I'm at the beginning of a two-week working holiday in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Which is great for Bloom Day, because there is so much blooming here, and my own gardens are suffering from those August garden doldrums I mentioned in my previous post. So here's some of what I've seen during my first couple of days here.
I'm here, in part, to mind an artist's studio on Canyon Road while he attends a show of his work. These first few pictures were taken along the alley nearby. Caryopteris is gorgeous around here right now, and is abuzz with several varieties of bees all day.
Hollyhocks are another common sight in Santa Fe (this won't be the first one you see!)
Datura stays tightly rolled during the day, and unfurls fragrantly at night.
Phlox is everywhere too, much of it in the primordial pinks and magentas that they revert to when they self-seed. A big favorite of hummingbirds and sphinx moths.
OK, I don't know WHAT happened to this poor Achillea during color correction, but I kind of like it, so it stays! More appropriately colored Achillea later...
Out on Canyon Road I find a wan little Echinacea (especially compared to the previous pic!)
Hollyhocks and Phlox, take two!
Elegant little campanulas in dry shade...
Blush pink Phlox and sultry Rudbeckia should really not be seen together, but somehow they work!
Dainty Cosmos fill in the gaps in a mixed border and bloom like crazy all summer here.
Sunflowers are everywhere! They are a particularly special flower for me, so I enjoy being around them...
Perfect!
Drama queen...
Junior drama queen.
I loved this single flower of hardy geranium threading up through some juniper.
And this Buddleia enjoying some afternoon shade.
Hollyhock (with blue sky) take three...
Hollyhock (with pink stucco) take four!
Silver Lace Vine
(Polygonum aubertii) flows over many a fence and wall in Santa Fe; you definitely need to give this one some room.
As promised, some properly colored Achilleas, used beautifully here against an adobe wall.
Little sunflowers!
A perfect planting of Dwarf Plumbago
(Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) between a pole fence and the top of a stone wall. Exquisite...
Another view of Silver Lace Vine.
Mmmmm, honeysuckle! This is what I would have on MY fences and walls instead...
Thanks for joining me in Santa Fe, be assured there is much more to come. And don't stop here! Visit
May Dreams Gardens for links to Bloom Day posts from all over the world.
"We can have flowers nearly every month of the year."
Elizabeth Lawrence
I really like Santa Fe and love the general area. The quality of the light there is so different that your mutant achillea shot might almost be plausable up there in the thin air. I see the plants are doing their best to take advantage of the town's summer. Have a great time in town!
ReplyDeletealoha,
ReplyDeletei also like that color correction shot gone wrong, it has more of an art quality to it.
so many beautiful blooms there, i love the macro shot of the pink mallow,it just conveys all the beauty of this flower :)
Santa Fe is looking good, Laura. My silver lace vine has disappeared into a tree, but I don't think it's in bloom yet. The dwarf plumbago is a great little plant, in bloom here in SoCalif. too.
ReplyDeleteHollyhocks and adobe walls and bright blue skies--ah, Santa Fe. I'm more familiar with it in fall, as I used to celebrate Thanksgiving there every year for a while. Thanks for the summer view.
ReplyDeleteThanks everybody! Santa Fe is not an easy climate for plants, one quickly sees what can take it and what can't!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, I hope you having fun in Santa Fe.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the photos of the Hollyhocks and Phlox.