June 18

Wildflowers:

Godetia

Larkspur and Bishop's Flower

Poppie

This is me after work.  Typically running around the garden in my nice clothes because I can't wait long enough to change before I go outside and make the rounds of what's going on with the flowers.

The Hollyhocks are so tall.  I had no idea they would get this big.  I've never grown them before.  Now I don't know what to do.  They're so big, they're toppling over!

This is a passion flower fine that's actually on the neighbor's house.  Luckily no one is living there right now so I can do what I want with the vine.  This year it decided it wanted to live on my side.  I kept heading towards the laundry pole so I wrapped it around and it keeps on coming my way.

More and more wildflowers keep popping up!  I scattered seeds from Botanical Interests Fairy Meadow and Grandmother's Cut Flower garden seed collections earlier in the year and everything is coming into bloom.  Each day I find a new flower... It's so exciting!!  The fun part is trying to identify it, as some of them I am unfamiliar with.  Here's what's blooming so far:

Godetia, aka Farewell to Spring

 

Larkspur

Catchfly and Alyssum

Love in a Mist

Love in a Mist and Creeping Daisy on the right

Cornflowers in every shade.

Tricolor Painted Daisy and Godetia

 

Corn Poppy

Not sure what this one is yet.  Perhaps another Godetia?

And just a few random pictures.

June 15

I went to Lowes today for some things for the garden.  Low and behold, they had Clematis.  I've never seen it sold anywhere.  I'm always envious of people growing it on the East coast or in England, but I've never seen it here.  Every garden blog that I've read says how hard it is to grow in Southern California.  Earlier in the year, I'd found a package of bulbs at Osh, but I waited to long to plant it and when I opened the package, it had disintegrated.   So here is my new Clematis.  I have no idea what kind it is.  Gotta love Lowes for being so specific about the species of plant.  The plant tag just said "Clematis".  So we'll see how it does.

Gardenia

I've had a love hate relationship with this plant.  It never really products many blooms.  But when it does bloom, oh man do those flowers smell good!  This year I got 2 flowers.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with this plant.  I guess I should do more research on it.  It's one of the few plants that just never really seemed happy in my garden.

The lovely Daylily.

Dahlia is blooming again.

Canna

I couldn't resist the color of this flower.  I'm not one for tropical looking plants - I'm not sure why that is.  But this Canna was too pretty to pass up.

Foxgloves.

After I cut the main spikes after they were done blooming, a bunch of side spikes shot out and it's been blooming non-stop since.

Wildflowers:

A pretty pink Poppy.

Godetia.

Garden - June 14th

I didn't realize how much I like Lisianthus.  This year I've decided to add some to the garden.  

Gallardia

Tiger Eye Rudbekia

Penstemon

More of the wildflower collection.  It never fails to surprise me.

Larkspur

Love in a Mist

Godetia

Cornflower - Bachelor's Button

I had no idea they came in pink until this bloomed.

This weekend I refreshed my hanging baskets with new flowers.  This one is full of Cosmos.  I can't get enough of these over the Summer.

And this one is full of Marigold and Ultra Blue Petunias.

I've never had Vinca in the garden before.  I decided to buy some to add more color to the front porch.  I understand they have a long bloom time and endure the heat very well.

Potted up some Marigold.

Beard Tongue or Penstemon is a must have for me.  

This is a new color called Red Riding Hood.  It's quite pretty.

Agastache.  It smells so good!

Yes - More Cosmos.

This Love in a Mist flower has begun to bloom.  It's part of the wildflower collection of seeds I scattered earlier this year.

Ultra Blue Petunias.  What can I say.  I love Petunias.  I had lots of them this year.  Only problem is the earwigs love to munch on them.  Notice the holes.  What can I do?  I will still have my Petunias even if I have to share them with the garden bugs.

Black Petunia.  I am quickly falling in love with black plants!  If I had the space I would have a whole section devoted entirely to just black flowers and plants.  For now, I will be happy with just one pot of these.  And by the way, I've noticed the earwigs do not seem to care for them very much.

Even more Cosmos!

I always have a pot or two... or three... (or four... haha) around the house.  Of all the Lavenders, English Lavender is my favorite.

Lovely Bishop's flower is blooming -- more flowers sprouted from the mixed seed pack.

Bachelor's Buttons aka Cornflower

And here is the lovely Moonflower vine, nicely climbing up the trellis.  Looks like it's reached the top and is heading for my dwarf lemon tree.

Painted Daisy

Spurred Snapdragon left and Coreopsis, Plains Red on the right

Yes - I know --- Cosmos!

My Foxgloves are still putting up spikes.  I actually clipped the middle spike on most of them and now they are putting out some very nice side shoots.  This is fine with me... I could look at Foxgloves all year long!

My potted Fuchsia is blooming.

Delphinium seems to be having a second wind after I pruned it.

And here is my herb bed.  Looks like the Valerian (Garden Heliotrope) is about done flowering.  I hope it sets seed and new ones come up.  The Pineapple Sage is flowering and the Chamomile is also starting to make flowers.  I also noticed a tiny bud on the Feverfew.  I hope it flowers soon.  I'm excited to see it.  Also in this bed is Lemon Balm which has tripled in size.  I have a large volunteer Lovage, St. John's Wort, Thyme, Sage and there is also some Parsley which is seeding itself, Cilantro and Dill (although the Cilantro and Dill did not get very big).  I planted those before the sun shifted and they were in quite a bit of shade.  Now that the sun is hitting the bed for longer periods of time, perhaps some volunteers will shoot up from the old ones.

My Autumn Fern is taking over the corner of the side garden.

I'm not sure what this purple flower is...  

I'm guessing it's part of the wildflower seeds, but I can't figure out what it is.  

My lovely Nicotiana is doing great here under the roses.

These Passionate Kisses Roses are so big and full of blooms right now.  

It's the best I've seen it bloom yet!

Passionate Kisses and Sparkle and Shine

And here is the front of the house and the front porch... if you can even see the front porch!

I should also note that this weekend I planted some Green Goddess Calla Lily tubers that I purchased from bloomingbulbs.com  I put 2 in this large pot and one in the ground.  I have lots of the regular traditional large white Calla's that bloom like crazy early in the year, but I've never had the Green Goddess variety.  I saw them for the first time in person at Descanso Gardens and fell in love.  Let's see if they come up for me.  I'll be so excited if they do!

I will close with this volunteer Black Pansy that mysteriously showed up with a pot of Pansies that I have since earlier this year.  They continue to bloom and bloom.