A SERIOUSLY GOOD PRUNING

 This week saw the start of the annual seriously good pruning and cutting back days. There will be many more to follow.

This is the walkway down towards the gate at the end of the vegetable garden. Yes, that's mint on the left and the trim back comes at least 3 times a year. For now I was more concerned with getting out the trailing wine cup. It had totally obliterated the path and required a hop, skip and a jump to pass by. It had woven its way up through the seat of the new bench I purchased this year and would soon be in my 'highly successful this year' hayrack planter on the wall. The felt lining did the trick.

This is a hot spot on the wall of the potting shed, facing west and there is no way that even succulents would tolerate such a blast furnace. Soon these plants will have served their time and I will have to think of their replacements. The feather grass, dahlberg daisy and alyssum will stay and likely I will put in some zinnias. For now there are still the stocks to bloom.

This is the pathway alongside the citrus pots. Once the feather grass, mealy blue sage and California poppies were removed I could now reach the far end of the square beds. Three buckets for the compost pile.

This morning I turned my attention to the beds themselves.

Two rows of gone-to-seed arugula. I thought they looked rather pretty with their back drop of blanket flowers until I spotted a harlequin bug on them. Then I pulled them out. I do not want to face an attack of those bugs this year. I also finally removed the gone-to-seed cilantro, carefully removing the remaining lady bugs and relocating them to an aphid colony on the top of the chocolate chip mangave. Apparently they don't like those dizzying heights and have left. Will have to dunk the top in some insecticidal soap.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, APRIL 2011

Can it be that there are still blooms left in the garden, after our weeks of endless heat with no rain. It's time for those northern gardens and other gardens around the world to take over and show us their blooms. Join Carol, at Maydreams and share your pretty flowers.

I like to see long shots of the garden but there is a time and a place for close ups of flowers and today is the day. Bloom day.

It was hard to believe that the mock orange would flower this spring. After all it flowered twice last year. At its normal time in April and then again in late October. We had such a mild, summer-like fall it was clearly confused. But it did.

I love the pink evening primrose when it spills out from under the Salvia greggii. So what if it's invasive. I just keep pulling it out where I don't want it.

Frilly pink poppies. I'm doing some serious pulling of the single flowered variety. I love this one. But what a disappointment that there were no purple ones this year.

The first of the purple cone flowers.

and Love-in-a-mist, Nigella. Great for dried seed heads.

The first rock rose bloom.

And those nasturtiums. Although I sampled the flowers when we were at Red Butte Gardens last year, they haven't yet appeared in my salad bowl.

And some poor gaillardia, with monstrose form.

Lots of flowers on the chive. More flowers for the salad bowl.

It remains to be seen if these will develop into full sized pomegranates. The tree definitely has a problem. Boo hoo.


Sedums, Sedum potosenum, sparkle with star shaped flowers.

Dahlberg daisy and wine cups in the sunken garden.

A mass of blue eyed grass, Sisyrinchium are still open at 8 o'clock in the evening.

I hope this guy didn't drop in for dinner.

Mealy blue sage, Salvia victoria, can be a bit of a pest. After it has flowered I cut it back and it blooms again and again. The goldfinches love the seeds in the fall.

The first rose campion, Lychnis coronaria, flower. The dry winter means there won't be so many this year.

But there will always be lots of blanket flowers, Gaillardia spec.,

We trimmed back the cedars in the English garden this year and the Texas clematis Clematis pitcheri, really appreciates getting more sun. So much so that David extended the trellis.

This columbine has reproduced itself in the master Spanish oak garden. It makes a welcome change from the Hinckley's yellow.

More flowering sedum.

Hope you are enjoying bloom day in your garden. Thanks Carol, for hosting

FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

Of course I don't keep record books but these certainly are records for my garden.

I noticed the first tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. In the past I have barely been putting the tomatoes in the ground by this time, let alone seeing tomatoes.

Record number two goes to the flowers on the pink primroses, Oenothera speciosa. They are almost the size of side plates. Enormous, and of course lots of them.

The first time I have ever succeeded in growing a nasturtium from seed. I may be picking to put in my salad by the end of the week. To learn about edible flowers look here.

The earliest pomegranate flower bud to appear, and it may be the last!. The tree seems to be in a serious decline.

This is the first time I have grown agaves in this planter. It is impossible to keep anything alive in this wall planter so I'm going for the xeriscape look.