Hummingbird Entertainment

Inside the window behind this abutilon plant is my treadmill. I spend a tortuous half hour on it a number of times a week and the one thing that is pleasant about the whole experience (other than when it is over) is that the hummingbirds love visiting the abutilon and are constantly flitting around it while I work out.

Clematis and Resident

While snapping a photo of the first clematis blooms of the season on this Niobe clematis, I noticed the spider that has rolled the upper petal into a neat little shelter.
This 'Henryi' clematis is blooming behind a bench near the play lawn (thus the wiffle ball) and I am afraid to move it because of the chances that it will not survive the move. It was in a flower bed before I reorganized the entire area. At least it is protected and I know where to peak to enjoy it!

Amber Carpet Rose

There are few roses easier to grow than the 'Carpet Rose' series. They aren't really groundcovers as the name would imply, just small shrubs with lots of blooms and few diseases. I grow white ones and a soft pink one called "Apple Blossom". This is a new introduction this year named "Amber" and when I saw it the first time at the nursery it had burgundy foliage with these peach color blooms. I thought it was very unique and bought three for a new flower bed I was putting in at the time. A couple weeks later I was describing it to a friend and when I went to show it to her the burgundy foliage had turned completely green. It must have been in the shade or cold or some different climate to change color so dramatically. Oh well, it is still a pretty plant.

Easy Going Wallflower

Erysimum, or as it is known by its common name, Wallflower, is a staple in my flower beds because of its easy going nature.

It is a perennial that blooms here for about ten months out of the year if it is deadheaded about once a month. Other than that it has few requirements or problems.

It does require regular water and so I place it in partial shady areas that don't dry out too much. It gets to be about two feet high and wide and it is easy to forget about which is why I guess it is called "Wallflower".

Happy Cat

The catnip always makes our cat, Goose, happy. It is amazing how much she loves it and rather amusing to see her swoon and roll around when she is around it. It is a member of the mint family and so must be planted where it can be contained. Must be nice!

Perfectly Constructed

We have a TV outside mounted under an overhang. It is one way to get DH outside during baseball/football season. The other day we noticed two little finches flying back and forth to the TV and on closer inspection realized that they were constructing a nest in the bracket holding the TV. This is no place to raise young ones (due to the start of baseball season) and so we decided to take the nest down, unless there were already eggs in it. Luckily the birds had not laid any eggs yet so it came down and we turned on the overhead fan, hoping the movement would discourage further construction in the area. The nest is perfectly assembled with an outside made up of woven twigs and palm threads and the inside a soft composition of fluffy plant materials and downy feathers. I hope the finches weren't too disappointed and found another spot to raise their young.

Better Late Than Never

These snapdragons were planted early last fall, the ideal time to plant cool season annuals for a long bloom period over the mild winter months.

Unfortunately they sat like sulky children until about a couple weeks ago and then they shot up and are starting to bloom, finally! Hopefully I will get a few more months' blooms because of what we call May Gray and June Gloom, overcast spring weather along the coast, before the heat of summer does them in. Occasionally I have had snapdragons that hang on throughout the year if the summer is mild. That would be great here because it is a narrow little planted that they add a bit of color that I like.

American Classic

Iris 'American Classic' blooms for the first time in my SJC garden!

Window Planter, Before and After

This is the small planter under our dining room window in SJC and what it looked like when we moved in two years ago. Nothing wrong with this tidy little hedge, other than maybe a bit boring.
This is what it looks like today. The color of the house is always a challenge to work with when placing blooming plants next to it, but this 'Royal Sunset' climbing rose works well as does the Spanish lavender. The lavender will bloom like this for a few months and then be cut back and the gray-green foliage will be a backdrop to the carpet rose 'Amber' that is planted with it. Overall I'm quite pleased with this combination.

Fine, Fine Wine

One of the new iris I put in the SJC garden last year has finally bloomed!

'Fine Wine' was definitely worth the wait!