Daylilies

Evan as a kid I recall enjoying the daylilies that grew along the roadsides in the northeast. I had a growing daylily bed when we lived in Colorado, and years before that I tried to grow some on our property in NC, but they were simply yummy dessert for the deer.  

I have a partially sunny bank in my garden that lost most of the plantings on it last winter. I decided to try some lilies. I looked online for local farms, but didn't see much that had much inventory. So I looked further afield. I stumbled on the website for Oakes Daylilies. I called and chatted about what type of lily might thrive in central Florida. The gal on the phone indicated that they have dormant and evergreen, or semi-evergreen varieties and anything that doesn't require a period of dormancy would grow in our area. 

I took a leap of faith and ordered some plants. I ordered three of each of the following: 

All Fired Up

Touched by Midas

Jungle Princess

I was also given 1 bonus lily. I don't know what it will be....and I'm thinking they don't either!

The lilies came in a box with some air holes. 

The plants come in fans, with anywhere from 3-5 blades. 

A few of them were bundles of two fans, perhaps one with 2 blades and one with three.

Each fan had a nice label identifying the plant. I appreciate the the labels also specified the 

average height of the plant/flower spike (?).

Before the plant's arrival I raked the mulch and oak leaves off the hillside, and dug 10 holes. 

Once the plants arrives they were planted with peat moss to amend the soil,

and were thoroughly watered. A few of the bundled fans were separated (if they were not 

entwined), giving me a few extra plants. I will replace the mulch after I know that all of 

the newly planted bundles are settled in their new homes. (sounds like a reasonable excuse, right?!)

The plants should begin to grow with 2-3 weeks. I know I can'd hold my breath that long,

but I am anxious to see the end results of my investments (time and money). 

Wonders on my Walk

 It is less than half a mile from my condo to the kids' house. I have to cross two fairly busy streets (Alcatraz Ave and Telegraph Ave), but believe it or not, California drivers are really tuned in to giving pedestrians the right of way. Besides the two streets, the rest of the route I follow is in nice residential neighborhoods, with many pretty houses and lovely plantings. 

It's easy to get distracted on the way....

No matter what time of year I come,

there is always something blooming

that brings a smile to my face

and brightens my day.

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

I arrived in Oakland on Saturday, grabbed my bike and made the trek (.7 mile) up to College Avenue (in Berkeley) to pick up a few things to sustain my soul - well, at least my body - over the next few days.

Our first home-away-from-home was on a steep hill. We wanted to have bikes, but knew we couldn't get up the hill with any regular bike. We bought electric pedal-assist bikes. I love the ease of negotiating hills, even though we no longer have such a steep hill to climb. This is my go-to transportation when I am in California. There are many bike avenues and bike-friendly streets around me and I can get to just about any store/venue. 

The shopping area on College offers one-stop shopping at a Safeway....

but just across the street there is an amazing butcher shop:

A French bakery: 

(There's also an amazing bagel shop just a block away-

but they were closed by the time I got there.)

A grocer from out of the past:

A Vintner:

And a flower shop...

again, out of the past!

Just walking by makes me smile.

You can pick and choose and they will put together a custom bouquet for you. 

Such pretty and unusual cut flowers:

My panniers were loaded and it was time to head back to the condo,

stopping to see the kids and have dinner along the way. 

I Will Survive

 I had a nice spot next in the front of my house that just begged for a garden...so I thought. 

It faces SW, and is framed by the wall of the garage and the front of our home. The area is behind the variegated Liriope, lined by the landscape hedge - don't ask me what it is, I can never remember! This area is blazingly hot. It still begs for a garden...but maybe I need to rethink the sort of plants that would love to live there! 

One would think I had taken pictures of my garden area. But, alas, I did not. 

I planted a variety of flowers; some mums left over from last fall, a few gaillardia I picked up somewhere. I had some lovely snap dragons early on, but they finally succumbed to old age and the heat. There were a few others I tried that managed to survive...some others that didn't care for their location. For example, I adore Dahlias. Of course I planted some. Dahlias don't care for afternoon heat. (But, a few have begun to grow again as the heat recedes. I'll have to see how they fare!)

I also planted Zinnias. I love Zinnias. I picked up a packet of seeds early on and spread their seeds and waited.

I picked up another packet of seeds and waited.

My wait was rewarded with a few Zinnia plants. Nothing with glorious blooms. But Zinnias they were! They have blessed me with a flowers from mid summer....and they still stumble on, despite being leggy and displaying burned-out lower leaves with the others looking rather moth eaten and ragged.

I went to deadhead flowers a few days ago. Look what I found! Did you see it? At the base of "mama"?!

Here's another:

....and more:

 

Mama (and papa) Zinnia ought to be proud! 

They will live on!

Secret Path

 I happened upon a secret path while walking the dogs near a campground in Bellevue, WA. Well, maybe it wasn't that much of a secret... but it is was an interesting transition from an urban campground next to I-90 to a neighborhood above the hubbub and noise with lovely, lush plantings. I almost felt like we had entered a different universe - perhaps Narnia of the Northeast!

Beauty can be found... 

Even in a concrete jungle!

April Showers Bring...

Saturday afternoon was just beautiful. I went out to weed, and transplant a few perennials, and was hijacked by a dwarf iris. My only purple iris (at least for now... stay tuned for an iris post later this spring!) was blooming. 

It was lovely. 

I took a few pictures of it, and Mr. Dreamy came out to take a few more pictures. I took pictures of a few tulips and daffodils. 

They were all lovely. 

I decided that I wanted to draw the iris, since that is one of the flowers that we drew in a recent online art class I've been taking. I've drawn iris from pictures, but never "in person". So, I gathered my paper and pencil and plopped myself down on the edge of the garden and began to sketch. Mr. Dreamy came out with my bag of colored pencils. I colored. 

It was a lovely afternoon.

Yup, the weeds will just have to wait!

A Rose by Any Other Name

You could smell the roses long before you could see them.

Roses at the Shore Acres Gardens

near Coos Bay, OR

Grandiflora

Wild Blue Yonder

Floribunda

Easy Does It

Grandiflora

Dick Clark

Floribunda

Rainbow Sorbet

Hybrid Tea

Love & Peace

Floribunda

Hot Cocoa

Floribunda

Amber Queen

Grandiflora

Tournament of Roses

Source: http://shoreacres.net/#

The roses are one small part of the gardens owned and developed by ship builder and lumberman Louis Simpson. He imported many plants to take advantage of the moist, temperate climate of the area. In the aerial photo above, the roses are on the left. The original house burned down in 1921. The gardens pride themselves on always having something in flower. While we were visiting the square gardens in the center picture were filled with masses of Dahlias…. all different! Wow! Such beauty!