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