Car Flowers

I just had to share these flowers from the recently opened Carsland at Disney California Adventure next to Disneyland in Anaheim. The place was packed this past weekend but these flowers really jumped out at me. Looks like they were made from car tail lights. They are pretty and they don't need water or care!

Pumpkin Crazy!

I knew that pumpkins would grow like crazy when they get started. I grew them for a client about 10 years ago and was looking forward to growing my own. I planted about 6 seeds at the end of March. It took about 7 days for them to sprout. They are now taking over the backyard! Many days Rick would look at them and ask me "Are they supposed to grow this fast?". I would smile and say yes.   They are spilling out of the raised bed now. And that's ok because there's not a lot else going on there. I see a few female flowers with tiny fruit on them. I can't wait to watch the fruit grow! I remember that today they'll be an egg, tomorrow a softball and the day after they'll be the size of a basketball! Watch for more pumpkin updates!   Yay pumpkins!

Basil

I adore Basil. It's an herb, not a person. If they would make a perfume from it, I'd wear it. Besides being yummy in all of Italian food, and salads too, Pesto is made with Basil! Yum! Next time you go to the Spaghetti Factory, ask for their Creamy Pesto salad dressing in which to dip your bread. It's supremely delicious!

So here is just a little update with a photo of 2 kinds of Basil I have growing. Look how cute the Boxwood Basil is! It's got tiny leaves but the same doings as regular Basil.

Old Fashioned

You just don't see Canterbury Bells anymore. At least I don't. This beautiful specimen of Canterbury Bells, Campanula medium was growing at one of my new jobs near Los Angeles. CB is a biennial meaning it takes 2 years to flower from seed. It prefers a bit of shade in our hot inland climate and blooms late spring into summer to about 2 feet tall. The flower stalk usually needs to be staked as winds and the weight of sprinklers on the flowers make them fall. They come in lavender, pink, white and purple. It is so pretty!

Fuchsia

Usually I post about easy-to-grow plants, plant I'm growing or my clients are growing. But I just had to share a photo of this Fuchsia I saw at a nursery yesterday. It's my favorite variety called Bicentennial. I love the coral orange stripey thing going on. In fact I've killed this plant several times! Fuchsias die in our SoCal Valley summer heat :-(. I've tried many. I used to grow about 6 varieties. I also love the white ones.
Oh, maybe I should try just one more?

Basal Canes!

That's what every rose grower dreams of, basal canes! A basal cane is a new branch that grows right out of the center of the rose bush. New canes support better flowers. When the plant becomes mature it will make more canes making the base of the plant look thicker. But a branch will never grow thicker than it already is. I know that sounds weird. But it's true. So it's great to get basal canes because they start out thick and will end up replacing older canes that will die and be pruned away. After the first flush of blooms in the Spring is usually when basal canes occur. So watch for them. In my photo it is the red growth.

Please note the difference between a basal cane and a sucker. Most modern roses are grafted onto a different rose rootstock. You can see the graft or bud union at the base of the rose where all the branches form. Sometimes that rootstock will decide to grow under the graft, usually right out of the ground. It is advisable to remove those suckers. Or the rootstock may overtake your grafted or desirable plant growing just Dr. Huey which is a once a year red flowered climbing rose. And the part above the graft will die because the rootstock is more vigorous. So definitely watch for suckers too! Happy rose growing!

Orange

Along my travels doing consultations with clients and planting jobs, I have found that orange is the most disliked color. I think that's a shame! I love orange! In our harsh sun of SoCal, pale colors just don't stand out. Colors like red, yellow and orange DO!

Many people think Marigolds are too common or too stinky or snail fodder. I think they really give the best show of color for sunny locations here. They DO smell a little weird and do attract snails. Sluggo works well killing snails and slugs. None of my clients let me plant orange Marigolds! So now that we have our own place I planted them as a border along one of our walkways.

I don't know if you can see in my photo. But I bundled, twisted and rubber banded the fading Daffodil leaves along the walkway. One is supposed to leave the foliage to turn brown as it dies back because it's storing nutrients for next year. But it looks messy and takes up space! I used to braid the long leaves. But that takes too long and is back breaking! I planted the Marigolds between the bulb leaves since they'll be gone in the summer and the Marigolds will fill in then.