I will not allow myself to look...no, no, no....there are more grasses that I want.....Bex will still be going out of the area occasionally, hitting different nurseries and I'll make sure she carries my list of the few things I HAVE to have.....

I love these black millet...sorry that I didn't plant a whole lot more.....next year....

Lantana looks much happier today and finally saw ham and eggs showing up..it really waits for the cool down

A lone bloom from my noid Plumeria yellow. Final bloom for the season:

With the light shining through.....

I have never used abelia before, always looks 'stringy', unhealthy.....but THIS one....wow! It either likes the climate here or.......I suspect the key is that they've treated as a hedge and pruned it as such...seems to be a good idea....

Wow! I've never seen them that lush. I have seen them trimmed as a small hedge, but at the cost of blooms. Maybe the early trimming gets them bushy enough to let them go later.

I have never, ever seen one like this...I'm impressed. Maybe the climate helps. Escallonia is used a lot here as hedges and my neighbor has a huge, tall one enclosing their property. About a month or so ago, he whacked it back to bare branches on the outside and within a couple of weeks it was solid green on that side again...

I saw this short hedge this last week and had to go back and take a look, at first thought it might be jasminum polyanthum (a?)...

Yesterday was cold and windy, today is about 85...far TOO HOT.

When I was still working for Caltrans we tried Escallonia on one on ramp. Last time I saw them they were solid aphids. The Abelia we had in a large quadrant were huge fountain shaped plants, which was ok because they weren't in a place where they impeded traffic or blocked visibility. Raphiolepsis did pretty well if we could get them established before the gophers found them. I stood and watched one of our new Raphs. slowly sink into the ground one day...like a scene from caddy shack. You've never gardened until you try it on a freeway! Between the varmints, the traffic running over the plants and irrigation, the compacted, contaminated soil, and the safety issues, it's really a challenge.
Can't say I miss it.

No aphids on the escallonia here, the only thing I have aphids on is my green beans.....

I really like Escallonia. I just don't have room for any shrubs here.

I didn't know what it was until moving up here...I like my short hedge of mixed escallonia and privet, a blueberry thrown in for good measure. I was never much of a 'shrub' person, suddenly, up here, there are a whole lot of shrubs I want..I suppose because I'm seeing them as enclosure and privacy, growing faster than the trees perhaps....

Salvia regla at the Botanical Garden in Brookings today....

Thought I'd chime in here. I've enjoyed reading this post. I'm originally from Long Beach so it's nice to hear someone say something good about it.
My hydrangeas have never done anything above 18" and the only amaryllis I can grow are naked ladies. But Lion's tail grows well in my garden. I have all three kinds. Probably the one I like best is the annual one. It gets tall fast and I can grow a little patch of them in the flower garden for their hot orange color. Anyone interested I keep seed.
Blooming now I have plectranthus, rain lillies, and few very confused epi cactus and succulents. I've been doing my best to catch up with the weeds but it's impossible. I have those nasty little ground hugging weeds that seed profusely, they are everywhere. My daughters have forbidden me from using round-up or even pre-emergent. I guess there is still hope for the future.

Please do chime in.....I love Long Beach....Mike will complain about his pocket of cold in the winter and the falling palm fronds, but I know he loves Long Beach also. We've moved so far North now that I doubt I will ever see LB again...sigh

You have the white Lion's Tail? I had it in Fallbrook and if the regular orange manages to do well here, then I will track down the white again.

I would like seeds of the L. nepetifolia if you want to part with some.....I can either send an SASE, or if I have something you would like, it or they are yours for an SASE, or trade if you like. I currently have seeds of:

Aristea ecklonii
Leucanthemum vulgare
Rhodochiton atrosanguineum
Salvia forskaohlei

I WILL have seeds of Echium gentianoides, Salvia rhinosa (rhinosina? Came from Robin as rhinosa, but may really be rhinosina, need to check on that), various others...

"Originally from Long Beach"....How long ago is "originally"? I don't think yoiu're old enough to remember The Pike or Pierpoint Landing. While I do like the new Long Beach, I miss the old, rather shabby parts also, much like I enjoy the shabby Crescent City...I think of it as 'atmosphere'....

Oh oh, definately the Rhodochiton atrosanguineum, been wanting that one for years.
I have the orange lion's tail, wow there's a white uh, I'll be looking for that now.
I graduated high school in 1974 and left Long Beach in 1975. I remember the Pike well, it was a wonderful dangerous place to go back then.
I don't think I have tried to contact anyone through ATP yet. Is there a mail function.

There is a mail function. It is T-mail and in the upper left hand corner, in the blue field, you will see an 'envelope' icon, when you have a T-mail waiting, it will turn red. mif you wish to send someone a T-mail, clcik on their name to highlight it, or look up their name in the 'memers' list to dinf them....when you have their name up, you will be given a choices and one of them will be 'send a T-mail to...."

Undoubtedly someone else can explain this better, but I will right now be sending you a T-mail so you will see your T-mail envelope icon in 'red'....

Add to my current seed list....
Malva dendromorpha....

You know, just hit me, I'm used to just calling it T-mail, but it's 'Tree' mail, I do believe.

If you check your T-mail, then you can t-mail back to me your mailing address and I can send you the rhodochiton seeds...are there any of the others that I currently have that you want? LMK....

lol..I'm 10 years older, I may remember even seedier parts of LB.....

Naked Ladies.....

What's blooming in October....



dierama that came up in a pot of crocosmia.....surprise!