A Peek At My Garden, Page 2

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This shows the border combination of cannas and hollyhocks. There are other plants crowded into this narrow (4' wide) border. The hollyhocks are from England by way of Aimer's Seeds, no longer in business. You'll find a link to their business in the other pages. These are truly GIANT HOLLYHOCKS. The plant alone can be 5' tall even before it flowers! Mine was. 23 types of cannas in the garden in case you were wondering. Notice the cannas taking over the spotty hollyhocks? I planned the succession that way.

Here is a bad picture of Mary showing the extreme height of the hollyhocks around her. This picture was taken in mid-spring. The cannas are just waking up and the irises are just finishing in this border. The border also contains many types of daffodils. I chose only those robust varieties that are able to compete with the other large plants crowded together. The color range of the giant hollyhocks was in the usual white through red range with many beautiful soft and feminine pinks and some ruffles. On each side of the house are large Circis canadensis, the Western Redbuds. These are a tree that branches from the ground and can be like a 30 tall shrub if left alone. I pruned out the ground hugging branches so they can be walked under now. They are lovely in early spring when they glow magenta for a month. And they are exceedingly tough too. Ours are never watered or fertilized and always look great.

The dahlias were great performers in most of the years. The deer don't like the taste of them very much but will eat them if they are starving. I grew about a hundred from seed: collarettes and a fine dwarf single flower mix to dress up the borders. The large plants are named varieties from mail order and also the John Stowell Dahlia Society of San Jose, CA, a fine group.

Here is the view taken straight out our front window in summer. As you can see the hills and mountains beyond are dry. This does not mean they are not beautiful. The grasses take on a lovely fawn color and the magnificent oaks contrast in a way unique to this climate. But the flowers disappear until spring with the rains. Except here, an oasis of flowers on the mountain top we call "Rainbow Mountain". When it rains there are rainbows in every direction. That's one of the reasons we moved here. As you can see in the picture to the right the trees and grasses take on gorgeous hues that just knock you out with their beauty. This view faces north towards San Jose and San Francisco beyond.