Garden Mistakes

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Sometimes it is obvious that you have put in the wrong plant. I planted a California rose (Rosa californica) in the woodland garden. By its second year it was really getting comfortable. Unfortunately it was too shady for it to flower very much, but it was beginning to spread by rhizomes in the garden. Given its very prickly stems, I bit the bullet and removed a perfectly healthy plant.

Tendril from Roger’s Red grape reaches for a nearby toyon stem.

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Two Roger’s Red grapes (Vitis ‘Roger’s Red’) are growing happily on either side of our gate. They have delicious fruits and turn bright red in the fall, but they are vigorous growers with tendrils reaching out for anything nearby for them to climb on. These will not be removed, I’m too fond of them, but I probably will regret their placement. Maybe one would have sufficed.

Roger’s Red may just grab a visitor who stands near it for a few minutes!

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Monkeyflower (I think it is Mimulus clevelandii ‘Butterball’) is just starting to bloom in a container

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Blue flax (Linum lewisii) has its first flowers.

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Some globe gilia (Gilia capitata) are still blooming, though most have gone to seed.

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Indian mallow (Abutilon palmeri) will bloom on and off all summer.

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Margarita BOP penstemon (Penstemon ‘Margarita BOP) is so pretty!

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But overall the garden is quieting down – getting ready for the long hot, dry summer.

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