My garden is in full bloom right now and this will continue until about May 1, when the heat will take car of all the wildflowers. The Bush Morning Glory shrubs (Convolvulus cneorum) have opened their flowers. They are among the very few white flowers I have in my garden.
My garden, considered a xeriscape, uses drought tolerant plants with very low water needs. Many varieties in my garden need only rainfall. The rest need some supplemental water, mostly in summer. My irrigation/emitter system is off from early November until mid-March. This causes trees to be slower growing, which resulting in fewer trimmings. Plants will now begin to receive water about once a month until May, and then from May to September, about twice a month. When we have long periods of heat above 107ยบ F, I’ll up the water frequency to every seven to ten days.
Parry's Penstemon (Penstemon parryi) in various colors is in full bloom, and the Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) has just started. All my Penstemon plants are volunteers from a couple of original plants when I started my garden. There are thousands growing all over, mostly in unwanted areas.
California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and Desert Bluebells (Phacelia campanularia) growing on a slope in my garden. On the right is a Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia santa-rita).
Bougainvillea 'Barbara Karst' is totally loaded with fresh bracts. I have two of these in my front yard.
This is in a portion of my front yard. I am the only one in the neighborhood with wildflowers. I hope the neighbors understand. Before wildflowers bloom they look like weeds, so I crossed my fingers and hoped the neighbors wouldn't report me as a yard slacker before the Desert Bluebells bloomed.
The Feathery Cassia (Senna artemisioides) is so loaded with flowers that it had to be staked and tied to keep it from falling over. The scent is wonderful!
One last view of a portion of my garden. All the green on the ground to the left are thousands of Penstemon seedlings. These will have to go.
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
~ Margaret Atwood
17 comments:
Your garden looks lovely, bathed in colours of spring. I especially like the landscaping which you have done with all the desert plants and the wildflowers provide a special touch.
Best Wishes
Simply gorgeous!!!!!
What wonderful photos! Your yard is just glorious. And I heartily agree with the quote at the end of your post...may I borrow it?
:)
Ginni, Feel free to use it. I thought it was a perfect post for this time of year!
Glorious glorious....I can't decide which I like better, that sea of bluebells, or the wonderful delicate white morning glories against the opuntia. Do the Phacelia go dormant after flowering? They don't like what passes for hot heat here, but they do well in late spring for me.
Ich bin begeistert... I hardly find words in english to show my enthusiasm about your garden. What you call weeone can buy here in seed packets as summer flowers. It´s so lovely. Please show more photos of this sumptuousness of all these luminous desert wildflowers.
Stunning!! I love the color of the
Parry's Penstemon.
I love that blue...
No, it' s not true??? This is your garden now in March??? Incredible, wonderful, beautiful!!! Now, I understand por example, why the silver Convulvus don' t bloom in my garden. Please more garden pictures I ' m addicted to it!
Have a good week Wurzerl
Beautiful, Aiyana! Just beautiful!!! You live in heaven, I do believe!
I love the desert in Spring. Your flowers are beautiful. I remember being awakened to the beauty of wildflowers one year when I drove from California to Utah and the desert was awash in color from the wildflowers in bloom. Your pictures clearly capture that.
what a gorgeous garden!
West Bremerton florist
It was great to see the last photograph of your garden ... it is simply superb. The Californian Poppy combined with the Desert Blebells are spectacular. I imagine your neighbours must enjoy the
Your Bougainvillea - you must smile when you see my efforts to keep alive a spindly few branches when you have this incredible speciment growing. It is incredibly beautiful.
Beautiful garden ! What lovely flowers !
Paule
I have been hiking in the McDowells to view the wildflowers, and pulling weeds in this rental yard meantimes.
I've found a few desert wildflowers struggling to keep a hold in suburbia - fiddleneck, popcorn plant, bluebells, and desert mallow in the backyard.
I'm sure my neighbors think I'm nuts, I've been selectively weeding the front yard, watching as things come up. I'm hoping to harvest seed and plant that in places tailored to look intentional!
Hey, do those seedlings transplant at all?
If you're interested in giving some away, email me at hogglebog -- gmail.
Thanks!
Wooow, all these wonderful lush colours in your garden! Just beautiful.
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