Bloom Day

Blogging will be impossible tomorrow and/or Friday, so I'm early this month.

I've been really busy, and I do apologize if I haven't been to your blog or left comments lately. Do know that you're always on my mind even if I'm not there...virtually.

We're having a rare sunny day here in San Francisco today.



For every sunny day we've had this summer, we've had at least 10 cold, foggy days. I'm irritated and annoyed and, to be honest, I have not enjoyed the garden much lately. The summer vegetable garden is a total bust. We're finally harvesting some tomatoes but they're bland and mealy. The cucumber vines are a joke. Even the runner beans have been underwhelming. Sigh.

I know people coping with extreme heat don't want to hear me whine about cool weather. So enough with the self-pity. This is post is about blooms.

It's Bloom Day!

This is the view of the garden that entices me down from the living room.



Shall we go?

Down the stairs:



From the stairs:



In the garden:





I was surprised to find this morning glory blooming this morning. We had a little of this last year.



Some people won't grow this weedy annual in their gardens, but it's easy to stay on top of things in the small garden. I would be happy to have it go wild a little bit. Unfortunately, I've consistently, inexplicably, bad luck growing morning glory from seed. And they never sell it in anything but gallon pots at my local nursery. I resist buying anything in gallon pots.

It would be particularly nice to have morning glory vining up the back stairs to my garage. But that seems unlikely to ever happen, so I have this Senecio confusus instead. It's new, and growing vigorously. The orange flowers are said to bloom all year long in mild climates.



I hope so!

Another weedy plant that tends to perform poorly in my garden for some inexplicable reason...doing well for now.



This is my favorite abutilon. I've had it for three years and I've moved it all around the garden. I want it to stay here, between the mock orange and apple tree. I've never tried to propagate this plant. I should try.



I have three other abutilon, and they're all flowering.

This Cuphea llaeva is a hummingbird favorite.



(I like it too.)

Fragrant things:

'Jude the Obscure'



Monardella villosa.



Madia elegans.



Non-fragrant things:

Dahlia atropurpurea



Dahlia 'Prince Noir'



and random red dahlia.



I'm trying Phygelius again. I've killed these before.



We have some Francoa sp. under the deck, with inflorescences rising through Acer palmatum.



Some bulbs. I have one Eucomis in a pot. I'd plant it in the ground, but I have no idea where...



And, finally, my very first Naked Lady. (heh, heh...) These bulbs can take awhile to settle in and make flowers--three years for this one. You can add her to the list of fragrant things, too.



Not shown: Salvia clevelandii, Fuchsia boliviana, Verbena lilacina, Oxypetalum caeruleum, runner beans, yarrow, some Agastache, Shasta Daisy.

For more, visit May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of any month.