7/15/10

Bloom Day!

We start on the roof where I have some agastache. Note: the rusty pipes belong to my neighbor. But you knew that, right?

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You can see some Calandrinia spectabilis in that picture too. This is the third summer on the roof for the orange agastache, and the second year for the purple one below. I have three or four more purple seedlings in 4" pots down in the garden . I should bring those up soon.

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I told you about the dahlias last time...

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And I cannot remember the unusual name of these Australian asters right now. I put them here to boost pollinator activity for the squash. It seems to be working. Now we need some squash flowers!

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Fuchsia boliviana 'Alba' is mostly fruit. When the 'Rubra' blooms its fruit will be dark red. The fruit are tasty and remind me of kiwi. Unforch, I don't think they contain much/any Vitamin C.

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Salvia uliginosa hasn't flowered much this year. Flowering tends to be heaviest during the second part of the year, so I'm not worried. This is among my most favorite exotic plants.

Salvia uliginosa

And here is one of my favorite natives, Keckiella cordifolia. I think it would be flowering more heavily by now during a normal year, but with the long winter we had, many things seem delayed.

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We didn't eat the first artichoke I picked, so I'm letting the second one bloom. I figure we'll have plenty of artichokes in due time.

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'Cupani'. I mentioned this in my last blog post too.

'Cupani'

California tarweed (Madia elegans). Am I the only one growing this? I hope not. Such a great annual! It does get messy looking by the end of the season, so it's not for everyone.

Madia elegans

But I love it.

Madia elegans

I do not know the origin of this nasturtium. That's fine; I like it. But I don't know where it came from. I planted some yellow nasturtium this year, but I have no memory of planting orange.

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Nearby, the rampant, climbing, clinging, vining Cobaea scandens is attaining comical proportions. It represents the single largest piece of biomass in my garden--by a huge margin. The more I prune it, the more it seems to grow. And I prune it all the time. I add armfuls of it to the compost bin every week.

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It's a plant for the young, for sure.

Some other things I don't feel like talking about:

fennel, Fuchsia 'Miep', Mimulus aurantiacus, Psoralea pinnata, Passiflora 'E-bay', Calamagrostis nutkatensis.

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I'm happy that I have no other plans right now so I can pop over to May Dreams and spend the rest of the evening visiting other garden blogs. Is yours on the list?

16 comments:

ryan said...

I'm not on the list, merely a spectator this month, I think. I've been liking Psoralea these days, starting to notice them in more gardens than I expected. I've never planted one, but I recently pruned one up into a cool little multi-trunk tree. Nice fragrance on the blooms.

Larry said...

I love all the warm colors and I've never seen a fuschia like that... quite amazing! Larry

Unknown said...

You're just teasing me now with all that bragging about the cobaea! :-P

I (heart) your orange agastache. Would that mine were that brilliant color.

Queer by Choice said...

I like the 'Cupani' flowers. And wow, if any of my monkeyflowers were blooming as heavily as yours, I'd certainly want to talk about it. Mine all have maybe three to five flowers per plant, at most, by this point in the summer.

I haven't grown California tarweed yet, but I've decided to buy it the next time Annie's offers it.

Katie said...

Between your and Carri's bloom day posts, you all make me want to brave the heat and go out into my garden and start digging!

Delphine said...

j'adoooooore !

Les said...

Tarweed #2 is beautiful with its black background; the photo belies the plant's unfortunate name.

Unknown said...

Beautiful as always- and hecka funny about your Passiflora 'E-Bay' plant.

Anonymous said...

Lovely as always. I especially like your shot of the fuschia boliviana. Those are gorgeous blooms.

Tira said...

you have loads of gorgeous blooms, my word, those rusty pipes...

Country Mouse said...

Wonderful drama shot of the madia. I have a lot of seeds of locally wild common madia and I hope I can get them growing this year - I like them too. All I get growing natively are big sticky giants, madia sativa, coast tarweed, with tiny little flowers, the hugest ugliest annual you ever did see. I kinda like em though.
I like your approach of adding the rest of your photos uncommented! It does take a long time for me to put up a bloom day post, but it's a great record, year over year.
Thanks for a great tour! I also loved your little collection of potted dahlias and others. Also fun to see keckiella growing elsewhere.

Bree said...

Your Madia elegans photo is outstanding. I'm definitely partial to natives:) But that photo is GORGEOUS!

Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com said...

Hi, Chuck. I saw that first photo and thought it was crocosmia. Amazing how alike some plants are. I pull them up routinely. They are so abundantly invasive. But pretty. :) You have lots to be grateful for! Nice to have a peek into Bernal Hts. Lived there in the 60's!

Carol Michel said...

It's always fun to see what you have blooming because I know it will be nothing like my garden!

Christopher C. NC said...

You have done a fine job coordinating the agastache with the rusty pipes. Are you taking orders for 'Cupani' seeds? There could be a spot for that in the roadside vegetable garden. I agree your black and yellow Madia picture is most excellent.

Alice Joyce said...

Hi Chuck
Popping by to see what abloom in your garden sanctuary in S. F.
I'm never disappointed when I stop by, you are a like-minded plant fantatic, without a doubt!
Still waiting for my first dahlias blooms. Slow going this year, but yours looks stunning.
Alice