Brilliant Blues .. Voluptuous Summer Perennial Plants

Trachelium caeruleum was a voluptuous, prize perennial in my garden.

Perhaps a tender perennial or an annual in yours?

I so look forward to summer's panoply of blooms. Trachelium, aka Blue throatwort flowerheads are abundant and incredibly billowy; reaching 5 feet tall with a branching habit.

The second brilliant show of the season.

Trachelium partners with Crocosmia 'Solfatare' .. established in two separate areas now.

The hue of C. 'Solfatare' is quite different than in earlier photos. Year to year and throughout the day, the light in the garden shifts from the cool, early morning to clear, sunny skies by mid-day. The garden itself goes through an artistic metamorphosis.

Content and Photos © Alice Joyce

Another stunner from Proven Winners: Hibiscus 'Blue Chiffon' .. the bloom is reason enough to invite friends over to sip a glass of chilled herbal tea while the plant preens.

Two 'Blue Chiffon' plants were sent to to trial in 2009, and although they were quite small, both bloomed the first year. I swooned!

Flower color goes through interesting changes on cooler days to hot spells, and from when the flower opens to when it fades.

I've had to transplant both specimens, as the sun pattern has changed with the growth of my neighbor's huge Deodar cedar tree, spreading ever wider and higher over my plantings.

Still...there's nothing quite like the sight of blue in the garden during overcast early morning hours or in the softest light bathing the space at dusk.

These are the best times to photograph the summer's most beguiling blooms.

Hibiscus Sugar Tip .. One Sweet Shrub!

I've always been dotty about variegated foliage. Combine splashed leaves with a flower that's so alluring and it's difficult to imagine one lovelier. I'm over the moon about this stand-out shrub in Alice's Garden.

Hibiscus 'Sugar Tip' offers a delicate white tracery on its leaves, while the petite blooms with their colorful centers are sweet additions to flower arrangements. The double frilly flowers are subtle, about 1 and 1/2 inches wide with an eye-catching vermillion center.

 It's won me over completely.

And I'm not known for selecting pale pink flowers.

This ProvenWinners Color Choice Shrub arrived as a trial plant, and remained a beloved summer bloomer in my California garden.

Garden Glory in Italy and Alice's Garden

Vignettes from my forays in Venice & the Veneto...

 Villa Barbaro Nymphaeum: a glassy pool and the sculptural extravagance of the architecture could only be glimpsed through the villa's expansive windows   ~ Maser, the Veneto.

A mosaic design accents the richly adorned paved paths ~ André Heller Botanic Garden

Gardone, Lago di Garda

Austere hedging and meticulous pebble pathways surround a private villa garden in Bardolino, Italy   ~  Lago di Garda

... while here, in Alice's Garden the Red Cestrum ~ Cestrum newellii is a top performer. 

Blooming nearly year-long, it's a shrubby specimen that invites hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to the waxy red flower clusters!

  

Buddleia Bliss! Miss Ruby Is A Stunner

Alice's Garden is a rather petite plot. 

Thankfully, I can expand upon the plants I insist upon cultivating by taking advantage of T's community garden.

At times, when a shipment of plants arrives to trial from Proven Winners - Color Choice shrubs, I'll choose to 'install' certain choice cultivars at T's veggie allotment - aka: our community garden plot, located about one mile from our house.

The community gardens are laid out in our town's parkland, where Buddleia 'Miss Ruby' has had plenty of room to flourish. Indeed, she stops folks in their tracks as they're strolling past.

While T. might be weeding or tending to the veggies, and cutting flowers he harvests for bouquets, he'll often hear someone call over the fence by the path, "What is that... a butterfly bush?"  Followed by, "it doesn't look like my buddleia!"

My 'Miss Ruby' butterfly bush is currently covered in long-stemmed blooms that beg to be admired. 

We do our part, dutifully oohing and aahing over the fragrant, deep toned ruby spires that I can't get enough of.

Beschorneria Bloom: An Update

Beschorneria yuccoides

(Note: This is an updated post with the spelling corrected: The plant is not blooming now, but ... it has had pups!  Multiple plant offsets have formed at the base and I'm in the process of detaching a few.)

With each passing day the Beschorneria flowering stalk continues to unfurl.

The weather persists in a strangely cold and wet pattern, despite having entered the Bay Area's dry season. Still, the garden has enjoyed a thorough, natural, watering and that's a good thing!

Part 1 - Mexican Lily .. Countdown to Bloom

Hot Flash .. One Heavenly Hellebore

Helleborus x sternii  'Hot Flash' .. photographed when the plant first bloomed in Alice's Garden.

Winter-blooming Hellebores are harbingers of spring days that are soon follow in my Northern California sanctuary - a secret garden hidden from the street. Behind the front patio's blue wall, you must walk through the house and out the french doors at the rear before the garden is revealed.

This fancy pants variety, Helleborus 'Hot Flash' is reaching full bloom with March 1st just around the corner. Growing in a prime position in the garden's central bed, the plant would likely be even more robust if the winter rains weren't proving to be practically nonexistent this year. In their place, we've enjoyed a long period of unseasonably warm weather. Broadcasters are predicting rain to return this week. My garden really needs the moisture, so let's cross our fingers....

Elegant Amethyst .. Tricyrtis lasiocarpa

Statuesque Tricyrtis lasiocarpa...

[Photo © Alice Joyce]

has spread widely to fill a large bed with its delightful display, a show that goes on and on for many weeks. Looking ever so much like orchid flowers, this 'toad lily' has taken over much of the space where another variety, Tricyrtis hirta 'Variegata' had been growing and thriving. Clearly T. lasiocarpa is proving to be the more vigorous species.

Growing in Alice's Garden...

Gardening in the Blogosphere

Summer Bouquet: Zinnia 'Berry Basket' - a cultivar from Renee's Seeds that deserves high praise!

The zinnia plants have been blooming non-stop at T's community garden, where there has been no problem at all with mildew. T brings home big bunches that I take delight in. I'm lucky that he gardens in a plot in full sun, as Alice's Garden receives decreasing sunlight with each passing year; certainly not enough to grow vigorous annuals such as this.

I've spent some time this morning connecting with new bloggers via the Blotanical web site. It's a great place to discover gardening blogs of every kind, foodies to exotic gardens filled with tropicals. I find it to be a great place to find blogs from countries as diverse as the gardening realm itself.

Amber Lanterns & Fiery Sprays: Clematis and Cuphea

Rare Clematis tibetana, with its delicate amber lantern-like flowers, scrambles up the rather brittle stalks of Cuphea ignea in Alice's Garden. The silky seedheads are shown below!

Hummingbirds adore the fiery blooms of C. ignea, a tender perennial sub-shrub that thrives in my Northern California garden. I've grown various Cuphea species and cultivars, but C. ignea has proven to be the most vigorous of all, blooming for months on end except in the coldest weather. If you garden in a colder climate, I recommend growing C. ignea as an annual: it's a great selection for a wildlife habitat.

As my garden has matured, plants such as this Cuphea deserve pride of place in the garden's beds the borders, having proved themselves worthy of repetition in the garden design.

Clematis tibetana, a late-bloomer is only now putting on a show. It boasts lovely blue-green ferny foliage that's an asset throughout the season. And I love the fluffy seedheads that follow.

Of course the plant's tendrils have made it famous!

In a good year, a new plant will pop up in an unexpected spot, even as the 'mother' plant vanishes.

Stapelia ~ Striking, If A Bit Stinky Show

In a small, terracotta planter,

a Stapelia plant has been growing in my garden for a number of years.

Maybe I imagine that it might have bloomed once before.

But did I jump up and down when I discovered this flower the other day?

Yes, there was a dance of sorts to witness had you been around.

Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens - Desert Garden

(Photo: Wikipedia)

More than a decade ago I visited the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens for the first time, touring the magnificent Desert Garden while

researching my book, Gardenwalks in California.

I'll never forget seeing a mass planting of Stapelia gigantea, with many of the large, strange blooms like starfish... resting on the earth. Each, perhaps 12 inches across.

My flower measures about 2 1/2 inches. I don't mind that it's tiny in comparison.

Also called the Carrion Flower, Stapelia has a reputation for being stinky

to attract flies that pollinate the plant.

Before opening, the flower's early stage begins as a strange, puffy pod-like form.

Altogether odd.

It's been one of my favorite, if all too rare, sights since entering the gardening realm.

Now my own pass-along plant has rewarded me after years of benign neglect.

Succulent plants are fascinating in their diversity. So unlike the beautiful blooms I generally cultivate. But Stapelia stands alone in my mind. I really couldn't conjure up a more intriguing flower form if I tried.

Amber.. chrome yellow.. Chartreuse! Canvas of Color

The winter garden is asleep.

Photos Copyright © Alice Joyce

Yet a few specimens bolster the scene of deciduous perennials and shrubs, like Cestrum elegans, with its dense clusters of blooms. Over the years I've learned a valuable lesson: to remove plants that are not performing and replace those unhappy campers that fail to die but never thrive. It's a decade since I created my Zone 9-10 sanctuary space, where I celebrate species that cavort in the specific conditions of my microclimate, adding color at quiet times like January and February, while furnishing a habitat for little critters; beneficial insects, butterflies, and birds.

Many of the earliest selections were actually chosen to boost plant combinations with their bright bursts of vivid hues. Above: Nandina domestica 'Firepower' is a compact variety that looks good in every season. And now that the garden is increasingly shady due to the growth of neighboring trees that tower over the space, plants with brilliant chartreuse foliage, or a spectrum of reds are appreciated that much more.

Choisya 'Sundance'

Photo © Alice Joyce

The downy, palmate leaves of variegated Abutilon p. Thomsonii - Winter 2011

Photo © Alice Joyce

Chartreuse Pelargonium - Winter 2011

Each of these plant genera are extremely well-suited to my garden, and so the garden as an outdoor room teems with many varieties and specimen plantings of Pelargonium & Abutilon, Cestrum & Choisya. No longer do I spend time or waste energy trying to meet the needs of fussy cultivars that are struggling to survive.

Long live the appropriate plants!

Drought-tolerant and happy to be in Alice's Garden.

Celebrating Gardens

Aristolochia californica .. a very early blooming native vine in Alice's Garden 
Photo Copyright © Alice Joyce

The image of California pipevine befits the notion of the brilliantly green 2-year Blogiversary, celebrated with the readers of Bay Area Tendrils!

Surely one of the most interesting 'flowers' a gardener could ask for, and a host plant for swallowtail butterflies - the vine's leaves being the only food source the caterpillars consume.

Despite the region's heavy winter rains, it's plants such as this vigorous vining species that enliven my days as a gardener in the Bay Area. It's not unusual to see the plant flowering on and off throughout the seasons. This pipevine has spread widely in the garden, climbing up latticework, and scrambling under an arbor into through a border along a fence on the western boundary of the property.

The postage-stamp size garden I left behind in Chicago may be familiar to those of you who have followed the blog from its early days. A scanned 35mm slide shows a corner of a tiny gem of a space brightened by the hue of Chinese-red enamel on arbors I constructed, the wooden shutters and door to my studio. In Chicago, it always seemed we went directly from winter into summer, when a spell of intensely hot days would descend and roses would open... only to immediately wilt in the heat. But annuals grew lushly, thriving for months on end as the evenings contained the heat of the day.

Photos Copyright © Alice Joyce

The garden I created in my new home is a retreat from the daily grind: Another outdoor room, in fact, to expand the space of a tiny house. With plants that bloom year-round, the garden is filled with buzzing bees (despite the decline in bee populations), hummingbirds, and butterflies that feed on the pipevine; keeping us company while we have lunch under the umbrella.

In this 'before' shot, you'll see the new fence built to protect the space from our small town's over-the-top deer population. I'd been working for a couple months when I took the photograph, spending much of the time down on my knees, digging up broken glass and concrete rubble in order place the pavers that define the shapes of beds and borders. I eventually built up mounds for planting, having implemented the depleted and compacted hardpan with plenty of compost. I layered newspapers over the future pathways, as the El Nino rains of 1998 & '99 poured down over me.

UCSC's incredible FLORA: Banksia ericifolia 

Photo Copyright © Alice Joyce

Moving to the West Coast has been an eye-opening journey for a self-professed fanatical plant lover. It all began with my first 'major' journey about an hour and a half south to the Arboretum at the University of California at Santa Cruz! Here, collections of plants encompass members of the Proteaceae family from South Africa; the stunningly enormous cone-like flowering clusters of Banksia species from Australia; and yes, California native plants in the Elevenia Slosson Research Gardens: All provide an exciting horticultural experience.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Native Plants .. Slipper Orchid 

Photo © Alice Joyce

New York Gardens on Bay Area Tendrils

I want to thank you all for dropping by to share in my adventures.

New York City's Battery Gardens: The Bosque designed by Piet Oudolf (Photos © Alice Joyce)

Chicago's 'Crown Fountain' by Jaume Plensa .. Millennium Park (Photos © Alice Joyce)

Chicago's Green Destinations on Bay Area Tendrils

I remain extremely proud of the city where I was born, raised, and lived for decades. It's the equal culturally and horticulturally of any city I've ever visited! I need to travel to the midwest to experience the vibrant atmosphere of Chicago at least once a year.

Barcelona's Historic Parc de la Ciutadella (Photo © Alice Joyce)

The sophistication and panache of Barcelona is unique.

It's 2011.... amazing how time is flying by. I plan to continue writing about my travels here

and on my web site: Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

...to connect with virtual green thumbs in the year ahead,

and especially those of you I'll have a chance to meet in real time!

Ciao ... à bientôt ... Hasta pronto ... Até breve ... Until next time!

Last Bouquet of Fall?

Will this be the final blowsy bouquet of the year?

Colorful fall foliage is a cutting from Weigela florida 'Eyecatcher' ... growing in my garden.

But I'm so pleased to have a cutting garden at T's plot! In spite of the rain of the past month or so, T's allotment/community garden is drenched in sunshine most days. 

With each bouquet picked these past few weeks, he's told me it would be the last. Not so, as you can see: The Zinnias from Renee's Garden Seeds - 'Berry Basket' - are continuing to produce abundant blooms. So, too, new Buddleia 'Miss Ruby' is proving to be a winning variety (appropriately perhaps, a plant from Proven Winners).

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to photograph the bouquet when it was freshly picked, so it's already fading a bit as pictured.

Click here to see a post with Weigela 'Eyecatcher' in bloom .. Very showy.

Ravishing 'Miss Ruby' .. Butterfly Love!

Click here to see .. What's going on in Alice's Garden

A Hint of Autumn .. Blooms in my Bay Area Garden

A bee enjoying an Anemone: The large swathe of Japanese Anemones - a melding of 'Pamina' and 'Mont Rose,' burst forth in the bed where roses once grew; too little sunlight now for roses.
Photos © Alice Joyce

Anemone 'Pamina' ... she's quite the lady.

What would I do without Toad Lilies! Especially Tricyrtis lasiocarpa : Yes, it spreads vigorously, but that trouble-free habit is just what's needed now in the spot where it grows along the back fence, beneath the limbs of my neighbor's enormous evergreen.

As I've had to cut back on the time spent on garden maintenance, I appreciate the elegance of this long-stemmed beauty more and more with each passing year.

Scrophularia 'Lemon and Lime' exhibits my favorite hues, brightening a bed that gets less and less light as the daylight hours grow shorter. In the ground Scrophularia languished, but planted now in the moist conditions of a faux terra cotta planter, it flourishes.

The blooms on this member of the mint family are a magnet for bees.

To read more about 'sticky germander' ... the common name,

here's a link to my San Francisco Chronicle Pick of the Week column.

A Perfect Shade of Apple Green: Bells of Ireland

'Apple Green' Bells of Ireland

This year marks the first time I've had an opportunity to cultivate this charming, old-fashioned annual, grown from a trial packet of seeds from Renee's Garden.

Moluccella laevis ... aka Bells of Ireland.

Many fine bouquets were produced!

The seeds - sown directly in the ground in late-spring - were able to thrive in the full sun of T's community garden plot.

Not surprisingly, my attempts to grow but a few seeds here at home failed, with nary a spot that received enough sunshine for the plants to flourish.

Weigela 'My Monet' and Geum 'Werner Arends'

Clash of the Wee Ones ...  A Weigela and a Geum!

My tale of woe is old-hat, remarked on countless times as the amount of sunlight continues to decrease in Alice's Garden. Thus, in early Spring I transplanted a few treasured specimens to spots that receive a bit more sun.

The wee Weigela 'My Monet' found itself lifted and moved across the pebble patio to the bed below the back porch - where the blue wall is a preening presence in various photos.

Now, the brilliant, burnt orange blooms of Geum 'Werner Arends' are now popping up through the Weigela foliage in a clashing color scheme that would, doubtless,

cause the long-departed doyenne of British gardening,

Gertrude Jekyll to shudder in her 'wellies' (rubber boots, that is).

Dare I admit to enjoying the cacophony!

A Floral "Berry Basket" ... Zinnias To Die For!

It's the 6th of July and I'm in a state of bliss, filling vases with the colorfully vibrant blooms of

Zinnia 'Berry Basket'

T., my personal veggie gardener, has been kind enough to make room in his allotment for these long-stemmed cutting flowers (another trial packet sent by Renee's Garden Seeds). Must say, I've been impressed by the incredible length of the stems, as with Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon.'

As for the variety name for these Zinnias, it couldn't not be more spot-on: Luscious colors that conjure up a basket of succulent berries, though I'm not certain what the pink represents.

What petal pink berries do you grow?

Frilly, Rosy Blooms of Summer - Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon'

Summer has officially arrived! And the season is heralded by some of the prettiest blooms for bouquets I could conjure up, were I in the business of developing long-stem cutting flowers.

In fact, Renee's Garden sent a few packets of seeds to trial.

And here is my first bouquet of Cosmos "Rose Bon Bon" - a new variety for 2010.

Plants began blooming last week in the full-sun of my 'cutting garden' ... aka T's allotment.

A plot at a community garden on the grounds of an old estate in our town.

Sadly, there's all too little full-sun in my garden these days.

Still, I planted a few seeds in a terra cotta pot, placing it in the sunniest spot on our tiny pebble patio, alongside a stone bench.

A large bloom opened yesterday, and I quickly clipped it and brought it inside to enjoy, along with flowers T brought home on Monday.

T. tells me there's quite a crop of my favorite Zinnias from Renee's Garden - 'Apricot Blush.'

He's promised to bring them home for a holiday gathering on Sunday, when friends are coming by for sparkling wine & antipasto.

I'm impressed by the fine quality seeds sent by Renee's Garden ...

... beguiling annuals that bloom lavishly.

Thank you, T., for setting aside a place to tend my flowers among your myriad tomato plants!!

Photo shows the flowers backlit on the kitchen counter, backed by glass-block windows.

The petals' translucent character is lovely.

Essential Focal Point! A Parade of Garden Benches

One of the benches at .. Veddw in Wales

I can think of no other garden element as essential as a bench:

(Above: A private garden, soon to be featured on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz)

Hestercombe - England

An element that can take an intriguing variety of forms...

...while expressing a distinctive style.

Rhododendron Pavilion Stonework - San Francisco Botanical Garden

An element that makes a bold, artful statement!

Stone Bench/Blue Arbor - Alice's Garden

Or adds a highly personal touch. 

An element that can act as an architectural device, yet be totally inviting.

Cornerstone Sonoma - Wine Country

An element of beauty...
...or a spot to simply take in the surroundings.

Sonoma Horticultural Nursery

A form that pays homage to great garden figures such as Lutyens.

Historic Ninfa - Italy

Or reminds visitors of a garden-maker's most treasured place to enjoy the landscape.