It's been the best bloomin' year ever! Por que?!

3/31/12 Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus). A riparianish shrub in the rose family with distinctive layered bark and lovely white flowers in the spring. This one's growing under the shade of a sycamore. First time it's flowered since I planted it in 2010.

We had some weird weather here in SoCal this past winter season: a bit of rain in fall, no rain at all from December  to January, cold days followed by hot days followed by cold days followed by hot days, then there were a couple of really good downpours in March & April. What the freakin' frack? Anyhoo, I was bracing myself for a disappointing season in the garden, native and otherwise, but au contraire!! I've never seen so many blooms and so early, too. Most of our fruit trees are laden with flowers and/or fruit, especially the apricots, peaches, nectarines, pluots, Dorsett Golden apple, mulberries, champagne loquat, Arbequina olive, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, avocados, and the wine & table grapes. And, I'm not sure what's up with the natives -  the manzanitas, salvias, and ceanothus have been extremely floriferous this year. So thank you Mutha Nature, even if I don't always quite get ya...

3/31/12 Ceanothus 'Concha.' Like the Ninebark, first time it's flowered since its original planting a couple years ago.

3/16/12 'Sierra Star.' A Calliandra hybrid I bought at the RSABG fall sale last November. What a stunner! Like all Calliandras, super drought tolerant and ever-blooming almost year round.

3/16/12 White Desert Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) in the desert garden. This super fragrant desert primrose is growing in sandy/gravelly soil, amended with cactus soil mix. Seems like a short-lived perennial, but several little offshoots are appearing next to the mother plant. 

2/27/12 Pink-flowered Currant (Ribes Sanguineum glutinosum). A reliable late winter/early spring bloomer. Likes some shade and moderate water, and is winter deciduous. This one is growing on the shadier side of our house just outside the laundry room. So far, it's not been phased yet by the periodic blasts of warm, Bounce-scented air emanating from the dryer vent.

2/27/12 Beautiful Rockcress (Arabis pulchra gracilis). A rock garden plant that needs good drainage. I'm not sure why I put it in the meadow planter, but it seems to be doing ok so far with the occasional extra H2O.

3/16/12 Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum). Native to our South Coast ranges. Love the fuzzy purple cuteness of the blooms. Just sayin.' This was one of the first natives (purchased from the nursery at Theodore Payne) I planted on the property in 2006.

3/16/12 'Allen Chickering' Sage (Salvia clevelandii x S. leucophylla). 

3/16/12 Yellow Rockrose (Halymium calycinum). A drought tolerant mediterranean shrub, purchased at the 2010 fall plant sale at U.C. Riverside Botanic Garden. 

3/16/12 Chaparral Mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus). The blooms look so sweet, but this sprawling bush is now bent over and looking unruly after some strong winds and our recent rain storms.

3/16/12 Nevin's Barberry (Mahonia nevinii). A Southern California endemic, this shrub is state and federally listed. My Nevin's is a bit slow growing - I bought it in Oct. of 2007 at the UCR fall plant sale and it's only grown to about 3' tall. But, it's studded with flowers this year. Go figure.

3/30/12 Sticky Phacelia (Phacelia viscida). A gorgeous Cal native annual. Purchased from Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA. 

3/30/12 Seep Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus). From seeds sown in November of 2011.

3/16/12 'Blue Springs' Foothill Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus).

3/30/12 Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis). Wasn't sure if the Redbuds would bloom this year with our erratic winter temps, but here they are in their full pink splendor.

4/14/12 Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis), leafing out.

3/31/12 A foggy day, but the rockroses are in full bloom, along with the San Gabriel Fremontodendron to the left.

4/11/12 Otay Mountain Lotus (Lotus crassifolius var. otayensis). Native to Otay Mountain in San Diego County. Grew this one from seed. Best to  scarify, i.e., loosen or break up, the seed hard seed coat before planting. I do this by soaking the seeds in warmish tap water overnight.

4/11/12 Red-skinned onion (Allium haematochiton). This allium is native to to SoCal, including the Santa Rosa Plateau. Seems to grow well here in our decomposed granite. Red-skinned refers to the covering around the bulbs. 

4/14/12 Left to right: 'Dara's Gold' Fremontia, 'Cynthia Postan' Ceanothus, Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina,' Blanket flower, Interior Goldenbush, Howard McMinn Manzanita.

4/14/12 'Frosty Blue' Ceanothus.

4/14/12 Clockwise from bottom left: Margarita BOP penstemon, Conejo Monkeyflower, Rockroses, 'San Gabriel' Fremontodentron, 'Canyon Prince' Giant Wild Rye (Leymus condensatus).

4/14/12 Sidalcea malviflora 'Palustre.' A garden selection of our native checkerbloom.

4/14/12 Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii). One of my fav native annual wildflowers. Sown from seed.

4/12/12 Meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii). Sown from seed.

4/14/12 Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla). Another beautiful Cal native wildflower.

4/14/12 'Santa Rosa' Alumroot (Heuchera hirsutissima).

4/14/12 Wallace's Pitcher Sage (Lepechinia fragrans). Native to Southern California's coastal mountains. This pitcher sage has done well on the property with good drainage, a little shade and occasional watering. The scent of this plant is to die for if you're a chaparral fanatic, like me.

4/14/12 Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis).

4/14/12 Woolley Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum), Prickly Phlox (Leptodactylon californicum), and Showy Penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis). 

4/14/12 San Diego Sunflower (Viguiera laciniata) and Paradise Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos pajaroensis), with their trademark spring flush of reddish-hued new leaves.

4/14/12 'Mountain Haze' Ceanothus and 'Anacapa Pink' Island Morning Glory (Calystegia macrostegia).

4/14/12 Blue Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) in full bloom and Desert Wild Grape (Vitis girdiana) along the fence.

And, of course, I can't omit some of our recent avian visitors:

4/8/12 One of our first Hooded Orioles this year. Put out the oriole feeder stat after I saw a couple of them perched precariously on the hummingbird feeders in early April. Ratio of water to sugar for orioles is 1:6. Hummers like it 1:4, and I use that for all the nectar feeders. The orioles aren't complaining.

3/2/12 A covey of California Quail, dining on the bird seed under one of our bird feeders. 

3/30/12 A plucky boy Quail.

3/30/12 Scrub Jay .

3/29/12 Mallards at the pond. I think they're the same pair that flies in every afternoon. I named them Donald & Ivana . Yeah, I know, they're exes in real life, but Donald & Daisy just seemed kinda boring...

3/30/12 Donald & Ivana, strutting their stuff. Donald has a tell-tale feather sticking up from his back - kinda like the human Donald's signature unruly hairdo. 

3/30/12 Ivana, fluffing her feathers. 

And then there's Maybelline. Maybelline is not a bird, but rather a baby bunny that used to regularly visit our back patio from late March up until about a week ago. Why Maybelline? Well, when we first moved out here to La Cresta, we saw a bunny every morning at the corner of Calle Centro and Avenida La Cresta on our way to work, and we named 'her' Mabel. So it seemed natural to dub this little one 'Maybelline.' Of course, my sis just had to ask if we we were planning to name other future visiting bunnies Revlon, Almay and Cover Girl...

I haven't seen Maybelline for about a week now - hope Mountain Bob didn't get her and that she's living the good life with Mabel up in the highlands. 

3/30/12 Maybelline browsing on Spanish Lavender. Yuck.

3/30/12 Maybelline.

4/5/12 Maybelline eating bird seed.

Ceanothus Extravaganza

The Ceanothus are just exploding with blooms right now, and I'm not sure why. You'd think the lack of rain this winter would be a deterrent, but NOOOOO. What's up with that? First it was the phenomenal (though short-lived) blooms of the manzanitas, and now the Ceanothus are going to town. Moral of the story is, don't question, just enjoy...

2/7/12 'Valley Violet' Ceanothus (Ceanothus maritimus), growing next to 'Pigeon Point' dwarf coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis pilularis). At 1-2' H x 2-3' W, Valley Violet would work well in a smaller garden space. This one's growing next the the driveway in front of the garage. 

2/7/12 Ceanothus 'Concha' (hybrid of C. impressus x papillosus var. roweanus). One of the oldest, most reliable and popular of Ceanothus hybrids. 

2/7/12 'Remote Blue' Ceanothus. Hybrid of C. leucodermis x griseus.

2/7/12 'Ebbet's Field' Ceanothus (Native Sons Nursery introduction).

2/7/12 Wart-Stemmed Ceanothus (Ceanothus verrucosis). Not seeing any warts...

2/7/12 Otay Ceanothus (Ceanothus otayensis). Native to Otay Mountain in San Diego County. Got this one at last fall's RSABG native plant sale, although it seemed pretty bedraggled at the time. I bought it cuz it was the last one there and, sheesh, I really, really wanted - no, NEEDED to get one of these guys. Looks recovered now.

2/7/12 'Julia Phelps' Ceanothus (aka, Small Leaf Mountain Lilac). Hybrid of C. impressus x papillosus. An introduction from the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation. 

2/7/12 'Sierra Snow' Ceanothus. Ok, not many flowers, but at least it's flowering (last year, not even one piddly bloom). 

2/7/12 Hoary-leaved Ceanothus (Ceanothus crassifolius). This one's native to our property. Well, what kind of name is Hoary-leaved? What does Hoary mean? Sounds like a floozy.

2/7/12 'Ray Hartman' Ceanothus (C. arboreus x griseus). Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden intro.

2/12/12 'Dark Star' Ceanothus next to the driveway and propane tank. KABOOM! Just kidding...Ceanothus are nowhere near as flammable as, say, greasewood (and, it's at the prescribed 10' distance from the tank).

2/12/12 Hairy Leaf Ceanothus (Ceanothus oliganthus oliganthus) next to Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens). Here we go again. What an ugly common name. Whyfore? Not hairy at all, as far as I can tell. Las Pilitas nursery's website has some pretty funny commentary on a few of the ridiculously unflattering common names of Ceanothus http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/ceanothus-oliganthus-oliganthus. 

2/12/12 'Joyce Coulter' Ceanothus. 

2/12/12 'Snow Flurry' Ceanothus (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus). Tons and tons of flower buds on the verge of blooming but not quite yet there. You get the picture.

Several other ceanothus (ceanothuses, ceanothi?) are just starting to bud (Blue Jeans, Skylark, Wheeler Canyon, Mountain Haze and Frosty Blue). I'll be adding pics of their blooms (when they're actually in bloom) later on to this post. And, last but not least, here a few other natives that are defying our winter drought:

2/7/12 California Peony (Paeonia californica). Native to our site.

2/7/12 California Peony (Paeonia californica).

2/7/12 White Chaparral Currant (Ribes indecorum).

2/7/12 'Howard McMinn' Manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora). One of the most adaptable and dependable of manzanitas in the gardenscape. They seem to do fine with some irrigation, but are also quite drought tolerant. This one's growing on a slope next to our citrus grove away from the drip lines. 

2/7/12 'Anacapa Pink' Island Morning Glory (Calystegia macrostegia).

2/7/12 San Diego Sunflower (Viguiera laciniata).

2/7/12 'Mrs. Beard' Creeping Sage (Salvia sonomensis). Hybrid selection of S. mellifera and S. sonomensis. 

2/12/12 Western Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum) that I had given up for dead last year, resprouting after some extra irrigation in one of the planter beds. YES!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that these montane beauties will take to our warmer, lower elevation climes here in Murrieta.