April Flowers

Bring May… seed pods? Sure, of course. Since the world is on fire right now and we aren’t getting any showers in April, I’m just going to show you some flowers now, even though it’s a very sunny day and pics are hard!

The first California poppy flower is always a thrill to me!

Pretty much every single California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) overwintered with ease this year, so they are big strong plants right now. I’m looking forward to a very long season because there are also fifteen zillion seedlings of all ages, who germinated throughout the fall, winter, and spring.

Imperial white currant

I cannot get over my white currant’s flower show this year. I featured this plant in a recent post about the genus Ribes but I posted a photo of it in fruit, because when I was writing that post, it didn’t look like much yet. But now…

Ribes rubrum ‘Imperial’
Cerinthe major overwintered

The problem with daytime full-sun photography with a phone is that the glare from the screen can make it impossible to tell if the lens is focusing on what you want. Oh well. Cerinthe made it through the winter in various stages of floppiness. This a plant that has a very hard time with dog pee, I’ll just say that.

This mustard has naturalized

Three years ago I tossed around some red mustard seed and it’s just an unstoppable force now and I love how it comes up wherever. I might be done with it soon, but for now, it’s bright and cheery and delicious.

Ribes sanguineum ‘Xera’s Lime Punch’ still going

R. sanguineum ‘Xera’s Lime Punch’ is one of my very favorite plants this time of year. It is an absolute beacon of brightness in both flower and leaf, and it seems to fit anywhere in the garden – an eye-catcher from near or far.

Eccremocarpus scaber

My Eccremocarpus vines seem to bloom earlier with each year, as they age. All of them are basically in 100% full bloom right now and it is glorious.

Naturalized violas escaped from a planter years ago
Viola, probably labradorica, too pretty to pull right now
Rosemary ‘Gorizia’ – from Xera

‘Gorizia’ is a great rosemary with a very tall, upright habit and I’m only just figuring out how to tame it and shape it a bit. It’s a very heavy bloomer – in fact it seems to always have some flowers (I could be making that up). It is the ‘it’ plant for the bees right now – you can hear it buzz.

Ok not a flower *yet*

Despite it not being a flower I have to show my Hydrangea quercifolia which is now in its 4th solid year of being variegated, which started in 2017. Working on propagation – it has resisted efforts at cuttings so far, so next attempt will be layering.

Ribes speciosum continues unabated
Various Euphorbias – the dark one is ‘Blackbird’ or similar
Meyer lemon on the patio
Sarracenias are making buds!
Iris x pacifica ‘Simply Wild’
Native Dicentra spectabilis over on the north side of the house
Another native, Oxalis oregana, doing really well after being planted just last year
Rhododendron serpyllifolium var. albiflorum

My friend Dan gave me this charming Rhododendron with the tiniest leaves – in fact it’s also called Thyme-leaved Azalea. It seems to like this spot and is currently blooming profusely.

Dan also gave me the next one…

Rhododendron stenopetalum ‘Linearifolium’

This is a *stunning* plant which is at the same time unassuming. The stunning bit comes from the profusion of spidery flowers in a most unusual form for a Rhododendron. The unassuming bit is that it has a really pleasing, tiered-branching form, like it could easily be seen in a formal Japanese garden. I have both of the above Rhododendrons under a Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ where I’m hoping they will offset the tree’s texture of big, broad leaves with theirs both tiny and lanceolate.

Geranium macrorrhizum

I don’t even remember where I got this Geranium macrorrhizum, but it’s turned out to be a spectacular performer in mostly dry shade under this dogwood tree. It did get some irrigation last summer so I’m sure that helped it a lot to start blooming about a month ago!

It was too much for one photo.
Speaking of the dogwood…
Grevillea ‘Neil Bell’

Also more or less under the dogwood is a newly-planted (ok last summer?) Grevillea ‘Neil Bell’ and I only *just* noticed it has one solitary flower down near the ground! It proved absolutely impossible to achieve focus, so you get an art school photo.

One more:

Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’ in crevice garden

I have started experimenting with the crevice garden concept and I recently completed a second installation of rocks and grit. It’s more or less a continuation of the first, but it’s a sunnier spot and I think I did a better job organizing the rocks. In my next post, I will feature these, so this is your sneak peek.

Thanks for checking in. Stay safe and keep gardening!

Welcome, Spring, and thank you

My friend in a Facebook plant group posted yesterday, saying, “Show us your buds” and while I didn’t manage to post on her thread, I did go out and take some pictures on that beautiful, if frightening, first day of spring. Without further ado:

Ribes sanguineum ‘Xera’s Lime Punch’
Do not not grow this plant, mkay?
Ceanothus ‘Italian Skies’ buds about to burst. I can’t wait!
Oh how beautuful is this. Citrus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’ seedling. It’s in a pot.
Phygelius ‘Magenta’ from Annie’s Annuals – I can’t wait for it and neither can the hummingbirds.
On a warm day (above say 55F) it smells like honey and it wafts. Grevillea australis.
Euphorbia something and I just love it. These are immune to dog pee, by the way.
There are many flower buds coming up on this Aquilegia longississima. Beautiful leaf color, too. This blue/purple coloration just happened this past week.
Grevillea ‘Ivanhoe’ looking like he might give me some flowers this year!

That’s all, just a little record of what’s looking particularly interesting today, March 19, 2020.

Stay sanitized, stay physically distanced, and keep gardening, my friends.

Fuzzy baby leaves

Tetrapanax and Hydrangea quercifolia are looking really similar right now.

They’re not even remotely related. They’re not even in the same ORDER much less family.

I think it’s interesting how they just happen to share some features (indumentum, form, and colors) as they begin to leaf out on this sunny 3rd day of March.

I just happened to notice it as I was investigating the hydrangea’s new leaves to see if they’ll come out variegated again. I suspect they will, but it’s about a week too soon to tell.