Waiting for the Big Show

Oh, the suspense!  Everyone is budding up for Spring and it's getting so hard to be patient!  Take this Dudleya hassei branch, for instance.  It's so rewarding to have seen it quadruple in size the past year and it will be quite the celebration when he blooms!  I'm hoping a hummingbird will come to join the party.

The Carpenter bees will be so excited when this Collinsia heterophylla comes out to play.  It reseeded from last year!

The Prunella vulgaris has swiftly taken charge of the garden and will grace this shady bed with purple spikes.

But I'm in awe of this little treasure- a Columbine that I had left for dead.  Apparently, it just needed a year to get established because it's sending up its little red rocket blossoms.  It's hard not to be cautiously optimistic about it, though.  With powdery mildew on its way, I'll just enjoy what I've discovered for now and worry about what comes later!

Happy Spring!

Plant of the Week: Chinese Houses

I've always loved the common name for Collinsia heterophylla. When I was a kid, I would pretend that I could shrink down to size and clamber over the blossoms to make them my home. This native annual wins "plant of the week" for being just so darn pretty dressed all in lace and ribbons. What a dear!

Here's some quick stats:

Soil: not picky
Sun: part shade near the Bay, shade inland
Water: let the rain take care of it, but water once a week between showers
Height: 18"
Plant: if by seed, around Valentine's Day. Plant 4" pots in March(ish).
Buy it: annie's annuals for 4" pots or larner seeds for seed packets (if you can recommend another nursery, please share!)
Good for: continuing the spring ballet after the daffodils and irises have completed their solos and have left brown, wilty leaves. Also they attract bees!