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In a Vase on Monday: Eustoma calling
The Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) have been calling out for attention (drowning out the cries of Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' and G. 'Superb', both of which are also in full-flower). I have four...
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Wednesday Vignette: Unstable Weather Conditions
Our recent weather has had a distinctly tropical feel. Temperatures have soared into the 90s (32+ Celsius) with higher than normal humidity. Rain has skulked about us but, although the desert and...
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Wide Shots - July 2015
After an unusually cool and pleasant May complete with unexpected rain, the "June gloom" characteristic of coastal southern California gave way in mid-June to more tropical conditions, characterized by...
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In a Vase on Monday: Fireworks & More
I got an early start on this week's vase, or I should say vases. I had guests coming over to watch the Independence Day fireworks on Saturday night so I put 3 vases together as decoration early that...
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Wednesday Vignette: Serendipity
For the last two months, the bright yellow of Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' has drawn my eye every time I passed by or through the dry garden on the northwest side of our property. However, since I...
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Farewell to Sperling Nursery
Retail businesses come and go but no store closure ever bothers me as much as the loss of a good independent plant nursery. I still mourn the closure of the Begonia Farms Nursery in 1997 every time I...
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In a Vase on Monday: Darkness & Light
I gave up on vegetables this year and planted sunflowers and zinnias in my raised beds. Although I bought my sunflower seeds early, I was late in getting them planted. My resident raccoons also set...
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Bloom Day - July 2015
July usually marks a decided shift for my southern California garden. The heat begins in earnest and many plants stop blooming, waiting for the return of cooler temperatures. However, while we...
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Foliage Follow-up: Variegated Beauties
I took a hodge-podge of foliage photos this month in preparation for the foliage follow-up feature hosted by Pam at Digging. After loading them into my PC, I realized that, with just a couple of...
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Thank you Dolores!
The weather is so very mildThat some would call it warm.Good gracious, aren't we lucky child,Here comes a thunderstorm!The sky is now indelible ink,The branches reft asunder;But you and I we do not...
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In a Vase on Monday: Sunny days are here again
Like last week's vase, this week's creation for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in a Garden, started with a sunflower. In addition to seeds in the "Drop Dead Red" mix that...
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Wednesday Vignettes: Spiky & Soft
Two garden vignettes struck my fancy this week so I'm sharing both as part of the Wednesday Vignette theme hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum.The first is a photo taken of an Agave vilmoriniana...
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My favorite plant this week: Campanula primulifolia
I have a tendency to get excited about plants early in our acquaintanceship, bubbling over with enthusiasm about a plant when we're really still just getting acquainted. For that reason, I was...
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In a Vase on Monday: Welcome to Eustomaville!
Or, if you prefer, you can call it Lisianthus Lane.I'd really only planned to make up one vase this week. The appearance of blooms on the Campanula primulifolia I planted in January (featured as my...
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Wednesday Vignettes: Sun-power!
Following the unheralded rainstorms we had earlier this month, flowers popped up all over. Some of them might have shown up with or without the rain but I'm of the opinion that the rain gave the...
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My favorite plant this week doesn't photograph well
My favorite plant this week is Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', an evergreen shrub originating from New Zealand. I picked it up last fall and put it in the front garden. I wish I'd bought more. I also...
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Wide Shots - A Year's Worth of Changes
For this month's wide shots post, I thought I'd compare photos from August 2014 to current views of my garden. Some show relatively little change, while the changes in others are more pronounced. I'm...
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In a Vase on Monday: Not what I expected
I had a plan in mind for today's vase for the weekly series sponsored by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift' had begun to bloom so I thought I'd make it my focal point,...
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Some Like It Hot (and Dry)
This is the time of year I'm most unhappy with my garden. Despite the unexpected rain we received earlier this summer, most everything in the garden is turning crispy, if not dying outright. What's...
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Just looking...
After lunch with friends this week, I decided to stop in at a local garden center I hadn't visited in years, International Garden Center. Not to shop, mind you. Just to look around. A while back,...
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