I've got the blahs today.

The neighborhood is quiet and foggy this morning. I don't feel like working in the garden even though there is so much to do.



You can't see it in all the confusion, but I just planted Cercis occidentalis in there. The Princess Plant is overused, I know, but I like it. I divided the potted Cymbidum last winter...I think both divisions might bloom this year. I'm going to put a bench in that bare spot in the middle left.



I'm done with Dahlia imperialis after this years' bloom. A bench is going to go there next year, and I won't have anyplace to grow it after it goes in. Does anyone want a segment? With protection from the wind and ample water, D. imperialis grows 10' in a few months from a 6"-8" segment of trunk. And then it makes big flowers in winter before dying back. I'll have dozens of segments to give away by early spring 2007.



The streets are quiet.







I should have taken a picture of this front yard last winter when the landscaping was new. It looks great. Someone did a good job.









Princess plant and aeonium (sp?); nice combination.







I get coffee and a bagel (an everything bagel with cream cheese, cukes, sprouts and onions) and have a seat in Holly Park.

Monterey cypress. Growing too tall for their own good, but still pretty.



I've taken this picture dozens of times over the last few years, sitting here with coffee and bagel.



Then I swung on the swing for a few minutes, and watched that guy do his yardwork.



The camera gives the court a weird angle.



The big kids are back in school, but the little ones still have plenty of free time.



Cute little girl!



Done with coffee and bagel, I head over to the other park in the neighborhood for a little hike. This cactus garden looks good all year long. Even dying, cacti are interesting to look at. The pink flower is Amaryllis belladona, commonly called Naked Lady.



I usually take this path.



But today I'm taking this one.



Thickets of fennel and blackberry



give way to Eucalyptus globulus.



The path brings me right up to the back of these houses. Too bad for the people in the houses, I guess. They have great views of Diamond Heights and Twin Peaks.





Onwards...





and upwards.













I can sense the guy on the hill in the center of the picture sees me taking his picture.



I'd love to replant that area with the native blackberry, and add some Fremontodendron and Salvia Clevelandii.



That's Holly Park in the distance, where I started out.



Closer...

My house is always obscured.



This neglected ginger lily (Hedychium) is the third one I've seen lately in bloom. Meanwhile, mine, pampered and well-tended, remains flowerless and I'm thinknig about removing it. Maybe I'll stop pampering it instead.



I took a similar walk last July.