Drought tolerant

Okey Dokey, Artichokey

May 7, 2012

I was out for a Sunday morning bike ride around town yesterday with Mi Esposo and we passed a drought tolerant garden, with artichokes being the focal point. I love the silver and grey-green colors of the plants.  I’m going to have to remember to go by when they are blooming.  They will bloom as giant thistles, worth it for not harvesting!

Drought tolerant garden

 

Artichokes

Beautiful artichokes will become gigantic thistle if not harvested

I don’t have the room in my garden for growing something this size, but maybe in the future as I rearrange the garden.  They are quite the show stopper.

Tagged as: artichokes, Drought tolerant

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Pride of Madeira – Echium candicans

April 11, 2012

Echiums - aka Pride of Madeira - are in bloom now and the other morning I stopped to look and admire this clump that grows a few blocks from my house. The light lavender color is unusual. The close-ups of the flowers are beautiful, aren’t they? Echiums can be considered invasive because they are not native, get very large, and reseed pretty easily. They are pretty plants, but do need a lot of space to grow into. I had one in my front yard for a couple of years, but I finally removed it because it was a monster, and it made me itch every time I rubbed into it. Fortunately, I can enjoy it in other yards, and down by the waterfront where they grow prolifically.

Tagged as: Drought tolerant, echium, pride of madeira

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

March 2, 2012

Living in Southern California near the beach, I have sort of taken for granted the interesting selection weird plants that grow around us.  I was wandering through Balboa Park last month and came upon a giant yucca that was a classic Dr. Seuss shape and when I started looking around with that perspective it became obvious to me that I was looking at plants that must have been inspirational to Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss in his drawings for his famous books.   Look at these pictures.  Do you agree?

agave americana bloom

BTW, the book that made reading “click” for me was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Tagged as: cactus, Dr. Seuss, succulents

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That’s Not Very Lady-Like

January 31, 2012

I have Hairy Balls… …in my garden.   Actually, more precisely, it’s milkweed – Asclepias Physocarpus to be exact. I was shopping at the Navy Exchange garden shop and saw this plants but I recognized them for their white flowers.  I had one of these in my garden last year, having purchased it at the Master Gardener Spring [...]

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Agave americana

January 21, 2012

Here is another succulent putting on a great show now.  This is in my neighbor’s front yard and it’s been a work in progress for a few months.  It looked like a giant asparagus when the spike started reaching for the sky. This is what the flowers look like before they bloom.  This clump is known [...]

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Adventure Day

January 14, 2012

It was my birthday on Friday, so my friend, Amy, took me on an adventure day.  After taste-testing donuts (she fancies herself a connoisseur!) we were cruising along to our next destination when we spotted this colorful garden shop on a busy corner in North County. Located on the corner of Leucadia Blvd, just off Highway 5 to the west, Glorious [...]

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Chop, Chop

December 13, 2011

Last weekend I knew the rain was on its way, so the handwriting was on the wall.  Time to cut down the Red Fountain Grass.  It’s that time of year anyway, but a heavy rain would have the grass laying all over the ground and it would be a huge mess.  Sooooo, chop, chop. With [...]

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Lil Stinker

November 2, 2011

I was out in the back yard yesterday and kept getting a whiff of something stinky.  I looked around, thinking I was going to find a dead rat, but finally realized the smell was coming from up above in one of my hanging pots.  Surprise!  My little stapelia bloomed for the first time in five [...]

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A Cereus Tribute….

October 28, 2011

Always a nice surprise to find out in the garden! This night blooming cereus puts on a good show for about a month each year. From a distance….. and spectacular up close….. This  plant and its flower hold a special place in my heart.  A few year’s ago, I lost three friends in one year from breast cancer, [...]

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Succulent Stamina

October 13, 2011

I am constantly amazed at the lasting power of succulent cuttings. I made a design out of succulents that I entered into the Coronado Flower Show last April. The cuttings were placed in rust-colored sand and I never watered the design – ever. Fast forward to October and be amazed. Not quite as vibrant, probably [...]

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A Mediterranean Cruise….

July 21, 2011

Living in Southern California to coastal central California, we reside in the coveted 2% of total land mass on earth that shares this idyllic Mediterranean climate. All mediterranean climate areas in the world lie between about 30 degrees and 45 degrees of latitude, about halfway from the equator to the poles, and they are all [...]

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