Beginner Gardening: Plants have grown and I'm getting claustrophobic!!!!, 1 by jkom51

jkom51 wrote:
In coastal Northern CA we get spring starting in mid-January so we are about half over right now. Had a brief warm spell that opened a lot of flowers but a rainy system has come in again (which is good because I didn't want to water again anyway!). So here's a picture of spring in progress to relieve all that spring fever everyone seems to have.

Here's a photo I just took a few hours ago of the frontyard garden beds. In the center front are orange CA poppies (not open because it's so cloudy) mixed with yellow freesias. Growing down the retaining wall on the right are several trailing lantana plants which flower all year long, along with another clump of yellow freesias. If you look just above that second yellow clump there is my newest acquisition, a 'Tuscan Sun' floribunda rose on a 3' standard. It was planted bare-root about a month ago and immediately started leafing out, which gives me great hopes for it since it seems so vigorous.

There's a big clump of 'Hidcote' lavendar on the left hand side front, with some white Iberis (evergreen candytuft) and a gorgeous yellow-green Lavatera alba that is one of my pride and joys. When in flower it has striking lavendar flowers that appear on long spikes. As you go up the stairs into the house, there is a pink-flowering Coleonema (Breath of Heaven) competing with a pink flowering New Zealand Tea tree, both of which are currently in full bloom, but they continue to bloom sporadically throughout the year.

Last year DH and I went to New England at the end of April and it was like having spring twice which was neat. Our CA spring was just about over and New England's was just starting with their tulips and daffodils -- it was lovely!