Payin the bills. What fun!

This is a garden i work at. A good day clipping and planting. Wonderful gardening weather too. I am such a fan of Watsonias. This is all true.

I believe that's a Sedum 'Pork 'n Beans'. The below picture is the tiny patch of this in my garden that I hope will start filling out properly this summer. I know it's kind of a crappy little spot but i feel that I'm lucky I even got those little scraps in the ground before they perished. They sure can look great though huh? The pink and purples are Ixia. The purples are just the fading flowers. There just doesn't seem to be much intermediate between the two colors. Wacky.

The Beautiful Botanical

I went to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden yesterday. This place makes me so happy. The above picture is in the California Native section. Wonderfully wacky I say! Behind the 'soft puffs on wobbly legs' of the Coreopsis Gigantea is its accomplice in yellow flowers; Dendromecon (whether it is D. harfordii or D. rigida I forget and dare not guess as they look pretty darn similar). I love this bush and cannot wait to have some sort of experience gardening with it. To finish off this humpy-bumpy ride of a bed, we have the Prickly Pear, Opuntia littoralis. AH-HAH! WHAT FUN! ... I have got to calm down about this picture. This garden always gets me a little hysterical.

Over in the Asia section there are some really elegant and airy Camellias with bunches of very handsome and robust bamboo. A perfectly placed table with benches sits beside/under them in a cozy corner of the garden. Next to this area is an out of place (only geographically; not aesthetically)...

CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE!!!


Gosh, (thump) if there is anything that can get (thump) me in a tizzy it's an Aesculus (thump) californica. And this is not just any! (thump) Man, i feel like the sound of my palpitating heart will be (thump) heard even over my ever-increasing volume of passionate typing! (and the internet).

Uncomfortably warm and uncomfortably beautiful. A lovely greenhouse.

Have you ever seen such color under a Coast Live Oak? This is Omphalodes cappadocica. Look out Tree! There are blue flames licking at your heels! hah HA!

One of my favorite grasses, Muhlenbergia rigens. I can't think of any other grass that has such an intangible structure. It's upright and stiff, while being wispy and- no no, that's not how it is...
SEE??

Aloe Polyphylla. My Goodness. I can't even talk about this right now.

And finally: GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

The Beautiful Hills of the East Bay

My friend Lance and I went for a walk in the hills today. What a peaceful and fulfilling experience it was. Resting in the grass with bare feet, flowers abound, a gorgeous panoramic view of San Fransisco, Oakland, Berkeley, The golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island.... Then a nice little tromp around with Pines, Madrones, Eucalyptus, California Bays, Oaks, Lupines, Indian Paint Brushes, California Blue Eyed Grass, Monkeyflowers (ok, not in flower yet but looking handsome enough...), Berberis aquifolium, Ribes, Poppies, and oh so much more! Ahhh... how refreshing it was. how invigorating. What a place the East Bay is. I really do love it so.

Choose Four: Bees! Plants! Sun! Spring!

Mmmm...

Last Summer in the Backyard

I am just so excited for summer! Aren't you?!