3/29/08

Saturday morning in my back 40

Just so much gray and green shrubbery when viewed from up here.

the middle of the back 40

A little more enticing, half-way down the stairs.

the back 40, tilted

Some things I saw today, in the order that I saw them. Move your cursor over the pictures for short captions.

Echium wildpretii

Layia platyglossa

Acer palmatum--could this look more like marijuana?

Ladybug on Layia platyglossa

Camassia

Heracleum lanatum, now nearly 7 feet tall

from the SE corner looking west

Lupinus succulentus 'Rodeo Rose'

Salvia spathacea

Ribes malvaceum

These things

Mimulus puccineus, or whatever

Nemophila menziesii

Ficus carica, slow to leaf out

Delphinium--a gift from a neighbor

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow.

OK... I need more info bra'.

The lupin. Is that a polyphyllus? Sweet bejesus! Do you know the cultivar?

Also... could that last photo (or near the last, I can't remember) be Delphininium? In April? Gorgeous whatever it is. If it IS Delphinium, is it elata 'Pacific Giants'?

Lupins, Delphiniums and Digitalis... wait... that's MY dream. Did I see any digitalis?

I have to go back and look.

H

Anonymous said...

It all looks enticing, whether viewed from above or within. I especially liked the echium, of course, and "these things." ;-) The vitex I used to have would have trumped your Acer in looking more like marijuana, I think. It gave a couple of my visitors a start when it was a wee sapling.

Brent said...

Nice! The tags make the unfamiliar plants much easier to identify.

Your garden seems farther along in the bloom cycle than mine, even though you live in the reputed fog capital of California: My Tidytips seem about a week behind yours, and my Salvia Spathacea is even further behind.

One plant that seemed a bit incongruous was the bamboo.

lisa said...

"These things"...LOL! I like the shot of the garden "from the SE corner looking west", very inviting!

chuck b. said...

Lisa, if you ever make it out to California...

Brent, but you had Allen Chickering flowers last month! I don't have those until July. The Layia started blooming in...late Feb? The Salvia spathacea flowers come and goes all year. I don't know if it has a season. In nature, I guess it does, but in a garden... The bamboo...Yeah, that was the first thing we planted when we bought the place--before I knew anything about gardening! I wouldn't plant it today, but it's there now. If nothing else, it serves as a living trellis for passionflower, clematis, aristolochia, and wild grape.

Pam, the echium's flower buds are swelling and the whole thing is going to bloom any day now. I planted two of them in my client's garden. Heh!

Hank, the lupine is Calif. native annual species, L. succulentus, and the cultivar name is Rodeo Rose. I don't know much more than that, except that it will get 3-4 feet tall before dying. I wish the flowers were fragrant, but they're not. You can get it online from anniesannuals.com if you have some $ burning a hole in your pocket.

That is a delphinium, and it's double, but that's all I know. My neighbor said she got it at Trader Joe's. I didn't notice any tags in the pot before I planted it out.

Frances, said...

Wonderful views from your steps. I don't see any red or yellow foliage, do you have any interest in that type of plant? Nan Ondra's book 'Foliage' has so many ideas, I highly recommend it for some great ideas on that subject. Any how would we know what marijuana looks like? ;-> I love the echium's form.
Frances

Christopher C. NC said...

Finally, all the pictures loaded this morning. The back 40 is really filling in.

My Delphinium, a more petite variety has re-appeared this spring. I thought it was the least likely to, after reading people's troubles with them.

I need me some perennial Lupines. The Texas Bluebonnets I have going are annuals. If I can't get perennial ones, Baptisia aka Redneck Lupine grows well here.

chuck b. said...

Frances, no red or yellow foliage for me. Mostly, in my garden I grow specific plants that I like or am curious about. How they all fit together is a secondary consideration. I fit together the plants I like the best I can. I do like the gray-and-green color palette best.

Christopher, Lupinus regalis is an eastern native, hardy down to zone 4. In California, we have a hard time with the eastern lupines for some reason; fortunately, there are 80 native species to chose from. But you do see L. regalis in gardens and nurseries out here. It has big leaves and comes in many colors.

lisa said...

Oh yes, if I'm ever in Cali again I will knock on your door for sure! I'd say I'm due-last time I only visited my aunt in Anaheim and it was 1982...