Fire Station California Native Garden Update, and Friday Flowers.

 Well how about that!  They are mulching at the Fire Station!


 

Cool!

Pallets...hmm...maybe the firefighters could make themselves some vertical planters?   Let us end with a few flowers from the garden, because bare dirt and pallets of mulch are not so pretty.

An orchid I don't treat very well--and it shames me by blooming. 
 Clematis buds are as pretty as the open flowers.
 I caught a hover-fly hovering near a Tidy Tips flower.
 Always gorgeous 'Evelyn'
 Enormous flowers on Hippeastrum this year.  Each of these is 9" wide (23 cm).
 Much smaller, but just as enchanting, Fuchsias.
 The graceful green flower stems of the silver-leafed Sideritis cypria. 
 I hope your weekend is as lovely!

Comments

  1. Pretty good timing on the mulch. I hope they soak the hell out of the ground first (or, at the very least, following) because we're in for hot one in the next fortnight I've heard tell, or at least we are inland. Then again, soppy bark and warming soil temperatures always spell a bit of trouble for certain natives, so who knows. At least they're not volcano-ing anything yet.

    That orchid is shockingly delightful. When I first saw it, I felt sure it was an Iris tuberosa, but this is much better. And that sideritis is so chunky. Are they pretty long-lived do you find?

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    1. Hot spell? Oh, joy. :(

      They were meticulous in their mulch-application. I guess firefighters must be neatniks?

      Sideritis I planted last June. I have no idea what will happen, though I dearly hope for seedlings. Yeah, that orchid!

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  2. Hippeastrum grows in the ground, outdoors there? Whoa. Those are lovely whoppers.

    So glad about the mulch at the fire station; the quality of the planting deserves it. Wish a magical hovering leaf-mulch machine would distribute a nice layer over my garden...

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    1. Hippeastrum are superb bulbs here, requiring no irrigation and no care. Fall rains wake them up, they grow and bloom, and go back to sleep when the heat of summer arrives. Even the dead stems and leaves dry to tissue thin scraps which vanish and require no clean up.

      I admit the dreadful Ficus have a virtue--their leaves are small and crumble easily--the resulting mulch is perfect. But it doesn't make up for those roots.

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  3. Great shot of the hover fly. I need to plant some Tidy-Tips.

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    1. The world could benefit from more Tidy Tips. I just read this morning in the Sunset Western Garden Book that they attract beneficial insects. I hope my plant manages to reseed.

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  4. Great shots! Beautiful.

    Hope you have a great weekend.

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  5. Maybe someone in the fire station reads your blog! If they create a couple of pallet gardens after finishing their mulching exercise, we'll have more reason to suspect that.

    I have a similar orchid (passed along years ago by my husband's former boss's mother), which I hardly ever water and haven't fertilized in years, that shames me by blooming twice a year too. I'll have to remember to give it some love - or at least water - this weekend.

    Re the Phylica, check your local Armstrong Garden Center. Annie's also has it listed but doesn't show it currently in stock for mail order delivery.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, I'll check Armstrong's, and also go out and water that poor orchid!

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  6. Gorgeous flowers and buds in your garden dear Hoover, it is always a delight to visit here.
    Happy weekend!
    xoxoxo ♡

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  7. Orchids are usually quite happy to do their own thing. A beautiful display of spring flowers or is it already summer?

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    1. We are very lucky that Spring has decided to linger a bit this year. That is good to hear orchids are happy doing their own thing, because I don't have a clue how to help!

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