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.

Queen of the Bog Garden .. Lovely Lobelia

Magnificent dark-leaved Lobelia 'Queen Victoria' ...

photographed at Portland's South Waterfront Park.

Without a doubt, Portland is one of my favorite U.S. destinations for summertime garden splendor!

Dream Catcher .. Kudos, Kolkwitzia!

Reprise: 
Having turned the corner on the 3-year anniversary of Bay Area Tendrils,

I'm reposting one of the loveliest shrubs sent by 'Proven Winners' to trial in my garden.

The company released the plant about 5 years ago.

Finally, the rain returns .. and the garden is a dance floor where juncos strut.

Having been buried in a mountain of tax forms - always anxious to put this yearly task behind me - I await the emergence of some of my favorite spring-bloomers to begin showing signs of life.

I photographed this fairly recent addition to the garden last April. 

Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Dream Catcher' is the aptly named Beauty Bush, a Proven Winners cultivar worth seeking out.

A profuse bloomer, it boasts glowing foliage in filtered shade, and a graceful branching form.

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....

A Quiet Spell in my California Garden

The holiday season has arrived, with a Happy Hour time-out at a local restaurant.

This is a quiet period in my garden, although there are a few treasures in bloom. A remarkable plant, commonly called Australian Fuchsia, Correa 'Carmine Bells' blooms on and off for months on end.

The spreading shrubby specimen grows in our enclosed front patio outside my office window, its flowers visible when I shift my head just a bit to the left of the computer. In late Fall and during the Winter, this evergreen plant is visited by hummingbirds, much to my delight.

During this reflective time of year, I'm taking an opportunity to reprise memorable garden sojourns.

My visits to Portland never cease to amaze. Such a vibrant city, with an avid population of gardeners.

 Here's a link to a post from my travels in Portland, musing on... 'what is a garden?'

For my U.S. friends, I hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving Day!

Perennial 'Pamina' Puts on a Show

Another iPhone Photo

Anemone 'Pamina' at the peak of its Fall bloom. 

Now that the garden is being tidied in anticipation of winter, the long-blooming anemones have finally been cut back. Pink is not a color that appears much in Alice's Garden, but when Spring and Summer have passed, I welcome these deep rose-pink flowers that have spread to fill an entire bed. 

By the way, I failed to mention that my new phone is Apple's 3G, not the latest version with a spiffy camera. I really can't expect great photos, but it does provide an option when I haven't brought my 'real' camera along. 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to comment on taking photos with their phones. Seems like using or not using a phone camera is on the minds of many bloggers. Meanwhile, if you noticed my signature avatar has become an '!' ... exclamation point, it's because I've been reconfiguring things. Hope to correct that soon. 

On another note,

I reviewed a terrific new book, Wildflower Wonders, by Bob Gibbons.

Photo Copyright Bob Gibbons: Mazama Ridge - Mount Rainier

Published by Princeton University Press, the book overflows with Bob's heavenly images of the world's most magnificent sites for wild species blanket vast areas. 

To read the review and to see more photos, visit Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

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...

A Most Beautiful Blue: Interlude at the Lurie Garden

Arrived home tired but enthused after from my annual pilgrimage to the Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park.

 My visits often coincide with the bloom of Bottle Gentian / Gentiana andrewsii 

[Photo © Alice Joyce]

Would anyone care to provide an I.D. for the tiny white sparkly blooms in the background? 

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.

Ravishing Raymond Evison Variety: Clematis Josephine

Under Construction

Yet another Gold awarded to Raymond Evison Clematis  in 2011 -- Chelsea Flower Show.

That's Gold every year since 2003.  Sublime Clematis 'Josephine' represented but one outstanding variety among many.

Evison display in bounteous bloom.

An urn formed the centerpiece of the design,

While a tunnel Allée of draped and flowing vines invited you to walk through the exhibit.

San Francisco to London: The Chelsea Flower Show

Alluring, perfectly grown Alliums & Eremurus

(I believe the display pictured to be Devine Nurseries of East Yorkshire)

It's official: I've been quoted by The Bad Tempered Gardener herself: Anne Wareham

stating, in essence, that other flower shows pale in comparison with the glorious horticulture and panache of the Chelsea Flower Show.

Home... after two weeks in England, planned around an invitation to attend Chelsea's Press Day.

There's much to share, taking in the countryside, too: All to appear in the days & weeks ahead.

You'll find a special horticultural highlight from Kevock Garden Plants 
...posted on my web site: Alice's Garden Travel Buzz ...

It's a rarity I've never before encountered.

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.

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

Plant Hunting! 'Blue Heaven' .. VanDusen Botanical Garden

(Photo courtesy VanDusen Botanical Garden)

Wish I could attend this upcoming event at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, BC.

Bill Terry will be presenting at 7:30 pm in the Garden's Floral Hall on November 11, sharing vignettes of his plant-hunting sojourn at 2700 km while traveling through Sichuan and Tibet.

Bill's tales include sightings of lovely alpine plants, including Meconopsis, the mythic blue poppy known to provoke plant lust in many a gardener. Author of 'Blue Heaven - Encounters with the Blue Poppy' (book will be available), and a grower of the genus, Bill can boast the most diverse collection of Asiatic poppies in North America. Visiting the collection is going on my bucket list!

Tickets in advance or at the door subject to availability.

If you're on FaceBook .. check out this link:

Cedar Lecture: Poppies and Plant Hunting on the Roof of the World

Link to Meconopsis grandis on Bay Area Tendrils

Bewitching Blue Poppies

Link to VanDusen on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

The Hortiphile! Luculias at San Francisco Botanical Garden

Searching the internet can be enlightening.

As it was the other day when I discovered 'The Hortiphile' -- San Francisco Botanical Garden's blog written by Lisa Van Cleef: Lisa's not only super-savvy about plants, but a wonderfully engaging writer, too.

Richly fragrant Luculia had a starring role in a recent post: Photo courtesy of San Francisco Botanical Garden

Luculias grow in the Rhododendron, Asian Discovery, and Moon Viewing Gardens.

Should you be in the Bay Area, pencil in a visit to SFBG - a must-see on any itinerary!

Luculia - Plant of the Moment

Head-Turning Design .. Citron and Emerald

A Walkway of Citron and Emerald Green:

Sagina subulata and Sagina subulata 'Aurea' flanked by Verbena bonariensis:

Stonework punctuates the vignette.

It's the rare instance when I'm totally captivated by a design element,

but I took great pleasure in this moss walkway during a recent garden visit

to Stone Edge Farm 

The elegance of the clean-lined scheme turns heads, while the juxtaposition of cushiony mounds of moss beckoned me to remove my shoes and experience the sensation of the patterned planting beneath my feet!

Do you call it Scotch Moss or Irish Moss?

Both common names appear in the realm of gardening and horticulture.
... to read more, visit Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Summer's End .. Gorgeous Grasses

Delicate plumes brush against the face along the entry path to Alice's Garden.

Photo © ALICE JOYCE

The showy display of Stipa - a welcome element in September.

Photos © ALICE JOYCE

And on the road... where late-summer gardens are buzzing with the effects of ornamental and native grasses! 

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.

Alexander the Great! - Little and Lewis Garden Gallery

Little and Lewis Garden Gallery ... gracing the cover of Pacific Horticulture magazine.

Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander'

Here is yet another perennial that I've grown for years, yet it is only coming into flower this summer. I'm aware that 'Alexander' can be invasive in many situations, but in my dry garden setting, with meager hand-watering, it barely survived in the ground.

A couple years ago I lifted and moved him to a large container with a couple other specimens. Here 'Alexander' can get his feet wet: A required condition for good growth. Still, it took time for the plant to settle in, and now, bloom at last!

I've a very nostalgic attachment to this perennial, having been introduced to it in the glorious Bainbridge Island gardens of artist/sculptors/superb plantsmen, Little & Lewis. (Sadly, all my images are 35mm slides that have yet to be digitized, and so can only be shared in garden talks.)

In David and George's incredibly lush landscape, 'Alexander' grew in a pair of handsome urns that 'contained' the plant's exuberance.