08 Winter - Violas

I photographed this viola last winter in the little garden above my "outdoor office" at the top right of the staircase.

Soon after Phil and I moved into the house, we bought several violas to spruce up the muddy hillside we found ourselves staring at once we'd torn out the Scotch broom, strangle vine and blackberry covering the backyard.

We were happy to discover the violas readily reseed themselves and even crossbreed with one another to produce wonderful variations of the plants we've purchased once or twice a year from local nurseries.

08 May - Hybrid Asiatic Poppy

Last weekend, this hybrid Asiatic poppy bloomed, its flower as large as your hands cupped together to catch water.

We planted this one and three others two years ago and assumed they had died when there was no sign of them last fall.

But early this year, all four were back, this one the first to bloom.

080525 - Aubergine Hollyhock

The heatwave we had two weeks ago seems like it was a year ago now that San Francisco is cool and foggy again.

The summer plants apparently still remember, though, especially the hollyhocks, which are surpassing six feet tall. This one is already in full bloom and is one of my favorites. The flowers are as large as the palm of your hand.

080527 - Blue Himalayan Poppy

This morning we woke up to find this blue Himalayan poppy in bloom.

It is about two years old and has looked sickly much of the time, so Phil and I were really surprised when it suddenly started growing this spring.

A month or so ago, just when it was looking robust for the first time, a heavy construction board squashed it for more than a day before I discovered the disaster. I was sure I'd finally killed it.

But even with several leaves permanently folded akimbo like bad origami, it not only continued to grow but soon had several flower buds.

This is the first to bloom.

08 Spring - Pink-and-White Ranunculus

We had a terrific heatwave last week, when the daytime temperatures in San Francisco reached into the nineties and the nights barely cooled off.

Our spring plants, especially the ranunculus and anemones, obviously had a hard time and quickly gave up.

This pink-and-white ranunculus did rather well to the far right of the staircase, shaded for much of the day by the tree growing alongside the passion vine.

080511 - Waterfall

Here's a photograph of the waterfall taken yesterday.

Phil hasn't yet repaired the leak, but he's gotten the waterfall to work rather well for a short period of time.

As you can see, the snapdragons, naturtiums, succulents, Australian turf grass and lobelia are doing great.

Behind the garden hose are several sweet peas on the verge of blooming.

080511 - Cabbage Poppies and Sweet Peas

Here are two photographs I took today to show how much the sweet peas and cabbage poppies have grown in the front garden next to the garage doors.

As you can see, the sweet peas have now reached past the garage door and are closing in on the windows to the front room above.

Phil and I were delighted to see all three cabbage poppies had bloomed overnight. This plant is a little taller than me, while you can see at least one other is well over six feet tall.