Nigella - A Wonderful Garden Surprise

Nature's Little Garden Surprises

Sometimes exploring my garden with a camera in my hand helps me see things I might not take note of otherwise. This morning when I was out spider and ladybug hunting, I saw a strange flower next to my mums and hyssop. It was unique. After half an hour of research, I identified it as nigella (Love in a Mist.) 

Rose Color Nigella Flower, © B. Radisavljevic

Although finding this nigella was a surprise, it is not an accident. I first saw nigella at Fat Cat Farm in May, 2013. It looked like this.

Blue Nigella Flowers, © B. Radisavljevic

I came back about a month later for my final purchase before Fat Cat Farm closed its doors. By June the seed pods on top were beginning to mature. I liked the unique form of this flower and wanted some, but Rhoda said it doesn't transfer well and was about to die back anyway. I seem to remember her digging one up for me anyway and potting it without charging me.  I seem to remember planting it, with hopes it would reseed, since Rhoda had said it reseeds freely.  I don't see evidence in my photo  record of that  year that I did plant it, but I know if I did, it did not survive or reseed.

The nigella plants look just right in a rock garden. Some of them were in a rock garden at Fat Cat Farm. I snapped this shot on my last visit that June. You can see how the seed capsules have grown. Nigella does need  to be watered while it's growing and blooming. 

Blue Nigella Flowers in Rock Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

Later that year I bought some nigella seeds and planted some the next spring, but I forgot about it -- until today, when I started wondering what those strange-looking pink  flowers were. I found an old flower book I had  around the house and started looking at all the pink flower photos. Bingo! When I saw the name nigella, it clicked. I had been thinking of them as blue, like the ones I'd seen at Fat Cat Farm. I've since learned they also come in white and rose. I must have planted rose. Amazon has a varied selection of nigella seeds if you can't find them locally.

Nigella flowers are attractive in bouquets, dried, or in the garden. It's best to plant them from seed on open ground in early spring. You may think they are weeds when they first come up. I admit, I almost pulled them, but I've learned by now to recognize certain leaf patterns as more likely to be flowers. I thought it only fair to let these plants show me what they were before I took drastic measures. I'm glad I waited. "Love in a Mist" has rewarded me for my patience. Tomorrow I'll take another look around to see if there are anymore I haven't discovered yet.

Meanwhile, I remember Fat Cat Farm fondly, and I do miss it. This photo taken in their herb garden is an appropriate tribute.  It is also the right size for Pinterest if you'd like to share it there, as is the photo after it. The sculpture is made of recycled materials. I did not see the name of the creator.

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Have you ever had Nigella in your garden or seen it growing?

Flowers in Bloom in April in Paso Robles?

April has brought a lot of flowers back in bloom. Almost everything that was blooming in March is still blooming, but many new plants are also beginning to flower. Among these are the irises. Besides this light purple iris, I've seen maroon, yellow, and other colors around the neighborhood. Browse Amazon for a wide selection of iris varieties.



All my sages and my French lavender are in full bloom except for the tricolor sage and the clary sage, which bloom later in early summer. I also found a new sage in bloom in the flower beds at the Donati Family tasting room in Templeton - a compact yellow Jerusalem sage.  Here are some of the sage and lavender photos. I was amazed at the wide variety of sage plants Amazon has.

French Lavender Behind Hollyhock

Bee on French Lavender

Common Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

Black Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

Spanish Sage Surrounded by Jasmine and Lambs Ear, © B. Radisavljevic

Watermelon Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

 As you can see, hollyhock, a flower I've never tried to grow before, is in bloom. I planted it last year and had about given up on it ever growing. I almost confused the leaves with mallow and pulled the plants out, but I remembered I planted the hollyhock in these places and decided to be patient. I'm glad I waited.

Compact Jerusalem Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

I have also seen roses everywhere this month, though many were also blooming in March. I've always loved this garden of my neighbor's with its colorful rose trellis. She also has a multitude of  annuals below providing more color and showing some other flowers blooming this month. You can see her California golden poppies. irises, calendula, and those pinkish flowers to the right side I've never been able to identify. You may need to click the photo to enlarge it in order to see the detail. 

Below are some of my roses in bloom today at the end of April. The first,  to the left, is a Windy City miniature rose I bought a couple of years ago that does not require a lot of water. It is one of the taller miniature roses and can grow as tall as a yard high, maybe even higher. Like all roses, if you grow them without chemicals or sprays, the petals are edible. 

Below is a Cecile Brunner climbing rose. It will climb high and even climb your trees, and it can grow out of control if you don't keep it tamed with pruning. 

One of my very favorite roses is a tree rose that grows outside my kitchen window. I love its coral color.  Evidently, others also like this rose. I put it on a Zazzle "Thinking of You" greeting card, and it turned out to be a best seller. Maybe you would also like to have some. It's available as both a greeting card or note card and there are volume discounts if you buy ten or more cards, including other assorted designs. 

 Coral Rose Card, Thinking of you today.

Butterfly on Gazanias, © B. Radisavljevic

As almost always, gazanias are in bloom. It can be relied on for color almost all year. As you can see, this butterfly was also attracted to it. Gazanias are a wonderful ground cover and spread fast to make more plants.

Another plant that really spreads fast to fill in bare ground is lambs ears. The books say it's supposed to bloom in June or July, but it is beginning to bloom now,  and I expect there will be full flower spikes by May.







Lambs ears have a wonderful soft
texture that almost feels woolly. Their very light greenish gray leaves provide a complementary background to almost anything darker and brighter, and its own pale purple flowers won't clash with anything, as you can see in the photo here.

In the photo to the left, you can see how the lambs ears act as a ground cover around the pink Sweet William flowers. It will spread to fill in any available space, and although some think of it as a weed, I prefer it to the weeds it smothers, and it's much easier to pull out if you want to use the space for something else. I started with just one plant several  years ago on my Templeton property and when the gophers attacked it, I potted it. Then I started one plant from that mother plant here in Paso Robles about ten years ago and it's now in every single front flower bed.

One more plant I saw blooming this month around town is yarrow. A lot of businesses use it in their landscaping, often with roses or lavender, because it doesn't need much water. It's a lovely contrast to either lavender or sage. I plan to get some one of these days.

Although I haven't pictured them here, for lack of room, my light pink carnations are also blooming now. They started blooming at the end of February but are in full  bloom now. The darker ones aren't blooming yet.

This is just a sampling of what blooms in April. Many of these plants will bloom for many months. I like to keep photographic notes on what blooms when to help when I plan my gardens. That way I'll know when  to expect certain colors to arrive in my garden. In past years I've also had pansies blooming at this time, but I was physically unable to work in my garden when it was time to plant them this year. Remember, if you want a closer look at any photo, just click to enlarge it.

What's blooming in your garden this April?

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The Growth of Clary Sage

Clary is a Unique Sage in my Garden

Clary sage (Slavia Schlerea) is quite different from the other other sages I grow. I had no idea to expect when I planted it. It's lush flower spikes surprised me. Best known historically as a remedy for getting foreign matter out of one's eyes with its seeds, it also can be used in the kitchen, but is not as versatile there as the other sages are. Pregnant woman should avoid it, and no one should mix it with alcohol.   I only grow clary sage to add beauty to my summer garden. 

Clary Sage Bud, May 25

My Experience with Clary Sage in the Garden

I first planted my clary in a pot in my yard in Templeton. A couple of years ago I brought the pot to our Paso Robles home. It bloomed there last year. Then it appeared to die down and I thought it was gone. I've since learned it can be biennial (blooming the second year and then dying) or perennial. 

After this year's rains, it came back and started to grow again. On May 25, I snapped the photo of its first bud of the season, which you see above.


Within a week, the buds had turned into the flower spikes you see to the right. The plant is still in the original pot. I am hoping it will reseed. It reseeded once three years ago, but the weed abatement man thought it was a weed and dug it up. He tried a day later to pot it, but the roots had been exposed too long to make a recovery.

Clary Sage in Bloom, Early June

Other Sages I Grow

I also grow tricolor sage, to the left in the photo above. I can't recall if I ever saw it bloom. Most sages bloom in June, but so far I've never seen so much as a blossom on this potted plant. I have seen the more established plants in Templeton bloom. I made this greeting card on Zazzle with it pictured in bloom next to common sage. 

Blank Card: Mixed Sages and Rosemary Card
Shop for a greeting card on zazzle.com

It could be the tricolor variety is on a different timetable than other sage varieties, in spite of what the books say. The Missouri Botanical Garden website says tricolor sage should bloom in May or June. The flowers are supposed to be lavender or purple and quite showy. They should be hard to miss. Maybe tricolor sage has different blooming dates in Missouri. 

My common sage, pictured below, has been blooming since at least April in my Templeton herb garden as has been my black sage in both gardens. My watermelon and Spanish sages have also been in bloom since at least May. You can see them, in addition to the black sage, pictured in my post on what blooms at the end of May. 

Common Sage in Neglected Herb Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

Have you ever grown clary sage? If not, would you like to? What is your favorite variety of sage?  Please feel free to leave your feedback in the comment box below the share buttons. 

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What Blooms after the Frosts in December around Paso Robles?

Poinsettia in Mid December at Fat Cat Farm

Spring and summer are bursting with colorful flowers and blooming trees. In autumn, the deciduous trees dress in shades of yellow, rust, red, and  gold. It is a season of splendor and sadness, as it precedes the stark bleakness of winter.  After the first frosts in December, as I walked through my usual haunts in Paso Robles and looked at my own garden in Templeton, there was little color to be seen, so I went looking for it. I wanted to see just what does bloom here in the second half of December.

My first stop was Fat Cat Farm, about a mile east of me on Highway 46 West. I was sure if anything was blooming anywhere, I'd find it there in the herb garden. I found the last poinsettia (in top picture) on display, and remembered the one in my childhood home that was quite tall, growing in a bed beside our driveway.  I also found the plants below, most of which were in the pansy / violet family. Of the herbs, only the rosemary was blooming. Here are the pictures I got at Fat Cat Farm. I am very sad that Fat Cat Farms has had to close. I will miss it.

Rosemary after First Frosts

Pansies always add a happy face to the garden and provide winter color. 

Violas also add cheer -- especially these yellow ones. 

Pale Violets at Fat Cat Farm

After leaving Fat Cat Farm, I went home in search of color and was rewarded by my faithful calendula plants. They add brightness to my garden all year, but in winter they and the rosemary are the only things beside the white flowers of the coyote brush and the red berries of the cotoneaster that provide any color other than green.

Calendula adds color all year. 

I let the fallen leaves protect my gazanias in winter.

Coyote Brush in Bloom

Cotoneaster Berries 

On December 19, I was convinced there must be something else in bloom as winter was about to descend upon us, so I visited the garden at Veris Cellers on Bethel Road, not far off Highway 46 West. I was not disappointed. Although the frost had killed most flowers, some winter flowers were still blooming -- even if some on the same plant were brown. I don't know the names for all these. the leaves on some look familiar but I can't place them. If you know them, please let me know in the comments.

Mums with Sweet Alsyssum at Veris Cellars

White Roses at Veris Cellars

Pink and White Roses at Veris Cellars

Mystery Plant One at Veris Cellars

Mystery Plant Two at Veris Cellars -- Could it be a mum?

White Snap Dragon at Veris Cellars

After leaving Veris Cellars, I was convinced that I might find still some other source of color at the city park in Paso Robles. Here's what I found there. There were some wimpy red roses, but they were gradually changing into these lovely red rose hips. So, even though they don't count as flowers anymore, they do count as color. I also found these red trumpet shaped flowers, but I don't know what they are.  

Red Rose Hips at City Park in Paso Robles

Mystery Plant Three at City Park in Paso Robles

If you have some flowers blooming here in North San Luis Obispo County that I haven't mentioned here, please feel free to tell us in the comments what they are, since I'm hoping this can be a resource for people planning gardens with some color all year. 

Finally, an Early Evening in the Herb Garden

I finally attacked the weeds that have been overwhelming my herb garden. This pile shows what I accomplished. The picture below shows the bare ground the weeds were occupying. 

The bare ground shows where the weeds used to cover.

What's left is mostly leggy or almost dead calendula -- the yellow flowers. The blue one is the lily of the Nile I planted about two years ago, blooming here for the first time after I transplanted it. I also noticed as I weeded the distinct smell of mint, and discovered some had escaped the pot it was planted in and spread. I didn't care. If I'm going to have weeds, I prefer good ones. The yellow wave in the back of this next picture are the weeds I couldn't get to this evening.

Herb Garden

In the picture above, are some of the surprises I discovered. One was the tall plant left of the blue Lily of the Nile. I have no idea what it is. I planted it a couple of years ago, and I'd thought it was dead. When I first saw it tonight, I thought a tree had mysteriously appeared, perhaps planted by a bird. A closer look revealed it was in a gopher cage, so I must have planted it. I can hardly wait to see if it blooms. ( As I later discovered, it was a variety of yarrow I had not grown before.)

Right behind the blue lily is the clump of mint that's still growing in its small pot. To the right of the lily, in front, are two unlikely companions -- a purple bull thistle and a pot of lambs ears. The bull thistle is definitely a weed, but somehow it seems to fit and I didn't have the heart to yank it out. I think its flowers are lovely -- even if prickly.

To the right outside the picture I have another lambs ear plant in the ground. When I was weeding part of that side last week, I noticed it had numerous progeny -- even quite far from it. I didn't mind that, either, since I prefer it to the weeds that would displace it were it not there. I wish the little ones much success in their growth.

The oregano, marjoram, and thyme are lower plants and they are behind the taller ones that have grown up in front of them. I was delighted to see they have survived my neglect. One thing I've learned over the years is how much neglect members of the mint family can take and still thrive. 

Butterfly Bush

The butterfly bush I planted about three years ago has really taken off. It is surrounded on either side by different varieties of sage. It all needs pruning, but only after it has finished blooming. This morning I saw a hummingbird visiting the purple flowers, so I guess it's not just for butterflies. I planted a white version of it on the left side, but it doesn't seem to be growing much or blooming. I suspect it's hidden in the sage and / or the rosemary that has really spread.

As I was pulling weeds tonight, it was very difficult to avoid accidentally pulling up some of the calendula with them. Their roots often intermingled. Also, right near the inside edge of the gopher cage where the tall mystery plant is, was a large mustard growing part inside and part outside the cage. It was also very difficult to extract and separate. I had to cut it down on both sides with pruners so I could isolate the root. It reminded me of the sins that so easily become rooted in our lives and even intermingle with the good things so that they are hard to separate. It often takes drastic measures for the Master Gardener to remove them from us. The picture at left I took of the intermingled roots of weed and flower. The skinny weed stem is at the top of the heap. The broad green leaves are from the calendula plant.