Who am I? and other stuff

Spring is right around the bend now and thankfully we have mild temps on the forecast for the next few days. I have tons of work to do in the garden since I haven't really done any this year. A short survey on Saturday found nothing new in bloom since my last post. The hybrid hellebore will open its flowers soon and the Forsythia is in full yellow bud. The main thing that I see when I look out there is~ yikes!~ the ornamental grasses need attention NOW. I love grasses but truly hate the mess that they can make, especially Miscanthus 'Cabaret'



See what I mean?

The reason for the title of this post is this little tuft of grass. Does anyone recognize it? I have a clump of Nasella tenuissima, Mexican Feather Grass or Silky Thread Grass about 3 or 4 feet away. I have not had reseeding from it before to my knowledge but could this be my first? For scale reference the plants surrounding it are common tiny winter weeds.



And now for something completely different~ photo play! This first image is of the winter stems of garlic chives( when do those seeds germinate, btw? That was a big oops.)I used a filter here.



Rudbeckia triloba seedheads~ what should have been my Feb GGW Photo Contest entry for winter light. A different filter used here as well.



I've been having alot of fun with those scripts that I mentioned in my last post. Like giving this garden bunny's fur some rich new highlights...




and making those same garlic chives look sophisticated in bloom...



A fairy tale glow for the Ruellia buds...



and softening this October garden scene.



For these scripts and more visit sheilsoft.com. I purchased the whole collection but many of the individual scripts can be downloaded for free.

First Day of September 2009

After a hot weekend and a gloomy Monday the first day of September dawned to one of those perfect fall weather days. The air was crisp and the sky beautifully clear. It was gut wrenching to get dressed and leave for work but it had to be done.

I started Salvia transylvanica from seeds a few years ago and it has reseeded around my garden nicely since. The main bloom is usually in Spring but I have sporadic blooms throughout the season. This one has the "wings" of an Asclepias seed captured at the bottom of the bloom stalk.



A wide view.



Pretty when blooming but one to be watched. I've managed to keep the Garlic Chives from reseeding for a few seasons now.



Cameron at Defining Your Home Garden had an article featuring Feather celosia- Celosia spicata- Fluff and Stuff. This is the foliage of one of mine that has reseeded for a few years here.



I finally planted Salvia greggii 'California Sunset' this weekend. Here it is in the garden with a visiting bee.



For some reason my Abutilon megapotamicum stays small even though it's had a few years to settle in. I still like it in this location though and think I'll try another plant elsewhere to see how it fares. The bunnies love to nibble the stems in cold weather and may be the reason it's stunted.