12. June 2017

Today's vase was made up in a glass for a refreshing afternoon. From one side...

07. June 2017

Summer has certainly arrived. Although seasons move from one to the next fairly seamlessly here - there being no sudden frost in autumn or melting snow in spring - and though many plants bloom off and on throughout the year, the summer borders display their own special selection of bloom. Just now the spires of Perovskia are asserting themselves at the back of the South Border. This is by far the best they have looked so far. Perhaps my changes in watering have helped, or perhaps it simply...

30. May 2017

Today's vase is a potpourri of flavors from the end of May. Herbs, miniature roses, seedpods, and even chrysanthemums and one very small sunflower found their way into the mix. As did the first plume from Pennisetum setaceum rubrum and the first small spire from Perovskia.

28. April 2017

April has been cool, warm, cool. We are probably within a week or so of summer's entrance; yet over the past week the winds have been rushing across the desert, apparently signalling the changing season, only to blow in still cooler temperatures this evening. Although it has been very dry, it has not yet turned really hot. More than ever, the garden is a mix of cool season and warm season bloom at the end of April. And above all, it has been the month of roses.

26. April 2017

And here is the South Border at the end of April. The highlights of the border now are the miniature roses.

24. April 2017

It is time for roses here. High time to display a big confection of them in a Monday Vase. There is St. Swithun...

18. April 2017

As this week's Tuesday View comes along, I decided to share views from around the garden. First, the usual view down the South Border. Looking a little lean now as the early and mid-spring flowers are gone, it is transitioning toward summer with miniature roses coming into bloom while Catharanthus roseus, the mainstay of flower color during summer, is growing out but not yet blooming. What I have not shown is the first few flowers from sweet peas, tucked into the back of the border. I'm not...

12. April 2017

The South Border is showing the season more clearly now. It is late spring here; the last few bulbs are in bloom. These are African species planted spottily as the border developed, but coming back faithfully, and deserving their place in the limelight, as well as a more organized planting! There is Ornithogalum arabicum, a little scanty on bloom this year but so pretty and generally flowering just around Easter...

10. April 2017

As the roses begin to bloom, the season tips perceptibly in the direction of summer. But the heat has not yet arrived, so I am still picking handfuls of Calendula, trying to make the most of their wonderful bright colors and the abandon with which they are flowering. As well, there is sweet broom (Cytisus x spachianus) to slip into a vase, bringing its lovely scent indoors.

01. April 2017

March has departed in a highly leonine fashion here, with a roar of winds, fluctuating temperatures, sun and clouds and sun and clouds, and plummeting humidity. Nevertheless, it has been a beautiful month in the garden, as cold gave way to warmth and ample sunlight. Everything is still feasting on the extra rain we received in January and February, no small gift in a desert garden! The month began with Narcissus...