the last bit of yesterday was finished off at the farm, doing some general clean-up and a bit of planting. the guys weed whacked and planted clusters of jade in the succulent mother garden – i poked around taking pictures and organizing the accumulating detritus that the wind brings in on the field. on the driveway, a number of volunteers have established well in the compacted gravel. seed from Shasta Daisys, Nepeta, Stock and Feverfew – all have been brought in from my truck or the wind, and have settled nicely in various parts of the long driveway. it’s weird how you can try so hard to get something to grow in your garden, and it dies. but do nothing to cultivate a plant elsewhere, and it thrives. the mother garden is maintaining well, despite a lack of water and attention. some of the succulents are growing, but most are just maintaining, bright in color and healthy – but not exuding too much energy this time of year.
teeth i found in the field
i forget the name of this ground cover...
yarrow who planted itself in the driveway
discolored tree frog on the water tank pump...
Feverfew in the driveway
echeveria growing in the mother garden with concrete blocks
A busted pittosporum tree that some gophers jacked!
Now, it’s yet another strange ornamentation affixed in my garden. I wrapped some coir in the branches, and nestled a bit of ‘Elfin’ thyme. Let’s see how long it lasts until the chickens demolish it.
All jokes aside, I love when it’s this time of year and your gorgeous sunflowers go into seed mode. Very cool. The birds are going crazy and use this ‘Titan’ sunflower like a giant buffet!Even if the birds don’t get at these sunflowers, they look really cool left out in the garden to warp and twist in the sun.
I know I’ve been skimping on the words in some of my posts… but sometimes there just doesn’t need to be. I’m loving the dandelions in my backyards right now… having fun playing with my new camera and ever present “weed” crop!
I was doing a bit of gardening in the Tunitas Creek canyon, about to remove a large escalonia shrub – and found these little babes! Sorry for such raw footage – but I’m a dirt gardener, not a film maker people!
But I was a tad hesitant to go in the first place, since I has just finished a long day of salvia planting and wasn’t feeling my most glamorous, complete with dirt stained hands and arms. I had a bit of time to shop for my garden the day before, and decided the salvias were too good to pass up. So I loaded them in my already packed-with-plants truck and headed for home. I gardened just up until dinner and realized I needed to actually shower in order to be seen in public. Upon that realization, I was downtrodden, knowing what a feat it would be in my garden obsessed state.. But I went to the movie anyway and, in fact, was momentarily entertained… right up until they started in with the menopausal jokes and whore-endous karaoke jam. It just wasn’t my cup of champagne tea.
I found a little blue egg, freshly laid on my lawn sunday afternoon… coincidentally right after I got home from visiting my sister who had just given birth to the most gorgeous baby girl ever! I thought it fitting for what the weekend had bought us, and placed it on my Echeveria plant my the back door. I love the icy blue with the veins of purplish-red.
Next, is a fabulous Nigella amongst the Nasturtium. I have never been a big fan of this plant, as the weedy looking foliage kind of annoys me, but I’m diggin’ this one. Love the dark stamens and pistil… very flower noir.
Ok.. onward in the garden we come to my pride and joy! A fabulous Canterbury Bells cluster I have been babying growing for three years! Each year I will it to bloom, to no avail… well, except for this Spring. I am very proud to say they are gorgeous and super healthy. Lots more blooms to come, too. Oh, and my chipped up, dirty, street-walker nail polish was not planned to match…. I just got lucky!
This is a Van Gogh cultivated sunflower, just about in full bloom. Grows super easy from seed (what sunflower doesn’t?) (and if you have thought of one, believe me – it’s you, not the sunflower) and holds it bloom for quite some time. I meant to plant more, but with everything going on, didn’t get them in the ground. I may try this weekend for a fall bloom.. we’ll see. You can buy these…Here.
Lest I forget this little gem!
Poppies. I love poppies.
There’s not much else to say.
I should do an all poppy section of my new garden.. Hmm. Project!
It’s been long standing that I am besties with honey bees. This is unlike my sister some people who freak the fuck out when ever honey bees buzz around. So, in an effort to over come any fear you may have with our flying farmers, here are a few tips on how to help save the bees:
1. Don’t freak the fuck out Embrace the Bees!
Bees truly don’t want to bother you, in fact, they don’t even want to be around you! If encountered by a bee, let it do it’s thing and they will fly away.
2. Plant More Flowers!
Well, duh! That’s an easy one! But really… if you have an unruly part of your garden that you have no clue what to do with, broadcast some wildflower seeds for the bees.
3. Leave More Flowers…
It’s hard for me not to dead-head right away, but it really does help to let your flowers fully bloom out before cutting them off. That way the bees get a few more days of pollen… which can lead to pounds and pounds of extra honey.
This little picture is of my echeveria in full bloom. I love how the little flowers dangle into the perfect drop… and the color is incredible. My apologies for the picture… if it wasn’t so shitty small you would be able to see the fabulous coral coloring. As it is, I’m in the middle of moving, and as you can imagine my camera, books, notes on what to write, etc. are all floating around in the unknown.
Moving on… I Heart Echeveria. It’s so easy, gorgeous and interesting… and did I mention easy!? The blue ones are my favorite, but the dusty gray echeveria are nice too. In clusters the form the nicest ground cover under trees like crabapples, arbutus or even olive trees.
Looking for that perfect echeveria for your garden? Check out the resource page under annies annuals for some fun varieties…
Akebia quinata is a fabulous vine. It grows similar to a honeysuckle, but without the fragrance. It has lovely little chocolate flowers that cluster in bells at the top of the new growth. It’s perfect for growing and mixing with clematis or roses. You can find this at most nurseries (even the dreaded homeless depot) and they grow like crazy. I buy them in one gallons since they grow so fast, and plant them against anything they can grasp.
