A Garden Grows in California

25 Aug '08 6:25 am

What a nice surprise. Nice of you all to stop by. I'd enjoy seeing how that clump of clover is working out for you Gordon. At first I thought you were asking if I had been there when one of the epi flowers popped open and I have .. but not this one. They do open pretty fasts though not so fast that I could really see it happen. This balloon flower doesn't ever open. Quite a freak, hey? It obviously couldn't exist in nature but this is a cultivar called Komachi. I love their shape unopened. You can actually pop them like bubble wrap after their color fades.

Macflax I never knew there were garden varieties of clover either until I came across this one at one of the nurseries. I put it in the ground where it endured but went largely unnoticed for years. A couple years back I moved them to a large pot where it is doing well. The leaves alone make it worthwhile but the flowers were a nice surprise. Much larger than the varieties that show up in my lawn and such a nice color.

Long time, no see Christopher. I look forward to seeing your photos. I was just worrying about you not long ago and hoped everyone was okay. Gardens in climates like yours always seem like such miracles to me. It never fails to amaze me how much growth plants can put out in a single season and I look forward to seeing what yours has done this season!

25 Aug '08 11:57 am

Wow! I didn't know there was such a variety out there! That'd be 'way cool!! I'll have to look for it whenever I get resettled! My balloon flowers all open very widely, but the odd time I've been there when one of them pops open.

Cheers!

gordonf

28 Aug '08 8:32 am

Your garden is looking well! I like the little yellow passion flower - it seems dainty compared to the large vibrant types we get here. Does it make fruit?

28 Aug '08 7:11 pm

The yellow passionflower makes a small fruit but nothing much for eating. I think they look like fancy old fashion lampshades or, pardon the expression, old-ladies' hats.

29 Aug '08 7:40 am

I have just caught up with the news here.I never knew that clover could be so pretty,as it is a pasture plant here,together with rye grass.
The hawk photos remended me of probably one of the most dramatic paintings I have seen,in realism style.An expanse of sky,and the reddish roof of a building and on the roof you could see the shadow of a hawk-you could not see the hawk-just its shadow,and it was painted with such skill that it looked quite menacing.

17 Sep '08 4:12 pm

Well I found some older photos of the garden taken in August of 2002. Many I took from the roof to try to get the big picture myself. Each photo is named with a brief description.

The first three photos show the Northeast corner. You can see that the circular lawn is in but the corner deck hasn't gone in yet so naturally the path hasn't been extended which leads along the circle to the stairs to the deck. You can also see that the very large pink phormium 'Guardsman' hasn't become full size yet and it only bloomed for the first time five years later (last year).

Photos 4 and 5 show the near path, along the warehouse. Photo 6, 7, 8 and 9 are taken at ground level from the beneath the birches in the Southeast corner. Then Photo 10 shows the birch corner with the same bench from the roof.

Photos 11 to 15 show the Broken Concrete Courtyard, newly installed, outside the backdoor. The roses have been moved to either side of the center arch but don't yet reach the top.

Photos 16 to 20 show what will become the Gravel Entryway with the greenhouse beyond. I can't tell if I had put down any gravel yet or if it was simply time to put some more down at the time of this photo. I've applied gravel to this area three times. This may well be before the first time. You can see the large blue fountain isn't yet in and neither are the blue chinese tiles set into the fence.

17 Sep '08 7:10 pm

Hi, Mark-

Isn't it amazing to see how the garden has developed and filled in since its beginning!! And then you remember all the hard work that went into making it what it is today and you think, "It was all worth it," or, perhaps, "I wish I had done so-and-so. .."

I just bought one of those electronic picture frames that play slide shows of whatever you want and tomorrow I plan to load all my garden pictures into it before the next house showing scheduled for Thursday. It should be fun to see them, all mixed up in time!! At least now I'll be able to enjoy them, instead of having to boot up the computer each time I want to look at them!

Your garden is so beautiful now; parts of it seem like quintessential California garden pictures that I've seen in magazines! I hope you realize how really wonderful it is!! I envy you sometimes, but then I have to realize that I'm in a very different climate so it's natural for my garden to look very different. But I love looking at gardens like yours and Jack's and all the others in such different places and with such different plant stock.

By the way, my offer on the new house was accepted yesterday, so now the push is really on to sell mine by late October before the offer expires. I try not to think about it too much.

Cheers!

-gordonf

18 Sep '08 1:17 am

Don't you love coming across old photos of your garden and seeing how far it has come? Now Mark, since you did such a great job of labeling the photos, you should take some new ones of the same views. (As you can see, I'm great at giving other gardeners directions for what they should do, just not so good at taking the same directions myself.) I'll bet you would be shocked yourself at how much has filled in. As a matter of fact, some of those views might be totally blocked now by foliage.

Also, great news Gordon!

18 Sep '08 4:30 pm

Yes, congratulations Gordon! Looks like all your hard work has paid off. Now, for the moving itself .. assuming you accept the offer. How's your energy level? Hope you can get all the plants settled in that you're taking with you before Winter sets in.

I'm intrigued at the idea of an electronic photo frame. I might need to get one of those if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Hey, thanks for your constant encouragement and good will about my garden Gordon. You know how it is; sort of like the dogs, our gardens are like our kids.

Faith I like your idea. I've taken more recent roof top photos but the idea of directly matching them up sounds interesting. Thanks. I'm pretty sure you're right about the unavailability of some shots due to plant growth.

How are things going in your garden? Is your water supply decent now? I remember you had a state wide lack of water earlier this year or was it last year? I forget which other state was involved but I thought Alabama might be going to war with it which ever it was.

We're sort of hosting a big family get together this weekend at Lia's dad's house. We've got it cleaned up and the first cousin is coming in to stay with us tomorrow night. Should be lots of fun but I'm killing myself trying to get a little ahead at school. Looks like I'll have to play some catch up when I get back. Wish me luck.

18 Sep '08 6:55 pm

Hi, Mark!

I think you might have misunderstood my last message; my offer to buy the house up north has been accepted, but I have not yet sold the present one and without doing that, I won't be able to complete the other purchase. So an imminent move is NOT yet in the works. I am optimistic, though, as the housing business is not yet nearly as bad here as it is in the States!

I also like the idea of taking new pictures from the same vantage points - that would be a very interesting project! I might even try to do something similar.

Cheers!

gordonf

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