It has been a fortnight

... and the dietes are earning their name of "fortnight lily" by blooming again. Well, they are earning the first half of that name. It annoys me to think of how many plants are given names containing "lily" in the hope that they will sell better, or something. The true lilies are not blooming at all, and I plan to dig out that raspberry-coloured one. The daylilies are doing nicely, though. The two Happy Returns in the back patio have started, as has the Stella d'Oro under the back fence; the Small Gesture is still blooming intermittently; the little Wine Cup has started; just today we have Strawberry Candy, Leebea Orange Crush (I'm not as pleased with it as some folks), Holiday Happiness (misshapen petals), and maybe Gingerbread Man. Two that I think I grew from seed have also begun: one is a dark purple with a white blush, not very impressive, and the other a handsome wine-red. I think both are children of Dark Ruby, with paternity uncertain but perhaps Always Afternoon or Stella d'Oro. Several of the big yellow daylilies have now quit.

The romneya started about a week and a half ago and now has nine big white flowers open. The gaura have been stealthily adding blooms to the point where they look very pretty. The perovskia are just as stealthy and not as far along. The "wild lilac" (ceanothus thyrsiflorus "Skylark") has a few almost invisibly tiny flowers, long after I had stopped looking for them; the larger plumbago has its first few flowers, normal size but close to the ground and hard to see. The cistus stopped blooming some time ago, and I've pulled off most of what I suspect are seed pods. Some nigella are still blooming, but many are forming seedpods; I can scatter some seeds of the white ones at the western margin, where the ixia are over and the ipomopsis not yet started, with the teucrium fruticans still showing a few flowers and the big escallonia getting bigger -- I've trimmed it back -- and still blooming. Oh, and the rose looks good. No more zantedeschia. The lavender look very well next to the clarkia. The scarlet flax continue in some parts. Almost all the gilia are over, and I've collected seed from them. The gazania and solanum rantonettii are blooming with rather less enthusiasm. The first of the newly sown yarrow has bloomed, but it's white. There seem to be several volunteer epilobium seedlings; I'm not quite sure what to do with them.

In the back garden, one of the catharanthus that suffered so badly last winter has shown a nice red flower. There's a red canna just opening. Some of the heuchera are staying on. In the front walkway, the morning glories are two feet tall or so, the sweet pea there is struggling, but the one by the east fence has been blooming for a week and more, showy red (pinkish) flowers. The alstroemeria by the back gate is fine; the one behind the house is suffering fromthe heat, or something -- no blooms, despite extra water. I've sheared off the big aquilegia in the hope that they'll re-bloom; the seedlings are having mixed success.

The gopher is back. I've baited a trap with a fresh eschscholzia root and not much optimism.

one for the morning glory

Yes, both Grandpa Ott plants are blooming, though neither is far off the ground. Yesterday I saw the first "Small Gesture" daylily. The dietes are out again; the Hidcote lavender look superb, except that half of the ones I transplanted in the winter look dead. The oldest-established pervoskias are starting to bloom, though it isn't easy to see; the same goes for the malacothamnus fremontii. There are plenty of clarkia open, including one unusual one with strong red markings on an almost white ground, and more than plenty of oenothera. A few of the palue blue nigella have made their appearance, and some more clarkia unguiculata (?). There are even still some scarlet flax open, and a few flowers on the lithodora. I keep forgetting to mention the lavender cotton (santolina chamaecyparissus), not that its yellow flowers are all that spectacular. The snow-in-summer continues. The ixia are disappearing fast, but the salvia nemorosa are spectacular, at least by comparison with earlier years.

The gilia capitata are fading, and I have pulled some out; likewise the first row of snap peas, and the second row looks as it will only last a week. I've also pulled a lot of nasturtiums, but mostly on aesthetic grounds, and ditto the pink watsonias. The orange and red ones have few but attractive blossoms; only the white are making a really good show. The first true lilies are open -- have I mentioned them -- but they are the raspberry pink ones with yellow centres, which I don't like and shall probably dig up.

rockrose for sure

It showed nine flowers today. They don't seem to last long. Oh, and the dietes opened its first blooms of the year a few days ago; today I cleaned them off. The first farewell-to-spring (Clarkia amoena) are open, looking very good, and one astonishing yellow Calochortus, possibly "Golden orb". For no good reason there is a white freesia. The Dutch iris are all gone and my one bearded iris is not yet doing anything. The ixia look good and there a couple of purple flowers that almost have to be Ixiolirion except I don't remember planting any in that spot :-) The mimulus is adding more blooms, and I think one of the "Grandpa Ott" morning glories has its first one ready to open. I've dug out some little allium neapolitanum.

The soapwort and Indian hawthorn are getting pretty sparse, as is the "Grace Ward" lithodora. But guess what? One of the anemones is back. The teucrium fruticans and the big escallonia, both on the western edge, are in good bloom. Nearby, the salvia nemorosa have grown to quite a size and are still visible under the romneya, which is in bud. We definitely have some bachelor's buttons (centaurea cyanus) but only near the house, where they benefit from reflected heat; ditto some love-in-a-mist (nigella) but only the white ones, of which I am less than fond.

The Paraguay nightshade has fewer flowers than before and looks rather bare on its topmost twigs. I'm giving it more water, and likewise to the plum tree. The first row of snap peas, planted back in late November, is yellowing.

Concerning the gopher, one of my traps tripped but did not trap.

a little more

Some white (and pink) yarrow is in bloom -- an old plant, though -- and one of the rockroses (Cistus ladanifer) seems about to open. The iris are mostly withering. The cyclamens are ramping down slowly, but the big yellow daylilies are ramping up fast. One of the columbines I transplanted last weekend from the back fence to near the back door doesn't look too healthy.