Honesty, Lunaria annua

I think I picked a seed pod on a hike and planted this one. I remember seeing this awesome seed pod on the hike, and I don't remember buying a plant that looked like this one. It bloomed out of a 4" pot this spring that was in my plant hospital. I thought it was a random weed, but then when it bloomed I saw a gorgeous purple bloom. This is why I like to wait a season before getting rid of a pot or plant.

I posted about it when it was blooming, and I got a response from @boomerangutang that is was an Honesty, 'Lunaria annua'

As part of the mustard family, this plant is also known as: Annual Honesty, Bolbonac, Honesty, Money Plant, Moonwort, Silver Dollar
Native to Europe
Blooms in April/May
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
Can tolerate drought.
A good bee and butterfly plant.

transplant weekend

This weekend I finally transplanted the herbs out of their small shallow bowl, into a medium shallow bowl. They are much happier here. If I had known what I know now about herbs, I would not have planted the rosemary and lavender in this pot since they get pretty large.

Then I took the small shallow bowl and planted some annuals I got at the nursery.

Parrots Beak

Lotus berthelotii or Parrots Beak

My grandmother send me some cash in my birthday card, which I pretty much immediately ran out and spent on this plant and the orange pot it's in.

These guys are supposed to be sensitive to cold, so when I bought it a few months ago, when it was still cold at night, I kept it in the house on the sill of a south facing window. and when it warmed up I moved it outside. It grew a lot when I re-potted it, and this week it started blooming!

Most Lotus need 40° F nights to induce bloom, but not this vibrant-hued variety. Night temperatures can be as high as 55 - 60° F.

Parrot's Beak or Lotus Vine is a great plant that fills the needs for a silver, soft-foliaged plant, as well as a trailing silver plant that flowers. However, the flowering part is short lived, based upon where you live and how fast the temperature rises in the spring. Parrot's Beak needs cool temperatures in order to initiate flowers, and will start and continue to bloom only if the spring temperatures do not climb too fast or spike (when there really is no spring and you fast forward to summer.) If you have warm night temperatures the plant will quickly go out of flower.

In warm-winter areas, lotus is a striking evergreen perennial groundcover. It grows best in full sun with well-drained soil.

Light:
Sun
Zones:
10-11
Plant Type:
Annual,Perennial
Plant Height:
To 8 inches tall
Plant Width:
To 2 feet wide
Landscape Uses:
Containers,Beds & Borders,Privacy,Slopes,Groundcover
Special Features:
Flowers,Attractive Foliage,Easy to Grow

Annuals

I planted some annuals in a couple of containers to place on the windowsills in front of the house, they are doing pretty well...

Here they were a week or so ago before the bloomed

Here they are when I first planted them.

Flea Market Find

At the Antique Fair in Sacramento, CA this weekend I found this little book which is much like Sunset's Western Garden Book, but published in London in 1846. It lists all plants and garden topics, in a dictionary style, and even has a little section in the back with garden plans. Funniest part is that since the topic is plants, the info hasn't changed much.

Scarlet Monkey Flower Blooms

Today, I got the pleasant surprise of the Scarlet Monkey Flower blooming! Here it is shown with the Yellow Milkweed.

Bugs

what is this?

some eggs on the underside of fava bean leaves.

Jealousy...

My coworker is experimenting in his SF garden, and I'm a little jealous of his space and location - SF has a much more mild climate during the summer, and he'll be able to grow leafy greens pretty much all year round...

He 's also put up some Woolly pocket hanging gardens That are looking fantastic!

http://urbandelicious.com/blog/2011/05/25/mission-spring-garden/

Lady Beetles

I found these two lady beetles in my yard and moved them here to this milkweed plant that is infested with aphids. Hopefully they will take care of them, though I wish I had found some ladybug larve...they eat so much more.

Red hot poker

Ok the mystery plant is definitely a red hot poker...


Kniphofia uvaria is commonly known as a Red Hot Poker, Torch Lily or sometimes a Tritoma

USDA zones 5-10. They must be in full sun.
May spread up to three feet over time.
Good drainage is a must
Torch Lilies are drought tolerant but they will do much better if given plenty of water during hot weather.

Mystery plant guess...

 

I think this might be a red hot poker...

New Planter

I put some silver-toned plants into a dark-blue container today. I think it came out pretty good. I had the Dichondra in the backyard hanging out for the last year.  And purchased the Snow-in-Summer a couple weeks ago at Lowes (that's when I got the idea to do a silver-tones plant pot).  Today, I got this Dwarf Curry and the Society Garlic 'Silver Lace' at Navlets. Later in the day, I went to a different Navlet's location, and walked around with a silver-toned plant to see how it would look in all the planters, I was a bit torn between the dark blue, and a black pot, but ended up getting the dark blue one.

Dichondra 'Silver Falls' (Dichondra argentea) 
plant in sun or part sun

Snow-in-Summer (Cerastium tomentosum)
tolerant to USDA Zone 3, full sun (morning in extreme heat),

Dwarf Curry (Helichrysum italicum)
USDA Zones 7-10, drought tolerant, full sun, requires excellent drainage

Society Garlic 'Silver Lace' (Tulbaghia violacea)

The Society Garlic's tag said it came from Montereybaynursery.com and made me laugh, here's the description on the tag:

"Society Garlic - a beautiful clumping perennial for a sun to part shade. Prolific dainty lavender flowers bloom over a long sesaon. The wonderfully pungent aroma is purported to repel vampires. Use with other plants with colored foliage. "