"Whereas most other parts of the country have a single growing season from spring to fall, we can enjoy twelve full months of productive and rewarding gardening."
– Pamela Peirce, Golden Gate Gardening book
8/26/16:
Our friend Karen was visiting last Saturday, and since she is also a local gardener (living in Marin), I showed her my plants. Along with helping me by confirming that the caterpillar-ish insects on the daisies were pests and not the sort that turn into Monarch butterflies, she identified a plant that had sprung up in one of my large wooden containers as a young currant bush. It appeared sometime within the past year, and has quickly grown to about 3 feet tall. It took over an area where a mint plant had died out, pushing aside geraniums, gladiolus and nasturtiums. I've heard that birds flying overhead sometimes drop seeds into gardens, so perhaps that's how it came to live here. If this plant continues to do well, I could have currant berries in a year or two.
Gladiolus bulbs are continually bringing color to our yard this summer. Once one tall branch of bold flowers starts to die out, another opens up. I'd not had varieties that produced multicolored flowers in past years; the one blooming now is the cultivar "Priscilla".
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Young currant bush.
Multicolor gladiolus.
Lemons and blossoms.
Most of my focus has been on the smaller and recently-planted containers around the garden. But while I was watching seedlings sprout, admiring roses and picking radishes, the potted trees on the north side of our house have grown and flourished. The Meyer lemon tree I've had for about 12 years is having its best season yet. Some years I only end up with 2 or 3 lemons, but there are already nice clusters of small fruits all over the top of this little tree. These will grow large and turn yellow sometime in late fall. It's still blooming as well, so there will be even more lemons to come. The container pine and ficus trees and the purple hopseed bush living in the same row along the garden path are also growing taller and fuller. I might need to transfer these to larger pots or plant them in the ground eventually, but they seem quite happy for now.
