Easter Flowers

I didn't notice the camera was on manual setting, so in this photo the Easter bunnies look as though they are sneaking around after dark stealing carrots. 

Cerinthe major var. purpurascens
Easter flowers.   New this year is Rose/Hulthemia persica hybrid 'Easy On The Eyes'.  Too early to tell, but it may be a good one.  
Lots of flowers for a little plant, barely a foot tall and newly planted back in January. 

It is the rare rose that fades to colors nearly as attractive as the colors of a newly opened bud.  The other roses new to the garden this year, 'Top Gun', 'Apricots and Cream', and 'Baronne de Rothschild', have not bloomed yet. 
'Old Port', not looking at all wine-colored. 
'Charles Rennie Mackintosh'
New daisy.  This one is called Gerbera 'Garvinea Sweet Glow',  a new chapter in my desire for a "garden" Gerbera.   This is supposed to be the Drakensberg Daisy Gerbera taken a step further...larger flowers, smaller plant?  That would be ideal.  
'Lunar Mist' has exceptionally pretty flowers this spring.  I pruned it fairly extensively for the first time. 

A rose that has become a favorite for outstanding performance, the old (1936) 'Snowbird'.
'Moondance' isn't quite as outstanding;  it's merely very good. 
'Brass Band' really signals the start of spring here.  Its first flush is always particularly beautiful. 

It's just not spring without an Iris or two, is it? 

Flower stems very short this year on 'Paprika Fonos'.  What causes that? 
 These have been in the garden for at least 16 years, with zero effort on the gardener's part.  So perfectly reliable! 
 'Perle d'Azur' is the first Clematis to bloom this year. 
Grevillea 'Superb' demonstrates how it got its name
Peak Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' again. 
Spotted a Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica) absconding with basket liner for nesting material
 He's welcome to it--they are avid caterpillar and grub hunters.
  More spring flowers to come;  'Pink Grüße an Aachen'
Happy Easter.  May all your bunnies be chocolate! 

Comments

  1. I think if I lived in California I would plant Grevillea Superb everywhere. Maybe a few Yellow Birds too. The colors in that new rose 'Easy on the Eyes' are gorgeous.

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    1. I planted four 'Superbs'. The bees and hummers are thrilled, as am I.

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  2. Gorgeous blooms! Hulthemia roses do seem like they would do well in SoCal. Have you seen photos of Hulthemia persica in the wild? Very sandy, dry-looking habitat. Was it an especially mild winter for you? I know Clivia will have short flower stalks if kept too warm in winter (for those of us who have to keep them inside for winter). Maybe irises will do the same with insufficient winter chill?

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    1. Yes I was interested as to their heat-tolerance, which appears to be high.

      All winters are mild here as winters go. The only urgent question is: rainy or dry? This one was unfortunately very dry. Maybe next year...I looked around about the Iris, "too dry" was one thought. They were indeed better last spring, after we had a rainy winter.

      Clivia here is so common, everyone is tired of them! Shame on us.

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  3. Happy Easter! Must check into new breakthroughs in garden gerberas.

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    1. I find them irresistible, and don't know why.

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  4. With a new attitude toward bunnies inspired by their arrival in my own garden, that darkened photo of the rabbits seems right on point to me! The 'Easy on the Eyes' rose is one I have to find (even if I keep telling myself I'm not adding any more roses). Oh, and I love 'Brass Band' too. My bearded Iris have been woefully disappointing. They do well in the neighbor's back garden but maybe hers already have mile deep roots. (That's what I tell myself anyway.)

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    1. Bearded Iris like fertilizer. I did not know that. Giving them fertilizer made a dramatic difference.

      The bunnies have done some rose damage here, grrr! They are supposed to stick to the neighbor's lawns.

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  5. There's something especially engaging about shots like the one of the jay gathering nest material -- looking out into the brightness from a sheltered area, part of the jay's world within the gardener's gorgeous world. Which is getting a lot of glamour from those sumptuous roses...

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    1. Many more birds in the garden this year because of the fountain. I'm so happy about that. Win-win: more birds, less bugs. :)

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  6. We are selling the "Easy on the Eyes" rose where I work and I've been eyeing it for the past week. The photos of the blooms look really nice. I hope it does well for you. I will be eager to hear. We have been watching birds build their nests too. It is so entertaining. The crows are particularly fascinating.

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    1. The big question for me on EOTE is how it does in hot weather with its Hulthemia ancestry. We shall see. Happy Spring, Phillip!

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  7. Lovely photos of your Easter flowers. Even the dark bunny picture looks very artistic. You must have had a good day what with all of these glorious blooms in your garden. The birds peck away at our basket liners too. I think it is fun to find a nest with bits of string etc. I woke to snow on the ground today. I don't remember an April with snow before. I know it won't last long but it is still a wonder.

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    1. It was a very mild day, so wonderful to be out there in the garden. I hope you had a great Easter, too, with family. Here most all the nests are lined with dog hair from our very hairy Sammies. They make their own special contribution!

      But...umm...snow?!?

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  8. Lovely. It will only take me two months to catch up! Snowbird is everything I would want from a rose. Perhaps if I fed chocolate bunnies to real bunnies they would expire of obesity? Waste of good chocolate though.

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    1. 'Snowbird' is fragrant, too. It took a good five years to really get going, but was worth the wait. It has Frau Karl Druschki and Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria in its ancestry, two older very fine white roses. KAV was outstanding here, but succumbed to crown gall.

      As much as I love my garden, I don't think I could sacrifice chocolate for it. Better to feed real bunnies to real coyotes, which the real coyotes are perfectly happy to do.

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  9. You still have so many roses, and they all look absolutely perfect. You must talk to them a lot or something...

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  10. So much colour and vibrant blooms already in your garden. Happy Easter!

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