Back on Track

Well, after a 3 week absence due to Outlook email problems - now thankfully resolved - I'm back up and running with my garden blog. Things keep progressing in the garden - there's always a surprising amount going on in the fall - but today a startling discovery. I already have the first of my spring bulbs up, in this case Ipheion, Ixia and Freesia. In early October! Of course it'll be two months before they bloom but still, they're up a month early.
Our cool weather has meant that many things are late and that includes morning glories, usually in bloom in July. Does anyone in Oakland remember when it was last 85 degrees? How about 80? Yep, a cool summer and our warm fall is beginning to look less likely as well. Not that that is a bad thing, given all the wildfires.
So here's a representative sampling of what is going on in my garden this fine early October.

A version of the 'shrimp plant.' The flower or should I say bract on this Justicia brandegeeana has a darker tone to the older specimen already in my garden. 

Salvia madrensis. One more shot, though far from perfect, of my true yellow Salvia madrensis. I say true yellow because there are so few yellow salvias and most have pale yellow flowers.

Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles.' This variety has very pale lilac flowers that at the right time are lightly fragrant. It's more of a sprawler than dense upright ones like Julia Phelps. 

Begonia Nonstop Deep Salmon. This lovely begonia is a late starter but makes up for it with the loveliest flowers. 

Salvia chamaedryoides 'Marine Blue.' This delicate salvia isn't so much a spiller but rather here it's reaching out for more sun. It normally only gets a foot tall and the stems break easily but I love the color of its flowers. 

The purple part of this Arum pictum is the emerging spathe. It will open to form a curved semi-circular spathe with a round bulbous spadix in the center. Arums are widespread and ancient looking, which to me makes them immediately fascinating. Plus they are poisonous.

This is my newly cleaned and amended driveways bed. It is slowly acquiring more succulents, being one of the few sunny spots with room to plant. I mixed in a cool Sideritis at the front and a Dorycnium at the rear for complimentary drought tolerant foliage.

The green flower spikes of my Cunonia capensis (Butterknife tree) will soon turn a creamy white and become as fuzzy as a, well, as a bottlebrush tree's flowers. 

Though no longer in flower, I still find the foliage on this Corydalis 'Blue Line' to be delightful. Verdant green, highly lobed, dense, it makes its own presence felt. 

This plain - but curious - looking plant is a Synadenium grantii, a close relative of the the Euphorbia genus. It is supposed to acquire some red spotting as the weather cools and in the meantime I love the fat pink 'trunk.'

This little charmer is a Begonia Belleconia Soft Orange. It's a tuberous type that has a pale orangish-white center. Very curious but pretty.

Cuphea ignea Strybing Sunset. This cigar-type cuphea is just now coming into its own. 

I'd previously posted a photo of my Scabiosa Florist's Blue with a bee harvesting nectar. Here's a different type of honey bee diligently collecting nectar.

This photo of my Snapdragon Chantilly Peach makes the flower look redder than it actually is. Actually, the flowers do start out darker, then open up to a golden-orange color. Part of the deservedly famous Chantilly series.

Any guess what this Salvia is? If you guessed a variety of S. mexicana you'd be right (the fuzzy white bracts helped). This new pink, not purple, variety is called Danielle's Dream. Here the fuzziness of the bracts seem especially pronounced.

Rhodocoma capensis.  This Giant Cape restio is a lovely addition to any garden and looks fabulous when mass planted. I don't have that option so am growing a single specimen in a pot.

The little known Ruellia brittoniana - thanks to Barb Siegel for the specimen - produces inky purple flowers in great numbers in the fall. They remind me a bit of Salpiglossis flowers.

A relatively new variegated Coreopsis, this C. 'Tequila Sunrise' offers Polemonium-like foliage and eventually yellow flowers. It's a cross between C. grandiflora and lanceolata so hopefully has inherited the best qualities from each species.

Late or early? Some things are late this year but some are early. My Cornus florida is already showing fall color. A nice early October treat.

"Oh, behave!" Anyone that saw the Austin Powers movies remembers that line. Here my Correa Wyn's Wonder has not behaved, deciding to hug the ground and spread out like a ground cover, rather than acting as the shrub it is. That's okay. I'm used to it now and it does make a rather attractive ground cover.

Pelargonium 'Fireworks' is aptly named, with exuberant red and white flowers seeming to explode above the green foliage.

Here's the first of my Morning Glories to bloom, this one (Kikyo-zaki) grown from seed. It's supposed to have a white edging so we'll see what happens with future flowers.

Falling into place

Hard to believe we're on the cusp of the Fall Equinox. Time flies, unless of course you're waiting for that Amazon package ...
Today more photos of my garden. It will soon have a new visitor, as my newly adopted cat will soon be transitioning to the outside. She'll love the garden. Pictures to follow.

Clematis Rooguchi. This fall blooming clematis nearly died in the late spring but now has rebounded vigorously and is putting out its first waxy purple flowers. 

Sedum Lemon Coral. This delicate looking but vigorous sedum is a popular item in our nursery. It mounds up to ~ 6" then spills over a container, low wall or hanging pot. Very versatile and a bit more forgiving about water than many succulents. Yellow, star-shaped flowers appear in summer.

Platycerium veitchii. This less common species of staghorn fern actually prefers some sun. It features slightly grayer leaves but in all other respects likes the same conditions as the more common staghorn. 

One more photo of my unusual Bigelowia nuttallii. What looks like fine golden 'hair' are actually the rayless flowers. You'd think that bees would have a very difficult time collecting pollen out of these slender 'tubes' but I've seen them on the plant so they must have found a way.

Hibiscus Cherie. The sun somewhat bleached out the color on this photo, as the flowers are considerably more orange than the golden tones seen here. Hibiscus are much favored by hummingbirds and moths.

Salvia madrensis. There aren't many true yellow-flowering salvias but this one, hailing from Mexico, puts out tall stems with opposing two-lipped canary-yellow flowers in the fall.

Rainbow bush may seem like an odd name for a succulent but this Portulacaria afra ‘Aurea’ is actually well named. You have the green and gold colors of the petals, then pink to red stems that stand out on this small sub-shrub (2-3'). It may be slow to flower but when it does, the pink flowers really stand out against the golden foliage. Very drought tolerant.

This slightly redder flowering form of Justicia brandegeeana is a recent addition to my garden. The common name Shrimp bush owes its name to the reddish bracts that look like the body of a shrimp. If you look closely you can see small white flowers emerging from each individual bract.

Though simple, I love the pure red flowers (and delicate foliage) on this morning glory relative called Cardinal Climber (Ipomoea sloteri). It has proved just as vigorous as other annual morning glories, a good thing given its pretty flowers and effortless climbing habit.

Tweedia and Scabiosa atropurpurea Florist's Blue. Though I didn't intentionally plant these together, I think they complement each other very well.

Though my Amorphophallus paeoniifolius hasn't yet produced its dazzling spathe, one bonus is its rough textured, pebbled stalk. Very coarse and rigid. Unlike any of my other species in this fascinating genus.

Not the best shot of my Salvia Marine Blue but you can see its vivid purple flowers, each containing a contrasting white blotch. Very pretty.

You kind of get a hint that a certain plant is fragrant when it's named Monardella odoratissima! And indeed this less common Coyote mint is one of the most fragrant, and sweetest smelling, of the entire genus. Same pretty purple flowers.

I never get tired of photographing my sticky monkey (Mimulus) flowers. They apparently cross pollinate very easily so new colors keep appearing.

Here's that same Scabiosa, showing off its rich lavender tones. Though sometimes known as Butterfly flower, it's equally popular with bees.

This new Justicia betonica features very cool green ribbed white bracts and pale pink flowers.

Begonia Torch. I love the dark foliage as much as the vibrant orangish-pink flowers.

This morning my climbing bromeliad looks like red birds in flight! It's loving its location.

Here's my front yard Sun King bed. It has a certain 'wild' look, especially with the Epilobium canum having run amok.

Here's my Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, slowly filling in a front yard bed, around the base of a bird fountain. It's beginning its fall and winter bloom season.

Begonias, begonias, begonias

Remember the 'old days' when you said the word 'begonia' all that came to mind were the ubiquitous bedding types or the small but colorful tuberous begonias? Want an update? Type in begonia in a search box, hit images and you'll get an immediate visual representation that 'we're not in Kansas anymore.' You'll see Rex types with their colorful and often spiraling leaves; angel types that often feature speckled leaves; cane types like Irene Nuss that are large and showy and then shrub types whose leaves can be as much as a foot long! As you dive deeper, you discover that it's often the foliage that holds the real appeal. I now have 20 different species/varieties in my garden and a few make it into today's photos.

Senecio kleinia. Looks more like a Euphorbia doesn't it? This guy gets quite big,  5-10' when mature. It not only has the sausage-like branches but showy fluffy seedpods!

Another uncommon (and recent) plant in my garden is this Bigelowia nuttallii. It has grass-like foliage and then in late summer it produces rayless golden needle-like 'flowers.'  That's the upper golden portion of the plant. Sometimes referred to as the goldenrod of the SW.

Yet another uncommon plant - Phylica plumosa. Native to S. Africa and possessing some of the softest 'leaves' in the plant world. 

Sphaeralcea Childerley. A new variety in this mallow genus, I love the salmon-colored flowers.

Here's more of a closeup of my bloomiferous Justicia fulvicoma. Here are some fun facts about the genus from Wikipedia. "Justicia is a genus of flowering plants in the Acanthaceae family. It is the largest genus within the family, encompassing around 700^[2] species with hundreds more as yet unresolved.^[3] They are native to tropical to warm temperate regions of the Americas, India and Africa. The genus serves as host to many butterfly species, such as Anartia fatima. Common names include water-willow and shrimp plant, the latter from the inflorescences, which resemble a shrimp in some species. The generic name honours Scottish horticulturist James Justice (1698–1763)."

Because I love flowers that are a true blue I never get tired of sharing photos of my Evolvulus. Do you think if we snuck in the White House and planted a bunch of these that would help 'evolve' our current president? ...

Speaking of 'true blue' and then things called blue which are not, here's Scabiosa 'Florist's Blue.' Looks pretty much a lavender color to me. Oh well. Scabiosas may be called 'Butterfly flower' but it turns out they're even more popular with bees. Here's one feasting on this recently opened flower.

It's not uncommon for flowers to show their deepest hue as a bud, then more subtle colors as they open. Here's my Mandevilla Sun Parasol Apricot flower just starting to unfurl and showing its deepest color.

I was finally able to get a photo showing the true colors of my Prunella grandiflora. Lovely!

Plumbago auriculata. The big bushy plumbago has pale blue, some say robin's egg blue, flowers and in great abundance.

A bit too much in shade this shot but it does allow the true colors to emerge on this variegated form of Plectranthus coleoides.

Here's a shot of my new Melaleuca armillaris, sometimes known as the Bracelet honeybush. It will eventually produce small white flowers.

This raspberry-red flowering celosia adds a nice pop of color to a bed that was recently cleared of spent lilies.

Trichostema lanatum. Wooly Blue Curls, as they're known, is one of my favorite common names. The fuzzy purple flowers are a magnet for bees plus it's a CA native.

And now the Begonias portion of our show. On the left is a tuberous type with yellow flowers and on the right the showy B. Gryphon, where the leaves are the main attraction.

This is my newest addition, the richly colored B. 'Angel Glow.' C'est magnifique!

Here's a Rex type begonia called Fireworks. Rex types usually have a two tone leaf, with a darker center and a lighter perimeter. 

Here's a closeup of the tuberous begonia's foliage. Subtle but beautiful and it has a soft, almost velvety feel.

Finally there is this Begonia Funky Pink. From Park Seed: "This is an interspecific cross of two of the very best Begonia species: tuberosa, which is responsible for the extra-large, richly colored flowers; and boliviensis, which is far more heat tolerant than other types. The result? Big double blooms and plenty of 'em from early summer through fall on easy-to-grow, super-tough plants!"

Every garden needs a lookout, a protector and mine is Gordon the Goat. Interlopers, you've been warned!