Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Michelia Yunnanensis, Rosa Mutabilis (March 11, 2014)

Warm weather has coaxed out new flowers in the garden. On the 11th, the first buds of this year opened on the Michelia Yunnanensis (a magnolia relative native to the Far East) at the side of the house. I love this plant for its deep green foliage and the beautiful cinnamon-colored covers on the buds. The 11th was also the first day of blooms on the large wild rose, also on the side of the house. This is Rosa mutabilis chinensis. It lives up to its name. The color of the blossoms is highly mutable, changing as the flowers age.

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--Roses and Phlomis Lanata

The Phlomis lanata in the garden started blooming today (pictured) as did the "New Dawn" climbing rose on the back fence (pictured) and the rose "Cocktail." Nearly all the roses are going strongly now. I'm not especially a rose fan, but the old-fashioned single-petaled ones remind me of the wild roses I saw as a child in England, in Somerset (Taunton). I like these very much. "New Dawn" is an old-fashioned climber with quintessentially rose-like buds--chaste almost.