130302 - Love-in-the-Mist

White love-in-the-mist has become one of my favorite flowers.

120613 - Snapdragons

We have never had in the gardens such an amazing display of snapdragons, which typically fade after their first round of blooms.

This year, the flowers continue to grow larger and rebloom.

110131 - Flower Arrangement

The mud season is ending in San Francisco, as the rains give way to several warm, sunny days in a row.

The giant hyacinths are now charging out of the ground, while bachelor buttons and love-in-the-mist that overwintered in our mild climate come into bloom. The roses that Phil and I routinely ignore have paid us back with fantastic blooms.

Today, I cut and brought indoors these flowers to create an arrangement for Phil's sister, who lives in a state buried in snow for much of the winter.

10 Spring - California Primrose

Our friend Richard Knight had accumulated a great selection of books, and his widow, Judith, recently gave us several from their library.

I looked through one on flowers and was happy it confirmed the flower I had been calling a California primrose is indeed an evening primrose that thrives in Northern California.

Over the last few weeks, I took several photographs of it in bloom with canterbury bells, delphiniums and love-in-the-mist.

100427 - Love-in-the-Mist and Ranunculus

I took these photographs today after the rain suddenly stopped.

I like how pretty the red ranunculus looks next to the love-in-the-mist.

And I was surprised how large this particular love-in-the-mist has become. Most are only an inch or so wide.

091231 - Canterbury Bell

This photograph was taken in the new garden just to the top, left of the staircase.

Here you can see a canterbury bell I started from seed in March, 2009. It is surrounded by love-in-the-mist and a mullien promised by the nursery where we bought it to grow to five feet and be covered in yellow flowers.

09 November - Love-in-the-Mist

I took this photograph in late November, when this love-in-the-mist first bloomed. It is now covered with flowers, and a second plant a few feet away has also bloomed. They add some nice color to the gardens, as we head into winter.

Today, just before it started to rain, I weeded much of the gardens and planted 100 giant hyacinths, 200 anemones and 60 ranunculus. Last year, the candy tufts were certainly spectacular, but I suspect they killed off most of the anemones and ranunculus, which didn't get enough sunlight under the larger plants.

Last weekend, I seeded cabbage poppies at the top of the hill to the left of the staircase. I hope they do well this coming year - I think our past summer was too cool and foggy for them.

09 Summer - White Love-in-the-Mist

The love-in-the-mist were spectacular this year. Just one plant from last year provided enough seeds to scatter several dozen love-in-the-mists across the backyard. Most of the larger plants came up as seedlings in November and December, 2008, and bloomed in early summer.

I found only two with white flowers, both plants smaller than the others and blooming several weeks after most had started to go to seed.

090622 - Love in the Mist

Here are three photographs from yesterday of one of my new favorite flowers. I purchased one plant from a nursery last year, and it readily reseeded all over the backyard.

080727 - Love-in-the-Mist

We planted this annual earlier this summer.

It grew to about two feet tall by eighteen inches wide, with bluish-white balls the size of gum balls appearing on its tips after several weeks.

Then, over the last few days, the balls opened up into flowers, which turned dark blue as they expanded to their full size of about two-inches wide.

They are one of the most unique flowers in the garden and deal so well with the ocean winds that I'm hoping the plant readily reseeds itself for next summer.