In a Vase on Monday, August 3, 2015

I'm joining hostess Cathy at Rambling in the Garden  for In a Vase on Monday, there are not a lot of flowers out there presently thanks to the heat, a week over 90ºF, which is usual for some southern parts of the country, but also no rain.   It does cool off at night here though, so I like to get out on those cool mornings to garden and water.

This is a vase I made many years ago when I did more ceramics.  It features a Fourth of July variegated rose, Ageratum, Chaste tree blooms, Fireweed, and a little pink Champney's Pink Cluster rose.  The greens are Lonicera nitida.  Here on a silver background-

Closer

What's blooming in your garden now?    Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.

I had a comment about problems with leaving a comment here.  If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, you can send me an email at  z8hannah8z@gmail.com to comment and let me know of your difficulties.  Thanks!  I looked up solutions on Blogger and apparently Wordpress has not updated their Open ID servers, so to comment on Blogspot blogs, you must select OpenID then enter your address, changing it to plain http://address  instead of https://address.

Hot Tiny Thymes and Mourning Dove, August 1, 2015

Welcome, it's been over 100ºF / 39ºC here the last couple of days.   I was driving in a non-airconditioned car and visualized sitting in a sauna, soaking up the heat.  Today I am linking with-

Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart M.

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I'd Rather B' Birdin' hosted by Hootin' Anni

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I've been adding some Euphorbias to my garden because of their tolerance for drought and their toxicity which protects them from rabbits and voles.  Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow', variegated plus with variegated yellow bracts, the flowers are the tiny red structures in the center-

Euphorbia polychroma, Cushion Spurge, a rather skimpy option from the nursery but hopefully it will fill in to make a nice cushiony plant, the yellow bracts will someday look like flowers-

Euphorbia x martinii 'Tiny Tim', it stays smaller and has reddish new leaves and someday yellow bracts-

I grew some creeping Thyme from seed 2 years ago, one seedling really took off and made a nice carpet-

The Thyme has spread to 18" / 500cm by 15" / 450cm.  It has tiny fragrant leaves and surprised me recently with some tiny flowers-

I started more creeping Thyme from another source last fall, and the new little plants seem to be spreading well in spite of not being watered very often, they have bigger leaves and a looser look-

I do have to pick a few weeds out of the Thyme every few months, but now that it is a dense carpet it is very hard for weeds to get a foothold.  I'm wondering how far it will spread and whether I have the nerve to remove some little plugs to make more starts.

Other plants I started from seed last fall are starting to bloom, Scabiosa columbaria 'Blue Note', a cute little plant with dainty rounded foliage, and something unusual among perennials I start from seed, ground-hugging instead of tall, lanky and floppy, perhaps my most exciting new seedling-

But not what I would call blue!  The nursery industry is tireless in it's efforts to find blue where it does not exist, as though the color Magenta or purple is somehow inferior, though a very common flower color.

A Mourning Dove graced my deck and path with its cute coos, apparently thirsty in this heat-

Blue Moon from last night

I'm getting lots of beans and squash out in the vegetable garden, and some lettuce, here is a "weed", bear in mind that the definition of a weed is an unwanted plant, so it is not a weed in my garden, Purslane.  I was reading that it has more Omega 3 fatty acids than any other plant in the Solar System.  Impressive.   Plus a lot of other good nutrients.  I'm also going to try cooking it with greens.

What wild plants do you find useful in your garden?   Hannah

                                                    or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.

I had a comment about problems with leaving a comment here.  If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, you can send me an email at  z8hannah8z@gmail.com to comment and let me know of your difficulties.  Thanks!  I looked up solutions on Blogger and apparently Wordpress has not updated their Open ID servers, so to comment on Blogspot blogs, you must select OpenID then enter your address, changing it to plain http://address  instead of https://address.

Hot Times and Vases, July 24, 2015

We had some hot weather for a few days but now it has gotten cooler again, we may even have rain this weekend.  But hot colors continue in the garden.

Today I am linking with-

Orange You Glad it's Friday hosted by Maria

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Rambling in the Garden

Wordless on Tuesday hosted by NC Sue

For some reason my 2 red roses are blooming together, Red Ribbons, a ground cover rose-

And the climber Dublin Bay, which has very long-lasting flowers, note the dry grass-

This double Gaillardia from a mix is blooming-

A close-up of my cut flowers- gladiolas, fireweed, daylily 'fulva', Crocosmia 'Montbretia', and greens from yarrow, note the orange color echoes-

My entry next Monday for In a Vase on Monday, which will link up then, the tea pot sculpture was done by my artist daughter-

And for something cool, a Canadian thistle flower, which after many years I discovered has a lovely fragrance when it wafted in my direction, worthy of a perfume but to attract pollinators, I spend a lot of time every year cutting them off and preventing them from going to seed  but they keep on trying-

A Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa annabella, isn't that a pretty name?

I'm picking plums and blueberries, a few raspberries, and looking forward to these-

What is ripening in your garden?              Hannah

                                                          or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.

I had a comment about problems with leaving a comment here.  If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, you can send me an email at  z8hannah8z@gmail.com to comment and let me know of your difficulties.  Thanks!  I looked up solutions on Blogger and apparently Wordpress has not updated their Open ID servers, so to comment on Blogspot blogs, you must select OpenID then enter your address to plain http://address  instead of https://address.

Foliage Follow-up Plus, July 18, 2015

Welcome to my blog.   First I'm featuring some foliage in my garden for Foliage Follow-up, the backbone of the garden that is left after the flowers are over.  Join hostess Pam of Digging for more foliage posts.  One of my favorite foliage plants is the wonderful Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' for it's silvery edges, which makes a nice rounded shrub that laughs at drought, sorry about the flowers, they are hard to avoid-

Another foliage plant with gorgeous yellow variegated leaves, actually more yellow than green, is Jasminum officinale 'aureum'-

Last foliage for today is from the squash patch, Cocozelle, with silvery accents-

That concludes the Foliage portion of my blog. Today I am linking with-

Orange You Glad It's Friday hosted by Maria

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

Wordless Wednesday hosted by NC Sue

 Here is what the Cocozelle produced, not only enormous but also tender and delicious-

My favorite squash for buttery taste is Crookneck-

Daylilies do well in the heat of summer-

The double variety 'fulva' is a triploid-

Clematis jackmanii was a river of blooms-

But now last Clematis to bloom is a NOID tiny viticella type that makes 1" / 2.5cm bells-

This is the closest to the real color-

But the heart of the garden for me is the edible plants and fruits.  I was worried when the hotter spring temperatures made the plum trees bloom earlier than usual, because I wasn't sure the pollinators would be out there working yet, but an advantage of planning lots of flowers is that the pollinators are supported to do their job, Beauty plum-

Methley plum-

Critter for today is another grand-chick, now a pullet, a light Brahma, note the feathered feet-

What plants are brightening your day?    Hannah

                                                         or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog in return and comment if possible, though I cannot comment if google + is the only choice.

Dealing with Drought, July 11, 2015

It seems the PNW is also experiencing drought.  Considering how dry California has been, I guess it is no surprise.  I feel I must respond to the changes in weather patterns with increasing heat and drought by seeking plants and strategies to deal with these circumstances.  But dealing with our wet/dry seasons with summers with little or no rain, I have always favored mostly drought tolerant plants anyway.

Plants that are rarely watered in summer survive on our ramp- Rosemary, Oreganos, and Marjoram, now blooming-

Thyme, various Heathers, Lavender, and a LOT of Kinnickinnick, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Massachusetts', which has been growing over many of the smaller plants, here with more Oregano-

It's hard to drag hoses to the ends of my 2 acres, so I decided to plant some Manzanitas (various Arctostaphylos) there, which are adapted to the west coast wet and dry seasons, so actually require NO summer watering, in fact they don't like it or do well with it.  Another interesting thing about Manzanitas is that they have an edible berry, like some of the other well-adapted natives- Berberis nervosa (used to be Mahonia), also known as Oregon Holly Grapes, and Salal.   I researched Manzanitas and found four for sale at Xera Plants that were a little hardier.   I live at a little higher altitude and sometimes weather patterns have resulted in loss of supposedly hardy plants, like the year it didn't frost until December 20 then plunged to 6ºF in 2 days.  My 10' Eucalyptus tree, supposedly hardy to 0ºF, died because it had not had a chance to harden off.

Arctostaphylos columbiana 'Parkdale East'-

Arctostaphylos columbiana 'Wolf Creek', note the berries which I managed to knock off when planting-

Arctostaphylos columbiana sonomensis

Arctostaphylos viscida 'Sweet Adinah'-

I love the leathery, often grey-green leaves and the reddish bark that is smooth and peels.  I'm excited to see how well they can fill in.  I'm counting on shrubs to cover ground and shade out the perpetual weeds.

Today I am linking with-

Orange You Glad It's Friday, hosted by Maria

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

And joining in with Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, to see what is blooming in lots of gardens join hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Daylilies are still blooming, here is one with the double Fulva-

And some roses are still blooming, like the ground cover Red Ribbons-

Critters for today are my grand-chicks, the two silkies, you can see one as a small chick here-

The hot colors of various Asteraceae have begun in the garden, Gaillardia I started from seed-

"Red" Sunflowers (looks orange to me)-

"Red" Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherry Brandy', which doesn't look at all like the one I saw at a nursery, I hope it manages to get redder as it gets older-

Ursinia anethoides, 1" flowers,  which is supposed to be heat and drought tolerant-

Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is blooming, hot blooms like fireworks.  It is a reliable bloomer and I dug part up and spread it around the yard some.  It flops so I tried to bury the corms deeper to prevent that.

A welcome surprise is finally getting some Eryngium flowers, 'Blue Glitter' I bought at Hortlandia, I just love the metallic blue and prickly flowers-

Also blooming are still clematis, coreopsis, Sweet William, Ageratum, beans, squash, red runner beans for the hummingbirds, and Laura Bush petunias in my containers, first time I'm growing them from seed, they have mixed colors.  I learned about them from Alison at Bonney Lassie.

What flowers have you tried from seed in your containers?   Last year I had a lot of Nasturtiums, they have lots of hot colors.    Hannah                
                                                                or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments on my blog, and will return your visit and leave a comment if possible, though I can't if google + is the only option installed, so will comment here instead or email if a link is provided.