A Riot of Flowers

Side pathway in my garden with bearded irises, alliums, Scilla peruviana, and California poppies

View of that area from another direction with unknown species peony in the foreground

Closer view of Scilla peruvianas and California poppies

     There is an area in my garden which comes into view soon after you enter the main garden gate.  It is accessed by a couple of pathways, including the pink pathway you see in the first picture above.  In the last few years I have completely changed the planting in this area, primarily because it used to be much shadier due to an arbor which has since been removed and due to the removal of a large native willow. 
     One of these beds contains a large Trachycarpus, and I have underplanted that tree with a lot of Scilla peruvianas which I moved from the front border to protect them from the deer.  Last year I planted a few California poppies around these scillas, thinking that they would make a good contrast to the scillas, and sure enough, they do!  I like the straight orange California poppies the best because that bright clear orange makes everything else in the garden pop.  I often hear people say that they do not like orange in the garden, but they are missing out if they do not use it.  There is nothing like orange to make other colors sing.
     One thing about California poppies is that you only have to plant one or two and let them go to seed to have mass quantities of them the following years!
     The first picture above also shows some of the bearded irises I bought from Schreiner's Iris Gardens last year.  I will have a future post with some closeups of these irises, but suffice it to say they are all wonderful.
     These pictures are a good illustration of how my planting style has changed over the years.  I used to plant in blocks of plants of one kind.  I no longer like to do that.  Instead, I like to have lots of plants that I like, but spread out and mingled with other compatible plants to make a more naturalistic look.  I want the garden to look like it just naturally sprang up, even though it did no such thing.

Stipa Gigantea

Stipa gigantea beginning to bloom behind a blue bearded iris in my front border

     I was recently reading an entry on one of the blogs I follow--Rhone Street Gardens-- about a visit to Wind Dancer Gardens, a nursery (now closed, I believe) specializing in grasses.  While I have never been to that nursery, it reminded me of my love for grasses and how my use of them in my garden has changed over time.  It used to be that I loved grasses so much that I tried to grow every one that I could get my hands on.  I went through miscanthus phases where I grew all sorts of them, then cortaderia (Pampas grass) phases, then carex phases, then New Zealand grass phases... You can get the picture.
     Anyway, over time, and for various reasons, I have cut back on the kinds of grasses I grow.  Probably the number one reason for this is that many of them--particularly the big ones-- got to be too much work.  They required much labor in cutting them back in the spring, and if they ever needed dividing, like some miscanthuses do, then God help you.  Pampas grasses were too messy looking in the winter and also too much labor.  Others seeded themselves about too much, such as Anemanthele lessoniana.  Still others I removed because they declined over time as my bamboos grew and shaded them out.  Also, since I have so many bamboos in my garden, the shape and form of most grasses is redundant.  Finally, as I got into photography I wanted more flowers, so grasses made way for more flamboyant flowering plants.
     This brings me to the present, where I am only growing a few grasses and those can be summed up with the words Stipas and Hakonechloas.  I grow three types of Stipas in my front border.   Stipa gigantea, Stipa tenuissima ( I still refer to it this way, rather than as Nassella which is its new name), and Stipa barbata.  In my fenced in garden I grow a lot of Hakonechloa and I have previously written about the Hakonechloa 'All Gold' that I grow in pots here.
     Today's post is about one of those stipas in my front border--Stipa gigantea.  This is a great plant for a sunny, dry site.  As you can see from the picture, the blooms are starting to emerge now, and they make a wonderful airy backdrop to all the flowering plants in the front border.    The basal foliage of this stipa is only about a foot tall, but the flowering spikes extend a couple of feet above that.  Over time that base will exceed a couple of feet in diameter.  Since this grass flowers relatively early for a grass in this region, it coincides with the big flowering extavaganza which occurs in this border in June.
     This grass looks pretty good all year long, but I cut it back to the ground every spring.  This neatens it up and it quickly regrows from that haircut.  By the way, I am often asked by gardeners if they can cut something back that looks bad.  My advice always is to cut it back, whatever it is, if it is ugly.  The worst that can happen is that you will kill the plant, but if it is ugly, who cares?  If it lives, you will have improved it quite a bit.
      I find seedlings here and there of this grass, but it is not a major weed like some other grasses I have grown including Stipa tenuissima.  Stipa gigantea is also quite long lived for a grass.  The one in the picture has probably been there for about 10 years.
    

Eryngium Blue Jackpot With Bees

Eryngium Blue Jackpot with five bees on it at once

     I have previously written about one of the best eryngiums I have grown here,  Eryngium 'Blue Jackpot".  I have a number of these in my garden and they are just now coming into bloom.  I noticed that on one of the most advanced of these flowers there were five bees at once busily harvesting whatever it is they harvest!  These eryngiums seem to be great flowers for attracting bees. 
     Another great group of plants for attracting bees, I have noticed, are the echiums.  My Echium amoenum, which I wrote about here is virtually covered with bees.
     Speaking of wildlife, for those of you who expressed concern about the baby deer in my garden which I wrote about in my last entry, at a little after 9:00 that evening, the mother came and took it away with her.  They have not been seen by me since.

Baby Deer in the Garden

Newborn baby deer sleeping in my front border

     Yesterday there was a newborn baby deer sleeping in my front border.  I was concerned about it when I didn't see its mother for a few hours,  so I called the local wildlife center, and they said that the mothers often would leave their newborns in what they considered a safe place.  They might be gone for hours at a time, and they might leave it in that area for several days, returning to it off and on.  They said to leave it undisturbed.  So we posted a sign warning people to keep away and hopefully it will be alright.
     I know that many gardeners hate the deer, but since my front border is deer resistant, and since this baby is so cute, I don't mind.  I would rather see this creature than a rose bush any day!

Dictamnus albus var. purpureus

Dictamnus albus var. purpureus blooming now in my front border with alliums

Wider view of Dictamnus in front border

     One of the great things about gardening is that you never really know everything there is to know about growing plants, even if you think you do.  Early in my gardening career I read about Dictamnus albus var. purpureus, also known as the pink burning bush, and I had briefly grown it then.  But back in the day it had not impressed me, probably because I never let it get big enough to perform well and because I hadn't put it in the right place.  Then a few years ago I was visiting Dancing Oaks Nursery, which I wrote about here, and they had one of these gas plants growing in their garden and I thought it was beautiful.  Then they told me it was drought tolerant, and I was hooked.
     So when I found some well grown plants of this in a local nursery I snapped them up and planted them in my front border.  They have done well there, without any supplemental summer water and in an area frequented by deer.  They just keep getting better from year to year.
     As you can see from the pictures, the plants have handsome foliage which stays nice looking all year long until they die down for the winter.  As I was working around them recently, I noticed that they had a wonderful citrus like odor. 
     They are commonly called burning bush because they give off essential oils which, it is said, will ignite if you hold a match to the base of the inflorescence, making a gassy noise and emitting a delicious aroma (or so says Christopher Lloyd in his book Garden Flowers). I have never tried this.
     By the way, Christopher Lloyd describes this plant as "one of the most handsome and distinctive hardy perennials in the repertory".   I would have to agree.

Giant Echium Flowers!

Self sown echiums blooming now in my garden

Closeup of flower tower

     I have previously written about some self sown echiums which are growing in my front border this year here.  As I mentioned in my last entry, I now think these are a hybrid sometimes called 'Mr. Happy' rather than Echium pininana, as I had previously thought since the flowers on pininana are generally blue or purple, rather than pink.  Also, I don't think I have ever grown a straight Echium pininana and had it flower, whereas I have gown Mr. Happy to flowering before.  However, I could be totally wrong about this. I am no expert on echium identification.  As I mentioned in my previous entry on these echiums, they are seedlings from long ago echiums, so their parentage is not at all certain.
     In any event, as you can see from the pictures these are giant spectacular flowers!

More Front Border

Front border with alliums in bloom and eremurus getting ready to bloom

Another view of front border with variegated yucca aloifolia or gloriosa and tall echiums on the right

Nolina nelsoniis with Limnanthes douglasii underneath

Scilla peruviana with leaves nibbled by the deer and pink California poppy

     As I previously wrote about here I have been working hard in my front border.  It is a labor intensive space because it is so large and because I rely on self sowers quite a bit for its color and impact. Today's entry is another report on its progress.  As you can see by the first picture above, the alliums are now in bloom and the eremurus have sent up their bloom stalks, but the flowers have not yet opened. As the second picture shows, the big foliage mound in the center is Lobelia tupa, which is now over a foot tall.  It, of course, will not bloom until quite a bit later.  The first and second pictures also show two of my biggest restios--Rhodocoma capensis--with their sort of brownish seed heads around the edges of the pictures. The second picture also shows how big the echiums are which I blogged about here.  While I said those echiums were pininana in that blog, I now think they are, in fact, a hybrid known as Mr. Happy.
     These first two pictures also show a variegated yucca aloifolia or gloriosa, depending on who you ask.  I will have a future entry on this yucca, but suffice it to say it is no longer one of my favorite plants.
     The third picture is of my Nolina nelsoniis which I previously wrote about here.  These have been underplanted with Limnanthes douglasii, a California native annual which self sows so reliably and thickly that it might as well be a perennial. The fourth picture shows one of the few remaining Scilla peruvianas I have in this border.  If you read my previous entry on these here you might remember that I had to move them into the fenced in portion of my garden to protect them from the deer.  As you can see from the photo, the deer have munched some of their leaves, although, thankfully, have not yet eaten the flowers.  I suppose they will wait til the flowers are fully open to eat them!