Springphoria! Moving Plants, New Plants, New Roses, Fresh Flowers...

 Above, Salvia 'Amistad' has bounced back after a winter pruning
This week has been moving plants to better locations, buying a few new plants, and watching new roses leaf out.
And waiting for a butterfly to emerge: 
 New plant:  Penstemon heterophyllus 'Blue Springs'.  I've tried Penstemons in the past--they all very quickly died.  This one at least has not--yet. 
 The mature roses are leafed out and beautiful.  About every fourth one has a flower or two opening.  Our meager rainfall seemed to make them happy, meager though it has been.
'Prospero' 
 Aloe megalacantha has a huge cloud of yellow flowers.  A. marlothii still looks fabulous, A. cameronii already finished blooming.
 There's a volunteer Lavender that needs moving.  I'm waiting for a cool, overcast stretch of weather; rain would help.  And apparently this Saturday through Monday will bring exactly that, (Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!  Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaawww!!!!!!!!!) 
 The black-leaf Lagerstroemia survived its first dormancy in the garden.  So nice to see that foliage again.  Welcome back, gorgeous!
 I first became acquainted with Sideritis cypria via A Growing Obsession blog,  Sideritis is what I thought Stachys byzantina would be--a neat clump of fuzzy silver grey foliage.  Stachys byzantina was a disaster in this garden.  Sideritis is a gem.  Planted last June as a tiny seedling, it thrived in our drought.  Now it's going to bloom, and I hope to get seedlings, because one plant is not enough. 
 To my surprise I had a credit at a local chain garden center.  A second Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' came home and immediately went up on the east-facing slope.  Another outstanding plant:  tough, uncomplaining, always striking to look at.  The summer flowers are incidental, but are yet another source of nectar for hummingbirds.  The foliage color agrees nicely with several Yucca 'Bright Star', already in residence up there.
 Added a new Rhodanthemum (aka Pyrethropsis hosmariense).  I pulled out the old one after more than a decade, but small bits are coming back from the roots, and I'm glad.  The local rabbit sampled this one, but spit out the bits.  
Another new little plant, a California native, Solanum xanthi.  No idea how this will do, though Late To The Garden Party reports initial success.

New Salvia 'Waverly', said to be an outstanding performer in Southern California, but big, not petite.  Perhaps this will be temporary--I meant the spot for a yellow rose. 
 The white and lavender flowers will agree with the 'Climbing Iceberg' rose to its left, and the Geranium 'Rozanne' at its base.
I had initially moved a 'Molineux' rose to the spot, but it did not survive, killed off by the move and a hot, rainless February.  New rose 'Home Run' is just under 'Iceberg', as a red accent diagonally placed to red climber 'Altissimo'.  That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. 

 There's old reliable 'Prospero', again, morning dew now dried off.
 New climbing rose 'Tropical Lightning'.  The flowers are an intriguing mix of dark orange striped cream.  Oooh!  How could I not?  It's been protected from February's hot sun by a shade cloth draped over the cage. Hoping, but not expecting, a cooler March.
 'Tropical Lightning' might be a gaudy combo with nearby 'Fourth of July'.  Oh, well.  I'm good at gaudy.
 The last new rose of the year is at the top of this next photo, with a transplanted 'Rozanne' indicated below center.  'Dee-Lish®' is supposed to be extremely fragrant.  I hesitated to buy it because of the stupid name.  Dear rose marketing departments of the world, people who grow roses are not idiots.
 Oh 'Barcelona', how I've missed you! Welcome back.
 Planted last year at the start of last summer(!), Grevillea 'Peaches and Cream' has exceeded expectations, inducing Springphoria.

 In the very shaded back gully, a newly planted big-box 'Kramers Supreme' Camellia, meaning it is probably mislabelled.  I have the idea of turning this once sunny area into a kind of Camellia theater.  

The Camellia takes the place of a 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' rose that got shaded out by the Italian Cypress above and the Syzygium to the west;  I intended to move the rose, an excellent variety, but it had extensive crown and root gall.  Trashed.

Camellias, established and with shaded roots, have extremely low water requirements.  I have a couple of healthy C. sasanquas that get 1/4th the water of most of my Agaves.  Consider that. 
 Elegant 'Pink Gruss an Aachen', I have missed you!
New plants, new roses, fresh foliage, fresh flowers.  Springphoria!
Winter can continue as long as it likes, however.  For a Southern California gardener, that's when the fun is. 

Comments

  1. Hope you get that rain, and I'm going to look for Salvias 'Waverly' and 'Amistad' this year -- as annuals or to overwinter indoors for me. Both seem so great, especially 'Waverly'. Surprised that Penstemon don't do well there, and still amazed at how many roses you have left. :)

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    1. Easy to root new copies of Salvias from cuttings every winter in the house--just a thought. ;^)

      Could have just been the Penstemons I bought. They are supposed to grow easily here.

      Rain looks likely--so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. Can you imagine sitting around dreaming up plant names? Delirium must set in rather quickly. I've been known to buy a plant largely FOR its name, but if the name of a beauty is too silly I'll hold my nose and buy it anyhow.
    Small wonder that you are in the grip of "Springphoria".

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    1. So much fun to be gardening again without worrying (too much) about my eye.

      'Dee-Lish' has had TEN different names, according to helpmefind. Usually a bunch of names indicates a good rose, as they keep trying different names to sell a good rose that isn't quite a "hit". Well, it's supposed to be fragrant, at least. Unfortunately, it's--uh, sorry--pink... ;^)

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  3. I love volunteers! I found an Eschscholzia in the front and a fig in the back. Yours looks like a L. dentata, they do much better in my yard than the hidcotes...I am also eagerly anticipating a drenching this weekend. :)

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    1. Lavenders seem to volunteer well here. I haven't had to buy one for a long time. The seedlings are not the prettiest, but the fragrance is always good. Enjoy the Eschsholozia, figs here are weedy. And enjoy the rain! Whooo hooo!

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  4. You have been busy busy busy! Thank you especially for posting about Aloe megalacantha and Sideritis cypria. I must have them :-).

    My Grevillea 'Peaches and Cream' is slower to get going than yours. Must be the temperatures. While it's been warm here, you've consistently been almost 10°F warmer than here. But we had a good gully washer this morning, maybe that will help.

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    1. I have two enormous clumps of megalacantha, can I send you a couple of rosettes? Happy to share. Let me know.

      Great to hear you are getting rain! Wheeee!!!!

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    2. I'd loooove some. I'll email you later. Thank you!

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  5. I am mourning your Molineux, I have three ( I fell for the DA 'plant 3 together thing) and they are by far number one in my garden for rebloom and disease resistance. Since they are in the hell strip , watering can be spotty. And I never ever water my Camellias. Nor have they ever been fertilized.Cast iron.
    It's been raining most of the day here and scheduled to continue through the weekend-hope it sashays down your way !

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    1. My other 'Molineux' is fine and preparing to flower; your experience sounds like mine; rapid rebloom, clean foliage. One of Austin's very best for California in my experience.

      Rain all day! Sounds wonderful! Hoping, hoping...

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  6. Springphoria indeed! Your aloes and roses look fabulous! Flower production in my own garden (albeit not among my meager supply of roses) is also in full gear. My Solanum xanti, which looked awful for a couple of months filled out beautifully again after a little pruning in January so I hope it performs for you as well. It does self-seed but not rampantly and the seedlings are easy to pull out if unwanted. After paying ridiculous prices for Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' for years, I recently found it at my local garden center in a 4-inch pot for a very reasonable price. I picked one up, not because I needed another, but just because I couldn't pass it up at that low price. Maybe in a few years we'll be able to pick up Yucca 'Bright Star' in small sizes that don't require taking out a bank loan too...

    Fingers are crossed that the rain comes through! I'm planning to spend tomorrow on pre-rain planting!

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    1. It's hard to garden with all fingers crossed for rain, but I am doing it. :)

      Thanks for your comments on the Solanum, I hope for good results as well.

      Sometimes I do that also, see a great plant I already have, at an excellent price in a 4" pot and cannot resist buying another.

      'Bright Star' is always going to be slow, and slow=expensive. I moved one and saved/planted a broken off root tuber from it, and it has sprouted a new plant--so I got a freebie, but it's slow, slow...

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  7. I've had lots of reseeding sideritis this year. I'm assuming it's oroteneriffae because the leaf is fairly large. Love cypria and so glad it's doing well for you. That slope with aloes in bloom is magnificent this spring.

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    1. Seeing the photo of blooming S. oroteneriffae at Annie's, I would say that species is likely a good reseeder! I hope I get a few cypria.

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  8. I'm also wishing for rain... So far, all we have is clouds. I like all your roses! I've added 2 new roses this year, but we'll see how they do up here.

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    1. Clouds here too...it's a start. Supposed to be tonight and then Monday also. What roses did you get? Do tell!

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  9. Wonderful plants and flowers in your garden dear Hoover, you have many interesting garden spaces to admire. I really love the grouping of all those colours and textures of the plants in image #5, both of the Salvias are lovely and the lavender of course.
    Great images!
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. Thank you, Dianne! Aloes and Agaves seem to always look good, no matter how they are arranged.

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