I was procrastinating in the garden this morning

Taking pictures and moving things around. That rose on the left for instance. I had David Austin's 'Charlotte' in that spot



But I removed her and put this containerized 'Honey Bouquet' there instead. Charlotte's a nice rose but I think the container works better here. And looks better too.



The flowers you see are Anagallis monellii and Specularia speculum, plants I got from Annie's Annuals last fall.



Then I found a home for this container clematis named 'Parisienne' that I got for half off in the discount section at my local nursery. I always go straight to the discount section.



I had a 'hole' between some plants under the deck stairs--a perfect spot for a big pot. The clematis can climb on the grape vine.

This purple columbine popped up next to the bronzy heucheras.



Since I have a blue-purple (blurple) theme, here are two Cobaea scandens flowers in the hours before they turn purple. I wish the flower would stay like this forever.



Yet more blurple (more purple than blue), Veilchenblau.



I'm trying to decide if Mimulus aurantiacus is a good companion plant for this rose.



They flower at the same time. And the mimulus flowers sort of talk to the 'Veilchenblau' stamens. Furthermore, their different forms are compatible. Mimulus is a low bush; 'Veilchenblau' climbs on the railing above it.

I have bronze fennel in here too (3 of them), hopefully harmonizing with both and providing some foliage contrast.



I'm not working anywhere else in the garden currently.











We can go back to the blurple theme for a minute, or lavender, I guess. Bartlettina sordida, the giant aster showing its aster-ness. Not here,



But here:



When the flowers fade the seeds blow around like dandelion seeds.

Here's a plant you probably haven't seen before. It's called Cedronella canariensis. I got seeds from the CalHort seed exchange a couple years ago. The foliage has a strong, wonderful scent--sort of lemony, I guess. The flowers are pretty too I think.



This is a Lamiaceae with the squarest stems you have ever seen. I haven't seen much information about this plant, but it's described in Botanica.

"The genus consists of a single species endemic to the Canary Islands. Its distinctive feature is the compound leaves consisting of three leaflets, unusual in the mint family which usually have simple leaves...the leaves are used in herbal tea."

It's about four feet tall in a raised bed. Long stems arch from the base and end in short spikes of 2-lipped flowers. You can detect the arch in the angle of the picture above--the flowers tend to present at 45 degree angles. More flowering stems emerge from the leaf axils. It shares space with Fuchsia fulgens in my garden.



Did someone say fuchsia?



You're tired of seeing 'Alba', I know. I have 'Rubra' too--three of them--but they are young and have not begun to flower. I hope they'll start this year. In the meantime, there is 'Alba'.



Behind it is this plant I enjoy so much, another giant aster from the cloud forest, Senecio cristobalensis.



It's a very dark plant, but it has a lot of color when you're next to it. I love those purple pubescent stems. Purple! There's that color again.

There it is in the throat of this passionflower.



I would like the passionflower to knit together a canopy of sorts in the Tibouchina. You can't train passionflowers. They tend to do what they want.



Anyway, that's some of what's going on right now. I must return to the task I was working on before I took this little break to blog.