Skip to main content
Drippy morning from a weak cold front gave us some lovely drizzle--maybe 0.14"/3.5mm. Lovely drizzle for new plants. Some purchased, some purchased as seeds.Erica verticillata
Native to the Cape Town SA area, considered extinct in the wild, because humans kept picking the pretty flowersStill need to plant those Foxgloves and Calendula:A "hanging basket" Sweet Pea 'Cupid', and a regular Sweet Pea, 'My Navy':Getting to be time to prick out and pot up the Antirrhinum 'Night and Day':A "compact" Perovskia--we'll find out if it really is: A garden buddy gave me a piece of yellow Astroemeria:Nothing like a drippy morning in Autumn.
Stunning photos with the rain droplets! Looks like you'll be busy with some fun planting. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks--it's usually so dry here especially in autumn its fun to get some drippy shots. Now all I need to do is get out there and plant. Started by pulling out the masses of Eriocapitella roots--oh, boy there are a lot!
DeleteThe South African Erica is a beauty. They can occasionally be found around the Seattle area nurseries but sadly they aren't hardy.
ReplyDeleteAlstroemeria on the other hand is rather thuggish in these parts. A pretty orange variety that came with the house is mostly gone, thought I know if I baby the occasional straggler it'll bounce right back. If I'm ever tempted by Alstroemeria, it will only be in a pot.
I love snapdragons, so looked up Antirrhinum 'Night and Day': pretty darn fancy!
Chavli
I had that Erica before, planted it in a wrong spot. Starting over. E. discolor(?)/versicolor(?) is thriving surrounded by Dymondia out front so I'll put the new one near it. Yet another nectar plant. :)
DeleteI grow the dwarfy Alstroemerias. They are not thuggy and our drier conditions do the rest to keep them controlled. The 'Indian Summer' cultivar--if that one wants to be a thug it can go right ahead. Flowers year-round.
I don't think I've ever grown Snapdragons before. Impulse buy. My mom would buy a six-pack of them occasionally. We would make them "talk" by squeezing the base of the flowers.
I love that Erica, a genus I've yet to try planting here. Regrettably, the drizzle didn't make it up this way. I need to clear my cutting garden soon to sow seeds and plant bulbs and plugs for cool season flowers but I haven't been able to face taking up the dahlia tubers yet. The arrival of my bulb orders later this month and the hideous mildew that's afflicted the dahlia, zinnia and cosmos foliage in the last week or so will probably push me to start yanking before month's end, though.
ReplyDeleteWe had a bit of drizzle--enough to get the street wet. Hopefully a bit more soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have A LOT of seedlings waiting in the wings. No wonder you're busy all the time :-)
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is now Salvia yangii. It'll take me a while to get used to that.
Ah, that's right. Salvia yangii. Yeah, just like Rosemary is now Salvia rosmarinus. 🤔
DeleteWow, how nice to get a little showering! I love that Erica, how pretty.
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky. Any rain helps here. The SA Ericas are quite beautiful.
DeleteYour seedlings are really coming along. Our calendulas have hit their second stride - a new set of blooms, resprouting from the base, and plenty of self sown seedlings. This will be my first time to see how they do over the winter here. Will be interesting to see how hardy they really are. That's a very pretty Erica, almost thought it was a Monarda at first, until you see those leaves anyway.
ReplyDeleteI read Calendula has some frost tolerance, so maybe! :) Worth a try. Critters don't eat them in your area? I'm wondering if I can plant them in the rabbit zone or not.
DeleteMine are growing in a raised bed, so it would take a little extra effort for critters to reach them. If they did find them, I suspect they would be eaten very quickly.
DeleteWater beading on flowers is so nice, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHow have you been faring with Erica verticillata? I have a soft spot ericas and callunas but they're so hard to grow in the Sacramento Valley.
Drippy foliage, too. :) The rainy winter we had made the one Erica out front by the smaller of the two Aloe 'Hercules' "leap" into health. I'm hoping the new E. verticillata does as well. It doesn't seem too hot for them here.
Delete