Try Again

Based on the success of the cone flower in my previous post, I naturally ran out and bought the 'Sundown' echinacea. The weather has been rather mild this week so maybe it will survive the summer!

A First For Me

Every few years I attempt to grow purple cone flowers (echinacea). I always buy them when they show up in the nurseries, around the middle of summer. Typically I make it a rule to stop planting new plants at around the beginning of June, then I really make myself stop planting new plants around the beginning of July. Then I plant coneflowers. They never come back the next year even though most annuals make it through our mild winters and summers to last more than one year. Then last week I noticed an unusual looking plant growing in one of the beds in SJC. At first I assumed it was a weed, but when I didn't get around to pulling it I noticed it started looking like... a purple coneflower! My first, second bloom! As you can see by the picture it is in dappled shade which may have allowed it to settle in during the middle of summer a bit easier. I no longer need to read other people's blogs that are filled with these charming blooms this time of year to get my coneflower fix!

Ice Blue

I love this beautiful blue cypress. I believe it is 'Blue Ice' although I may be mistaken. It is so soft to the touch as well as soft to look at that it makes a lovely background plant in my white garden where I have four of them.

Five Foot Flowers

Although there is nothing in this picture to reference these agapanthus blooms against, take my word for it, they are easily five feet tall! They were just labeled "white" at the nursery but they are so tall and stately that I just had to have them for a statement plant in one corner of my white garden!

Roses and Lavender

This is a very pale bloom of 'Livin Easy' rose among the Spanish lavender, one of my favorite plant combinations. I use it often in my gardens.

Never Thought It Would Happen

I quit growing petunias years ago. They are annuals which only last one season here. In our area they are plagued by a little green worm that makes a mess of them by halfway through the season.

Then for some odd reason I picked up a few little pots of these white Supertunias and put them in the ground in the Moonlight garden. They have lasted an entire year with no signs of any pest damage. They are very bright and cheery. I'm sold on them and even bought some more to add to another bed. I must say I never thought it would happen!

Gray and White Blooms

There are lots of color combinations on plants, but one of the most unique must be the flowers of the Giant Bird of Paradise (strelitzia nicolai) plant. The blooms are blackish-gray and white with a blue "tongue". This tall cousin of the colorful BOP grows easily in our area, primarily for the tall leathery foliage that gets up to 30 feet. I think the tropical flowers are very dramatic, but they are high up and often overlooked. The only drawback to them is that they need a tree trimmer to do the deadheading!

Fast Groundcover

I typically use ornamental sweet potato vines (ipomoea batatas) in containers to spill over the sides. Last spring I had a four inch pot of 'Marguerita' left over and stuck it in the ground in a spot waiting to be covered by some slower growing miniature roses. Watch out! This guy will grow up your leg while you are walking past! We have had to rescue the roses from it a number of times. It will die back in the winter and I am pretty sure I will find it a new home since it is encroaching on the nearby sidewalk!

Streetside

The street side garden in SJC is enjoying the dry heat we've been having recently. The lantana is filling in nicely and showing a bit of color among the green agaves, blue senecio and burgundy flax.
It's nice to have an area that that does not show signs of stress as the summer wears on.

Odd

This unusual plant is coming up in one of my garden beds where I planted some green calla lily bulbs I bought last spring. I think it must have been a "freebie" that the vendor threw in for me. Odd, but charming little thing, I have no idea what it is.

Post Script: VW of VW Garden has been kind enough to help me identify this mystery plant as a Pinapple Lily, (eucomis) from South Africa! Thank you VW!