Then I had to take out my Brugmansia, which was damaged by frost three years ago, never fully recovered, then got zapped again this past winter. I replaced it with this, a Laurel Leaf Camellia.
Practically everything is blooming now -- snapdragons, Million Bells, Dianthus, Osteospermums, Fuchsias (6 or 7 different varieties) .... Our Protea "Brenda" has four big flower buds on it, too.
Even took down the portable greenhouse over the weekend.
An intruder from Las Vegas. I can only watch and yearn. Every once in a while I try something and if it is in the right spot it works. I have a couple of questions and, of course, a few comments.
Singingwolf, ahnd SoCal., what is the ground cover under the saliva and unknown iris?
For Soilsandup, I enroll and finished a very expensive course with a very famous photographer, (Sucker). and he said you should always take photos of flowers and foliage up close. The closer the better. Take four. Take one up as close as you can focus and then step back one step each time until you have completed four. I also take a long shot just to show them what the total plant looks like.
KaperC. I had the same problem under my fig tree & African sumac. I was wandering through Lowes at a store I usually do not shop at. I came in the main entrance and left through the garden entrance/exit. There on the patio area on clearance were fiberglass fishponds. 42" across and about/ tapered 12 inches to 40 inches deep. They can be painted any color your want. They were something I fell immediately in love with and purchased 4 on the spot. They were marked down to $75.00. I should have purchased all 10 because the next day I shopped at my usual Loews and they were priced at $119.00. I returned to the prior Lowes and they had been marked up to the same price. I guess it was obvious when I got too excited. Dumb gardener!!!! They are fiberglass and I have purchased over 30 so far. Just purchased the last two my normal Lowes had. No they are not in my garden. Only 5. The rest are in landscapes that I help rehab for free., They pay for the planters, potting mix and all the plants and I just help them. It is so much fun rehabbing a disaster into water efficient and beautiful landscape. My granddaughter is using one to grow a garden. I have two rehabs using them for herb gardens. I use two as holding garden for internet plants that are not ready to be planterd into the real world. I know ENOUGH....Up close photos and fiberglass pot to follow.
Another ophoto.
Another photo.
One last close up photo. This was a tree in Santa Barbara, Ca and I went under the limbs and shot the photo in a very dark, scary spot.
OK, now the fiberglass bowl/pot. This is under the fig tree. It is now full of iris that were under the fig tree and needed some soil and oxygen that was not being hogged by the Fig Tree. I have since spray painted it. All spray paint centers now have spray paint that look like stone. Thank you. Goodnight.
That's cool, SK! Good way to keep the gophers away from them, too!
I looked them up on line and they were $400.00. I used the link on the tab from the unit I purchased. We need to get to all Loews before they realize what they have. I have one in the back of my SUV. I have a really bad Bronchitis. When I can drive I am going to my normal Loews. They love me because that is where I take all my rehabbed customers to spend all their money and they have MONEY. They can tell which stores has them and how many. Then I will head out on a major shopping trip for fiberglass fish ponds. LOL////
Skwinter - intruders are welcomed any time. That is one big fiberglass bowl. Digging a hole for it must have been a huge job LoL. In regards to the photos, I am strictly a recreational point and shot kind of person. I have a fairly inexpensive digital camera - some close ups look great, others not so much. My daughter is the one that is into photography, and she has a much better camera. Love your closeups.
Here is another one that my daughter took - of the same tree peony bloom, but with a visitor. This variety of tree peony has lots of pollen.
And a closer up one. I love how this one shows the pollen packet that the bee has collected thus far.
sk,
I love that tree photo. :-)) It has so much character in it's bark.
Regarding the groundcover in my photo above, do you mean the light green stuff to the right going up the hill? If so, it's Dymondia. It will grow anywhere as long as it gets a little water once in a while.
BTW, welcome to the CA forum, everyone is welcome here. :-)
Donna
Yes it did take a whole lot of work to get through the fig trees roots and get it into the ground and make sure it was draining properly. I have two wonderful Hispanic young men that work for my gardener. He allows me to hire them on the side and pay them direct when I have something like to complete. The reason he allows this is because I have obtained his company 7 houses in our area as new customers.
I love the close up with the bee. I took one last year and did not know the bee was there until I uploaded the picture. I also thought last year there was dirt in a flower and tried to get the dirt out and got stung.
SoCal, I have never heard of Dymondia. I will look it up. I have Australian Violet everywhere I want it. In Australia it is invasive, in Las Vegas it a keeper.
Welcome to the Calif. forum skwinter!
My first Chicago Peace rose is getting ready to open.
I don't have my camera at work or I'd send a picture. Perhaps I can describe it well enough to get a name for this blossom that just opened at my campus. I know I used to know the name but it escapes me now. It's white with a yellow center, looks like a fried egg.
My guess is that before I can get back to the computer I'll have a dozen answers. A common name is fine, an Latin one would be even better.
Matilija poppy? Remember those plants Roberta was digging up at the RoundUp? They get pretty big.
Romneya coulteri
This message was edited Apr 7, 2009 8:21 AM
Thanks so much Kathleen. So many new plants for this desert dweller to remember.
Once a year we get to make a good sized buy from the nursery for graduation decorations. Some of the girls at work want to have more of these for stage decorations. I try to get as many perennials as I can so that I can use them on campus as opposed to just seasonal color. $700.00 doesn't go very far any more though.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2009 8:30 AM
We still have more that need digging up if you want them. Transplanting is iffy, but they're free! I was waiting for the rain to make the digging easier, but I don't think we'll get enough (if any!). They aren't in the really hard dirt, anyway.
Kathleen I may just take you up on that. Give me a time and day that's convenient for you.
Petunia 'Dolce Flambe' got cut back in the winter and is now lush and just started blooming. Guess it didn't know it was an annual.
Ajuga reptans 'Burgundy Glow'
I never cut back this lavender osteoporum and it's just a big ball of bloom right now. That's a bronze berberis poking through on the left side messing up the round form.
I love this deep purple osteoporum, it's such a nice color pop with oranges and yellows and blooms forever. When it gets too sprawled out, I cut it back to within inches of the ground and it quickly sends out new growth.
This yellow Bulbine has been blooming for several weeks now, an easy succulent type plant to grow.
A pretty lavender Scabiosa that has been in my garden for years, super easy no fuss plant. Looks nice with yellows.
Geranium incanum, self seeds everywhere but I welcome it's spring bloom color, once it's done, I pull it and now have more room for other things. You can see another large one in the background. I have some crocosmia coming in between it, can't remember if the geranium stayed around long enough to bloom with it.
Yellow Bidens ferulifolia has been blooming for months, here next to a gray euphorbia
skwinter,
You aren't the only one feeling a bit envious right now. I'd just like four more good hours each day to play in the garden. So much to do!
The green stuff growing under my salvia is in a small area of my greenhouse which is also the pool enclosure. I'm sending a photo. You can't see it in the photo, but the salvia is behind the pink floaty think that is covering a chair. I also found some miniature purple freesia I want to get photos of. Those, I'll send later.
I didn't take no class, but I had a great photography teacher, my Dad (trois). You can find many of his photos posted online here at DG.
It never occurred to me to give you an official welcome to the CA Discussion Forum. I spent a part of my childhood living in Gardnerville, and Carson City, NV. So I guess, and please take this as a compliment, I just felt a connection with you. Speaking for myself you are more than welcome, and it is nice to hear from other desert dwellers. ^_^
soilsandup, can't tell you what a good photo of the bee emerging from the blossom with that pollen on her hairy legs (even worse than your Dad's hairy legs! LOL!) is. Hard shot to get, I've been trying for the last few years to get just that kind of shot. Well done! ^_^
DP, and KC, I never cease to be amazed at how helpful DG members are to one another. All is good, KC was able to determine the kind of flower you were asking about. She's so helpful that way. I'd like to see more of the DG attitude out in the real world.
DP, don't you know, you got to carry your camera everywhere or you miss the best shots. LOL!
Calif_Sue, have a bad case of garden envy with all that lush growth in your garden. Things are starting to dry out already here. :(
WIB,
SW
Drat!
The previous post contains a photo of the "mtn." out my back door. Not the photo I had intended to send. My apologies. Here is the gh.
I have to swim for health reasons, and out here the wind blows all the time, which makes my health problem worse, so DH put the gh over the pool. The little bit of garden is a bonus.
I must be tired today. The green stuff under the salvia is dichondra. Sorry I didn't make that clear in the previous post. It loves the humidity with the pool being in there, and spreads like crazy. It is a water hog. Which is why it is a small patch. I wanted a mower/weed whacker free zone, but something nice and soft for under bare feet. One of my favorite places to hang out, feels good and the warmth is a bonus too. Downright tropical.
WIB,
SW
Donna-SoCal,
Wondering if your unknown iris, in Post #6364782, is a fan of my "Iris japonica 'Ledger's Variety' ". It's blooming like crazy since last week and my bunch has filled it all the space I dug out to give away at the RU. Blooms took home another big fan.
~'spin!~
Up close.
Oh Spin, that's it!! Thank you so much for stopping by with a visit. I must have gotten it from you then. lol
So tell me, does it just bloom in the spring or is it a rebloomer?
Thanks so much,
Donna
That's beautiful! I've never seen an iris like that before.
Yes, the only problem with my Ledger's Iris is its position in the walkway makes getting a good frontal photograph impossible. And the fact that it blooms only in the spring, but I guess that's true of all iris.
I also have blooming Salvia coccinea "Lady in Red" (seen in the corner of the first iris pic) and two scented geraniums (see below) from wcgypsy. The white is Nutmeg-scented and I forget what the hot pink one is scented (Sherri?).
Salvia sagittata from DrDon is blooming as well as S.scabra from wcgypsy, but neither photograph well. I have Veronica Georgia Blue, but the large center area died, leaving scattered (but intense) blue that perfectly matches S.glechomifolia -- again, pics of scattered blue flowers do not do well for me.
My azalea 'Picotee' and neighboring Indian hawthorne are slowing down now, but the Mexican primrose are coming on daily more.
~'spin!~
SW, there may be rain & wind headed your way. I've gotten drenched 3 times today, and just decided to get warmed up and make it a "spa afternoon"----to heck with cleaning up the courtyard!!
Talked to my friend this morning who was on the train headed for the Giants' season opener. I wouldn't want to be in SF in the rain watching baseball, no matter how big a fan I was...LOL!
One of my favorites, dwarf variegated Solomon's seal, appears happy in her new pot. I transplanted her last fall, and I've read they don't like that. Guess she hadn't read the same book!
And my clivia is blooming, too.
Singingwolf - that is a neat covered swimming pool that you have. I was wondering before how you grew the banana plants. Now I know where they are that they grow so tall. As for the photo with the bee and pollen, I have to reiterate that it was my daughter who took that shot. She has been playing a lot with her camera.
Chrystalspin - that is a beautiful iris. I have never seen any like that too. That would make a wonderful addition to any arrangement (I am always looking out for potential cut flowers) I wish I lived a little closer to you guys to attend the Southern CA roundups LoL.
We got a little bit of rain earlier this afternoon too.
'spin, the pink scented geranium is 'Filbert'....
SingingWolf, that mountain looks like one I used to run up and down at least 10 times a day when I was young. I used to go up to the top and play with the Tarantulas. I moved to Pioche, NV when I was 4 months old. My siblings were born there. It is a small mining town about 90 miles from the Utah border. The elevation is over a mile high. I left there the day after high school graduation. I always tell everyone that in small towns in Nevada, including Gardnerville, you pack your bag the day before graduation, graduate and get out of town the next day. If you do not leave, you will be stuck there the rest of your life. LOL.
Hey Soilsandup, I have never been to Sacramento. I could drive my Big SUV, pick you up and we could sneak on to SoCal's mountain and get great plants for the roundup. I guess I had better learn to use the 4-wheel drive. LOL. KaperC, we do not have gophers. Have a DG friend in Florida and last year someone came in the middle of the night and helped themselves to many of his prized Coleus.
soilsandup, well, now ya know how I grow bananas. They are supposed to be dwarf bananas too. They were much taller last year, but seem to have reached the available height available in there. I have strawberry's going crazy in there and a couple of pineapples too. I love my pool, but it is still too cold to swim in yet despite the solar heating. So I'm still doing laps around it. Please give my apologies and compliments to your DD for her photo of the bee with pollen.
skwinter, I don't run up and down that hill every day, I do take walks along the ridge line as often as I can. I really love going on my walks with my dogs (and sometimes cats). I know exactly what you mean about small towns and leaving the day after graduation. I did the same thing in OK, where I was living when I graduated from High school.
Magenta colored (slightly blurry) photo of the mini Freesia.
More in a minute.
