They Survived!!

I think the assaults on my garden are over for now. The tree trimmers came, destroyed two plants, but, praise heaven, they're gone.  For those of you who have been following this blog, you know my garden has lived through drought, heat, Santa Anna winds, house painters, now tree trimmers. The live oak they trimmed is just above my garden. And I've got some survivors. Can you believe it?!  I've got some beautiful survivors. As I touched up their pictures to show you, I got so excited. Doesn't matter to the garden. They ARE gonna survive. Boy, can I learn a lesson.

My pride and joy is my peony rose. I've no idea what her real name is, as she was a gift from the weekly market. But her bloom is such a knock-out, so full, so fragrant, that I call her the peony rose.

 

 

 Wait until you see the blossoms that are still singin their hearts out. I honor them here.

Dragon Wing Begonia

Bird of Paradise

 

 

Echinicea

 

Begonia

Crown of Thorns

Cranesbill Geranium

Some of my champions are leaves. I'm just busting to share them with you. They're going great guns. Who'd a thought.

 Purple Oxalis

 

 Persian Shield

 

 Forget-me-not

  

Staghorn Fern

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine

I could tell you a little story about each one. The Persian Shield lost half the plant from the tree trimmers. But this beautiful half remains. The forget-me-nots have spread to almost cover this plants. No stopping them in all this drought and heat.

The cranesbilll geranium has not stopped blooming through everything. It even has lots of buds, just as my peony rose does. That bird of paradise just keeps on giving blooms. It, too, has its beak-like buds yet to open. 

I learn so much about how to live from my garden. There will be survivors. Surviving will happen. Hurrah for the garden, one of my very best friends. Hurrah for the survivors.

Love those Leaves

Passion Flower

 

Ornamental Sweet Potato

Variegated Ivy

All leaves have their own personality, especially the ones from different plants.  The above  three leaves have three or five lobes, but on closer examination are quite different.  The Passion Flower leaf reaches its veins into each of the three lobes and has parallel veins, while the Sweet Potato treats each lobe as part of the larger leaf and does not have parallel veins.  The colors of the Ivy almost obscure the veins in this leaf.

At the expense of not getting too technical in this post, I will describe some leaves and leave the others for you to notice the difference. It's only because of this post that I've started to recall some of my high school biology and look at leaves as individuals again.  It's so easy to see the flowers and forget about the leaves that engender them.

Polka-dot plant

 

Caladium

Some leaves are more spectacular than the flower, as the above two.  The Polka-dot leaf has veins that do not follow the pattern of the pink color, while the Caladium does. The Caladium looks as if its sap ran deep pink in the middle of the leaf.

Australian Tree Fern

Staghorn Fern Frond

 

 Mother Fern Leaflet

 

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The ferns are a world all their own.  Leaflets grow off of the main stem in different shapes and sizes.  The spores on the back of the Mother Fern leaflet can form new ferns.  I love the gentle curve of this leaflet.

Yarrow Leaf

 

Boston Fern Leaf

But even ferns are similar to the leaves themselves, as in the two leaves shown above.  The Yarrow may have a more complex form, but both leaves grow out from a central stem. 

Cranesbill Geranium

 

Kalanchoe

 

Begonia

Plumbago Groundcover in Fall

These leaves show the different colors that leaves can have. The colors in the last two photos show on the leaves in different places, some year-round, some due to their exposure to the sun or the turning of leaves in fall. The succulents have no visible veins.

Mexican Heather

 

Hen and Chickens Succulent

Some leaves form a recognizable form, while others have their on creative chaos.

Forget-me-not

 

 Purple Oxalis

Two of my favorite leaves. Seen close the Forget-me-not has a wonderful contrast of colors.  The various colors and the form of the oxalis speak for themselves.

Purple Oxalis or Shamrock

 

I first fell in love with oxalis, when I discovered all the variety in this genus.  The purple three-leaf Oxalis  triangularis is the one pictured here. This post was inspired by a comment from Tatyana about my deep purple leaf.  I am enchanted with every aspect of this plant. It's leaves have a number of different shades of purple on their leaves. Each leaf is a triangle and they close like an umbrella when the sun shines on them or night comes.

  

  

The genus hails from Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil, but has spread to many countries. It grows year round here, but doesn't flower in the heat. It is also called wood sorrell and is edible, although I've never eaten it. Perhaps it would do in a salad, having a somewhat bitter taste. I love looking at it so much, I've never thought to eat it.

   

Its blossom is lavender, although it's a little hard to tell in this photo.  The blossoms also close at night and in the sun.  Mine is so used to Southern California now that only a week after a heat wave and temperatures  now in the 80s, it has started to bloom again.

 

 This is the small bed they live in with a cyclamen, impatience, and heather. As it gets cooler I'm going to add more oxalis to this bed, but two different varieties. I'll share those with you after they're up.