First Views of August (Town Mouse)

When I recently posted photos of the garden, my good friend J. who lives in Florida and sees the garden rarely remarked that she didn't remember the plants in the photo. "Oh, I have a blog," I thought. "Surely I have photos of the same areas during other seasons." Guess what, I had interesting opinion posts, fascinating posts about Yosemite and Tassajara. I had Garden Blogger's Bloom Day posts with striking close-ups of plants - but where was the garden?

To remedy the problem, I've decided on a new project. Every first of the month, I'll post the same views of the gardens, and will briefly highlight the plants that star that month. Click the images to actually see something. Maybe we can even make it a meme, I'll add a Mr. Linky widget next time.

Above we have the front garden view. The star, in the front, is Eriogonum arborescens, one of the native buckwheats. The low-growing plant with the greyish leaves is Salvia leucophylla 'Pt Sal Spreader', and the bright green low-growing plant is a coyote brush ('Twin Peaks II').

Moving in a little closer, we can see Epilobium canum (California fuchsia), enlivening the front garden with hummingbirds. And to the left of the table, Eriogonum fasciculatum, the local narrow-leaf buckwheat. Considering I pretty much don't water the front at all, that's not a bad display.

In the back, the early morning sunroom view shows the second crop of California poppies, blossoms still closed, and Salvia clevlandii 'Alan Chickering' in the back, almost ready for pruning. Here's a close-up of the poppies, with some just-finished lavender blossoms and the dried seedhead of a hummingbird sage.

The view of the hammock is a little more lively. Festuca Californica, the native grass, harmonizes pleasantly with the Epilobium (California fuchsia) I planted here. And behind that, the last purple blossoms of Monardella villosa (Coyote mint).

Here's a close up. It's clear why hummingbirds like this plant...

Turning a little more, we have a view of the little bridge where the junco nested in the spring. Right now, not too much is going on though the greyish mound of the California fuchsia promises an impressive crop of blossoms in a few weeks.

In the very right, the soap plant has just finished blooming; I showed some photos of that right after July 4th, here's a repeat of just one.

And in the background, the stars of the summer garden, my Agapanthus. Ms. Country Mouse and I do not agree about this plant. I love it and would find my summer garden without it quite boring, while she has completely eradicated it from her garden. Sometimes beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Finally, a wide view of the side garden. Here we have Eriogonum grande rubescens, another buckwheat, the South African succulents, and a few more Eriogonum arborescens. In the background, through the gate, are the peach trees. I'm just eating the last of the peaches and they were delicious.

That's the tour for today. You're invited to post your own August view, or wait until September to join. I'm  already looking forward to Ms. Country Mouse's views and I'm curious what we'll see over the next year.