tz_garden

Happy holiday weekend!   This ridiculously large 7' lily is blooming just outside the front window.  The weather has been glorious, but slightly cooler today. Dilatris pillansii has bloomed! Looks a bit like an oversized chive flower.  The tomatoes have gone bonkers with the warmer temps.  I started the seeds in January and put the plants in the ground in February.  And have tried to keep up on pruning, but it's a constant battle.   Poblano peppers and cucumbers coming along well.  Blueberries, delicious! These are O'Neal.   Both the Feijoa trees are beginning to bloom, the petals are really delicious.  To me they taste a little like strawberry/apple - I'm going to put them in my next salad.  And the tree leaves are so pretty with the undersides almost white. A later bloom than expected from Amaryllis. And a few things that caught my eye, the clump of Echinocereus rigidissimus -rainbow hedgehog cactus bursting with blooms.  The golden barrels in the sun, I still have a

We celebrated my daughter S and my own birthday (we share the same day of birth, making it even more celebratory!).  A day out to visit Filoli Gardens in Woodside, CA.  The first Grand front room you enter into. This orchid was TALL. The dining room. James surveying the kitchen. The kitchen just went on & on.  3 different rooms, and a little closet for what looked like an unloved pastry chef.  No windows, nothing.  There was a safe on the door to the silver, I should've snapped a picture.   In the ballroom, this sconce is beautiful on the blue walls.  From the Filoli website, the ballroom all done up for an event.   And out to the massive gardens, it was perfect weather!  I admit to just enjoying the day and not being serious about taking pictures. The gardens were massive, orchard, veggies, hydrangea, rose, etc., You could dip in the pool if you were in the mood. Staghorn! They obviously love the bay weather, they were super sized.  As I was later reading about the history of

 I've been keeping my eye on the bed at the back of the garden. Another group of Echinopsis were budded up, and I wasn't sure what day they would open.  And when I went out to check on them this morning... the blooms are HUGE! So bright and cheery!   I've been busy weeding, that never ends!  After the fence staining, I hung the assortment of planters back up. I had to chop a tall rose down to be able to reach the fence, so this looks a little stark to me. Oh well, roses are tough. I noticed another Echinopsis blooming in the Dudleya area. Can you spot it?  It's amazing to me that it's almost time to chop back salvia, speedwell, etc for another round of bloom.  Feels like Spring just started! In front of my vegetable garden.  The sunflowers are getting nice & tall, I planted them here to help shade the tomatoes.  The finches love eating the leaves and have torn little holes in the leaves.  Cirsium occidentale, a native thistle is looking fuzzy by the smooth dark

 The painting is done! I'm very happy with the overall look of it, and just so glad that job is finished. Aloe 'David's Delight' has pushed out a late bloom, and the Callistemon (bottlebrush) really timed it's bloom with the fence painting being finished. My cereus cactus has been seriously budded up and when I went out this morning a few of them were opening up.  The exuberance made me laugh. Many more to follow. I moved this struggling in full sun Grevillea up to the top of the slope, and it has immediately brightened up.  I think it's the partial sun and the soil is different/better for it there.  Time will tell! Evening sun on the barrels, and bagged rock everywhere, lol. So much to do this time of year. The mammillaria's are sending out blooms here and there - after the random Saturday rain we had. So cute. Alyogyne 'Ruth Bancroft' putting some pretty blooms out, this is a first year plant for me.  I love it and want more.   And what is this San