Flower Gardens

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

Last spring, there were very few poppies in bloom when we visited the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. It seemed a bit silly to wander along the poppy path and say "OOh, here's ONE!" This spring, hopes are high for a great display due to rains we (finally) received during the winter months.

I am really looking forward to strolling along the poppy trail. It's not quite a yellow brick road, but the sense of being surrounded with flowers by the millions is surreal -- truly almost dreamy in the bright California spring time sunshine. It is an awesome sight to see when flowers carpet a field or hillside and spread out in swathes of natural color as though an artist spread paint all the way to the horizon in a glorious blend of gold and orange!

Awesome, too, to see the encroachment of subdivisions sprawling across the historically open land in the environs of the poppy preserve. The word "preserve" seems especially apt as pavement and concrete and irrigated lawns cover more and more of the ground nearby. I am truly thankful the preserve exists so we can enjoy and appreciate such a fabulous view!

Here's the web site for the poppy-lands. It includes the updates on poppy viewing and the poppy viewing hotline number.

And no, they aren't really poppies (Papavar); instead they are Eschscholzia californica, the famous California state flower. Enjoy!

Copyright Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

This sweet and simple four leaf clover labyrinth pattern would adapt perfectly to garden use -- I can imagine it as the outline for a sweet herb garden with fragrant creeping thyme underfoot, or as the inspiration for a bedding plant scheme with bright annual flowers, or as a special hardscape feature done in smooth round river rock stones set into concrete, or even as an oyster shell or gravel pathway perhaps set off by boxwoods and a display of charming spring bulbs. It would be fun to do this all in shades of green -- green edging shrubs, mossy green path, green flowers, too -- maybe hellebores or Bells of Ireland.... What a fun holiday project to sit back, ponder, and plan this garden on St. Patrick's Day. Or maybe you'd just like to do an "Irish" theme garden or a good luck theme garden or golly, how about using this in a fairy garden plan?! See the clover pattern labyrinth at Hali's Blog -- where it's called the labyrinth-o-luck. Enjoy!

Copyright 2008 Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

Yesterday, I visited Joshua Tree National Park area to check out the spring wildflowers blooming. I saw native flowers in great bloom displayed from I-10 north to the Cottonwood park entrance and along the park road up to roughly the Ocotillo Patch inside the park. Keep in mind Joshua Tree includes two very different desert ecosystems, the northern end with the Joshua trees is basically a Mojave environment, while the southern end is a Colorado desert environment. This means the plants are entirely different from one end of the park to the other and the display changes as you go through the park. I always go in the north entrance via the town of Joshua Tree and head south through the park -- I love the panoramic views as you round the bends in that direction. Besides the flowers, lots of rock climbers on a beautiful spring day! From the Los Angeles Times, here is a summary of all the best spots to see spring wildflowers in bloom in California.

copyright Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

The wildflowers seem to be happy this spring and that makes me happy, too. (We finally had some rain here in southern Calfornia after a very dry 2007 and those native plants are popping right up out of the ground and blooming their little hearts out.) This weekend I am heading out to visit the desert and check out the natural displays. I love the desert at all seasons, but the fleeting sight of spring flowers blooming in carpets of color across the usually rocky dry ground is just breath-taking. Pure magic. Best of all, the sights change from week to week so you'll never see the same thing twice. For hints on where to go to see the flowers and where the best displays have been identified so far this season and for an idea of what to expect when you do your own desert wildflower tour, take a look at The Desert in Bloom and follow links to the what's in bloom part of the site. The pages load a little slow but that's because they have documentary photos taken recently, and updated often, throughout the spring season. Enjoy!

Copyright 2008 Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

You might still catch the tail end of camellia season in March; with over 30,000 camellias Descanso’s Camellia Forest is a national treasure. Yes, you walk under and through the camellias planted among huge old native live oaks.

And worth a look (and sniff), is the lilac collection, yes actual Syringa lilacs, blooming in March. To be honest, I don’t think the look of the planting rivals those “back east” or in the mid-west but the fragrance is the real deal so you can close your eyes and breathe deeply and be swept back to the land of Anne of Green Gables or whatever.

Pretty soon, there will be roses blooming like crazy -- the International Rosarium covers five acres.

And, don’t miss the Edible Estates Demonstration Garden (now through fall 2008). The demonstration garden is pretty spectacular in that it is literally split in half by a little walkway. On one side, lawn. On the other side, edible plants. Fritz Haeg, a Los Angeles artist, architect and gardener, wants folks to compare and contrast the typical suburban lawn with a productive garden of vegetables, fruits, herbs and other edibles. Um, maybe not your taste in landscaping but pretty interesting to consider.

Descanso Gardens, a public garden near Los Angeles, is worth visiting. Check out my own Descanso Gardens Visitor Guide for more information. Notice the lilac photo at the bottom of the article if you just don’t believe lilacs can be grown in southern California! Descanso offers details on the Edible Estates Demo.

Copyright Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

Some years ago, when I lived in snowy Pennsylvania, my husband and I stomped a simple labyrinth pattern on a field of freshly fallen snow. It was a magical experience, and I'll never forget it. Of course it disappeared when the snow melted, but that was part of the charm.

I recently came across a photo of another Pennsylvania labyrinth, also covered in snow, and it reminded me of my own experience. This labyrinth, though, is permanent and planted with herbs to enrich the experience of walking the path. It belongs to Sarah Campbell of Herbs from the Labyrinth in Lancaster PA.

It will be part of a labyrinth tour this spring -- April 20th -- if you'd like to visit and walk it. Check out the details of this labyrinth in Lancaster PA. In the meantime, Sarah offers a photo clear enough to trace the pattern with your fingertip, for a virtual labyrinth walk. Enjoy!

Copyright Barbara Martin All my Flower Gardens Blog posts

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

How often have you seen a little sign or plaque in a garden that struck a chord in your heart? A few little words, perhaps a snippet of poetry or a short pithy line, just a glimpse into the gardener's mind and thought process. I've been collecting these sayings for years and enjoy seeing which ones appeal to which people. Do you have a favorite? Here are just a few of those I've collected (in no particular order).

Heaven on Earth.

Life began in a garden

"Thyme Began in a Garden"

Bless the flowers and the weeds, my birds and the bees

So many seeds -- so little time.

Never enough thyme

Free Weeds -- U Pick

Gardening...just another day at the plant

The earth laughs in flowers

"Plant smiles, grow giggles, harvest love."

Say it with flowers

All things grow with love.

Garden Fairies Gather Here

"Garden Angels gather here!"

"Friends are flowers in the garden of life."

A garden is a friend you can visit anytime.

I dig gardening

Compost happens!

"To cultivate a garden is to walk with God"

One is nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on Earth

He who makes a garden works hand in hand with God

"Cares melt when you kneel in your garden."

All things grow with love

Who plants a garden plants happiness.

Happiness is a flower in each hand.

May all your weeds be wildflowers

Garden folks have the sunniest smiles

Gone to pot

Gone to seed

One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding.

You have to eat a lot of parsley to be an old sage

Haven't found just the right phrase yet? To pass the time while we wait for spring to hurry up and get here, why not check out more selected bits of garden poetry and more collected short garden sayings. Enjoy!

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

According to a news report today, Suntory Ltd in Japan will be selling a genetically modified blue rose next year in Japan. Looking at the photo accompanying the news article, the flowers probably will not be called "royal blue" any time soon. But, to me they are blue-er than the slightly blue-ish roses I have seen until now. And, we all know blue vs. purple is a somewhat subjective thing in flower color terminology with lots left to the eye of the beholder. The really interesting part of the story is they managed to work in a gene involved in synthesis of the anthocyanidin or pigment for blue found in pansies and delphiniums and other flowers and fruits such as grapes, called Delphinidin, a name not surprisingly somewhat reminiscent of our all time favorite blue flower -- delphiniums!

Here's the news report with a blue rose photo -- and a photo at the Suntory web site (scroll down to see the blue rose) ... And another 2005 report (with photo) on genetic work on blue roses. Let me know what you think!

What ever happened to "roses are red and violets are blue" -- our world is turning upside down. LOL

Read more FLOWER GARDENS ARTICLES and FLOWER GARDENS BLOGS

Copyright Barbara Martin February 4 2008 All Rights Reserved

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

Since moving to southern California I have felt so lucky to avoid the deepest darkest and coldest days of winter. How dark? Used to be, Thanksgiving on until the weather turned, I'd want to hibernate along with the critters, go dormant like the plants. Hide in bed with the covers pulled over my head, yup. A person can't really do that, but it had a certain shall we say appeal to it.

Here in sunny SoCal, that kind of full scale escape is really not necessary. Instead, we have a bit of rain and the occasional mudslide, some cloudiness in the morning, and out into the far distance there's snow glistening on the mountain peaks. Driving along the I-10 freeway, we glimpse panoramic white peaks behind the Staples Center. That's a comfortable distance, that space between me and the snow. I have no idea if it is hot or cold there, it's just ... a postcard.

What do I see out my window? Palm trees at eye level, and the tips of pencil shaped cypresses. Bougainvillea flailing about with hot pink flowers. A neighbor's rose, backdropped by swimming pool blue. A nice ultra pink hybrid tea -- precisely two blooms peek around the corner of his house. They are postcard perfect, too.

It's time to prune hybrid tea roses in Southern California, so hop to it! While you are out there, enjoy the bedding schemes full of pansies, snapdragons, cyclamen and sweet alyssum, the ranunculas and anemones, primroses galore and myriad succulents abloom beside run of the mill, common birds of paradise. (run of the mill!!)

I cheated on beating cabin fever -- ditched the cabin and up and moved. Extreme, but effective. Would you do that? What do you do to beat hte winter blahs?

Posted by Barbara M. Martin

The last flower gardening poll I ran looked at readers' attitudes about flowers during the winter months. Among the respondents, 21% grow house plant flowers indoors; 5% purchase cut flowers to enjoy indoors; another 5% both grow their own indoors and purchase cut flowers. A darned lucky 11% don't have this problem because they don't experience snowy cold winters where they live. But overwhelmingly, respondents simply give up and go play snow bunny or whatever for the duration -- a whopping 58% don't even bother to mess with flowers in the winter months. That's too bad. And I have to say, that's too many!!!!

To give you naysayers , nonbelievers and non participants a few tips and some much-needed encouragement, I've written a piece on flowers you can grow indoors during the off season. I hope it gives you a few ideas and maybe inspiration to give it a try. Flowers are so uplifting during those long cold January and February days and they keep your green thumb in practice for when the real season starts up again.

Here ya go: suggestions on indoor winter flowering plants you could try growing so you don't have to be a scofflaw any more. Read more FLOWER GARDENS ARTICLES and FLOWER GARDENS BLOGS

Copyright Barbara Martin January 15, 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED