A sunny day for a drive through the Delta. Highway 12 is effectively a levee road with the fields lying several feet below the roadway. Egrets and sheep sharing the pasture.
I stopped at Annie’s on the way up to the ranch. Roses are featured at this time of year, but only one lantana that was not the white that I was looking for. The Native Plants and Drought Tolerant sections are always worth a wander through, if nothing else to see what is currently stocked. One of the featured Natives was a sisyrinchium (blue-eyed grass) that has a grass-like leaf but a blue flower. Just what was I need to fill out a space in the circle garden. Sisyrinchium appears to be a native of Missouri. Zone 9 is at the higher edge of its tolerance, as compared with the South African plants at the lower edge of tolerance.
While on my wander, I snagged a native Mexican daisy (erigeron) and will try mimulus (monkey flower) at the Snake. I have a mimulus in the garden in Oakland, and it has spectacular golden blooms in the spring.
I planted as I came in in the last half hour of daylight. The mimulus went in just below the pittisporum and applied Plant Starter below and above. The northern edge of the front slope garden drains slowly.
To my great surprise and delete, the gazanias are still blooming. I transplanted them out of the container to replace the late Dusty Miller at the lower edge of the front slope garden, and will see how they adapt to free soil. Theoretically, gazanias should spread as a ground cover. The three osteopurnums are beginning to bloom – magenta, white and lavender. Colder nights do not seem to slow any of the three of them down.
A Year at the Snake 