Lupinus sericatus

My entry for http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=4982 's photo contest is this Lupinus sericatus growing in my Not-So-Secret-Garden in Carmichael, California. this is an area approximately 25' x 75' which has recently been planted with many types of Cal. Native, drought tolerant, DEER RESISTANT (so far!) plants. At the moment, this lupin is my favorite.

ahhh-chooo

It is 10° cooler today and rather windy. In fact, I just read in one news blurb that we are to have "signirficant winds." That must mean even more than "significant". The pollen is swirling so there will be a collective sneezing chorus in our world today. The forecast is for temperatures in the 80°'s by Friday...perhaps the tomatoes will get planted. In the meantime, the American Goldfinches are flocking to the feeders and appear to be preferring sunflower chips over Nyjer thistle this morning. It is 59° in the house. It will be nice to be at work today...I'll be warm and not running up my natural gas bill.

and now its time to leave for work.

Its SPRING!

weekend project

this is one of the weekend projects. Must say, the most fun as the other projects involved weed-whackers and lawn mowers and shovels. Will post more later. Too tired this evening after delicious birthday dinner. (Whoda thunk vegetarian cooking could be so good?)

 

What is this?

The problem with going, crazed and without a garden buddy, to a plant sale is that sometimes one forgets to make sure that everything purchased has a name tag. I bought a gazillion different salvias..luckily, they all came home with name tags but this little guy or gal remains a mystery. I know that it was "under the table" and at the Morningsun Herb Farm's booth and that it had several kin and they all had at least one big sign with all the important info...but that does me not a whit of good now. Anybody know? (I should always have a chaperone with me at plant sales. I'd still get into trouble but at least I'd come home with all the proper name tags..or, if Angela is with me, she will REMEMBER what things are. (Youth and a Hort. degree will do that.)

 

Phaius grandiflorus

Awhile back I'd sent my Dear Friend Al a blog posting from The Grumpy Gardener about the Nun's Orchid. If I had a technobrain I could supply you with the actual link here... but I don't so either google The Grumpy Gardener or Southern Living. (He's hilarious as well as informative so you'd better check him out. Besides, there's a fabulous picture of the orchid in bloom .. Early March posting I think) Anyhow, Al showed up on my doorstep a bit ago with a Nun's Orchid "pup" in his hand for me. Is that sweet or what?! He got one too so now the race is on to see who can get theirs to bloom first. it came from www.stokestropicals.com/

 

Earth Hour

misc. things in the garden

 

 

 

 

Chasmanthe

Though I complain a LOT about all the chasmanthe that I unwittingly spread on this place, it IS definately a swath of bold color beginning in February and lasting through March.

 

Yesterday I discovered another reason to like Chasmanthe; the birds like it! There were several Yellow-rumped (Audubons) Warblers drinking nectar from the blossoms. Hummingbirds also enjoy feasting at it, no surprise there.

 

Phoebe, however, isn't overly impressed by the sticky spots on her face and head from the nectar splashing her as she bounds through the Chasmanthe maze.

 

I probably wouldn't mind the stuff so much myself if it didn't require mowing before it turns into a fire hazard.

Phormium "redheart"

I was only going to look for one "little something" at Windmill Nursery this morning but then Taylor just HAD to show me this Phormium. It was not a well behaved plant; When I told it to "sit! Stay!" it leapt off the shelf and into my arms. How could I refuse to take it home with me? Besides, it isn't often that I've found a georgeous Phormium in a one gallon pot. It didn't even cost me an arm and a leg.

 

 

 

oops

That's "Impatiens" not "Impatiend" ...one wouold think I'd learn to spell check BEFORE publishing...but noooooooo....

Bloom Day

dare I say Brrrr?

It seemed quite cold to me this morning what with the frost on the neighbor's roof tops and the ice in the birdbath but then I read the weather report for Rugby, North Dakota and decided that its quite balmy here.

 

 

The Stellata magnolia continues to welcome Spring/

 

Fantabulous Spring Day!

It was hard to stay "on task" today because there is so much to do and there are so many distractions. Inbetween exercising the weed-whacker and the rake and the electric leaf blower, the camera got to be handled (with dirty fingers)and a few things got their pictures taken. This is the "baby" Stellata magnolia from Mom's big one on the other side of the yard. It begged for a photo op as I was hauling a big bag of potting soil to the half full wine barrel bottom..from which I had just extricated a bazillion root bound asters and at least two gazillion ants..no, I didn't intentionally move the ants; they just leapt upon my hands and went along for the ride. So now my hands look like dried apricots (again, from the dirt, not the ants)and if I don't remember to splash some nail polish on my fingernails before I leave for work in the morning, the public will be horrified. (good thing I don't work in food service)

 

The Chasmanthe is pretty but there really, really is too darn much of it on this place. I try to enjoy the prettiness and not think about all the mowing of same that will have to be done soon. Why, WHY don't the deer eat this stuff?!

 

Flowering quince has been one of my favorites since I was old enough to notice flowers. Also violets. mmmmmm!!

 

Dawson got to go outside during the daylight hours today but only until he was seen stalking the albino pigeon. Before he got into mischief he was pretending to be the Great White Panther. Or something. He's 12 years old. He thinks he's 6 years old. I can relate to that sort of thinking. Currently (for the past few months) the Beatles have been singing in my head; "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm SIXTY-FOUR?" Guess I'll have the answer in a month. No! No! I'm only 46. Someone's gone dsylexic on me! I can't possibly be this old!Funny thing about "time". I used to joke that since my first marriage lasted 7 years and my 2nd marriage lasted 14, I was going to stay single for 21 years and then "marry for money". This morning it occurred to me that I have, indeed, been on my own for 21 years now. So where's my prince? (He doesn't really have to have a lot of money. A great sense of humor, great health, and a kind heart will do.) I'd add "great health insurance" but as I don't really want to get married again, that's a moot point.

 

oh yeah. What also came home with me

I must be in a Purple Mood this week because today a drop-dead georgeous Hardenbergia came home with me...along with the lawnmower (which is gray, not purple....yet).Its almost 5' tall (in the 5 gallon can) consequently, standing it up in the back of the truck and driving off to work would have resulted in a naked vine after 2 miles. So....it got gently crammed into the cab with me. I did make sure that I could see all three mirrors. (Everybody knows I tend to be a sucker for cops and firemen but I would have been mortified if an officer had "lit me up" and pulled me over for a safety check.)There were some startled and odd looks aimed at me from other drivers. (Gosh, doesn't everyone want to drive with a live halo of pretty purple flowers dancing on their head?) But I digress. Where am I to plant this beauty? The Hardenbergia's previously planted just didn't get enough sunshine and this yard is no less shady than it was 7 years ago. Well, it is in a few places where 100 year old olive trees finally toppled in wind storms but there are other issues not condusive to Happy Hardenbergias in those areas. Deer may not be fond of this plant under normal circumstances but with the drought, the leaves would probably end up on their "mmmm. Nummy!" list. Phoebe will probably have it growing in her yard. Lucky dog. She gets all the pretty flowers. Lucky me, I get to see them out my den window. Life is Good. I'm listening to President Obama and trying not to leap up to join in the standing ovations he keeps getting.

 

mower

Tired of having issues with gas powered mowers, knowing this body needs a LOT of exercise, and a sale, made me buy this dandy push mower today. Its a reel, for real. Pheobe checked it out and pronounced it "ok"..just "ok" because she prefers things that roar. The gas powered mowers for instance. Or the electric leaf-blower. Or even the weed-whacker. The vacuum cleaner gets high points too but turn on the hair dryer and she's gone.

 

We'll have to work on her pushing technique.

 

Newly mowed weed patch. I feel so GREEN! Oh, I am green. Grass stains.

 

Helleborous orientalis

 

 

After nosing around looking at new shoes, a bathrobe, a purse,a tablecloth and rejecting them all as "things I don't really need", my resolve was rock solid ... which made me think I could just pop into Windmill Nursery and ONLY LOOK there too. WRONG. But golly gee whiz! How could anyone pass up this georgeous "black" Hellebore? It would have been more of a drain on my checkbook had I gotten shoes and a tablecloth and a bathrobe, etc...so that made the $24.49 price tag seem like a pittance. It could be my early birthday present to myself, right?

ANTS!

 

 

 

Oh my gosh! I've been "fighting" ants off and on all winter. They sneak into my kitchen from ... where? I've tried to follow their trails but they just dissappear. And then the ants reappear as if by magic. Lately they have been showing up in the corner kitchen window area. They appeared to be gone last night but this morning there was a clogged ant highway on part of the window sill. It looked like the L.A. freeway system at rush hour.On further inspection, the trail led to one of my potted orchids. There is an entire ant coloney in that orchid! I have been drowning ants ever since I got up this morning and still there are more! Now I'm geting angry because in my attempts to wash the ants off the orchid, the top spike broke. Yes, it had buds. Where's that anteater when I need it? I'd gladly put the orchid outside in the rain if the Flicker would swoop down to dine but the Flicker prefers to yelp at me from the top of a Liquid Amber. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The best thing about Sacramento

Spring has arrived! Amazing what two days of glorious sunshine inbetween rains storms can do!

water, water everwhere

 
Its raining. Its Pouring. Oh My God its boring.
I know we need the rain. But I need exercise and my "gym" is the garden/yard/orchard/
and I'm a no-mud-unless-the-air-is-at-least-in-the-80's kinda gal. Waaaaaaa.