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!