DryStoneGarden

Iris douglasiana

This’ll be a short bloom day post. We don’t have a lot in bloom, but things are starting up with the promise of more to come. This past week saw several plants open their first flowers. We have our first Doug Iris, first Cal Poppy, and first Daffodil. The Tree Coreopsis, Ribes ‘White Icicle,’ and the New Zealand Tree Fuchsia have been blooming for a couple of weeks. One of the Sidalceas has had a clutch of flowers for the same amount of time. And the ever-bloomers have flowers, Alyssum, Geranium ‘Bill Wallis,’ Calendula, and the Iochroma. Of the deciduous plants, the Ninebark broke leaf at the start of the month and the Snowberry is breaking leaf now. That’s early for the snowberry, but right on schedule for the ninebark.

Coreopsis gigantea

Thanks to Carol for hosting bloom day. Click over to MayDreamsGardens for links to many more blogs showing off their flowers.

variegated iris

We’ve been collecting photos of the winter vegi garden for a class that Anita will be teaching in the fall at Heather Farms, and this is our latest and possibly last crop of photos. We’re letting some things–the mache, the meadowfoam, the miner’s lettuce–go to seed, and a few things are entering or yet to reach their harvest phase–the favas and alpine strawberries, and later the onions and garlic–but most of the garden is now heading towards the summer phase, so this might be the last of the photos. One of the ideas of the class will be that folks should try to have a lot of flowers, including natives and perennials, mixed in with the edibles to attract beneficials. I put rest of today’s photo harvest below.
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