Congratulations, newlyweds!

OK, it's off-topic but I saw this truck while leaving the Rutherford Grill after lunch on October 17. Kristen and Joyce were married in California on October 16, 2008 and graciously allowed this stranger to take photos to post here. They were on their "mini-moon" in the Napa Valley.

Please help guarantee equal protection under the law for all married couples. Vote NO on PROP 8 in California on November 4, 2008. The voter registration deadline is October 20.



[UPDATE: Californians voted by a narrow margin to amend the state constitution through Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage.]

August garden dog days

Hollyhock "Creme de Cassis"
Red buckwheat & Snow-in-summer What a blooming cottage garden looks like when it's not blooming
Penstemon 'Hildalgo.' This thing is a skyscraper, as far as penstemons go, over 5 ft.

Hot, hot, hot and not much blooming. The cottage-y area of the garden is green with a few blooms here and there. The exceptions are catmint, Cleveland sage, agastache, hollyhocks, a few penstemons and the occasional rose. I'm preparing another moderately-sized planting bed next to the driveway for this fall and have been doing my pretend pre-ordering at High Country Gardens. You know the kind of orders, where you fill your online shopping cart and then can't quite bring yourself to the checkout page.
Becauses this is a realtime garden, here are a few photos of what a hot and tired garden looks like at the end of summer. If anything looks OK it's only because it's a closeup that excludes the surrounding blahs.

San Miguel Island Buckwheat

The rich pink flowers in this photo are that of Eriogonum grande rubescens, or red buckwheat, planted in the curb strip I share with the neighbors, which is blasted in the baking sun all day. My plants came from Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales Bay. Since their demonstration specimens were nothing short of splendid and this buckwheat is native to the Channel Islands off the coast of California, I made some assumptions and tried a little experiment by placing some plants in this sunny curb strip and some in my part-shade strip under a maple tree.
Here is what I learned.
This is one tough, beautiful and un-thirsty buckwheat, it does not appreciate shade and it's a generous bloomer. The spoon-shaped leaves are sturdy, a nice green and glaucous on the undersides with a slightly waxy feel, perfect for its native salty, windy coastal island where it is dry most of the growing season. However, my plants did just fine in Napa's uncharteristically hard freezes this past winter. They do prefer a lean soil but I have mine planted in a bed that's mostly clay amended with lots of organic matter. So far (just one growing season) they've done great. The mason bees, skippers and hairstreaks love the nectar. I even see the wasps going after it. When the seed heads dry later in the season there will be food for the neighborhood quail. I didn't bother taking a photo of the plants under the maple tree because they didn't perform nearly as well. Those will be replanted in full sun this fall in a roasting, dry-ish bed next to the driveway. It makes a good companion plant for yarrow, Cleveland sage (both of which grow on the Channel Islands) agastache and mullein. The photo was taken before it reached full bloom. It looks even better now, especially with the plants around it having filled in. The plant is full and not unattractive even when not in bloom.
You don't have to live on a windy island to enjoy this plant. My climate in Napa is decidedly Mediterranean, with dry summers and wet winters. Red buckwheat is a winner here.

Smokey skies over Napa

Not a garden topic but here's what's happening in my neck of the woods. These aren't exciting photos but our usually crisp, bright hillsides are covered in this smokey haze.

The photos were taken from the Maxwell Bridge, the first looking due east, the second slightly north-east toward the fire (not visible in the photo). Photos taken with my cell phone, through the car window! Safe, huh?

I lust for chicken house

I was exiting the garden center in St. Helena recently and saw this. Be still my heart. I want. Beautiful, no? I have a new appreciation for the time, effort and cost of materials, because the next thing I saw was the sign in the window. Three grand, baby. I don't know the builder. Probably never will since I live just slightly within city limits, I'm concerned my neighbors would be offended and there is no way I can afford this chicken house. It's a handsome chicken house but what do you all think of the wire floor? Is that OK for chicken feet? I'm not that familiar with chicken culture so I have no idea.

The Boot Tree is in bloom - visual pun

My niece Kanishia was driving through Oregon, spotted this rare Boot Tree in bloom and stopped to snap a photo. There are other boot trees but I suspect this one is definitive. I'll let you know if the cuttings take.

Giving back to the community: Ann Trinca & Norma Quintana

Meet Ann Trinca and Norma Quintana, artists and community mobilizers. Together they have opened a wonderful space in Napa, The Nest, which is at once part livelihood and love-offering to the community. Their motto: Live creatively, give generously. The nest is combination art gallery, store and gathering space. Part of the the proceeds from store sales and events goes toward building the "Nest Egg" fund, which is distributed to artists through our local arts council.

Their latest project: a community garden. People in the community who donate a plant, seeds or gardening materials have been invited to share in the garden bounty and much of the produce will be donated to the Napa Food Bank. Check out Ann Trinca's May 17 blog post to see what one of the local big box stores did for them to help kick off the project. Check out the rest of her blog, too (one of my favorites). How cool is that mini-tire planter the kind man with power tools is assembling?

The Nest's main web site will tell you more about upcoming events at the gallery.

Yummy Nasturtium 'Peach Melba'

Blooming furiously in a hot, dry corner.

Wild Ass Idea - propagation mister

There are wild asses, you know, but I don't know what kind of ideas they have beyond I think I'll graze slightly to the left now.

So, I'm thinking, without any personal research to back it up, that maybe I could come up with a cheap way to mist cuttings. I have one of those cobra misters and I'm thinking of connecting it to a hose, connected to a faucet, connected to a solar or battery-powered timer. Why not? I have everything I need except the timer. I even have plastic sheeting should I choose to slap together a small mist house (which I probably won't but I could).

Report pending.

More May Bloom Day

Here's the recently planted curbstrip, not yet in full expression, that I share with my good neighbors who gave me free rein with my trowel. It will fill out more next growing season. You can just catch a glimpse of the flagstone and solar garden lights placed for their nighttime safety in and out of vehicles. I miscalculated on the flagstone and lights a bit. Umm, a lot, But it will help keep us from tripping at night.
Jupiter's beard/centranthus ruber, 'Moonshine' yarrow, wahlenbergia species 'Blue Cloud & 'May Night' salvia, plus more.

Waiting to bloom: caryopteris 'Dark Knight,' various agastache, elfin thyme, red Channel Islands buckwheat, epilobium/California fushia (not really a fushia) & Cleveland sage.

Leaning Tower of Delphinium, 'Graham Thomas' roses, with a slight peek of hollyhock 'Aunt Brownie Fig' in the next photo. The fig-leaf hollyhock, usually rust-resistant, had terrible rust this year. Lots of wailing and ripping of leaves ensued.


'Ladybird' poppies, two views, with 'Whirling Butterflies' gaura & anchusa capensis 'Blue Angel.'

Carex testacea 'Orange New Zealand Sedge,' which is far more intensely colored in person, very garden-worthy. At its feet are verbena 'Burgundy' and 'Mother of Thyme.'

'Apple Blossom' penstemon with 'Snow Hill' salvia in background.

Small's penstemon, with yellow native lupine.

List of bloomers

abutilon

catmint

anchusa (both perennial & annual)

yarrow 'Moonwalker'

columbine, unnamed cultivar

salvia nemerosa 'May Night' & Snow Hill

autumn sage, red & peach

Roses: Iceberg, Tequila, Betty Prior, Sally Holmes, Graham Thomas, Lida/Leda, Brilliant Pink Iceberg, Burgundy Iceberg, Playboy

linaria 'Flamenco' & 'Red Velvet"

cream cups

California poppies

Ladybird poppies

fushia

stipa/Mexican feather grass

buddleia

dianthus/pinks

dianthus barbatus 'Sooty'

Baby Blue Eyes/gilia

tri-color gilia

Penstemon: Garnet, Apple Blossom, Small's, Husker's Red

Jupiter's Beard

scabiosa - three varieties

elderberry 'Black Lace'

vebena bonarensis

verbena 'Burgundy'

various pelargoniums

lupine

sweet peas (just barely)

What's blooming in the North Bay - May

Close-up of 'Tequila' rose.
Put on your sunglasses, here comes anagallis monellii, shockingly cobalt with pink center. It's a beauty.

This photo, not much bloom and the plants haven't filled in yet, but photo taken about a week ago. The hollyhock 'Aunt Brownie Fig' is now in bloom and you can see that the 'Black Lace' elderberry in the foreground starting to push. The elderberry will get bushier in subsequent seasons (planted last fall from a 4-inch pot).

Here you see anchusa (very intense cobalt blue), catmint, 'Tequila' rose, California poppies, yellow centaurea macrocephala (never again, ever)

Saponaria ocymoides in background, pentemon 'Garnet,' growing in the inferno strip under a trident maple. Love 'em.

Different view of catmint, etc.
Three kinds of pinks/dianthus, English lavender hybrid, yellow cream cups and blue annual anchusa near the field stone

Yet another view of catmint amongst everything, yawn.
Waaaay off in the middle of this bed you can see my first-year 'Betty Prior' rose (pink). Behind that, against the lattice is 'Sally Holmes.' Grow this rose, please. I abused mine in a container before finally putting it in the ground this past winter. She's a beauty and forgave me, producing huge clusters of large single flowers slightly blushed with peach. Still waiting for some of the later-bloomers to fill in.
Dianthus barbatus 'Sooty' in the foreground smells like chocolate. The white pom-pons are scabiosa 'Snow White' and the yellow spikey thing is a California native lupine.