My holler gardens and orchards present a serious gardening challenge ongoing. I will update you with my struggles with gophers, snails, clay soil,
irrigation problems and my successes, what is working, with photos!
Seem high to you?
The Holler is a bloomin’ glory!
The fruits are flowering,
the narcissus are self centering,
the daisies are dancing,
the iris are iridescent,
and the coco locos are yet to turn lavender!
Cheers to you from The Bloomin’ Holler~
Note: Those potheads are not in my garden! 🤣
David Austin Roses,
at The Holler,
are blooming beauties.
The scent indoors,
is intoxicating.
Cheers to you from The Bloomin’ Holler~
In black tuxedos (click/tap to enlarge)
are sunbursts,
in the garden.
Hooded Oriole males,
are always dressed,
to impress.
Cheers to you from the flying sunbursts~
Loves grape jelly! (tap/click to enlarge)
He is curious,
about the human who puts jelly in palm trees.
The jelly is for orioles.
But forget acorns,
Acorn Woodpeckers,
want jelly,
in their belly!
Cheers to you from The Holler Woody~
In rain soaked (tap to enlarge),
Southern California.
The Carlsbad Ranuculus Fields,
are a blooming,
glory.
Spring is dancing,
blooms are bursting,
plants are happy,
and birds are singing!
Sending California’s blooming beauties to you,
with Cheers and Hopes for Happy Spring ~
Prickly Pears,
with pretty petals.
Beautiful blooms,
on bristly barbs.
Cacti,
charm,
with catty claws.
Cheers to you from The Holler’s captivating cacti~
These gorgeous huge poppies are bloomin’ up The Holler!
Also known as the Matilija Poppy, these are the largest flowers in the poppy family,
and they are the largest native California flower.
The blooms are 8 inches in diameter,
and the bushes grow to about 10 feet in height,
They are a challenge to grow, but so worth the effort!
Cheers to you & Happy Mother’s Day from The Holler’s Romneya~
Can brighten,
our day.
But seven,
makes things,
positively sunny!
Cheers to you,
from the happy flowers~
To You from The Holler (click to enlarge),
We are having unending storms!
Deluges of Rain!
Happiest & Healthiest New Year to you from the soggy but happy Holler!
Note: If I disappear for a few days it is because our wifi antenna has shut down from ice and snow.
Why doth thou,
stink so much?
This is the flower bud of a corpse plant, named for the rancid corpse like smell the flower emits when it blooms. The smell attracts carrion beetles who pollinate the flower. The flower itself is the tallest in the world and can grow up to twelve feet in the wild. You can get a sense of how huge the bud is by comparing it to the exit door in the first photo, and the child in the second. It grows only on the island of Sumatra and is extremely endangered with about 1000 of the plants left in the wild. The flower bud grows six inches a day, and when it blooms, the flower only lasts for 48 hours. There are two of these flowers at The San Diego Botanic Garden. Watch the first one bloom in a time lapse video below filmed by Botanic Garden staff, appropriately enough, on Halloween:
This plant reminds me of the Saturday Sci Fi movies I used to watch as a kid! The plant takes about ten years to bloom, and will only bloom every four-ten years thereafter. It’s corm can weigh 339 pounds! As the flower begins to bloom, the temperature of parts of the flower rise by up to 10 degrees Celsius in a process called thermogenesis. The second bud at the San Diego Botanic Garden is due to bloom around Thanksgiving. The garden stays open until midnight during the bloom and 5000 people queued to see the first flower! People drive from out of state to see it.
Notice the detail of the bud petals. It looks a bit like a giant Bok choy!
This is the base of the first flower that bloomed. The female flowers are the red ones on the bottom, and the males are the brown ones above. It is the male flowers that rise in temperature during the bloom.
Cheers to you from the soon to bloom, very tall, and very stinky corpse flower~
