Caprese salad

Per Andy's request, with Robesons (finally ripened!) and basil from the garden.

what's blooming

September 2016 Bloom Day
Chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus):



Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis 'Hachita'):



Scarlet creeper (Ipomoea hederifolia):



Skyrocket gilia (Gilia aggregata):



Indian paintbrush (Castilleja integra):



Broomweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae):



Butter daisy (Verbesina encelioides):



Purple geranium (Geranium caespitosum):



Heartleaf four o'clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea):



Asters, asters, asters (Dieteria canescens):






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Leadwort and Geranium ‘Dilys’:

weekend update

Cooler nights have kept the Robesons from ripening. C'mon guys! I don't want to have to pickle you!

weekend update

Front door bed is looking thin. Needs moar columbines and leadwort, I think.


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Coleus (and, to a lesser extent, the impatiens and sage) got totally buried by the sweet potato vine in the front door pot.



Not-entirely successful attempt to capture the weird-yet-pleasing orange-and-pinky-purple color combo going on in the sidewalk bed:

weekend update

Robesons on barn wood railroad ties! Twee af.

what's blooming

August 2016 Bloom Day
Flame flower (Phemeranthus (Talinum) calycinum ):



Leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides):



Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua):



Sunset Hyssop (Agastache rupestris):





Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia):

weekend update

Backyard: Tomatoes plugging along. Purple Thai basil flowers.







As threatened, I scalped the yard arugula. Whacked back the Maximilian sunflowers and daylilies and cleaned up along the flagstone path.




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weekend update

Backyard: Raised bed: The tomatoes are doing well, got a few Sungolds starting to ripen up. (Full disclosure, I picked 2 ripe ones already last weekend.) Basil is going like whoa, including a couple of Thai basil plants I picked up at Big Orange (to replace the dearly departed Persian basil). Thyme is back, chives are still chugging along.





Yard: Sigh. Dog decided her new spot to dig up and lay in was along the edge where the grass plugs went in. I've done 2 more Office Arugula Giveaways since the first one this season. The arugula is starting to flower, and gets more stemmy/less leafy as a result. I think I need to scalp it, in hopes of getting some more new growth. Sorry, bees!





Front yard: Front door bed and pot: Good news, one of the Ann Folkard geraniums seems to have resurrected itself (barely)! Neither came up in the spring, so I thought they'd both died. Bad news, one of the new Ruby Port columbines was doing fine, then just up and croaked (??? wtf?)



Front door pot is doing OK, even though the coleus is kind of buried. Impatiens could put out some dang flowers, already.

Sidewalk bed: The primroses and flame flowers I got at the Garden Fair are doing well! I also ordered three blue honeywort plants from Annie's Annuals. They describe them as “insanely easy to grow.” I've been watering them pretty regularly, and they seem to be doing OK — I saw the first bud this week!

what's blooming

July 2016 Bloom Day
Century plant (Agave parryi):



Buddleia:



Mojave sage (Salvia pachyphylla):



Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans):





Texas red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora):

what's blooming

June 2016 Bloom Day (all arroyo-walk edition)
New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana):



Lupine:







Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa):





Claret cup hedgehog cactus:



Prickly pear:





Indian paintbrush (Castilleja integra):