A Bountiful Spring, Part 2

 Following up my post of a month ago, here are a few more plants that are blooming now. Some of these I have written about before and some are new.

First, two colors of monkeyflower (Diplacus sp.). This used to be known as Mimulus (or Diplacus) aurantiacus, but the taxonomy of this species is really confusing now, so I'm going to just leave it at the genus. The colors make a great combination.

Next are two species of Brodiaea. The first is thread-leaf Brodiaea (B. filifolia) which I've had for many years. I can't remember it ever having so many flowers. I count 23 of them in the photo below. I have it in a container so it's easier to keep track of the corms.

The second Brodiaea is a relatively new one for me, B. santarosae. The corms were given to me by Tom Chester a few years ago, and this year they lived up to their full potential. It's a larger plant than filifolia with larger flowers. I put these in the ground because I didn't have a pot to put them in and because Tom says they propagate themselves rapidly. Santarosae is so named because it is restricted to the Santa Rosa Plateau of Riverside County where it grows on basaltic (volcanic) soil. The basalt cap on the plateau creates very interesting and unique conditions for plants, including vernal pools.

The photo below shows how I have the monkeyflowers and Brodiaea santarosae in the same area of the back yard.

I've had Madia elegans for a number of years and it is a reliable performer in late spring and summer when there isn't much else blooming. It's somewhat surprising for an annual because it gets rather large and develops a semi-woody main stem. 

Mixed in with the Madia is Delphinium cardinale. It's just starting to bloom now. The flower stalks get really tall, 7' to 8'. 

 

 

Another one of my favorites is gumplant (Grindelia camorum). Its name comes from the fact that the developing flower bud gets a large amount of sticky white sap. Native people in southern California used the sap as an adhesive for various purposes. The flower is also beautiful and attractive to pollinators.

Summer holly (Comarostaphylis diversifolia diversifolia) is a very nice shrub or small tree that more people should try. It is related to manzanita and looks quite similar but is more upright and tree-like. The bark is gray rather than red. Its upright habit makes it perfect for tight spaces. It's also relatively fast growing if given the right conditions. The one in the photo below is about 5 years old, started from a one gallon container.

The flowers are the upside down urn shape of manzanitas, but they are smaller and there are more of them, arranged in very orderly rows. In summer it produces small red fruit that are the source of the common name summer holly. Birds are attracted to the fruit.

To finish up, my elderberry (Sambucus cerulea) is flowering now. I was looking at it recently and noticed a couple of hover flies feeding on the flowers. When I see that I feel like it is my reward for planting natives in my garden.