Previously in my Instagram Photos…
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Product: California Winter Rose Tote Bag (and other products)
I just started using RedBubble.com to produce some products from my photography, including garden photos you see here on A Gardener’s Notebook. Here is a hie looking tote bag from the site. You can click through to see all the available products, including smartphone and tablet cases, mugs, notecards and prints of all sizes.
Interesting Plant: Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) via BeWaterWise (@bewaterwiseh2o)
Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) via BeWaterWise.com
A few months ago I was invited down the office of the Metropolitan Water District to meet a number of people involved in their BeWaterWise.com project to help reduce water usage in California. As part of their efforts, they focus on providing plant alternatives to water hungry lawns. Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting some of their garden alternatives as part of this series. For more information on these plants and other water conservation ideas and programs, vist BeWaterWise.com. Follow the MWD on Twitter at BeWaterWiseH2O— Douglas
“Lavatera assurgentiflora 2005-06-09” by Curtis Clark – Photography by Curtis Clark. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
Easy-to-grow flowering shrub with abundant beautiful striped blooms. This variety grows to 8 feet tall and others can grow as high as 12 feet tall and wide. An evergreen, the Malva Rosa requires little to moderate water. It is often used for background, hillside and screen planting. — BeWaterWise.com
Lavatera assurgentiflora – now classified as Malva assurgentiflora,[1] the Island Mallow, Mission Mallow, Royal Mallow,[2] Island Tree Mallow, Malva Rosa is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family. It is endemic to California, where it is native only to the Channel Islands. It can also be found growing as an escapee from cultivation in coastal mainland California.
Malva assurgentiflora is a sprawling perennial herb or bushy shrub generally exceeding a meter tall and approaching four meters in maximum height. The leaves are up to 15 centimeters long and wide and are divided into 5 to 7 toothed lobes.
The showy flowers have five dark-veined deep pink petals which are somewhat rectangular in shape and 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters long. The disc-shaped fruit is divided into 6 or 8 segments each containing a seed. — Wikipedia
More information on Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) :
- Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) via BeWaterWise.com
- Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) via Wikipedia
- Malva Rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) via SFGate
Books from Amazon.com:
* A portion of all sales directly support A Gardener’s Notebook
** Some of the books may be available at your local library. Check it out!
Enjoy this post? Consider a donation via PayPal to support more garden posts, podcasts and videos!
Previously in the Interesting Plant series:
- Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila)
- Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera)
- Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
- Echeveria ‘Lola’
- View all past “Interesting Plant” posts
Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas
Video: First Daffodil of 2015
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A quick look at my First Daffodil of 2015
Music: “Sardana” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) under Creative Commons License
Check out my collection of gardening essays, “From A Gardener’s Notebook” now available as a Kindle eBook. (You don’t need a Kindle to read it, though. Read it on your PC, Link: http://j.mp/fagnbook
Watch all past episodes of “In the garden…” in this YouTube Playlist
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Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
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“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
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Related posts:
Video: In the garden…January 23, 2015: Replanting after frost damage and more sweet potatoes harvested
I replace some frost damaged basil, plant out some homemade lavender cuttings and harvest another 3rd of the sweet potato bed with great results.
Check out my collection of gardening essays, “From A Gardener’s Notebook” now available as a Kindle eBook. (You don’t need a Kindle to read it, though. Read it on your PC, Link: http://j.mp/fagnbook
Watch all past episodes of “In the garden…” in this YouTube Playlist
Please Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
Enjoy this post? Consider a donation via PayPal to support more garden posts, podcasts and videos!
- Follow A Gardener’s Notebook on Pinterest
- Follow A Gardener’s Notebook on Twitter
- Like A Gardener’s Notebook on Facebook
- Circle A Gardener’s Notebook on Google+
- Subscribe to A Gardener’s Notebook podcast via iTunes
“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly photo animation
Google’s G+ service looks for photos taken in quick succession and then attempts to stitch them together in to an animated GIF. Here is an animation they put together from the Gulf Fritillary photos I posted last week.
Previously in my Instagram Photos…
You can see most of my photos in my Flickr Photostream
Related posts:
Flowering Now: Euryops
Flowering Now: Euryops
Found along our recent neighborhood walk. Euryops are common landscaping plants here in the San Fernando Valley.
Photo: Douglas E. Welch, A Gardener’s Notebook
Euryops pectinatus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to South Africa.[1] It is a vigorous evergreen shrub growing to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall and wide, with silvery green, hairy leaves and yellow, daisy-like composite flowers, 5 cm (2 in) in diameter, on long stems, from early summer through to autumn (and into winter if grown under glass).
E. pectinatus is widely used as a garden plant, especially in urban areas, because of its hardiness and its almost perpetual flowering regime. It grows best in full sun and well-drained deep soils. It must be grown in a sheltered location, away from frost-prone areas. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit.[2] — Wikipedia.org
More information on Euryops:
Previously in Flowering Now:
- Azalea
- First Paperwhites 2014
- Lantana
- Silk Floss Tree (Ceiba speciosa)
- Sunflower (Helianthus)
- Hibiscus
- Cactus Flower
- Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum)
- Plumaria
- Nasturtium
- Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai)
- Fortnight Lily (Dietes) – June 24, 2014
- Water Lily (Nymphaeaceae)
- Daylily (Hemerocallis)
- Morning glory (Convolvulaceae)
- Pink Hibiscus
- Magnolia grandiflora
- Gardenia – beautiful flowers and scent
- Calochortus superbus (Superb mariposa lily) – California Native
Interesting Plant: Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via BeWaterWise
Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via BeWaterWise.com
A few months ago I was invited down the office of the Metropolitan Water District to meet a number of people involved in their BeWaterWise.com project to help reduce water usage in California. As part of their efforts, they focus on providing plant alternatives to water hungry lawns. Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting some of their garden alternatives as part of this series. For more information on these plants and other water conservation ideas and programs, vist BeWaterWise.com — Douglas
With a charming name and abundant blossoms, the “Pennie Black” variety produces blackish purple flowers rimmed in white. Other varieties, more true to their name, are sky- blue blossoms. The plants grow in full sun or partial shade and require moderate water. They grow 6 to 12 inches high and trail to 1 foot wide. The bell-shaped flowers bloom in spring and the ferny leaves give the plants a delicate look. — BeWaterWise.com
Nemophila menziesii, known commonly as baby blue eyes or baby’s-blue-eyes,[1] is an annual herb native to California, Oregon, and Baja California. It is a spring wildflower with threevarieties, two of which bear blue flowers. It is also cultivated in gardens. It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an introduced species, in Alaska, for example.[2]
It grows virtually throughout California at heights from sea level up to almost 6500 feet (2000 meters). It grows in many types of habitat.
The plant is variable in appearance. The leaves are lobed and oppositely arranged. The flowers are blue or white.
- Nemophila menziesii var. atomaria has white flowers with black dots, often with a faint blue tint or blue veins in the corolla. It is found on coastal bluffs or grassy slopes in Oregon, Northwestern California, the Central Coast of California, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Nemophila menziesii var. integrifolia has blue flowers, with black dots at the center and deep blue veins. It is found in grasslands, canyons, woodlands, and slopes in the Central Coast, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, east of the Sierra Nevada range, and into the Mojave Desert and Baja California
- Nemophila menziesii var. menziesii has bright blue flowers with white centers that are generally dotted with black. It is found virtually throughout California, in meadows, grasslands,chaparral, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes, but it does not occur above 1600 meters. — Wikipedia
More information on Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) :
- Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via BeWaterWise.com
- Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via Wikipedia
- Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via Gardening Know How
- Baby Blue-Eyes (Nemophila) via Annie’s Annuals
Books from Amazon.com:
* A portion of all sales directly support A Gardener’s Notebook
** Some of the books may be available at your local library. Check it out!
Enjoy this post? Consider a donation via PayPal to support more garden posts, podcasts and videos!
Previously in the Interesting Plant series:
- Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera)
- Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens)
- Echeveria ‘Lola’
- View all past “Interesting Plant” posts
Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas
Photos: Gulf Fritillary Butterfly in my garden – January 16, 2015
I saw this butterfly darting about on the purple lantana in the front yard as I went out for a walk the other day.
Interesting Plant: Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) via BeWaterWise
Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) via BeWaterWise.com
A few months ago I was invited down the office of the Metropolitan Water District to meet a number of people involved in their BeWaterWise.com project to help reduce water usage in California. As part of their efforts, they focus on providing plant alternatives to water hungry lawns. Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting some of their garden alternatives as part of this series. For more information on these plants and other water conservation ideas and programs, vist BeWaterWise.com — Douglas
A bunch of urn-flowered alumroots (Heuchera elegans) in Mt. Wilson (California). Photographed and uploaded by user:Geographer (Wikipedia)
Slender, spiky stems of loose, small bell-shaped owes grow from clumps of round scalloped leaves. The delicate blossoms come in shades of red, coral, rose pink, greenish and white. Most varieties bloom between early spring and late summer, with some lasting until fall. They work great in cut arrangements and are long-lasting. In warmer areas, they do best with afternoon shade and moderate to regular water. And, hummingbirds like them. — BeWaterWise.com
Heuchera /ˈhjuːkɨrə/[1] is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. They havepalmately lobed leaves on long petioles, and a thick, woody rootstock. The genus was named after Johann Heinrich von Heucher (1677–1746), an 18th-century German physician.[2]There are approximately 37 species, but the taxonomy of the genus is difficult because the species often intergrade with one another, hybridization is common, and the flowers change markedly in proportion as they develop.[2]
Alumroot species grow in varied habitats, so some species look quite different from one another, and have varying preferences regarding temperature, soil, and other natural factors. H. maxima is found on the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on rocky, windy, saline-washed ocean shores, and H. sanguinea, called coral bells because of its cerise flowers, can be found in the warm, dry canyons of Mexico and adjacent New Mexico and Arizona.
Several alumroots and their crosses are used as ornamental plants.[2] — Wikipedia
More information on Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) :
- Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) via BeWaterWise.com
- Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) via Wikipedia
- Coral Bells or Alum Root (Heuchera) via Gardening.About.com
Books from Amazon.com:
* A portion of all sales directly support A Gardener’s Notebook
** Some of the books may be available at your local library. Check it out!
Enjoy this post? Consider a donation via PayPal to support more garden posts, podcasts and videos!
Previously in the Interesting Plant series:
Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas
Related posts:
Video: In the garden…January 4, 2015: Checking on frost damage to sweet potato vines and more
Garden Alphabet: Currant (Ribes)
Garden Inventory: Podocarpus
Video: Container Garden Update 24: Nasturtiums arise, basil pinching and checking the rosemary cuttings
Garden Inventory: Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus)