Plants I'm Growing: The Garden in April (April 29, 2013)

The garden is full of flowers at the moment. For about four years I kept a detailed record of the first date of bloom of each flower species in the garden (2009 to 2012). Somehow I didn't have the energy to keep up this year. So, here I note simply that much is in bloom now.

The Wisteria has just finished. The climbing roses are all in full bloom, with "Flutterby" having started first, the old-fashioned pink climber on the back fence--the laggard among them--just coming into bloom now. "Altissimo" and "Sally Holmes" are at peak. The bush roses "Cocktail" and "Easy Livin'" are in full bloom. Most of the Ceanothus varieties are finishing. The neglected German iris (they need to be lifted, replanted, and fertilized--I can never remember what time of year to do that, and so they languish) are blooming sporadically but could do much better.

Candytuft is fading, but the Rhododenron called "Noyo Dream" is coming into bloom and the large white Rhododendron with a name like "King George" has bloomed convincingly this year for the first time. Rhododendrons are also blooming at the front of the house, under the bamboo. Echium gentianoides is in full flower (pictured). Salvia Chamaedryoides, a similar shade of blue, is just beginning to open, and a patch of garden sage I'd forgotten about behind the house is blooming as well. Most of the rock roses are in flower. Phlomis fruiticosa (Jerusalem Sage) is blooming, and the other Phlomis species are either just coming into bloom or will be covered with flowers soon. The Rosa chinensis mutabilis on the side of the house (a large, blousy, multi-colored, single-petaled rose) is beautiful this year. I wish I could remember the name of this little mallow-like flower (below) that has spread itself all around the shady parts of the garden.

Before long, the dry summer will rob us of much of the color, but it's all very pretty right now.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Columbine, Echium Wildprettii, Rose "Easy Livin'"

First blooms of 2011 today on a number of plants in the garden. A succession of warm days is coaxing out new flowers every day now. First blooms on Echium wildprettii, known as "Tower of Jewels" (photo a left).  The large, yellow columbine with long spurs (below) bloomed today, along with one of the hybrid columbines in the garden that are spontaneous crosses between the yellow variety and Aquilegia formosa, the native Western columbine, which is also planted here. First blooms today also on the orange rose called "Easy Livin'."

Echium wildprettii bloomed on April 20 in 2010, for a botanical year of 377 days.The yellow columbine bloomed on April 19 in 2009, on April 21 in 2010, calculating years of 367 and 376 days.
The rose "Easy Livin," bloomed on April 9 in 2010, for a year of 388 days.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Peruvian Verbena, Echium Gentianoides, Iris "Change of Pace"

First blooms of 2011 in the past couple of days on Peruvian verbena, Echium gentianoides,  and the iris called "Change of Pace," which every year is the first of the irises to bloom. The iris started blooming on the 21st. "Change of Pace" bloomed on April 10 in 2009 and April 5 in 2011, so this is somewhat late. The plant has thus calculated years of 360 days and 381 days.

The Peruvian verbena (Verbena bonariensis)--a very tall, upright variety, started blooming on the 22nd (pictured above). It bloomed on May 11 in 2010, so this seems early. The plant calculated a year of only 346 days. The Echium--a pure blue variety--started blooming yesterday, the 23rd. I don't have a 2010 record for this Echium, but it bloomed on March 31 in 2009. I didn't get around to photographing any of the plants until today.