Town Mouse is late for the party -- GBBD April 2010


Work does get in the way some times. I'm quite late for GBBD, but couldn't resist making a few photos today of the garden as it's getting ready for the BIG DAY on Sunday.

The Iris douglasiana is full of flowers in the front garden. But I also have a yellow Iris that I believe is a hybrid pacific coast iris.


And the Iris innominata I received as a gift a few months ago brought forth a perfect tiny blossom, maybe 1.5 inches across.


And there is so much more. Galvezia speciosa (island snapdragon) is finally coming into its own and, after three years of mostly being green, has quite a few red blossoms. It's a lesson to learn about California natives: Quite often when they don't bloom the problem is not the wrong soil or too much or too little shade. Instead, they're working on their root system and not wasting energy on flowers. 


Unless, of course, they are annuals like this Nemophilia maculata (five spot) which I planted last year in a container, and which surprised me by coming back. 


I'm also happy that the Carpenteria californica (California bush anemone) is starting to bloom, right next to the Ribes, which bloomed non-stop for at least 2 months. 


Close to that, in part shade, Aquilegia formosa (Western columbine). 


And a little further in the shade, Mimulus puniceus (southern red monkey flower).



And in the front garden, even the old man who scavenged the recyclables this morning told me how much he enjoyed the flowers (I was sort of sorry we drink nothing from cans).

Here we have Eriogonum 'Shasta Sulfur'. 


Penstemon heterophyllus (foothill penstemon) is just opening up. 


Some of the many Triteleia laxa (Ithurial's spear) have brought forth blossoms from the bulbs I planted in the fall. I'm hoping the rest will open up later.


And, a most wonderful surprise, Phacelia tanacetifolia (lacy phacelia) is just starting to bloom, ready to feed the bees and butterflies and to delight the vistors to the garden. 


Before you leave, do visit the next post, in which Country Mouse shows off some of the blooms up on the ridgetop -- the post starts with one of her famous beautiful views.

Finally, a big thanks to Carol who makes it all possible, and now I'll head over and look at what else is blooming. 

Comments

Some people you're glad they showed up at the party, even a day late, and you're definitely one of those. Thanks for sharing what's blooming. I love the irises--They're plants I haven't planted in many years but should. I've found a similar thing with your observation that some natives take a while to hit their stride. My own Galvezia speciosa is finally starting to look like more than a lax green mound. It's not quite living up to its "speciosa" ("showy") moniker, but maybe by next year...
Chandramouli S said…
Oh Country Mouse, I love those blooms - Irises especially. I became a fan of them after seeing them first over at Randy and Jamie's (http://jandrgardenblog.blogspot.com/). Wonderful!
Hi and thanks for visiting my blg this week. What lovely flowers you have growing, and country mouse's too! Thanks for the views of California (couple of posts down) I never imagined California to look like this, it's beauftiful.
Christine said…
I'm having a hard time not being envious of your springtime bounty. Gorgeous! (Ok gotta go, must buy more plants now...)
It's definitely iris season, lovely photos! Is your Phacelia tanacetifolia reasonably well behaved? I've read it can get a little unruly in the garden, so I've held off planting it for now (although I have seeds right here on my desk).
Town Mouse said…
Chandramouli, I'm Town Mouse, but I'm glad you're enjoying the Irises. Curbstone, I have no idea about the Phacelia, but I'd expect they'd be easy to pull.
Barbara E said…
What I find so amazing is not what is earlier or later where you are compared to down here, but what blooms together and what doesn't. This year because it was cool and wet it seemed everything bloomed together, though some things not... weird. Your pictures are beautiful.
Rock rose said…
Those dwarf iris are beautiful. I must look them up to see if they would grow here as I am always on the lookout for lower growing plants. I was intrigued by the ad for the garden tour. Couldn't help but check out the gardens from previous years. That was a lot of fun just looking at the pictures. I;m always on the lookout for ideas.
Carol said…
One can never be too late wearing such beauties! Lovely photos of your blooms!
Anonymous said…
sorry I'm late on my comment! great photos for bloom day. my favorite is the western columbine - one of my favorite flowers! have a great week.
Brad said…
Town mouse, beautiful blooms. I hope the tour went well. My galvezia was full of blooms last year, I'll have to drive by to see what it does next year.

@curbstone valley: The phacelia tanacetifolia in my yard did get unruly. It basically crowded out the other native wildflowers except the poppies and a few clarkia. They grow really fast, wide and tall so they shade out a lot of the smaller wildflowers like five spots, baby blue eyes, etc. That being said, the bumblebees love them, and I mean 10-12 at any one time in a few square feet of flowers. And they are easy to recognize and pull. So you could thin them to keep up the diversity.
Country Mouse said…
It was such a pleasure to help you share your gorgeous garden on the Going Native Garden Tour yesterday - so many people felt inspired and went home to dream and create their own lovely native gardens!

I particularly like that picture of the five-spot! So delicate and pretty spilling over the container.