More Irises

The first two pictures are of 'Elegant Lass' a border bearded variety. She definitely deserves the name and is putting on a spectacular display for her first year. My dwarf lemon seems determined to grow sideways and you can see the fruits behind the second picture. Keep in mind that Lass is not much more than one foot high so it is rather unseemly for the lemon to invade her space. It is time to straighten him out.

On the bottom is my dutch iris. He has been with me since the second year and always puts on a good show. For all my complaining about the plants that I can't grow here. I should be fair and point out that iris were something I never considered growing in LA.

Survivor

This handsome little guy has stuck with me from the very first summer. I bought him at a local nursery when I first began looking for perennials to fill my sunbaked and empty beds surrounding the level backyard. I was taken by his golden green color and the promise of blue flowers. Now, I can't recall his name but I could probably find it quickly should it be important.
He isn't a non-stop bloomer but you can see that he is ready to put out some nice blooms now. What I love about him is that he is still with me and putting up a good show despite the scorching summers and the stony soil.
If I see any more like him, I plan to give him some company.

Early This Year

Making an appearance much earlier this year than normal, kniphofia 'Bleached Blonde'. I have enjoyed it because it provides a block of green spiked leaves up my slope. Also it doesn't receive any landsacpe watering, just what naure provides.

This one is supposed to rebloom although it never has for me. Maybe this year with the early start, it will.

The suspense is killing me.

Don't you just hate a tease?

Tiny Bit of Sunshine

Hidden among the dutch iris I found this tiny delight. There are some up the hill also. I don't know what I was thinking when I planted them.

Iris Number 2

Iris number two is also an arilbred and I still have the label, Bagdad's Folly. It has more of the aril shape and more shading but for my money, nameless number one beats it.

Number one pushed out two bloomstalks and boasted four flowers open at one time while Bagdad only managed one bloomstalk and one flower.

I don't remember selecting yellow flowers but so far it's two for two, yellow

Encores

Rosa mutabilis in its final color. I know I called it brick red before and here it is cherry but in actuality, the color is more a blue red. Whatever, it's silky petals are lovely.






My still nameless arilbred iris looking even more lovely with two bloomstalks and four open flowers.

Oh... I looked it up. It's name is Burra Sahib.

Narcissus Malfunction

Normally, narcissus are problem free. I just plant them and they bloom. This clump of doubles is an exception. They grow well and set buds but the buds either dry up in an early stage or develop fat healthy looking buds which are ready to open which stay closed until they rot. I broke these two to get the amount of opening you see but even then, they never opened fully.
The first year this happened, I decided that a rainy spring had hampered their opening but this year was a dry spring and they still don't open.
I don't know of anything to do other than to avoid doubles in the future.

My Slope

This is the slope behind my house. It is filling in but the plants are still growing. The narcissus are pretty much done as are the flowers on the rosemary. You can see the dry creek which runs through the center of the slope. I am getting some ideas for additional plants to add in the fall.

First Iris

My first iris is a new arilbred. I lost the original tag so I don't know what variety. I should be able to look it up. It doesn't have much of the aril shape or shading, just the beautiful blotch on the falls.

The arilbreds are new this year and so far they seem happy. My other iris, planted the first year hear have not been flowering. I blame the fact that I put them on the hill by the dry stream bed but made no provision to give them summer water. I do see some flower stalks this year.

I am hoping that the arils will like our weather without coddling.

First Roses

Rosa mutabilis.

My two bushes have just afew flowers open but are loaded with buds and will soon be covered with flowers.

This is the color of the flower when it opens. It turns a brick red before it matures and the petals fall so the bush appears covered with multicolor butterflies.

Orchids from the Show

I wasn't going to buy any orchids!

But feeling a bit cocky with three cymbidiums blooming this year, I got a deep red miniature and couldn't resist a beautiful epidendrum. I never really got the epidenrums to thrive for me in SoCal and they didn't last long up here but they look so great, I talked myself into another try. The cymbidium is small and I may winter it inside. I will definitely winter the epidendrum inside.

The orchid plants at the show were incredible and the prices were fantastic. I just wish I had better accommodations. I would have bought more.

Plumeria from the Show

I knew I shouldn't but I can't resist plumeria. Ever since my two year Army tour included Ft . Shafter Hawaii, I have longed to grow them along with other Hawaiian garden plants. I had two plants which I brought from LA when we moved. One was about four feet tall (not including pot) and the other about two. They were too big (and too ugly) to bring in the house so by the second year they died.
In LA it never got warm enough near the coast for the buds to open so when they first arrived in July I enjoyed seeing them flower but it was their swan song.
I was irresistably drawn to the hawaiian booth selling plumeria plants and cuttings. After several passes and hearing that the cuttings were only $10, I had to do it. The saleslady was encouraging about growing them in Sacramento but she told me something I never knew which sealed the deal. She said they need to be in a small pot to bloom. In a large pot, they would just grow. I always assumed that growing them big would encourage blooming and wondered how the nurseries managed to get flowers on the small ones they sell. If I bought two, she would even throw in the fertilizer (she insisted that they need to be well fertilized to match the volcanic soil in Hawaii).
So here are my cuttings ready to put out roots and start growing. If I keep them small, I can find someplace in the house for them in the winter. Really.

Succulents From the Show

I usually cannot resist succulents and the plants for sale were choice. I kept eying the displays as I prowled the vendor floors, finally deciding that I had to take some home. After waiting in line to purchase, I was told that my plants totaled $25 and the minimum credit card purchase was $40. They would take checks but, of course, my checkbook was in the car. I asked the lady if she could put them aside while I got it but I knew that if I lugged all my purchases back to the car, I would never return. Then I saw the atm. Normally I will never use a private atm but otherwise these cuties would never be mine. So, risking identity theft, I replenished my cash and bought. Actually, now that I have all the plants home, I think these were my best purchase. But then, that's what I think today. Tomorrow will be a different story.

My new plants are from bottom left, Echeveria afterglow, top Euphoribia sticks on fire and finally on the right Kalanchoe thyrsiflora. I don't yet know what I will do with them. The little guy needs repotting but beyond that I need to put them someplace where I can admire them.
And if I need more, I know where to get them.

Easter Flowers

Another narcisssus and a species tulip

Back Yard Easter Sunday

This is a view of my tiny flat backyard taken from the retaining wall and looking northeast. You can see two of my maple trees sporting birdfeeders and a birdhouse, the two rosa mutabilis against the fence ( they have buds and should be blooming in a week) and my beleaguered cymbidiums ,clustered under the tree to the right. You can see that I have plenty of space to fill. My problem is finding something that grows in the first place and then survives to come back the next year.

Behind (to the right and back ) is my slope. Maybe I will get some pictures of that next week.

Resolution Completed

All is well with my new water lily- or at least it is now residing in a spiffy new pot with genuine aquatic potting media. I had to order the tub from Michigan, not being able to determine a local source from the web. Wouldn't you know that as soon as it came, I found an equestrian supply store not too far from my local nursery with real stock tanks in the front display. Sometime I will check them out but for now my water lily has a home.

This is the pot. It looks like a felt bag but must be made out of some non-decomposing material.

























And here is the potting medium. It says you can mix it with loam but I used it straight. I still need the fertilizer tabs but lets see how helvola likes it's new home.

Monday Rosemary

Another beautiful Monday. The rosemary are beautiful trailing over the retaining wall at the foot of my hillside backyard.

Took care of some odds and ends. Cleaned the patio and set up the outdoor furniture. Repotted three of my cymbidiums using the coco chip bricks I got at the SFF&GS- I knew I should have bought more bricks. Most of the others need repotting but I would rather stagger the repotting so as not to discourage blooms next year.
While inspecting my plants, I discovered one more that has a bloom stalk.

Hurray!

Gardens in the Dark

I guess that the central area full of display gardens was supposed to be the high point of the show. They are impressive... and clearly the result of a lot of work but they are like model homes - flamboyant, eyecatching and empty. They aren't your backyard, or even your rich neighbor's. They don;t offer much to the down and dirty gardener. I guess they showcase designers and landscaping firms but I don't know that they provide much help if I were seeking a landscaper.

I circled the arena trying to get into the spirit of the displays but it just wouldn't come. First of all, what's with the darkness? I suppose it helps cover up the fabrication of these displays and maybe its all for the good. It made me feel like a con job, however.

I took a few pictures. These were the best of the lot and they don;t reveal much.

Still the gardens were merely an interlude at the show for me, a break in the intensity of the reall excitement - the shopping.

Show Stopper

They had more than plants at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. There was this show-stopping garden umbrella. Two sizes, several colors. It folds up...........and it has solar lights. I wanted it real bad but the county, state and feds have claimed all my assets and more so it is not to be.

They have a show special price but even that won't make it work this year. Maybe next year.