GBBD July 2009

Just in time for Bloom Day summer decided to make itself noticed by sending the thermometer over 102. We have been so lucky this year...the temperatures have been below average and really quite lovely. This week I remembered where I live...in the California Central Valley where the best descriptive word for summer weather is hot! We can live with it though because it is a dry heat and because we typically get a late afternoon Delta Breeze (Shortly after noon in the Sacramento River Delta at the outlet of the Straits of Carquinez, an onshore sea-breeze circulation develops. As the afternoon progresses, and the onshore thermal gradient increases, the sea-breeze front attempts to advance, continually being mixed out at its leading edge - usually somewhere between Suisun and Davis - by the convective currents of the hot and dry valley air. If the marine layer is sufficiently deep to sustain this erosion, the sea-breeze front can advect to and through the Sacramento and Stockton metro areas. This produces not only a marked temperature decrease, but also a wind shift and enhancement known as the Delta Breeze. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sto/CWA.php )
That Delta Breeze cools our nights and makes us able to get up in the morning without crying.
When I look out my window around 3:00 PM and see no leaf movement I know we are heading into a period of weather where the Delta Breeze doesn't come through, it stays hot into the evening and barely dips down into the 70s at night. The garden and gardener are unhappy and for the most part go into maintenance mode. Some parts of the garden, however,are perking up...the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers have been waiting for this. They've actually been a bit slow this year due to the cooler temps and are enjoying the heat for the moment. Prolonged heat would slow lycopene production but another thing about the Central Valley is those 100+ temps don't usually last for long.

In any case, here it is Bloom Day and I managed to go out early enough to beat the heat. At top is the narrow bed between the larger vegetable garden and small lawn area. Four-o-clocks that have reverted to all white, May Night salvia, pink pelargoniums and volunteer borage separate the two areas. Next are shastas that blooms in clumps here and there and offer homes to the d**n earwigs that eat their centers, ruining many of them. Below that is Little Pete, my new favorite agapanthus that blooms on stalks barely taller than its leaves. That white lily may not be exciting but it scents the air up to 10 feet away at times. Guess I'm glad it only has the one bloom!

One of the older agapanthus blooms on taller stalks and makes me realize (again) that I have an awful lot of this color in my garden. Something needs to change.

And here is more of that color...plumbago auriculata is being trained up into the banksia arbor to provide some color during the warmer months.

Rosa Flower Girl has lost her lovely pink in the heat and looks almost white. The first year that happened I thought I'd planted a white rose!
Hymenocallis narcissiflora (peruvian daffodil) is one of my favorite blooms of the year. I'm so happy it didn't finish blooming before I got back from vacation!
The large pot near the far bench is happy right now...two pelargoniums and a Rozanne geranium make a nice combination.
There are lots of blooms in Davis right now, in part thanks to the cooler June and early July weather. In truth, many of these bloom over half the year so while they may not seem too exciting they do add a nice amount of color...even if a bit too much of it is that light blue!

Solanum jasminoides
Solanum rantonnetii
Rosa Flower Girl
Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
Pelargoniums
Ivy geranium
Four-o-clocks
Anise hyssop
Glossy Abelia
Lavender Society Garlic
Salvia greggii de Otono
Pandorea jasminoides rosea
Rosa Berries and Cream
Salvia nemerosa Blue Hill
Salvia nemerosa Caradonna
Salvia nemorosa May Night
Salvia Dancing Dolls
Salvia Mulberry Jam
Salvia Victoria Blue
Salvia sclerea
Dwarf carnation Evermore
Portulaca Sundial mix
Wisteria
Anisodontea Hibiscus Bits
Anisodontea Very Cranberry
Anisodontea Elegant Lady
Abutilon Pink ?
Bush mallow
Wax begonoias
Angel Wing Begonia
Allysum
Marguerite Comet Pink
Felicia amelloides
Star Jasmine
Peruvian Daffodil
Nepeta Walker’s Low
Plumbago Royal Cape
Alstroemeria Regina
Rosa Demitasse
Shasta daisies
Gaura Siskiyou Pink
Gaura white
Lavandula pinnata bucchii
Lavandula Wings of Night
Agapanthus standard
Agapanthus Little Pete
Dietes
Lemon Verbena
Origanum herrenhausen
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Blue Lake beans
Italian green beans
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Borage


Check out other bloom lists by visiting our esteemed leader Carol, at May Dreams Gardens. See what's blooming today around the world!

GBBD June 2009

The big spring bloom had slowed down here in Davis as we move quickly towards summer. Many of the bloomers from May continue at a reduced level of bloom, such as the cranesbill. But shastas abound and the plumbago I am training up into the banksia arch have begun to pick up the slack.

I love the look of the onion seed heads...they remind me of all the lovely alliums in Chicago at Spring Fling and cause me to wonder where I could squeeze in a few ornamental alliums.
Zucchini and other summer veggies are beginning to bloom...it won't be long before we get to enjoy their offerings!
The wisteria continues with it's sporadic summer bloom, here mixing with blooming star jasmine on the entrance arch to the side yard.
I love this Bat-Faced Cuphea that I first saw on Annie's blog The Transplantable Rose. That was one of those "I need one of those" moments since at the time one of the child care children was a bat fanatic.
Agapanthus Baby Pete is a new favorite of mine...so cute and well-behaved at the front of the border.
Salvia Mulberry Jam is a bit bigger every year and is beginning to be a nice size plant. Someone should work on a bit of pruning though to help her be less scraggly.
The bloom list as of today is as follows:
Solanum rantonnetii
Solanum jasminoides
Alstromeria regina
Cranesbill biokova
Scented geranium-rose
Scented geranium-lime
Scented geranium-citrosa
Geranium Rozanne
Lavendula pinnata buchii
Dietes
Anisodontea Elegant Lady
A. Hibiscus Bits
A. Very Cranberry
Pink Pandorea
Erodium
Star Jasmine
Allysum
Pansies
Wax begonias
Dwarf Carnation Evermore
Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
Felicia amelloides
Nepeta Walker's Low
Borage
Onion
Fennel
Sweet Pea Shrub
Salvia Mulberry Jam
S.Dancing Dolls
S.May Night
S. Caradonna
S. Blue Hill
S. Indigo Spires Dwarf
S. greggii
S. Pink Freisland
Rosa Flower Girl
R. Berries and Cream
Iberis
Spanish lavender
Strawberries
Yellow columbine
Nemesia
Bush Mallow
Abutilon Pink Parasol
A. unknown pink
Plumbago capensis
Hemerocalliis Prairie Blue Eyes
Hemerocallis Big Gold
Agapanthus Big Blue
Agapanthus Baby Pete
Glossy Abelia Edward Goucher
Shasta daisies
Portulaca
Hollyhock Chater’s Double
Hollyhock Niger
Echinacea double Delight
Lambs Ears
Bat Face Cuphea
Thyme
Bletilla striata Alba
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumbers

Check out other bloom lists by visiting our esteemed leader Carol, at May Dreams Gardens. See what's blooming today around the world!

When Did You Start Gardening?

I garden all the time...if not actually caring for my garden then thinking about it, planning for future projects and pondering past successes and mistakes.
But Carol at May Dreams Gardens asked the question "When did you start gardening?" and it prompted me to try to remember.
I've always gardened, even as a child, and have had my own garden since I was in college.
Some of my best childhood memories are of helping my parents in our yard, planting and eating peas, cucumbers, and radishes. I grew zinnias and would feel like I was given a big honor when I was allowed to prune the honeysuckle arbor. My maternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother both had large vegetable gardens. They preserved food and my grandfather even made wine from his own grapes. These things all taught me that there was value in gardening. But I learned most of the nuts and bolts (seeds and bulbs?) of gardening from years of trial and error, years of reading every type of garden writing I could find, and the Sunset Garden Book. Somewhere along the way I realized I needed to work in the garden in order to keep my sanity…for me the mental health benefits are right up there with the edible and physical benefits. I don’t remember ever not wanting to dig in the earth or care for at least a few houseplants when I lived in apartments with no patio. I feel very fortunate that I have access to the activity I love right outside my door!

Just Plum Crazy

I love plums. The Santa Rosa plum tree was one of the first things we planted when we bought our home (along with the wisteria). For almost 29 years I have enjoyed several weeks of fresh plums right off the tree each June. I even have a special plum tradition and this week marked the beginning of plum season in my garden. Yes, earlier this week I picked a plum, polished it up and sat down to enjoy this year's first yummy, juicy taste. Now that I've held the inaugural event I am able to share the crop...the kids ate quite a few for lunch today. It is important to hit the ground running as far as plum eating goes...once they begin to ripen you can be inundated quickly. Don't hoard the harvest! No matter, you will never keep up. Luckily, the crop is usually cyclical, bearing heavily one year and lighter the next. This is a light year and I'm happy for that since I still have frozen plum puree in the freezer and a dozen jars of jam in the cupboard.
At a certain point we start offering bags of plums to the parents and when my assistant's tree starts ripening we'll hold their kids hostage unless they take a bag. Well, maybe not quite, but the season is short and intense and it seems such a shame to waste such a great summer fruit.
We'll finish them up just in time to start eating peaches from my generous neighbor's tree.

Compensation

While I was gone to Chicago for Spring Fling a few changes occurred in the garden that almost compensate for the long awaited weekend being gone in a flash. First off, the plums have begun to show color! I hold that one of the most scrumptious (to use one of my granddaughter's favorite words) things to eat straight from the garden is the first Santa Rosa plum of the year. Also the second, third and so forth until about the thirtieth at which point they just become tasty. So now I'll be on plum watch although with the cool weather we seem to be having this week it will be a while before I can have my plum experience.

The first Shasta daisies opened while I was gone. This always seems to mean summer to me...once they have begun to bloom summer is not far behind.

And , lastly, several of the summer veggies have begun to flower including tomatoes, peppers and this Eight Ball squash. Spring Fling may be over but summer will soon provide compensation enough.

Spring Fling Chicago

The kids showed up for child care today and it almost made the weekend seem like a dream. Last Friday at 6:30 AM I took off for Chicago, arriving there at 2 PM. Why would anyone fly over 2000 miles just for the weekend? I wanted to meet other garden bloggers, whom I have only known through their written words. The chance to get to meet them was too great a temptation to resist, so for only about the 5th time in 26 years I closed the child care Friday to give myself what was most definitely a whirlwind weekend! I arrived too late for the beginning events but visited 5 different gardens ranging from the private garden of television chef Rick Bayless to the beautiful Lurie Garden in Millennium Park to Ginko Organic Gardens, a community production garden that serves Uptown area homeless and low-income people. We also were welcomed by Carolyn Gail of Sweet Home and Garden Chicago and I have been coveting the idea of her rain chain ever since! The Garfield Park Conservatory was a wonderful maze of rooms including the Fern Room, Palm House, Desert House and more. Cindy of My Corner Of Katy and I enjoyed seeing "greenhouse" plants that we grow outside...a nice example of the different climates in which we all garden.
But enough of the garden talk! I love a good garden visit as much as the next plantaholic but my main interest was to visit gardeners. I know I will read many of my favorite blogs with a changed ear now that I've heard the literal voices of their writers. I've long enjoyed hearing authors of my favorite books speak for that same reason...you get to know the cadence and tone of their voice and how you approach their work changes. I'm excited to see how this works out in the coming days...and I'm excited to add new blogs to my Google Reader. The garden blogging world is expanding so much that it's difficult to keep up. But there are several blogs that will be going on the reader because I so enjoyed meeting their authors this weekend...authors whose literal voices I now know. I only wish it had been possible to meet more of the bloggers but I suppose then I'd never catch up on my reading!
Here I am with some of the bloggers whose voices I now know...Elizabeth of Gardening While Intoxicated and Garden Rant, Carol of May Dreams Gardens and Cindy of My Corner Of Katy.

The top photo is one of an orchid in the Orchid Room that Rose of Ramble On Rose wanted to photograph just as her battery went dead...maybe this will suffice.

Wisteria Revisited

The spring bloom explosion has passed for my wisteria and I am dealing with the repercussions. Those would be the hundreds of seed pods that form after the petals fall. The fallen petals were a different repercussion, bringing back memories of my sweet dog who thought they were a special taste treat. Who knew dogs liked flower petals? Or maybe she was just odd. In any case, each spring she ate lots of those petals. The last two years I've had to clean them up myself. She was such a good garden helper!
But now I'm talking about the seed pods that need to be dealt with. The last few weeks I've kept a bucket near the fence and when I'm out there watching the kids I pick a few handfuls of the pods and toss them in. As they get bigger they are easier to see. This weekend I will get out the ladder and pick all the pods that are up too high to reach. You might wonder why I pick them. There are actually two reasons. First, as the pods mature they eventually dry, crack open and literally shoot their seeds out...at some distance and velocity. They are considered possibly toxic...the literature varies...but with children in the yard I've never wanted to test that out myself. And the second reason to remove the pods is...

GBBD May 2009

Every month on the 15th Carol at maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com invites garden bloggers to list what is blooming in their garden. Visit Carol for links to over one hundred gardens world wide and an incredible visual treat!
White lavender, Salvia Caradonna, Blue Veronica bloom near vegetable garden.
Lime scented geranium is still not back to the size it was before freezing back two winters ago but is happier this year than last.

Pelargoniums are blooming around the yard...I like this one because it has a richer color than many of the others I have.


Star jasmine covers the fence in the side yard that contains firewood piles, leaf holding bins (like the one you see at the left), compost bins and various wooden stakes and wire for garden use.


Abutilon Pink Parasol attracts hummingbirds.

Brunfelsia pauciflora, commonly called Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow, blooms purple one day, turns lavender the next and ends up white.

Alstroemeria Regina blooms near the fountain.
Another scented geranium...this one rose scented.


Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
Dietes blooms here and there around the garden a reliable, could-be-invasive filler.
Pink carnation blooms in the front garden near the little bench.
Parsley has been left to hopefully reseed.
Red onions planted last fall are beginning to go to seed with the first seed head just opening.
Climbing New Dawn is pretty in the back corner growing into her job of protecting the birds from the neighbor cat. Soon she'll be full enough to keep that killer out!
And yet another scented geranium, this one in a pot, is citrosa.
Penstimon Husker Red blooms near the front door.

The more or less complete list of Davis bloomers for May 2009:

Solanum rantonnetii
Solanum jasminoides
Alstromeria regina
A. unknown pink
Cranesbill biokova
Scented geranium-rose
Scented geranium-lime
Scented geranium-citrosa
Lavendula pinnata buchii
Dietes
Anisodontea Elegant Lady
A. Hibiscus Bits
A. Very Cranberry
Pink Pandorea
Erodium
Star Jasmine
Penstimon Husker Red
Allysum
Pansies
Wax begonias
Dwarf Carnation Evermore
Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
Felicia amelloides
Nepeta Walker's Low
Borage
Onion
Fennel
Parsley
Cilantro
Sweet Pea Shrub
Salvia Mulberry Jam
S.Dancing Dolls
S.May Night
S. Caradonna
S. Blue Hill
S. Indigo Spires Dwarf
S. greggii
Rosa Flower Girl
R. Berries and Cream
R. Climbing New Dawn
Iberis
Spanish lavender
Meyer lemon
Bearss lime
Forget-me-nots
Strawberries
Yellow columbine
Nemesia
Bush Mallow
Abutilon Pink Parasol
A. unknown pink
verbena