Not Just Weeds, And It's Still Raining!

 Some of us are utterly relaxed staying at home, alternating between good naps and good meals.

Others are natural worriers, restless, melancholy, wondering what they can do
Not just weeds appearing with our rains of March.  April has brought a February storm.  It's still raining!  Some areas of Southern California have gotten 9" of rain.  We must be up over 4" (100 mm) here after three (or four?) days of rain.  An additional reason to stay home, unfortunately indoors. 

Though many weeds have sprouted and most have been pulled, desirable plants have also sprouted from wind-blown seed.   

And there are actual puddles!!!  
Besides the reliable, generous re-seeders like Lobularia, Cerinthe, Hunnemannia, Lavender, and Eschscholzia californica, there are a few others that will add extra color to the garden later this year.    
Instead of going out plant-shopping, I've been filling empty spots by moving desirable seedlings.  The cool wet weather makes moving a small, vulnerable seedling easy. 
Cerinthe, a bee and hummingbird favorite, one of the generous ones:
 Here are a few of the not-so-typicals.

 Lobelia erinus.  A single seedling appeared last year, a little cloud of blue beauty.  
June 2019:


After the plant died in summer's heat, I walked around shaking the plant in likely spots, hoping to get seedlings.  Luckily, several have appeared. 

Never enough of these little mounds of true-blue flowers.  Rabbit protection required when small:
 Leonotis leonurus. 
A living hummingbird feeder when in flower, so of course more than one plant is ideal.  This seedling moved to the sunniest part of the back gully, is growing vigorously.  
Sideritis cypria.
Several generations on from the original plant, a gift from A Growing Obsession that keeps on giving:
Dorycnium hirsutum, now reclassified as Lotus hirstutus.  New plants appeared near the original, which was a gift two or three years ago from Late To The Garden Party

A nice accidental pairing with a copper sedum:
Trachelium caeruleum.  As with the Lobelia, I shook dried flower stalks of 2019 plants in different areas last fall.  Several seedlings as a result. 
Along with rooted cuttings of Fuchsias and Salvias growing happily in this cool weather,  the repetition of plants will make the garden a little less of a PBG (Personal Botanic Garden) and a little more unified (and flowery).  

We're protecting other people by staying home, so stay home we will.  We must not forget the workers who financially need to work but can't, and the workers who work despite the danger involved.   

And it's still raining outside.  Weirdest thing. 
 

Comments

  1. Who is that rose? Personal Botanic Garden, love it, never heard that before; it sure fits some gardens I know. Gardens do need a theme like Roses and Lollipops, no, that's not right. How about Roses and Aloes, that's a nice theme!

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    1. That's 'The Ambridge Rose', quite a lot more color because of so many cloudy days.

      Roses and Aloes sounds good to me!

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  2. Hello dear Hoover Boo,
    It's always a happy moment when a new post of you arrives. I love all the flowers and
    plants that you are sharing. Most of your flowers only can be seen in an inside botanical
    garden overhere. It's someting different for me to see you having rain. But the colors of
    the flowers are beautiful as ever. Fantastic to see your lovely dogs. They are adorrable.
    Stay safe in a good health. And keep posting. It helps to stay positive in a time when negative
    news is coming into our minds to often. Happy Easter!!!

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    1. Glad you like the posts. The photo of your 'Munstead Wood' recently was so beautiful, I cannot forget it. Mine is now blooming, too.

      I agree that staying positive does help. I am more positive than I have been in the past, and it has worked. Happy Easter to you, and best wishes for good health, kind Marijke.

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  3. Always seems to be a fine line between too many and just the right amount of self sown seedlings. The beautiful blue of the lobelia is gorgeous. Envious you get leonitus to self seed> Here they cost a fortune/plant. Enjoy the rain and Happy Easter.

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    1. You are right it is tricky. Some, too many seedlings, some, none. The Cerinthe really overdo it with seedlings. Last year I pulled nearly all but two plants before they could set seed, because there were too many. Only 3 plants appeared this year, plenty. The Leonotis I was lucky to get the original one as a 4"/10 cm plant, so it was a good price. Now even a better price with seedlings! Happy Easter, luv2!

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  4. Our rain has moved on for the present , but we are still a bit south of average. Seedlings are such a happy spring event , and even more welcome this year. Do you experience browning of lower foliage on your S. cypria ? . I've tried cutting it back to the ground but that usually results in Sideritas corpus delecti.

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    1. Also a sunny day here, almost strange after such a long string of cloudy. I think we got a couple of storms that you did not get, the old "plume of subtropical moisture" thing. Refreshing not to have to think about watering for a while.

      I don't get brown foliage on the Sideritis until late in the 2nd year, then I pull them and admire instead the new seedling that has come up nearby. Have been very lucky with this plant.

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  5. I thought the rain was over at the end of March so I've been thrilled by its steady pace all this week, although frustrated that our roof-top weather station didn't seem to reflect the volume of rain I saw from our windows. After a couple of complaints to that effect, husband went up on the roof and found that spiders (!!!) had built a thick nest on top of the weather station, apparently causing much of the rain to spill over rather than get recorded. My no-tech test tube meter was full to the top (5 inches) but I've no official tally.

    Are you propagating the Sideritis from cuttings, or did you get seedlings? One of my 3 plants died and I'd like to replace it.

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    1. Yes I also thought the rain was over when March was over. This extra 4.25" has been a thrill and worth some ruined rose flowers. Spiders blocking the rain gauge, what a weird suprise!

      Sideritis, seedlings all. I shake the flower stems around here and there when they are dried out. So far I've been lucky and gotten a new seedling or two every year doing that.

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  6. We in Somerset UK are hot and dry....and would like some rain. You garden will be a riot after the rain.

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    1. Hot and dry?!?!? Our weathers are temporarily reversed!

      All the plants are sparking clean and new growth everywhere--such happy plants. Makes the gardeners very happy, too.

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  7. Your rainfall has been impressive indeed. Yeah, the weeds are growing like, well, weeds but so are your other beauties. Thank the universe for our gardens in these strange times!

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    1. Yes indeed, so very thankful for all our photosynthesizing friends--well, not all of them, but most of them. Not the weeds.

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  8. Lucky you getting all that rain! I bet things will grow like crazy. It will definitely help all those volunteers. Those sweet dogs. Love the captions you put with them. They are taking everything in stride I see. The lobelia is something I love but it doesn't last long here. The picture of that rose is perfect. Have a great weekend.

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  9. That's a stupendous Lobelia erinus. We've also been getting lots of rain, but it's also been mostly cold, so the weeds aren't unusually profuse.

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