GardenBook

 It's been very many years since I have visited a zoo, and I couldn't even tell you which zoo it might have been, but I had heard anecdotal  information  that suggested the Santa Barbara Zoo had good landscaping with excellent plants  and was worthy of a visit . I'm always up for  some plant viewing so I  added the zoo  to my road trip agenda. A bit of googling revealed that this particular zoo is well regarded, is small, provides naturalistic settings for the animals and it was only ten minutes from my hotel .   There were a lot, really a lot,  of children there, and the facility had numerous family-friendly features including a large park like play area , picnic areas, Giraffe feeding and a zoo train among other attractions.  Because I am notoriously child-phobic I spent quite a bit of time positioning myself  as far away as possible from the hordes. If I were to visit again , it...

 I have reduced the rose population in my garden (from roughly 70 to about 30) and a big bowl of roses is not as frequent an event as it used to be. I love a bowl of roses, and since the first flush is winding down it was now or never.  I'm still struggling with my location  for the photos-this will have to do, out of focus though it may be.  The pink in the center is the floribunda 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'  and I expect it will have a vase life of about two days. Below 'Our Lady' is 'Eden' aka 'Pierre Ronsard' which is already blackspot bound-I expect this to be a particularly bad year for that affliction.  The white is Sombreuil ,  most of the yellows below are  'Molineux.' a David Austin Rose that is so outstanding I have three.  'Golden Celebration' in the middle.  The vase is a Bauer Hi-Fire thrown by either Fred or Jim Johnson in the mid 1930's.  Be sure to check out  all the vase offering...

 My February road trip to the central and south coast of California was disappointing in the weather department. I enjoyed my trip but there were plenty of horticultural activities that  were rain-outs. After returning  home I  decided to re-do the trip in April.It was a somewhat fiscally irresponsible decision -I was basically shelling out the bucks for the same trip , two months apart. It was worth it, and I have no regrets. My only disappointment this time around was that there were no rooms available in the hotel of choice in Santa Barbara, so I had to fall back on my Best Western option in Carpenteria. I was ok with that-who cares much about the lodgings when you have Lotusland and the Taft Garden on the agenda.  At some point during my February trip I read information about the renovation of the Skyview Motel in Los Alamos. Anyone who has traveled US-101between Northern and Southern California in the last several decades will recognize thi...

 I finally have something to put in a vase from my own garden after the grey winter months of nothingness. I confess that I purchase flowers from about December til April , though I use foliage from my own garden as filler. My biggest challenge is finding a suitable location with enough natural  light to get a decent photo. I'll be experimenting with that issue.    My roses are just coming into bloom, but the climber Sombreuil had lots of vase inventory since I barely pruned it this winter. Middle left  is Cenolophium denudatum  an umbellifer whose blooms are still mostly green , but still makes a nice addition .  Also a bit of Geum 'Totally Tangerine'   assorted Hueuchera , chives and Spirea 'Ogon.'  The vase is a vintage Bauer pillow vase.  Cathy at Rambling in the Garden is our hostess for this weekly vase-fest !

 April is the month that the garden moves past the awkward youth phase of spring, and starts to pump out the growth for the season ahead. April has been blissfully cool so far, with much less rain  than we experienced in February and March. Rain is on the agenda for today which is okay by me-I was starting to worry that I was going to have to water. I always try to hold off til May . Some years we get occasional rain right through to the end of May, but of course this year remains a mystery til it is done. I have declared the end of frost and this past weekend put away all my protection.  Geum 'Totally Tangerine' powers on.  This is one of my scented Pelargoniums. One of the many things I collect. I'm working on a display plan. Right now few of them are being shown to their best advantage.   This is miniature climber Jeanne La Joie. She is one of the few plants that was here when we moved into this house in the early 1990s. I had planned a major re...