Thursday, July 30, 2015

A few new blooms

I've been out every morning, since seeing Ricki's  Knophofia 'percey's pride' bloom http://bannersbyricki.com/archives/4799
And this week , a bloom ! I've been counting on Percy to give my other wise low loose planting a bit of weight. I divided the plant I got from Ricki  into half a dozen . This is the only bloom so far , but the plants have beefed up plenty, now a few more spikes …please. 


The other new bloom, Rudbeckia 'cherry brandy' which is the burgundyish color I've been after for this area . I made a few color planting mistakes; too purple in some cases , and some how lavander has popped up . The colors I what are: Yellow, white, pink , burgundy… no blues ,lavender, blue/purple.  You can see in the photo lots of lavender …my fault , I planted a Agastache 'golden jubilee' ; and the origano planted it self. I may have to revise my thinking .
The

Friday, July 24, 2015

Aah...

Aah…Vebena rigida , I think anyway. I've  been scratching my head over this plant all spring. I  thought I'd planted Erigeron . Which I did , you can see the Santa Barbara daisy spring up all around .                                                                 A case of seed mixup somewhere along the pricking and repotting process.
I'm pleased with this addition to my ground cover, along with the purple seed pods of Nigella 'Cramers plum' , the purple blur in the background. I don't think I'll  have any  problem getting these going , going , going .

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Life without a lawn...

Not bad at all !  considering I've hardly done any gardening at all this spring/summer. To hot in this dry south /western patch. I did finally plant out all my seedlings. Poor things struggled with the 90 + temperatures . But, I have blooms , a bit scraggly the plants at the moment . I can just see the growth bulking up at the base . 

Why I planted the Gaura so near Hammamelis ? One of you will need to move . I think it will be the Gaura. 


Still a lot of baldy patches. Plenty of room for bulb planting .

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Wednesday vignette...

I'm on a roll , two posts today.
Who would have thought , with temperatures soaring ...
 here for more vignettes hosted by Anna.

Bloomin' July...

I went out this morning , thinking it will be an all white July bloom post ; and looking from a distance  it looks that way with : Guara, Acillea, Nicotiana ( all white) taking up much of the garden .
But I did find dabs of color here and there, like Gladiolus dalenii 'Bolivian peach'  and 'Lucifer'

 Inula Orientalis  which has spread out in a nice  swath.  A very easy plant for me; and  no extra watering this  dry hot summer .

Peachy roses with Panicum 'Cheyenne sky', Foersters feather grass and Vitex "silver spires .

Sedum, Sedum and more Sedum.


Teucrium hircaicum 'pardise delight' this one self seeded.

Catanache'cupids dart' 

Kanutia macedonica , this one a big blooming happy clump. Sadly my other one, not so. Badly suffering in the heat of the late afternoon …must move you!


Finally an Agastache returns for a second summer! Don't know which one , didn't keep the tag , as I thought it would die over the winter .

 Nicotiana and Guara 

Coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany' grown from seed .

A purply Penstemon , another  lost tag ...

Very thrilled to find Dyckia choristaminae…I think, blooming for the first time.

Lastly one of my grown from seed Rosa chinensis 'Angel rose' ,very sweet and tiny at only about 6" , but much loved !
If you're wanting more July blooms visit Carol May Dreams Gardens

Thursday, July 9, 2015

A night in the garden...

About the only time we can sit in the garden comfortably these days ! With temperatures  in the upper 90's  for the last few  weeks .                                                                                                                                                                                                An almost peaceful evening , if you can ignore  the sound of neighbors band saw running, or the drummer that lives behind us and his screaming child . What about the builders with their nail guns working over time to escape the heat ….

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Early morning visitors...

 I've actually been up earlier than the snails this week, with all this heat this past week. A comfy pot of moss to snooze in.
Maybe a dip in the water bowl.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Euphorbia 'Flameleaf'

Or I think it's 'flame leaf' , lost the tag. I've been bring it indoors in the winter a few years now  , It's from the Amazon, probably  zone 10  .
And every summer it rewards me with many , many seedlings . These are just a few, I've been   relocating them as they get to a nice size for a few weeks. They don't mind this heat wave in the least . In fact I've never had so many.


Thursday, July 2, 2015

Liilies...

This photo was taken last week just after the first bloom of 'Miss Libby'' opened.  Before the Yucca blooms in the background fell over ! I've since renched them back up . 


One of the Tiger lilies that line the path of the shade garden. The shade garden it no longer that shady, thank you neighbor for cutting down all those trees. But still , most of the lilies are looking quite fresh , despite this heat wave !

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Phlox and friend..

The swallowtail was very patient with me following it around all morning