Plants I'm Growing: In the Garden Now (May 18, 2014)

This is perhaps the prettiest time of year in the garden. Everything that blooms in the spring sees to be blooming at once. The late Rhododendrons, several different Phlomis varieties, roses, rock roses, and various other flowers. The first blossom on the potted beavertail cactus in the driveway opened yesterday, May 17.

The garden is neglected at the moment, the result of too much time spent working, but the flowers are still pretty. The photo above is the Cistus (or rock rose) called "Sunset." Below pictured are Phlomis fruiticosa (Jerusalem Sage) and one of my favorite roses, a single-petaled variety called "Nearly Wild."

Plants I'm Growing: Phlomis, Rose "Flutterby" (April 5, 2013)

A lot of flowers coming into bloom in the garden now. The first Phlomis blossom opened on April 3 (pictured). The first flowers on the big climbing rose called "Flutterby" at the front of the house opened yesterday, April 4. Lithodora diffusa, a ground cover with a pretty star-shaped flower started blooming today. Most of the Ceanothus varieties in the garden are in full bloom. The sound around them is amazing; Ceanothus attracts a startling range of insects. Pacific Iris are in bloom, and leaves are just appearing on the smoke tree in front of the house. Both our pink crabapple tree and our "Pink Lady" apple tree are in bloom. The large salvia "Point Sal Spreader" is in bloom as well. The wisteria behind the house looks like it will start blooming soon, which always attracts many large bumblebees. A pretty time of the year.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--More New Flowers (April 22, 2012)

A mini-heat wave has accelerated activity in the garden. New plants are coming into bloom daily. Yesterday saw the first blooms on the large white-flowered Rock Rose called "Elma," and on Rosa mutabilis--which, as it's name suggests is a rose. This one is notable for the way the color of the flowers change. The buds are deep pink. The flowers open pink but quickly fade to yellow and then almost white. Today some of the helianthemums started blooming and I noticed the first flowers also on the Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruiticosa), a real stalwart that blooms reliably year after year with almost no attention (photo). The first German irises in the garden have begun to bloom in the past few days as well.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Phlomis Fruiticosa, Cistus "Sunset," Penstemon Heterophyllus (April 24, 2010)

First blooms of 2010 on three plants in the garden today: Phlomis fruiticosa, the big Jerusalem sage; Cistus "Sunset;" and the purply-blue wild penstemon Penstemon heterophyllus. Phlomis is one of the first plants I put into the garden here, not realizing how big it would get. It's now about seven feet across and the flower stalks are nearly as high as me. The photo shows buds in an axial whorl. A pair of big yellow petals will pop out of each of the "cells" visible here. This plant bloomed much earlier last year (April 10). A year according to Phlomis fruiticosa was 379 days.

"Sunset" has been blooming around town for about a week. The one here is comparatively shaded, so it has bloomed later than many. The plant bloomed in 2009 on April 9--much earlier than this year. A year according to "Sunset" was 380 days.

Penstemon heterophyllus is one of my favorite plants. It's almost irridescent. I've seen it growing wild in rocky, higher-altitude areas in California and elsewhere. It doesn't seem to last very long (2-3 years) and doesn't seed itself much, but I'm happy to keep planting it. I have a note of it blooming in early June along Highway 97 in the north-eastern part of the state, but no record of its first flowers in the garden last year.

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Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Phlomis Lanata (2010)

The first buds on one of the Phlomis Lanata plants in the garden opened today. People seem to call this Jerusalem sage, but the plant I know as Jerusalem sage is the much bigger plant Phlomis fruiticosa. In any case, both plants do wonderfully in our hot dry summers with almost no extra water. This year the plants are especially lush-looking because of all the rain we've had. In the background of the photo here you can see Spanish lavender blooming. These two plants pair nicely. Phlomis lanata bloomed on April 20 in 2009. A year according to this plant was 363 days.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Phlomis Fruiticosa, "Flutterby" Rose, "Change of Pace" Iris

The new yellow-orange climbing rose at the front of the house ("Flutterby") is just coming into its own--covered with buds that are about to open. A single bud opened a couple of days ago, but the plant won't really start blooming for a day or two. "Flutterby" starts out yellow but turns orange and pink as it fades. A very pretty rose.

Another German iris opened up today. This one is called "Change of Pace." It's usually among the first to bloom each year.

The first yellow petals have emerged on the big Phlomis plants by the birdbath today (Phlomis fruiticosa).

Solomon's seal (Polygonatum commutatum) also grows in our garden. It's one of the many plants I've planted here to remind me of the first garden I had to do with as I pleased--the garden of the house that was my grandmother's and then my mother's, on Shaftesbury Rd. in Dayton, Ohio. Solomon's Seal is a delicate eastern woodland wildflower, but for some reason it has been quite content in the very different climate here in Santa Rosa. First blooms today--more or less.