Saturday, May 17, 2008

Backyard blossoms

We have been enjoying some really pretty blossoms in our backyard for several weeks. We have a plot of about 20 feet long by 5 feet wide full of gilia, Marguerite daisies, and California poppies. They are quite colorful and fun to look out the window or door first thing in the morning and be greeted by such a lovely mixture of color. Below are some of the photos I took a couple weeks ago. Even though we have had high temps these past few days, these plants are heat and drought tolerant. We run a soaker hose down the middle of it, and it runs for about half an hour every couple of days. Although our other poppies are still popping each day, by the end of the day during these hot days, they look fried like the photos I provided in my previous post.
Photo above is gilia - I think it is California gilia.

This is a Marguerite daisy. We found that we have two kinds this year -- this one with a yellow center and white outer petals. The other kind is all yellow. I wonder if one of these has naturalized.

Here is a group shot with the Marguerite daisy in the middle. It stands taller than the other plants.

A couple of red poppies from a couple weeks ago.

California poppies.
A California poppy among the gilia.

4 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Mary, your flowers are so beautiful. My favorites are the poppies and that white and yellow Marguerite daisy. I love flower beds with riots of color- no monochromatic themes for me!

Ruth said...

We really have to look for drought resistant flowers as we now have very strict watering restrictions in our city. We can only water with a hose one day a week. People are getting rain barrels and watering by hand but that is a lot of work. Lovely pictures!

Mary C said...

Hi Lynne - thanks for the compliments. There's something about having splashes of color all mixed in, isn't it? I'm another who doesn't care for monochromatic flower beds - they may be elegant, but they are also a bit boring and too formal.

Hi Ruth - that sure surprises me about you having water restrictions, and so early in the season. You had so much snow this year. And didn't you mention a few weeks ago about possible flooding in areas around you? If so, where did all that water go?

RuthieJ said...

California poppies always remind me of visiting my brother several years ago--as a souvenir, I bought a pearl ring with California poppies as part of the setting for the pearl.
I love yours with the blue gilia for contrasting color.

 

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