1011 - Delphiniums

Delphiniums remain one of my favorite flowers.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know by the preponderance of their images that I favor the deep purple ones.

The one featured in these photographs is the Pacific giant that has done very well at the base of the terraces in the backyard. This year, it was in bloom in mid-October, when I took these images; and, again, in late December, while we had a warm and sunny late fall.

I cut and brought indoors a few days before Christmas a flower stock from this plant almost three feet long.

In one of these photographs, you can see California primroses and the chimney bell flower fading as the nights grew longer and colder.

1011 - Coreopsis

A nursery off Ocean Beach in San Francisco offered this new coreopsis earlier this fall, and it has done very well at the top of the terraces.

I took this photograph in the middle of November. The plant is now covered in blooms and seems to enjoy our long, cool nights.

The flowers are about two inches across.

101123 - Cosmos

Between two days of winter rains and before a sudden drop in temperature more typical of our winter, I took these images of the cosmos I'd planted in one of the front gardens late last spring.

Three feet and taller, they have exceeded my expectations. I have cut and brought indoors dozens of flowers over the last several weeks.

I hope to have this sort of success next year, when I plan on seeding much of the front gardens with cosmos for an even greater display next fall.

1011 - Hollyhocks

As I'd hoped, the hollyhocks went into bloom throughout the gardens only a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

These photos show just a few of the plants in bloom in the fride (FRont sIDE), side and upper terrace gardens.

Last weekend, I harvested seeds from many of the plants and hope to have several more hollyhocks in the gardens in 2011.

101013 - Hollyhocks

The hollyhocks did rather well this summer, though there have certainly been more blooms in prior years.

As our fall warmed up, the plants sent up new growth, especially at the top of the terraces. I hope they bloom again before the winter rains come.

101013 - Lemon Blossoms

The lemon tree was covered in blossoms mid-October. It hasn't put out much fruit during our cool, foggy summer, but on warm, still nights, the blossoms smelled spectacular.

101013 - Chimney Bell Flower

This chimney bell flower was seeded by the spectacular one we planted two years ago. That one grew to twelve feet tall before it lay down over the garden.

This one reached about eight feet tall before the wind and rain sent it drooping over cacti and delphiniums in the nearby gardens.

It is now covered in blooms.

101013 - Hybrid Asiatic Poppy

About six inches across on a two-foot stem, this hybrid Asiatic poppy was the largest and most long lasting in the gardens this year.

The dismal summer stifled the others before they could bloom, though two managed to send up smaller flowers on delicate stems and looked very nice for several days.

101013 - Amaranth

Because the amaranth in past years grew quite massive, I only seeded one six pack this summer and transplanted the seedlings while it was still quite cool and foggy.

Despite the miserable summer, all did quite well.

I like this one because its flowers drape over a board like a crab's claws.

101013 - California Primrose

The California or desert evening primrose was a surprise.

It has thrived everywhere I transplanted it into the gardens, though it seems to prefer the base of the fountain, which overflows when we want to freshen its water.

101013 - Clarkia

A native to the West Coast and all of its varying climates, the clarkia was outstanding this year.

Over the last year or so, I managed to isolate a pale white with pink stripes and had these growing en masse at the base of the terraces to the right of the staircase.

101013 - Sweet Peas

The definite upside to such a dismal summer was the perpetual spring-like conditions the spring flowers thrive in. These sweet peas were planted in December, 2009 or so and are still in bloom in the fride (FRont sIDE) garden.

101013 - Cosmos

I know it's been three months since my last post.

The gardens were more than a little depressing from the middle of July or so until mid-September, while we experienced an especially cold, foggy and windy summer. It was like living a block off the Pacific Ocean, an area known in San Francisco for its brisk, foggy summers.

Then, starting in the second half of September, we suddenly had heat wave after heat wave, which brought very sunny days to our hill.

As I'd hoped would happen, the cosmos I planted in May or so to replace the cabbage poppies in the front garden suddenly grew three feet and went into bloom.

I think they will grow even taller and put on a great show all the way through New Year's Day.

100711 - Yellow Dahlia

I think it's because the buddleia has done so well beside the red dahlia this summer that that dahlia is not already six feet tall and covered in flowers.

The yellow dahlia is the first to bloom, its flowers as large as dinner plates.

100711 - Bachelor Button

In sunny spots throughout the gardens, I seeded bachelor buttons several times during late winter and spring.

Only one came up.

It is the first non-blue one Phil and I have seen in the gardens, so we're not completely disappointed.

A few weeks ago, I seeded one six pack with blue and another with non-blue. The seedlings are about an inch tall now. I hope to have better luck with these as we head into late summer and fall, typically the sunniest, hottest time in San Francisco.

100711 - Buddleia

The buddleia - or butterfly bush - is now about four years old. We're not sure if it's due to its maturity in the garden or to the heavy rains we had last winter, but the buddleia is the largest it has every been - about eight feet by eight feet - and is covered in flowers this summer.

In January or early February, I cut it down to four feet by four feet, as the experts recommend, since flowers only appear on new growth. Within a few weeks, I was surprised to see it already growing very quickly.

100711 - Terraces

Yesterday, I took a few hundred photographs of the terraces before cleaning up the beds and seeding cosmos for late summer through winter.