Winter is Coming

Okay it's not quite winter yet and being in the Bay Area, the winters here are pretty mild. But the first rain of the season arrived this week. I took the opportunity to put a bunch of seedlings in the ground because letting Mother Nature water my plants is better than hand watering all the plants myself. 

I deadheaded the spent flowers and made room for a lot more new stuff. It's always exciting to learn which new additions to the garden will thrive and which ones won't make it. And it makes me so happy when ones that I thought were dead comes back to life.

A new indoor plant I got from Big Longs recently. I forget the name but I love the waxy looking leave with the light color veins.  

More indoor plants from Big Longs. They are not looking too happy at the moment, kind of droopy. 

Also from Big Longs. Although their nursery is a ghost of its former self, their prices just can't be beat. According to a couple of professional plant people I talked to, their sell plants at close to whole sale prices.  The plant's name escapes me right now. 

Echeveria setosa, "Firecracker plant". Got this little guy from where else? Annie's annuals.

I think this is Oxalis griffithii. This kind of looks like the weedy sour grass that's currently popping up all over our lawn and garden. So I am not sure what I was thinking when I bought it.

I think this is a Oxalis corniculata,  "Creeping Woodsorrel". I just really like the reddish purple leaves and tiny yellow flowers. 

This was another find at Big Long. I don't know the name of this shrub. But I love the pale purple flowers . 

Pretty sure this is a Lavandula lanata "Wooly lavender". I just love the furry leaves, it will go well with the Lamps Ear that grows wildly in my yard. 

This was a Alcea rosea 'Nigra' "Black Hollyhock" I planted last year. It didn't flower last year, died back last winter and popped up this summer and have been flowering ever since. I just love how productive and gorgeous these flowers are.

This is Anagallis monellii "Blue Pimpernel". I am constantly amazed by how hardy and beautiful this plant is. I planted this in the spring and it just took off with hardly any water and care.       

Abutilon from Big Longs. It seems to be doing ok. The resident squirrels tried to dig the roots up a few times, but it's hanging in there. 

Salvia leucantha "Mexican Sage Bush" from Big Longs. I love the velvety flowers on the plant. Can't wait to see it bloom. 

I got this gal at the farmer's market. The name is written on the wooden stick but I don't know the name off the top of my head. It had a single long stem with a flower at the end when I bought it which has fallen off. I usually keep my succulents in containers but trying to see if I can make it work in the ground 

I've been told that this is a Euphorbia. It came out of nowhere in a different part of the yard and I transplanted it's current location. Upon further research, it turn out to be a Euphorbia lathyris. It's a weird looking plant for sure. Apparently all parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. 

Setcreasea purpurea, "Purple Heart". After killing two ferns in this spot, I giving it a go with this plant. Have I mentioned that I am cursed when it comes to ferns? I have not been able to keep one alive for longer than a year. 

The little green vine in the middle of the picture is a passion flower vine I bought online in the spring. It died shortly after I put it in the ground but seemed to have came back to life in the last couple of months. It's supposed to be an easy vine and grows fast. It hasn't grown much for me though.

I bought the tall planter of pre-arranged plants a while back to add some colors to the landing. I have since moved all the succulents from our back deck to the landing too because it gets super hot and dry there on the south facing deck. I am surprised the succulents lasted as long as they did with such neglect. I may have only watered them 3 times this whole summer. I must say that I've had pretty good luck with succulents, about 90% survival rate versus 60% for the rest of the plants. 

It is October after all. We went to a pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins for the munchkin.

Happy Halloween!