Spontaneous Gardening Tools

I am always on the lookout for large, inexpensive baskets. I use them for collecting weeds and clippings and they usually end up sitting somewhere in the garden where I leave them when I get interrupted. Because they are aesthetically pleasing, they aren't too much of an eyesore and do encourage me to pick up where I left off when I wander around the garden. Much prettier than plastic and even though they break down after being left in the elements for a few years, I consider them some of my favorite garden tools.

Euphorbia, Euphorbia, Euphorbia

This is the start of the blooming season for many euphorbias.
They have a vary large family including perhaps the best know euphorbia, Poinsettia.
The 'flower' is actually cup shaped brackets around a very small flower. I grow a number of them in my gardens because they are very easy to grow in this climate, requiring little water. They also add some interest and variety to the flower beds. They are sometimes called 'gopher spurge' because they are thought to discourage those tunneling pests and I must say, I have never had any gophers. Now all I need to do is find a plant called 'vole spurge'!

First Poppy

Iceland Poppies have been blooming here for months. Except for mine. This is the first bloom I've had this season. For some reason I have a hard time with these annuals that seems so easy for everyone else! I can't tell you how many times over the years I have planted them and they have never bloomed. They grow in the island at the gas station, in front of the market and in every other front yard in the area, but for me they are elusive. I refuse to give up and I plant them every year. This may be the first and last bloom I get, but it is so charming I will just keep trying.

The Orchid Place

I've written about how easy it is to grow cymbidium orchids in our climate and I don't mean to rub it in to all my friends that are still waiting for the snow to melt, but I have to show the spot where I park all my cymbidiums after they are done blooming in SJC.
I usually buy a pot in bloom every year for inside the house in January as a present for myself for making it through the holidays. When they are finished blooming after a couple months I sink them, pot and all, into a shady spot in the garden where my bromeliads live. They get watered with the sprinklers and left pretty much alone. With little provocation they send up flowers like this that put on a show for almost three or four months.

Soaring Pink Jasmine

Pink Jasmine is a familiar sight this time of year in our area. It is very fragrant and easy to grow. I have never planted it in my yard, but it climbs the fence and comes over to visit from our neighbor's yard. I was walking along this path and could smell it, but didn't see it, until I looked up. It scaled the oleander and made a leap into a palm tree for a better shot at the sunlight I suspect. It does have one drawback. It is not self-cleaning and when the flowers are spent there is a big, brown mess to remove or it will haunt you all year long.

Avocado Blooms

Avocado blooms are not the most pretty flowers in the fruit tree family, but they are among the most interesting. They have both male and female flowers on the same branch that open at different times of day and are propagated by bees. When the tree is in bloom the whole garden vibrates from the buzzing! When they are done flowering some of the buds become fruit and then new leaves emerge and the old, tired ones drop off, leaving a thick layer of mulch covering their shallow roots. You can see the brown tips on the old leaves that are caused by a high level of salt in the soil, the result of our alkaline water. Avocados bare heavy crops one year and light ones the next. These are California Fuerte, large and creamy fruit, the best you will ever taste!

Drought Tolerant Groundcover

I am a big fan of ceanothus, a California native that booms lovely pure blue flowers in winter and early spring. There are many varieties, most that are large shrubs. (Check out Google images for some beautiful examples.) Sometimes called California lilac, it does well where lilacs languish in warm dry climates. Although it does not have the lovely scent of a lilac, it is a favorite of the bees. This particular variety is a low growing shrub that hugs the ground with these unique variegated leaves called 'Diamond Heights'. This particular one is on a slope in my Laguna garden and tolerates very dry conditions there.

For All That and More

He doesn't dig in the flower beds. He doesn't nibble on the foliage. He doesn't chase the birds. He doesn't knock over the pots. He doesn't chew the door mats. He doesn't trounce the flowers. He doesn't poop on the paths. And for all that and more, we love our new Ram.

Seen Better Days

This arbor was one of the first structural things I put in the Laguna garden about thirteen years ago. It was a pre-assembled one from Home Depot and I painted it black. I attached metal spikes to it so it would be stable in the ground. Over the years it has had many different vines on it. It started out with a lovely blue 'snail vine' (vigna caracalla) which was overpowered by a red trumpet vine (campsis) that somehow migrated from the front wall. I had to take out the trumpet vine before it took over the entire garden. Then it had morning glories that nearly swallowed it up. The past few years it has been the support for a beautiful white 'Avalanche' clematis and star jasmine. It is beyond repair and will have to be scrapped, but I do love the feeling of "entering the garden" that it brings to this area. I'm sure another one will take its place.

Clivias Blooming

It's that time of year, the clivias are in bloom! These orange ones were planted here when we bought this house in Laguna Beach 18 years ago. They are such a bright color that it took me a while to appreciate their presence. I wrote about it here and here last year. Now I look forward to their month of bloom.