May Blooms – GBBD
arizona flagstone path and border
This is the flagstone path and border you see when you come in through our gate. We try to keep it full of blooms year-round, and this month, May, is probably the easiest month to do that. In another month the fog season will start, the heat of the Central Valley will suck moisture from the ocean through the Golden Gate and over our garden like a swamp cooler, but for now all the plants are soaking up the sun.
Monardella macrantha
Our Monardella macrantha just started up, flashing the victory sign.
California poppy and Calendula
The poppy is Mahogany Red, pretty variable in how much red the flowers show. I like the ones where I’m not quite sure if it’s a cultivar.
Penstemon heterophyllus and Triteleia Starlight
I think the penstemon is “Blue Bedder,” but it might be “Blue Springs.”
purple breadseed poppy
A breadseed poppy that was too tall to fit into the frame.
Salvia chamaedryoides and Phormium ad nauseum
The salvia actually has some blooms on it but it works better as a foliage combo with the phormium. Most of the other plants in that bed have token blooms, but nothing dramatic; maybe they’re waiting for the poppies and calendulas to quiet down. Thanks to Carol at MayDreamsGardens for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Click thru for links to lots of other gardens in bloom.
Some more bloomers from our outer garden are below.
Clarkia bottae and Agrostemma githago
I think the agrostemma is “Purple Contessa.”
Clarkia bottae
Galvezia speciosa, Channel Island Snapdragon
Gilia capitata, globe gilia
Two days ago I pulled these from a yard in San Francisco where they were finished up. Our plants are starting to look ragged, but they still have nice blooms.
Aquilegia chrysantha
Our favorite columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha. It’s easier and more reliable for us than the native columbine, A. formosa.
ryan 5/15
Tags: calendula, monardella, phormium, poppy
This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under garden bloom day, plants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Beautiful flowers and really nice photo shots!
Happy GBBD!
May 15th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Looks great! Love the Triteleia and the globe gilia. Love May. Happy Bloom Day!
May 15th, 2009 at 6:28 am
OK, I need to get out of the woods and into my garden. Looking out the window I see some things that needs my camera’s attention.
May 15th, 2009 at 6:48 am
What beautiful natives!
May 15th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Great photos, both the close-ups and the garden pic of the flagstone path. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Agrostemma githago before. Really nice flower. I was just admiring some of the same clarkia in my yard. Phormium ad nauseum? Is that the official name?
May 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
The flagstone path and border are beautiful. Love the combination of blue-purple and orange. I’m drooling over your Penstemon heterophyllus. The Globe Gilia is new to me — it’s beautiful too. Happy Bloom Day to you. 🙂
May 16th, 2009 at 1:30 am
That top photo stole heart at the get go. Your garden is beautiful and those plants are looking most happy! I like all the color and the path. I have a similar path, made from recycled concrete, with the huge chunks set in the ground. Very functional.
I am seeing clarkia on so many blogs this year. I received some seeds in a seed trade and so hope I get those lovely blooms like yours.
May 16th, 2009 at 5:41 am
You certainly have a wonderful variety of gorgeous flowers.
May 16th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Thanks, everyone. I’m really impressed at how many people participate in GBBD. Last I checked, there were almost 100 blogs in the link, so impressive.
Phormium ad nauseum is the official DryStoneGarden and BuenoLuna name for all phormiums.
The path in our outer garden is made of recycled concrete. It works great. It seems like most of the California blogs show clarkia at some point. It’s just such a good annual, probably the second best after poppies, I think, because they extend the wildflower season and they’re easy and there’s so many of them.
May 16th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I forgot about GBBD but always have lots happening in my garden. Love your flagstone path and border. So enjoyed visiting your stunning garden, anxious to return and spend more time. Thank you for sharing … a delight to see other May gardens. Gardeners are wonderful gifts!
May 17th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Funny–I have a Salvia chamaedryoides not too far from my own phormium (not sure if it’s P. ad nauseum, but looks close to yours). I enjoy the salvia’s flowers, but the color is pretty intense and almost hostile to some of the colors around it.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
The salvia is in our garden because we bought it for a job, but decided it didn’t match the other plants so we took it home. I really like them by themselves and they always tempt me at the nursery, but that intense cool blue is too hard to combine with other colors so don’t use them anymore.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Nice blog, love the stone path. My Salvia chamaedryoides took ayear or 2 to take off & now it’s a blooming frenzy. Wait until you see that indigo blue bloom with the red phormium.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I love the Phormium ad nauseum – its amazing that across the world, we have the same species of Phormium!