June Is Agapanthus Month In Southern California

A blue Monday.  June is Agapanthus month in Southern California.  Agapanthus is native to South Africa, but thrives here given sufficient water.  I have no Agapanthus in my garden, nor do I want any, because they are apartment blocks for snails, but every June, I enjoy seeing their lavender-blue fireworks flowers in other people's gardens.

Looking good against a peanut-butter-colored garage door:


And with bronzy new Rapheolepis foliage:

 
Unfortunately with our recent heavy cloud cover, they photograph much bluer than they are.  Still, nice to look at.  This is one plant that blooms all at once around here, whether well tended or ignored.  Crowd swarm?



My own garden blues today are in the Clematis viticella seedling department.  I bought C. viticella nearly a decade ago.  I was alarmed at the reseeding, and pulled it.  It re-emerged, along with a couple of unintentional hybrids.  Mixed together they are surprisingly beautiful.   I now deadhead very aggressively so they don't set seed, and we are now getting along swimmingly. 

Looking delicate in morning's deep overcast:






And like dazzling stained glass in the brilliant sun of late afternoon:






The mix of purple with two different pale lavender-blues is another completely unintentional effect I never would have though of myself.  My plants are better designers than I will ever be.

Does that make me blue?  Nahhh...