Well, I don't know if this is going to work for the raspberries or not. It'll have to do for now. Behind the planter, a weedy-looking pot of goldfields (Lasthenia californica).
Today I found the first sign of pigmented flower petal.
I planted two Carpenteria two years ago and they haven't flowered yet. Looks like at least one of them will flower this year. Yay!
The Fremontodendron. Just a small plant right now.
9 comments:
It's looking really good there in the back 40. The thing with raspberries is, they seem to be so vigorous that they give you berries in spite of what you do. Or don't do. At least around here.
It's so fun to see plants that you use here that I will never ever see in our garden centers. And yet I can achieve the "look" of most of them. (Just not that echium. *drool*)
The first flower and the bug pictures are particularly fetching. Nice work.
That Echium is total drama, even in the build-up to the bloom, The Antici.....pation.
Yeah, I actually thought about just posting those two pictures and leaving it at that. But then I had to start blabbing about this that and the other.
Kim, oh that's good to hear about raspberries. And it makes sense too. I'm going in with low expectations, so whatever berries happen will be great. Do you grow them?
I'm surprised to see the Fremontodendron in your garden given the ultimate size of the plant and your typical rainfall (summer too?).
Conventional wisdom says to plant them away from people due to irritating hairs on the leaves and NEVER to water in the summer.
I killed one the first summer that I had it - probably from not understanding that the water prohibition applied to established plants.
What's your experience with it?
Oh, that Echium...such a wonderful dramatic plant (I know I'm always commenting on it, but I just can't help it!)
And those metal structures for the raspberries, did you buy them like that or had them made? I like them a lot but never seen such things for sale around here.
Brent, Fremontia do quite well in San Francisco, both in gardens, and left to their own devices. They can be watered at night during the summer, or on cool, foggy days. They quickly die in soil that is both warm and wet. Cold and wet, not so much. I have it with Eriogonum arborescens, Keckiella cordifolia, and annual Cerinthe major, so not much watering.
I've had one before, in a container, but I didn't like the way it looked next to the fence. All the upright varieties accept pruning; this is 'San Gabriel', the flat, two-dimensional cultivar. And I do want it to get big. I find the hairs are less irritating than people say. At any rate, I have this one in an inaccessible spot where it's hard to brush up against.
Gintonio, those are small tomato cages. For the most part, Americans don't (know how to) stake and prune tomatoes like Europeans do. Instead, we use these "cages" which are widely available where vegetable plants are sold. They're useful for more than just tomatoes. Peas and vining squash do well in them, and I figure I can tie raspberry canes to them as well.
Hi chuck b. I just wanted to let you know that I left you an award at my blog :-)
Hmmm, good idea for the raspberries. I have lots of those cages so will stick some over them. I am waiting to see how they do before building them the Taj Mahal of supports. That first pic is a knockout. They all are, but really that first one...
LOVE those first two pics as well...that bug is very sleek-looking. Your back 40 is just gorgeous...moreso all the time! Gosh it does me good to visit here right now...it's sleeting outside! :(
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