It seems I totally misread the Gardening Gone Wild blog photo competition. Last night I thought it said that the pictures had to be of native plants in your garden that are native to your local area. I also missed that the deadline was last week. And finally, I missed that they were looking for pictures of the garden, not just the plants.
Anyway, first thing this morning I got up ready to take pictures of plants in my garden that I think lived in the flat part of San Gabriel Valley, near where my house now sits. This means no cultivars, no poppies (since the horticultural variety was bred to germinate at nearly 100%, while wild poppies have a much lower germination rate), no northern California plants, no desert plants. So here they are. Enjoy.
Toyon getting ready to bloom (Heteromeles arbutifolia)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Spiny stem of fuchsia-flowering gooseberry (Ribes speciosum)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Virgins Bower (Clematis lasiantha)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Needlegrass (Nassella pulchra) and poppies
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Common Madia (Madia elegans), and yes those darn poppies snuck in again
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) climbing up a wall
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Giant Chain Fern (Woodwardia fimbriata) frond
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Yes there are poppies, but there is also a California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) next to a young coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
And finally, yet another attempt at the needlegrass (Nassella)
 |
| From Wild Suburbia |
Not one of these meets the requirements of the competition but I enjoyed going into the garden to take pictures, and I hope you enjoy looking at them.
I love the Tidy Tips – I don’t care about their origin. <br /><br />The Virgin’s Bower is a different species here. (C. virginiana). Nothing like the cultivated ones seen but I love them for that reason alone. The ‘Old Man’s Beard’ that forms around the seed heads just add to it’s charm.<br /><br />Got to love the Poppies – they know how to get in your face.<br /><br />Seems like the judge
Yes, I agree – I wouldn’t have changed my px for the contest either. It is altogether too much fun to show off what you love, rather than what you think others want.<br /><br />In any event, your website and your photographs are wonderful! Thank you for sharing them.<br />Barbara