Bloom Day - April 2010

Now this is more like it. Everything here was planted one year ago, each plant in its carefully thought out spot based on water needs, mature size, etc. etc. Which left a lot of nicely mulched bare ground to be filled as only nature knows how. The original plants are now blending nicely, and I'm thinning out new Limonium perezii (Sea Lavender), feather grass and California poppy seedlings that will continue this combination throughout the open spaces in the garden, while the slower growers establish themselves.

~ Click photos to enlarge ~

The Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' is still spangled with pink stars, and will be for a while yet. Then the bright gold new growth will take over for the summer.

That little Silver Sage (Salvia apiana) plant I bought at the SF Flower & Garden Show last year is now a small shrub sending up some hefty flowering stems. This is the sage that smudge sticks are made from; I dry big sprigs to burn as incense or throw on a bonfire.

The dainty flowers of my Fragrant Frosty scented Pelargonium are kind of easy to miss once the strong, sweet lemon-rose scent of its foliage hits you. This is the bush in which Ms. Mantis laid her eggs last fall, so I'm keeping a close eye out for hatchlings.

The orange Diascia is off and running; that little topknot will keep unfurling one happy angel baby after another until December, with almost no maintenance. That's a value plant for me.

There's Tulbaghia simmleri 'Cheryl Renshaw' again, looking all cool and fresh.

New growth on the Grevillea 'Coastal Gem' means a new crop of shrimpish flowers; this has been going on for months!

Everybody seems to be lusting after Cerinthe major these days; she sure is loving our cool wet weather! Once it heats up she fades quickly, though not before leaving many large, black seeds that will germinate readily everywhere you'll let them. They seem to be happiest in self-seeded drifts; on their own they can be a bit gangly, but look great in a group.

The coral carpet roses inside the fence are back in business, another long performer; they will eventually be a fairly substantial hedge.

Lemon thyme WITH leafhoppers! As usual, I didn't notice them until I was processing the photo...

Loving these Euphorbia 'Helena's Blush' flower bracts, they look like little alien crab-clawed paratroopers! (You can see that, right?)

A single Echeveria flower stem; weeks of bloom here!

Moving to the cooler, shadier back yard, the Moonlight nasturtiums are emerging from their winter hiding places, the offspring of a packet randomly sown two years ago.

Ta-daaaah! Fuchsias certainly know how to make an entrance...

Self-seeded Nicotiana grandiflora alata is a nice accent that pops up here and there.

I think the Fuchsia thymifolia wins the official award for 365 bloom...

Which it would have to share with Sweet Alyssum...

Baby blueberries are so cute!

Chinese Lilac (Syringa chinensis) seems to be a good option for our mild climate; it was recommended by Monrovia and is lovely this spring.

Azara dentata already has my undying devotion for its useful vase-shaped, shade-loving, shiny-leafed self, and then it goes and does this for a little while each spring. Oh, yes.

Thanks, as always, to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for being the heart of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Visit her site for links to Bloom Day posts from all over the world.

"We can have flowers nearly every month of the year."
Elizabeth Lawrence