080428 - Gardens

I took several photographs of the gardens today to show how much they've changed in just a month or so.

In the winter, when it rains every day, I find it hard to believe the muddy beds will give way to such beauty.

07 Spring - Seaside Hollyhock

In early winter, 2007, a little plant appeared at the top of the terraces to the left of the stairs.

I thought it was a weed and was ready to pluck it, but Phil stopped me, suspecting it was some sort of hollyhock.

So, we took care of it and watched it grow over ten feet tall. It burst into bloom in late winter and was stunning all the way through that summer, when sky-blue sweet peas climbed over it and went in bloom.

07 Summer - Upper Terraces

These are two photographs from early summer, 2007, when the poppies to the right of the staircase were putting on a show.

The sky-blue sweet peas climbing the fence at the top of the hill were amazing, too.

080413 - Mike and the Tower of Jewels

Here's me standing next to the Tower of Jewels in the fride (FRont sIDE) garden.

It's been sunny and hot the last two days, since the winds have been coming from the east.

This echium is over nine feet tall and rapidly went into bloom over the last two weeks.

07 Spring - Linaria

This linaria is from South Africa and thrives in San Francisco.

It looks very much like grass that sudden blooms at its tips.

Its common name in English is toadflax, because some of the plants resemble flax.

Phil and I later found other linaria in bicolor shades of yellow and red, but this one remains one of our favorites.

0706 - Pink and White Poppy

Here's a photograph of a pink-and-white poppy that bloomed in June, 2007.

The flower was as large as your hands cupped together to catch water, and the stock stood over five feet. Each cabbage poppy in the front yard produced a dozen or so flowers.

That fall, I let several flowers go to seed, then carefully collected and dried the pods. In early winter, I sprinkled hundreds of seeds in the garden bed behind and above the lemon tree.

I was amazed when poppies came up as thick as a lawn, and I was equally amazed when the birds ate every one of them in just a few days.

080406 - Phil Working On The Waterfall

I stayed inside for most of today to catch up on work, and took this photograph from Phil's bedroom window of him working on the waterfall.

He refoamed in place the sconce that had been damaged in a storm earlier this year, but says there's still a slow leak in a section about where he's standing. He thinks he's going to have to pull out the section and redo it completely before the waterfall runs correctly.

You can see how much the gardens have changed in just over a year by jumping to this post:

07 Late Winter - Gardens

070722 - Clarkia

I've recently given away clarkia seeds to friends, so here's another photograph of this rare and beautiful flower from Mendocino and Humboldt counties, for their reference.

To learn more about this flower and its care, please jump to this post:

06 Summer - Clarkia from Mendocino and Humboldt counties

080401 - Salmon Sweet Peas

Here is a photograph of the salmon winter sweet peas two weeks later. They've now grown past their trellis and onto string we've looped up the front of the house.

I'll make another video of the front gardens in a few weeks.

080401 - Forget-Me-Nots

In the winter, 2006, Phil seeded forget-me-nots under a tiny echium he planted in a spot that would become the top of the stairs.

A month or so later, I thought they were weeds and dutifully pulled them up.

Needless to say, Phil was disappointed. But the following winter, they returned on their own. And this year, we've had dozens of them pop up all over the gardens. I gave several away, transplanted others to pots in the front yard, and only recently resorted to throwing them out when there was nowhere else to move them.

We now joke these forget-me-nots at the top of the stairs are going to choke out the echium, which is well over six-feet tall and in bloom again.

080401 - White Ranunculus

This is the first ranunculus we planted in the winter, 2006, when much of the terraces to the left of the staircase were nothing more than an idea.

This ranunculus not only surprises us every year when it comes back, but it produces bouquets of flowers more impressive than the previous year's.