This Is It

Lilac Vine

This has been a very disappointing year when it comes to spring flowers. I have thousands of California Poppy, Desert Bluebell and Desert Marigold plants, but as of today, I have one California Poppy and three Desert Bluebell flowers in bloom. There are also a few Desert Marigold flowers, as well as a couple of Parry's Penstemons blooming. It will soon be too late for these plants to put out blooms because our weather is quickly warming up. This is the worst year yet for wildflowers in my garden, but I'll still be left with the job of pulling up all the plants as they begin to dry up. Oh well, I've been spending a couple of hours each day pulling weeds, so what's a few thousand more?

My Lilac Vine is still blooming, but its little flowers are waning, so there won't be much color from now until the Palo Verde trees flower. The Bougainvillea, Orange Jubilee, Yellow Bells, Queen's Wreath and Cape Honeysuckle all suffered extensive damage during the hard freeze, so no color there until May or later.  My roses have really leafed out, but there is not one bud to be found so far. In six weeks the roses will be past their spring flowering prime, so I hope they hurry up!