Some Favorite Garden Moments Of 2019


We all have our favorite things
 
I crushed my finger tips in the garage door (long story, and owwwwwuch!) so I won't be gardening for a few days.  An opportunity to look back at some favorite 2019 garden moments.

January.  Misty morning at the Huntington:
 Hummingbird wars at home
 Moody winter sunrise.  Our rainy season was near perfection
February.  Leucospermum 'Tango'
 March.  An excellent crop of winter-into-spring sweet onions.  Harvested, they lasted into October:
 Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' lurking in Agave titanota and Leucophyllum
 Agave 'Blue Glow' ...holding hands with itself?
 Aloe speciosa
 One billion painted lady butterflies passed through Southern California on their way to the Cascades in Washington State:
A mockingbird considered my garden his personal property
After two"meh" years, Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny' turned beautiful:
More hummingbird wars (has he been eating Cheetos?)
 The nearby wilderness park showed what an excellent rainy season does for native plants
 Poppy at Sherman Gardens
 April.  Spring is in full glory
 Lotus 'Amazon Sunset' was briefly spectacular:
 The front slope
 A friend's Zantedeschia aethiopica:
Leucospermum 'Blanche Ito' blooms for the first time:
Rose 'Barcelona' is in decline, but the flowers are still thrilling:
Cerinthe's wonderful purple-blue (unfortunately also the current color of some of my fingers):
'Blanche Ito' again, at the end of its bloom:
 'Bishops Castle' was spectacular this year:
 Ever photogenic 'Windermere'
 May.  The new foliage of 'Emperor I' Acer palmatum:
 Poppies at the Getty:
Never did get a perfectly satisfying wide shot of 'Bishops Castle', after multiple attempts.  Enjoyed attempting, though:
A local garden tour was surprisingly good.
A wild animal rescue group was at the tour, too:
 Rain, even late in May. 
 Orlaya grandiflora had a very good year:
 May-Gray gave us richly colored roses...
...and lots of them:
 June.  Dahlias were summer's joy
 As well as roses and daylilys.  Hot weather held off, extending the glories of Spring. 
 'Golden Celebration':
 A visit to a spectacular local estate garden, with June-Gloom:
 Back at home, goldfinches at the urn fountain were a daily delight:
 So were all the flowers:
 June visit to the Huntington, before summer's heat, panoramic beauty...
 ...and the dainty up-close kind, too.
 Oh, I only got to June. 

Comments

  1. A wonderful retrospective of 2019. Your garden and photos are gorgeous but the roses are my favourites especially Bishops Castle.

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  2. Oh, the riches in this post were a wonder to see! So glad to find out at the end that you were only halfway done, and there's even more to come. I found that wide shot of the 'Bishop's Castle' rose very satisfying. Lovely closeup of the raptor too.

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    1. Happy you liked the pictures. The 'Bishops Castle's are in the gully and the lighting there is tricky.

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  3. I knew that couldn't be all your highlights! Your garden is always spectacular. As to the squashed fingertips - yikes! I hope you recover quickly.

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    1. Thanks Kris!

      Hard to type, can't use some fingers. But they will heal.

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  4. I'm struck by how many of the images in this post I've saved when they first appeared. Your photography is really impressive.

    The shots of the mockingbird and the goldfinches at the fountain both made me chuckle. Mockingbirds are so self-important that they're funny, though it's probably less entertaining for all the other birds they harass. I miss having a pair here. Capturing the spray of droplets shaken off by the finches really brings out the personality they bring to the scene; a wonderful image.

    Hope your fingertips heal quickly, and that your holiday is peaceful and festive.

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    1. Thanks Nell. That Mocker has been pecking at car windows on our street for quite a while. Funny bird.

      Happy holiday to you and yours!

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  5. Not only do these pictures depict a beautiful garden, especially that front slope, but they depict the beautiful creative mind behind it all. Merry merry and Happy happy...

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    1. You are very kind, Lisa. Thank you and Merry merry Happy happy back atcha!

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  6. I've really enjoyed this post. Please do the rest of the year, too!!

    Your April photo of the front slope is perfection. I wish I could copy and paste into my own garden!

    Sorry to hear about your painful encounter with the garage door. That sounds bad! I hope your fingers will get better quickly!

    Merry Christmas to you, Beloved, and Boris and Natasha!

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    1. Glad you liked it, thanks. Merry Christmas to you and your family, and have a great visit to AZ.

      Rain likely here tonight, hooray!

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  7. Great photographs, especially that second hummingbird and the scarlet poppies. Sorry about your fingers.

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    1. Thank you, Jason. Hummingbirds are so amazing.

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  8. Squished fingers do not sound the least bit fun. Beautiful photos you shared here Hoov-like Gerhard I just love your front slope. Beautiful rose portraits and the misty morning at the Huntington is magic. Merry Christmas to you and Beloved - I hope out paths cross in 2020 !

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    1. Still sore but it could have been worse. Same to you and if you are ever this way you are very welcome!

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  9. I have finally caught up with my backlog on Feedly.

    Hopefully your fingers are all better now?

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    1. I'm way behind on reading blogs--most of the day out in the garden, then wiped out.

      One finger to go. The rest are okay, thanks!

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