Pop Goes the Garden

It’s like a rainbow of colors out there!  As I look out my kitchen window, it seems overnight there was a color riot in the backyard! I have a lot of plants that flower from spring until fall, so I really enjoy the garden for those months of the year.  In bloom right now are sweet peas, borage, ceanothus (Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’), a variety of sages, marguerites, daffodils, Lady Banks Rose, weeping butterfly bush-that’s just to name a few!

The benefit to having such hues in the garden is the wildlife it attracts.  I see bees, birds, spiders, and cats playing in the jewel tones.

Just the other day, I was having a look at the backyard with a critical eye.  I decided that I need to add more colorful foliage and movement to the yard.  I plan on adding  ornamental grasses and bronzed, variegated or other-than-green plants to my yard.  Granted, the flowers are colorful, but the majority of the yard is just green foliage when the flowers are gone.

In the next few weeks I am going to Annie’s Annuals in Richmond and also a UC Davis Arboretum Invitational for Master Gardeners.  I hope to find the plants I am looking for that will spice up the yard for the 'plain green' times of the year.

Argyanthemum 'Lemon Sugar' (photos by Jennifer Baumbach)

A honey bee on Ceanothus 'Dark Star'.

Salvia 'Cabrillo Sunset'

Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron spp.)

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