Can't believe it's been over a year since my last post on this blog, but time flies, well, when time flies. Much has transpired since then, including a freak, rare winter snow storm here in La Cresta on New Year's Eve (12/31/14) which blanketed our property with over a foot of snow, snapped tree limbs to and fro, and knocked out our electricity for 3 days. And then, of course, there was the much anticipated, lauded, and publicized prospect of a Super Godzilla El Nino this winter which never really materialized here in Southern California. I was seriously perturbed and disappointed. BUT, despite the relative lack of precip, a lot of the natives and even fruit trees (plums, pluots, citrus, apricots, peaches, nectarines, olives) on the property bloomed prodigiously and prolifically, albeit rather early. Here we go:
2/29/16 Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis) along the pathway to the front entry
5/15/16 Seed pods on the Western Redbud after flowering
5/15/16 Western Redbuds along the pathway to the front entry, between 'Harmony' and
'Sunset' manzanitas
3/14/16 Desert Canterbury Bells (Phacelia campanularia), an annual growing in decomposed
granite outside of the herb garden
3/14/16 Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons) in a raised bed
2/29/16 Hairy-leaf Ceanothus (Ceanothus oliganthus oliganthus) growing behind a clump
of Deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
2/29/16 'Ebbett's Field' Ceanothus (a Native Sons Nursery intro) growing
next to a 'San Gabriel' Fremontodendron off the driveway
5/15/16 Blue Flax (Linum lewisii)
5/15/16 'Dana Point' Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum). 1985 selection (Tree of Life Nursery) from Dana Point, Orange County
5/15/16 'Trish' Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus cultivar)
5/15/16 Foreground, clockwise: White Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), Southern California/Desert Wild Grape (Vitis girdiana), California Goldenrod (Solidago californica), Chaparral Mallow (Malacothamnos fasciculatus), 'Burgundy' Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis), Wild Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum)
5/15/16 'Burgundy' Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
5/15/16 San Diego Pitcher Sage/Gander's Pitcher Sage (Lepechinia ganderi)
5/14/16 San Diego Pitcher's Sage
5/15/16 Wild Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum). This bunch is native to the property.
They reseeded themselves in one of my native flower beds and I let them go to town.
Total butterfly magnets!
They reseeded themselves in one of my native flower beds and I let them go to town.
Total butterfly magnets!
5/14/16 Seep Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) and Stream Orchid (Epipactus gigantea) growing together in a wine barrel. To the right, 'Golden' form Scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis),
from Santa Cruz Island
5/14/16 Stream Orchid (Epipactus gigantea), a tried and true perennial growing in a
half wine barrel in my herb garden
5/14/16 Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii)
5/14/16 'Devon Skies' Blue-eyed Grass to the left, and species form of Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchum bellum) to the right, growing in a mini rock garden in my herb garden
with violas, pansies, and anemones
5/14/16 Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa). I planted this one bare root
about 3 years ago, and this is the first time it's flowered
5/14/16 'Canyon Prince' Wild Rye (Leymus condensatus)
5/14/16 Cream Cups (Calystemon californicus)
5/14/16 Wind Poppy (Stylomecon heterophylla)
5/14/16 Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria californica). This little lovely (from Fuller Mill Creek
in the San Jacintos) has done well in the shadier parts of the herb garden
5/14/16 Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) in full bloom in the desert garden
5/14/16 'Desert Museum' Palo Verde
5/14/16 Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa)
5/14/16 Rush Milkweed/Desert Milkweed (Asclepias subulata)
5/14/16 Rush Milkweed/Desert Milkweed
5/14/16 White Bursage (Ambrosia dumosa)
5/14/16 Azalea-flowered Diplacus (Diplacus fasciculatus)
5/14/16 Figueroa Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla)
5/14/16 Golden Yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum). These beauties are native to the property
5/14/16 Creambush/Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor)
5/14/16 Indian Valley Bushmallow (Malacothamnus aboriginum)
5/14/16 Carmel Valley Bushmallow (Malacothamnus palmeri var. involucratus)
5/14/16 Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens)
5/14/16 Showy Penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis)
5/14/16 'Warriner Lytle' Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
5/14/16 'White Cloud' Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)
5/14/16 'White Cloud' Matilija Poppy
5/14/16 'Winifred Gilman' Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii)
5/14/16 Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum)
5/14/16 Yerba Buena (Satureja douglasii), growing under the shade of Rosa californica on the
north side of the house
