This is the garden right outside my front door in SJC. It is a bit of a hodgepodge, but the color scheme is pretty consistent. Purple with lots of shades of green and a bit of gold thrown in for good measure. It has not been looking great this summer, but as the temperatures climb it is starting to bloom beautifully and the cool tones are a much appreciated view on these hot days. I have been considering removing the purple fountain grasses because they only look good part of the year, but they are such a lovely touch now with lots of movement, I am reconsidering. The reblooming iris, Frequent Violet, are all blooming in unison after a long rest and they are lovely. Not the fanciest iris out there, but their tendency to bloom at times when most iris are only a memory earn them lots of real estate throughout the gardens. I need to think long and hard about how to enhance this area in the fall, but for now I'm just enjoying the show!
I thought I had lost this lochroma (Royal Purple Queen) earlier this year. It always had weak, sickly leaves after the winter and I asked my garden helper to finish cutting it back after I started and didn't finish. He must has though I said "cut it to the ground with no chance of it ever surviving" because that is what he did. There was a small woody stump where this six foot shrub had been. Much to my amazement it came back with a vengeance and is bigger and more beautiful than ever. It is a member of the brugmansia family which is evident when you look at the leaves. Come to think of it, my brugmansias could use a good cutting back too!
Obsessed gardeners have crazy things growing in their gardens. Summer bulbs that defy logic tucked in here and there to add an element of surprise to a walk around the garden. For the life of me I can't remember the names of these bulbs (kind readers have taken the time to identify them for me as pineapple lily and hymenocallis) or where they came from. Most likely a freebee with another purchase of bulbs at a garden show. They always make me smile because they grow so easy and proud every summer, as if they are the stars of the show, instead of random give-aways!
