Golden Currant (Ribes aureum)

I’m generally not a huge fan of yellow flowers, especially the very bright, lemon-yellow kind. However, the petit blossoms of Golden Current have become a much anticipated exception to this each spring.

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“Everett’s Choice” California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum var. latifolium)

Let’s face it, plants that bloom in spring and summer get the lion’s share of attention in nursery’s and gardens. Soooo… what’s happening in your garden in the fall?

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Columbine Flower (Aquilegia spp.)

20190420_161129Known also as Granny’s Bonnet (because your granny still wears one?), Columbines are a diverse group of perennial flowers that are sought after due to their unique flower shape and the ability to have multi-colored blooms.

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Narrow Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)

Usually when a plant has the word “weed” as part of it’s name, it doesn’t immediately attract itself to the typical gardener as a good candidate for their landscape.  But this is one of those that should be given a second look.

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Lithodora diffusa

Imagine a carpet of the most intensely blue flowers polka-dotting a mat of deep green foliage and what you’re really seeing is Lithodora.  This lovely ground cover plant brings in pollinators throughout much of the year, too.

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Caryopteris x clandonensis “Dark Knight”

20180825_101038I have a lot of pictures of this plant, and for a good reason.  Starting in mid-summer into early fall it is enshrouded in a cloud of deep-blue flowers with a halo of pollinators all around.

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Room for Rent, Cheap!

My usual approach to attracting wildlife to my garden is just to plant things that they would want to come in for.  I’m not into feeders and other things that will become junky clutter after a season or two.

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Gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri)

20171105_204727Gaura also goes by bee blossom, wand flower, and whirling butterflies, and if you see it growing you totally understand where these fanciful names come from.  Dainty pink flowers dance on long sprays of thin stems that shoot up from the ground.  The flowers start in early spring and continue on until winter comes.

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