Gladiolus

I'm not really a fan of the common Gladiolus that bloom in summer. The colors are gorgeous. But they end up in people's yards just one here and one there and look funny to me. I think they look better in groups.

So here is an unusual one called Gladiolus tristis 'Starfish'. I bought the bulbs at a talk at The Huntington last Autumn. The speaker was from marysgardenpatch.com in San Diego. And you can order bulbs from her website.    G. tristis blooms earlier than regular Glads, are smaller(no stakes needed) and grow under 2'. It's another plant from South Africa, where all the cool plants originate. I planted a bunch together and they kinda look like my bouquet. I think I'll divide them when they die back to get more clumps.

Very Tall Salvia

I got this Salvia canariensis or Canary Island Sage from my friend Jay after we moved to this house about 2 years ago. He said it would get tall so I planted it by our fence. The stems are covered in white fuzz that's pretty cool. It's blooming well now and is about 5' tall. I saw one recently that was 6' tall. Salvias are easy to grow. There are perennial types and the common blue and red types that people treat as annuals.

Iceberg

This is why the Floribunda rose Iceberg is so widely used in SoCal! And it repeats quicker than most other roses. 
 Happy Earth Day!

Climbing Roses

This is why we train climbing rose canes horizontally. Where each leaf was comes a new flowering branch! You get more flowers this way. I know this one is not blooming yet. But it's easier to see :-) Enjoy your roses this Spring! Plant several if you have none. They give the most flowers of any plant I know.

Sweet Peas

I bought this special packet of orangey coral Sweet Pea seeds last June or so(early) to then plant in Sept. See last year's Sept 5 post. I had trouble getting them to sprout and tried with several other Sweet Pea seed packets. I was ready to be disappointed, when I saw these blooming yesterday. There had one been lavender blooms so far. So yay, I love these colors!

Burgandy AND Pink

Last year I bought this Oxalis siliquosa. They mostly come in burgandy or a golden orangey leaf with small yellow flowers. I couldn't find a tag in the pot. It's the branchey kind of Oxalis rather than the single leaf kind that comes right out of the soil. And this plant is so happy that it covers the whole container. I'm chicken to plant it in the ground. Maybe I'll change my mind later. I adore this one because it has pink within the burgandy foliage. Burgandy leaves ARE awesome! But to have PINK too is spectacular!

I had to email my Oxalis expert friend Bill in Brooklyn asking which variety this is. He said that it is siliquosa but has a chimera with it. I had to look that up. It boils down to two distinct cells living with each other. That's the pink or variegation showing up in the leaves. Either way, it's beautiful!