Random Pictures

It's a random sort of day. The garden continues to change rapidly. New highlights arise and old ones deserve an update. 

The flowers of Siderasis fuscata (brown spiderwort) last only a day, but they add a nice element of change to the already fantastic foliage.

I've only had this plant for about a year, if that, and I've never had this many blooms open at once. There are about 6-8 more around the rest of the plant, peeking out from the leaves. 

My Blechnum gibbum has been pumping out new fronds. It really seems to enjoy the heat we've been having, provided I keep it watered.

Remember what this looked like in January? It looks so great now! A few more new fronds and I can take off the rest of the damaged, brownish fronds at the bottom. It also has a small offset forming partway up the trunk. I plan to let that grow and then detach it once it's large enough. Then I'll have two! (Or maybe I'll share.)

This is probably becoming a familiar sight, but I just love how happy everything is on the deck. Just yesterday, the clivia dropped all but 2 of its blooms, so that brilliant pop of color is no longer there to contrast with the begonias. All of my vireyas are growing. You can see three of them in front of the begonias. These are 3 of the seedlings I received with my first order of vireyas. They are some of my most exciting plants because I have no idea what they are going to look like when they bloom.

Yet another element is coming into play in the driveway island. The Calluna vulgaris (heather), of which I have far too many in this bed, are coming into bloom. The variegated purple moor grass have also intensified in color, as have the Kent's Beauty oregano.

The blooming of the rudbeckia and Monch asters briefly coincides with the Lucifer crocosmia, making a brilliant color combo.

The aster is much slower to fill in, but should produce a brilliant show as more flowers open to pair with the rudbeckia. They are a much darker lavender-blue. I coudn't get the picture any darker without making the rudbeckia too dark.

Another sight that is becoming rather familiar by now, but I just haven't been able to resist photographing my new Billardiera longiflora as the fruits ripen.

Don't those berries look wonderful against the copper bark of the paperbark maple? I really hope this vine makes it through the winter. I'm a little colder than those lucky people around the Puget Sound, and I don't have the heat island effect of Portland. It was also planted a bit late. I'll cross my fingers for a mild winter.

Back to the driveway island for a moment, I found a surprise earlier this spring that I've been waiting to confirm. The white blooms coming up through the lavender belong to Spiranthes romanzoffiana, a native orchid that occurs naturally on one edge of the property. The flower stalks will get larger as the plant matures, but isn't super showy. I still love it, though. This plant managed to seed in dozens of yards away (not an unimaginable feat for dust-sized seeds which can be blown long distances). What really surprises me is that it managed to grow and bloom in this spot. Yes, there is native soil in this bed, but orchids (especially many of our native orchids) often require very specific conditions to germinate and grow. I'm amazed and thrilled that it's growing here.

And there's some of the happenings around my garden this week. The next few weeks are going to be really busy for me, but I'll try to keep my posts a little more regular than they have been recently.