Garden Walk

Too pretty not to.

My view from The Sanctuary (name given to my pretty bedroom during a rough time.)  Cecile Bruner has more blooms this year than all its other seven years put together.  The joys of rainwater.  This is a miniature climber.  The buds are precious tiny things that open into flowers about two inches across.  Has a fabulous scent as the season progresses.

"Sexy Rexy" is a gorgeous pure pink floribunda.  No special scent.  One of these years I'm going to de-bud the clusters and see just how big this flower will get.

 My favorite.  "Just Joey" a big apricot (my favorite color) with an amazing fragrance.

A few years ago I got into growing brugmansias.  Most people call them "Angel's Trumpets."  Last fall I decided to build on my collection of - then - three (Creamsicle, Ecuador Pink and Peach.)  This is one I bought from the same nursery I had bought the other three from, Kartuz Greenhouses in Southern California.  It's called "Frosty Pink".   Last fall it was a rooted cutting with a couple of small leaves in a two-to-four inch pot.  (I don't really remember but it was no bigger than four inches.)  After a few weeks I potted it up into about a half-gallon pot, then two month ago into a 3 gallon.  It's ready to go into something bigger already and has its first buds.  Can't wait to see the color.

This is one of about a dozen new trees I have going now.  As budget allows I will gradually move them into forever pots, the giant tree pots I pick up at Costco each year.  My goal is to have a little forest of them on my back deck, outside my studio window.  They have a spectacular, almost Arabian nights scent at night.  I like to imagine myself in a comfortable chair (with a blanket, probably, as we are close enough to the ocean to get the chilly breeze every night) just getting drunk on the fragrance.

The last time I was in Utah I went to the lot that I will never build on (and that is on the market) and collected some rocks for remembrance.  This one was a little too heavy for me but I risked the hernia to haul it to the car, anyway, because of its almost heart shape.  (If I re-seat it I can adjust it to bring out the heart shape.  Eventually.

Anyway, as I dug the spot for the rock, I ran into a clump of roots.  This had been a gerbera daisy bed at one time and I figured the roots were from one of the plants that had "died" over the winter.  What a dummy!  I knew these went dormant but I never knew they had to be divided.  I managed to pull that root clump apart to find four plants.  I planted all four, close together just in case I lost some, but they've all gotten re-established nicely and, as you can see, one is starting to bloom already.  Kind of looking forward to digging around some more.

One of two Japanese Maples that may be ready for their forever pots.  When I bought this one, the nurseryman tried to talk me out of it, implying they are hard to grow (not so far) and that I would be disappointed.  Never.  This thing loses its leaves, but comes back into this glory every year so far.

A few years ago I saw a bed of pale pink amaryllis at Disneyland that was stunning.  I did my homework and determined that it was an amaryllis called "Apple Blossom."  The next planting season I bought a couple and planted them.  It took three or four years to get established, but this year two are blooming.  Clearly NOT Apple Blossom, but still lovely.  They can stay.  Oh, and I found more Apple Blossom this past season.  Individually wrapped and labeled, I'm hoping all three turn out to be the pale pink I had hoped for.

 Miniature roses, most from the now-gone Tiny Petals nursery.  I'm hoping to try rooting cuttings this year.

My wax flower.  It's nuts.  WAY over my head, now.

I was ready to give up on growing native plants, but the rain really brought these desert mallows to life so I guess they can stay.  I adore the color on this one.

The polite name for this milkweed is "Tree Milkweed" or balloon plant.  Because of the seed structure, it has a number of less socially acceptable names like "Family Jewels" and "Hairy Balls."  I'm finding it to be one of the easier milkweed to grow.  Was happy to catch these just as they were about to release.  I'll get them sown in pots soon.

Another brugmansia, this one called "Charles Grimaldi," affectionately known as  Chuck.  I bought this one as a gallon last summer and just potted it into its forever pot.  I love the color.  My plan for this space is to eventually have all sunset-colored flowering plants around a sitting area.  Chuck is coming along nicely.

The view from my backyard.  Have to be grateful for good planning and lucky lot choice over forty years ago.  This is one of several barrancas that had been left when the development was built out.  At the right time of year the sun sets in the middle of that photo and turns the sky a flaming pink/orange.  I used the same colors in my studio and I try to remember to relax there in the summers as the sun goes down.  It's like sitting in the sunset.

Gardenia "First Love."  One day while meandering through the Green Thumb Nursery in Ventura, CA, I smelled something delicious.  I followed my nose and tracked down this gardenia.  It's in a tree pot in the front courtyard and - again thanks to the rain and a dose of food - it has a bud at every growing tip.  It will be spectacular (and smell even more so) in a couple of weeks.

I took over a hundred pictures just strolling the yards this morning.  Consider yourself lucky I didn't post them all.

Here.