Fall in the garden of my guru

Emma's been wondering where the pictures I took in her garden are! I took these before we went to Yerba Buena.









(I love this combination of kangaroo paw with tibouchina!)



Eriogonum arborescens is one of my favorite, favorite plants.



Baccharis pilularis



and again a couple hours later with Nandina on the left and Japanese maple behind.

Bulbs for fall planting

Pennykins simply does not know what we're going to do with all these bulbs!



She says, "Gack!"

With this delivery from Old House Gardens, all my fall bulbs are in, and I am done. Done!



What's in this order?

A bag of five Camassia leichtlinii, and the $30 Intro to Heirlooms fall sampler for Zone 9/10.

Camassia seem to be up in the air taxonomically--do they belong in the Liliaceae, Hyacinthaceae, or Agavaceae? I'm not sure about Agavaceae, but I could see either Liliaceae or Hyacinthaceae (with Chlorogalum!). The Liliaceae...what a mess that has been. I'm not even going to go there.

I'm just happy to have the quamash, or maybe I should say camas. Not to be confused with Death Camas which is Zigadenus. Even the common names are confusing. Well, the common names are always confusing. That's why noone likes them.

Why don't we move on to the fall sampler.

What did they pick for me?

Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant snowflake', Lilium 'Red Velvet', hyacinth Gipsy Queen, and daffodils Erlicheer, Sweetness, and Thalia.

I dug the five Camassia in today--between the tree fern and fuchsia (one), between ribes and next year's Digitalis (two), between Brugmansia and bamboo (three), next to Colocasia (four), and between Mimulus puccineus and Verbena lilacina--to test tolerance for dryness (five).

I have no idea where anything else is going. In pots most likely. The Red Velvet sounds interesting; it has "New England-bred, triploid vigor". Well, who wouldn't want that?

What did I do after I got all these bulbs I can't figure out to do with? Placed a spring order for $70. Hey, something has to replace the monocarpic Echium wildprettii after they bloom (hopefully next year), and I have four of them.

What did I order?

Dahlia atropurpurea! (I wonder how that will look next to the obscenely large cones of Rudbecka californica spp. californica which I bought at Yerba Buena a couple weeks ago.)

I thought G.F. Hemerick looked too good to pass up. I ordered three. Madame Stappers, meet Prince Noir. "A fragrant glad?" Fascinating, give me ten. Tuberose, pink rain lily? Yes, and yes.

Unbelievable.

Bloom Day...

and other points of interest in the garden this morning.

I didn't want to open the window to take these pictures from the bedroom because Guy was still in bed, and it's cool out. So, they're a little blurred.












































































Link to last month's bloom day.
Link to Bloom Day High Command.