leaf one in front is a scented pel and the one in the back with the pink and white flowers is called 'Raspberry Twizzle.' 

Sometimes called 'Cherry Bells' this purple form of Campanula punctata is a vigorous bloomer and tends to spread by underground rhizomes. I love those nodding flowers and the way it takes care of itself.

To this plant I say "Go ahead and mock me." That is, Ms. Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' go ahead and give me lots of those deliciously scented mock orange flowers. For some reason this variety is more intensely scented than my CA native P. lewisii 'Covelo,' which is literally right across the walkway.

The Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' is the star of the show right now in my Sun King bed but there's lots going on here.

Coprosma 'Pina Colada.' This colorful Mirror plant is loving the sun and holding onto it's multi-colored palette.

Eriogonum giganteum. Known as St. Catherine's Lace for its clusters of delicate white flowers - here forming but yet to open - this is one impressive and robust plant. CA Buckwheats are valuable plants for local pollinators.

One last photo of my gorgeous Lathyrus 'Nimbus.' Beautiful and fragrant. Nuff said. 

Cupheas need their own cheering section. "Cu-fee-ahhs!!" They're vigorous, long blooming, popular with hummers and humans and reliable. This one is C. purpurea 'Firecracker.'

A simple hanging basket Fuchsia but who can resist them?

April Showers Bring ...

As the sunny days stretch on, the way they normally do this time of year in the Bay Area, one can almost forget the six months of rain. Almost. That moisture is paying dividends now, especially with trees and shrubs in our gardens. It seems hard to believe, since spring seemed about two weeks long, but summer is around the corner and summer plants are already showing up in nurseries and garden centers. And some of us are wait, I didn't even get to enjoy my spring natives. Well, not quite but growers have largely moved on to summer perennials.
Here's a sampling of the 'still spring' flowers in my garden.

Here's my Sun King bed, the deep burgundy leaves being my Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy,' the yellow flowers the Maritima CA  poppy, and the reddish-pink flowers in rear my new Mimulus Jelly Bean Dark Pink.

Snapdragon Chantilly Bronze. Still going strong and one that changes color from pink, to peach to a light bronzey-yellow as the flowers age. The purple flowers beside it are the Ca native Phacelia minor.

Streptosolen. I've joked with friends that you can probably spot my Marmalade bush from Google Earth it's so large and bright. Slow to establish but once it gets a foothold it's one of the hardiest and easiest shrubs you'll ever grow. Drought tolerant too.

Orange and blue are two very popular colors for gardeners and I'm no exception. One of my favorite blues is Anagallis monellii. It's an annual but it does bloom profusely while it's around. Some would describe it as a gentian blue.

Aquilegia 'Yellow Queen.' One of the easiest and hardiest of all columbines, my returns faithfully every year. One of the larger varieties of the chrysantha species, this one really lights up a part shade location.

Callistemon viminalis. Little known fact, this genus hails from Jamaica (Calliste-mon). Okay that was a bad joke but when words are your trade you have to have a little fun. This species of Bottlebrush tree is a dwarf, only reaching about 6' in height, so good for small gardens. 

Here's a new Calluna vulgaris called Winter Chocolate. As you can see, it's pretty darn lime green right now so the chocolate color will come when the weather gets colder. Callunas are a type of heather and the flowers are similar to Ericas.

Baby Blue Eyes. There's just no substitute for the robin's egg blue color of Nemophila menziesii. A California native annual, it does actually grow in the higher meadows of the East Bay. Like many native annuals it's good at broadcasting seed.

Eriogonum umbellatum var. polyanthum 'Shasta Sulphur.' This California native is found in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains. One of the California buckwheats as they're known, it's one of the prettier yellow blooming species. Drought tolerant and one of the best plants for pollinators, Eriogonums make a great addition to your garden.

Cynoglossum amabile.  This tall 'Chinese forget-me-not' is an easy way to add blue to your spring garden. I like this taller version because it's easier to see and thus appreciate the small blue flowers.

Dianthus x superbus 'Bearded.' Bearded is perhaps a misleading description. 'Fringed' seems more apt but in any case this is one fun (and vigorous) carnation to grow.

Cuphea purpurea 'Firecracker.' This is a smaller-flowering version of the bat-faced cuphea. It has the same red ears and purple 'snout' but the flowers are smaller than those of the Cuphea llaveas. I love Cupheas; there's so many different ones, they're easy to grow and tough and they have a very long bloom season.

Most gardeners are familiar with the inky-blue flowers of Salvia patens. Here's a new icy-blue variety called Patio Sky Blue. I love it, in part because I'm a sucker for that pale blue color. This variety seems to possess the same leaves and growth habit of the straight species. 

Fuchsia 'Golden Gypsy.' This fuchsia barely paused in the winter before resuming blooming. It's one of the hanging basket hybrids that are prone to being afflicted by that nasty fuchsia mite but so far my specimen has escaped that fate. 

Ruellia elegans. These are the first two flowers on my red Ruellia so consider this a preview. It's one tough customer, having survived a poor placement, mediocre soil, being swamped by my Summersweet shrub and well, just about everything. Somehow it toughed it out.

Passiflora 'Oaklandii.' An Annie's cultivar, this has proven to be one vigorous long blooming plant. Each flower is 5-6" across, making it one of the larger passion flower blooms.

One is normally photographing the antler-shaped fertile fronds on a Staghorn fern. Here's a photo of the sterile frond on my specimen. They're just as beautiful in their own right, with that interesting 'crackled' pattern.

I love recommending Heleniums to customers. Now going on its nineth year, my H. 'Mardi Gras' is a blooming machine. It's just starting up for the season but will now bloom continuously almost till year's end. Bees love the nectar-rich flowers and are regular visitors.

Papaver 'Naughty Nineties.' This is one of the most extravagant of the breadseed poppies and even one flower is enough to stop traffic. 

And the first of my million lilies to open is ... Black Eye. This beauty has one of the richest, most velvety centers and it's proving vigorous too. If there is a perfect summer bulb it's lilies. So many great colors and styles, not fussy at all like say glads can be, return faithfully each year and are quite adaptable to full sun or a little shade.

Asarinas might be the best kept secret in the 'smaller vines' category. Here's my A. 'Joan Lorraine,'  one of the most popular of the scandens species types. This species features delicate leaves and smaller tubular flowers while the Asarina erubescens varieties have much larger, soft almost felty leaves and slightly larger flowers in either pink (species) or white (Bridal Bouquet). There's also the lovely A. purpusii 'Victoria Falls' and the very colorful A. wislizensis 'Red Dragon.'

Plectranthus zuluensis. This larger plectranthus has lighter (lime) green leaves and gets much taller (5-8'). Usually a fall bloomer it's decided to bloom this spring.

Water, sun ... action!

Gardening is simple. Everyone knows that. Okay, stop laughing (or crying, depending on what kind of gardening day you're having). But sometimes it can really be as simple as - Take one part rain, add in one part sunshine and ... go! Our recent week of sun, following all that rain, put the timer on fast forward and suddenly it's spring and summer all rolled into one. So, that's it. No great epiphanies except, to paraphrase that real estate maxim, with gardening it's "prep, prep, prep." All that soil amending, composting, weeding and the like creates the ideal conditions for plants to make the leap forward. And here's some of that leap forward ...

Mimulus variety. This is one of the water-loving types, easily IDd by the foliage and the larger, wider flowers.

Finally a decent photo of my favorite sweet pea (Nimbus). There aren't many purely purple sweet peas and the veining is particularly pronounced on this one.

A little instant color for a sunny bed, this multi-color six pack of annual salvias are an easy way to pop in some pint-sized reds, peaches and pinks.

There's a (relatively) new Mimulus series called Jelly Bean and this new addition to my collection is JB Dark Pink. Very floriferous!

California poppies are of course annuals; it's just that they reseed heavily so it seems like they're really a perennial. Here is one that is a true perennial, E. californica ssp. maritima. Yellow with orange centers, it first flushes out lots of attractive glaucous foliage then when the warm weather arrives it begins popping out flowers.

Speaking of series, Annie's Annuals has done well with their Chantilly snapdragon series. Here's Chantilly Bronze. The series is a vigorous bloomer and a little hardier than your bedding snap.

Felicia amelloides. Better known as Blue Daisy, this tough customer is a real showstopper when fully in bloom. Loves the sun, is drought tolerant and well, it's like coming across the blue section in a wildflowers meadow!

There's nothing quite like the color of Clematis 'Niobe.' Ablaze with burgundy? Yep.

Can you ID this native annual? It's a Phacelia minor and there's nothing minor about this scrambling phacelia. Not as well known as the upright P. viscida or the cascading P. campanularia, which is a shame as it has a delightfully rambling habit.

Streptosolen jamesonii. Marmalade bush is one of the great common names and in this case an apt description of this prolific blooming bush. Just give it sun and a deep occasional watering and it will reward you with 8 months a year of yummy blooms.

Calylophus drummondii. Not as well known as it should be, this great ground cover or cascader has some of the most cheerful flowers around. Tougher than it looks too.

Speaking of tough, most Coprosmas are pretty tough customers. Mine is perking along nicely, holding onto that great mix of colors. Another sun lover.

This is one of two shots of my Papaver Flemish Antique (the other, which was supposed to follow is further  down). Here the dramatic flower just seems to pop out of the black background.

My favorite Campanula, this C. 'Blue Waterfall' is a sun lover that stays low. A prolific bloomer, it produces masses of starry lavender flowers from spring through fall.

Cotinus 'Royal Purple.' The 'flowers', in reality the seedheads, of Smoke bushes are some of the most dramatic and unusual in the plant world. Plus that color!

You have to look close but the dark purple leaves in the center belong to a South African bulb called Eucomis. Better known as Pineapple lily, this is the Sparkling Burgundy variety. Plants will eventually produce tall sturdy spikes whose length will be dotted with waxy flowers. Always a fun plant to grow and it's reliable too.

Here's one of the Mimulus aurantiacus types, this one simply labeled as 'Bronze.' It's just the beginning of what will be a long bloom season for Sticky Monkey flowers.

Here's a color you don't often see in million bells (Calibrachoa). This one is named 'Volcano Sunrise.' I joke with friends that I want the drugs that the people who come up with these dramatic or silly variety names are obviously on.

Not the best shot of my Arisaema speciosum var. magnificum's spathe and that's because a second spathe is in front, getting ready to open.

Here's a more conventional shot of my Papaver 'Flemish Antique.' Just the most amazing flowers of any peony-style breadseed poppy!

Got sticky? You do if you're growing the always delightful Salvia discolor. Both the stems and the leaves are sticky. Heck even the calyxes that surround the nearly black flowers are sticky. One of the easiest and toughest salvias you will grow.

Scrophularia auriculata ‘Variegata’ Though the flowers are tiny, it's worth growing this shade loving plant for its pretty foliage. It really lightens up a shady area, though some morning sun will really make it happy.

Right next to it is my tall Plectranthus zuluensis. This is a great plant for taking up some space in a shady area, as a low screen or just as something tough and pretty.

Though not an ideal photo, this is my Passiflora 'Oaklandii' that's climbed up into my apple tree. With this passion flower vine, it's all about the color and the size, as its filaments aren't showy.

Tolmiea 'Taff's Gold.' Thanks to Sherrie at California Flora Nursery for this wonderful shade loving native. It's a hardy little guy too.

This Abutilon (Lucky Lantern Red) was supposed to stay small but it's now 10' tall. Oops. I don't mind and the color is fabulous. It gets quite a bit of sun and is loving it.