Wordless Wednesday: Green Peeks from Sicily, Italy (Sicilia, Italia)

Tassel Hyacinth aka Muscari comosa or Leopoldia comosa. (Photo taken at Villa Romana del Casale.) 

Possibly date palm—let me know if you can identify it. (Photo taken at Villa Romana del Casale.)

One of many Cercis siliquastrum seen blooming in Sicily in April. (Photo taken in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento at the garden wall of Alexander Hardcastle's home.) 

Lovely Bougainvillea.  (Photo taken in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento at Alexander Hardcastle's home.) 

Please don't prune your Asparagus to look like this. (Photo taken in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento at Alexander Hardcastle's home.) 

Unknown tree. (Photo taken at the cimitero in Termini Imerese.)

More palm trees and lovely handmade pebble paving from the streets of Termini Imerese. (This was the home of my great-grandparents.)

Trees in the city park in Termini Imerese. 

Lovely large Lantana along the street in Termini Imerese.

Caster bean (Ricinus communis) plants grow wild along the roads in Sicily. 

Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) growing along the road.) 

Borage (Borago officinalis) growing wild along the side of the road in Sicily. 

Wild Sedum growing along the roadside near Termini Imerese. 

Wild snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) growing in its native environs. My husband told me that in Italian they're called  "mouth of the lion". He played a lot with these flowers as a boy.  

Not exactly sure of the plant, but I do recognize Sicilian ingenuity. If Dad gardened, this is how he'd stake his plants.

Convolvulus tricolor growing wild in Sicily. 

Wordless Wednesday: Forced Branches of a Western Redbud

Greetings from an Amateur Botanist in CA

Leading up to this trip I didn't say much. I've had a lot on my mind, and additionally, my broken finger recovering took a slide due to my swelling disease. Coaxing them both back into splints was all we could do and it really slowed me down again.

The Rogue River in Southern Oregon.

Just a few days ago I drove down to California alone, to see my husband and to witness the wine harvest and crush for the first time. It's the least I could do as his wife and it was my birthday gift to him. I had to be brave to drive I-5 alone and to stay in a yurt right off the highway when virtually few others were doing so. Driving the whole 10 hours in a day—by myself—was just not possible. The two-day drive was amazing!

Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis, in a rest stop near Lake Shasta.

Arctostaphylos in a rest stop near Mt. Shasta.

As for botanizing, my main goal during this trip is to more deeply familiarize myself with the native flora in the chaparral of California. I will be doing some coastal exploration too, but most of my activities will be centered around Lake County where my husband is during the growing season.

While stopping in Redding to visit McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Garden I caught some folks fishing for salmon in the Sacramento River. The flyfisherman who'd waded all the way out in the riffles was fun to watch but I was disappointed that he didn't know how to cast. (Sometime I will have my husband take a picture of me casting. It's the only fishing skill I retained from my upbringing.)

After Redding I drove south toward Sacramento and San Francisco before heading west on Hwy 20 into Lake County, CA. From the point on, I was far happier with the gorgeous scenery and I was excited to see what my husband was doing. When I arrived, he hopped up the ladder and began to punch down the fermenting grapes in the tank. I have to say, it was impressive and the smell was incredible. It was both good and bad at the same time!

I looked at the color of the grapes, took the picture, and then as I was on the ladder I laughed when I noticed the labels on the tank.

When he finished we walked through the olive orchard.

We were both surprised that the pomegranate tree had actually produced this year despite the funny weather.

Then he showed me what the weather had done to some of the grapes. With the heavy rains and low temperatures we've had this season all along the West Coast, you're going to get some rotten grapes. This is what they can look like and you just have to let them go.

And this is what grapes in a vineyard look like when they're not pruned. This row was going to be grafted with something else but when the time to do so passed because the weather wasn't right, they just let the grapes go. It's only one row, but it really shows you how much pruning is necessary to make all the vineyards look so pretty. They really prune to improve the air and sun exposure for the grapes and to ensure that they have consistency in overall quality and quantity. The whole process is really interesting to me.

While we perambulated, we were being watched. I shot this picture and admired Mt Konocti behind the mighty raptor. That's because at that moment, I had not yet climbed to its top. Tomorrow, I'll let you know how that went because right now, I'm off to collect some more plant materials just north of here...

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (Portland, Oregon)

Ever since I can remember I've been visiting what my family always referred to as The Rhododendron Garden, though nowadays, I've finally started calling it by a name others actually recognize: Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. 

The garden was started back in 1950, when my dad was a boy, and not long after my Grandfather Salvatore, aka Sam, had returned home from World War II. Situated at the southeastern edge of Portland, it sits right in the middle of my Portland universe. 

For about a decade or so I didn't visit the garden at all. Instead I was spending more time with friends, and less and less with family, and now that I have been gardening for about 10 years, I love to visit there more. 

With over 2,500 Rhododendrons, azaleas, and other plants, the setting is idyllic. 

The garden is great if you need planting ideas. 

Fringe Cup. Tellima grandiflora. 

Wood Anemone. Anemone nemorosa 'Flore Pleno'.

It is also a great place for some color after all the grey rain. 

Not long ago this retaining wall with ferns was added. I have enjoyed watching it grow and change but part of me really wants them to add a stumpery just so I can say that we have one here in Portland. (I know they are all over the place in the woods, but to have an official one would seriously crack me up.)

I have one of these in our garden but it's barely alive. Ours has been broken, stepped on, and tripped over, and it's alive, but it doesn't look this nice. 

Spider Azalea. Rhododendron stenopetalum Linearifolium.

To see a Rhododendron tree in bloom in the middle of the woods is a sight to behold.

Nearby, the carpet of primroses was breathtaking and it was great to see an art class painting en plein air. I want to draw again so badly but I simply have too much to do. Maybe that will be added to my long list of things.

Primula pulverulenta.

Then there are those azaleas!

There are a lot of reds in the Crystal Springs garden, and I know that not everyone loves red, but I am fond of the color. 

Rhododendron ibex.

These colors work too. 

There was no tag on this one, but I found the lighter green foliage rather interesting with the pale violet blooms. It must be an early bloomer since it's already beginning to fade. 

Here is a Cercis in bloom with an accompaniment of Rhododendron. 

Have you ever seen a purple like this reaching for the sky? Neither have I. 

I added these two reds because I grew up with them. The big bloom in the middle is the hybrid Rhododendron 'Jean Marie de Montagu' and the smaller bloom in the back is most likely a Hino-Crimson azalea. The only other classic crimson combinations would be a Rhododendron 'Vulcan' and a Wards Ruby azalea. I only know these because my mom stuffed her acre sized garden with them and I loved red so I was kind of all about those blooms each spring. 

(As a kid, I would sit on my thick fuzzy red blanket in an ocean of lawn at my parents' house for hours and hours at a time. My mom didn't need to put me in a playpen since I wouldn't touch the grass. I know. I was a weird kid.)

Here is another bank of azalea blooms. 

This is my favorite yellow Rhododendron.

Rhododendron lutescens.

Beside the lake, after you cross the bridge to the island, you'll see a weeping cherry tree. 

On the return trip back, this is the same bridge. Even when packed with folks during the springtime, it is enchanting. 

The other bridge is back at the entrance. This is the Moon Bridge as seen from above. It was also at the beginning of this post, but from below. 

 

Before I go though, I should mention the birds. There are a lot of birds, but most of all, there are water birds because the garden is both surrounded by, and is full of, water.

Pair of Mallard ducks sleeping in a tree. 

Geese and a gosling. 

The garden sits across the street from Reed College—a fine institution of higher learning. Though I never attended the school as a student, I did spend a lot of time on the campus with two of my best friends during their years as undergraduates. That was a long time ago though.

Due to the busy season at the garden, and because the small lot was reserved for a film crew, I had to park in the school's parking lot. So, on my way back to the car, I noticed these gorgeous Ceanothuses in bloom and the short walk was worth it!

Back at home I worked on my pile of plants this afternoon. Funny I hadn't noticed that a Candelabra Primrose was beginning to bloom, but I sure noticed it today! How rewarding to see this after having cared for it for a year or two. It is another primrose I've grown from seed and I cannot wait for it to give me more babies.

Primula pulverulenta.

My native Rhododendron occidentale has not yet burst open, but I am watching it closely. This is one of those plants that your nose may notice much sooner than your eyes. 

Lastly, if you made it this far, the American Rhododendron Society will be in Vancouver, Washington this week for their convention. So if you have the time, you should check it out:
American Rhododendron Society Presents The World in Your Garden May 11-15, 2011
Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, WA