April in my Garden

This time of year my garden is filled with flowers.  The very fragrant Star Jasmine will be blooming for weeks.

Alstroemeria is tolerant of shade and grows under the trees.

Heliotrope is also sweet smelling and attracts butterflies and bees.

Santa Barbara Daisy is weedy but pretty and has spread to most areas of my garden.

The Hydrangea is just forming flowers and will be in full bloom next month.

The Reed-Stem Epidendron is in the orchid family and is flowering now.

Happy Earth Day

With so many edible plants

in the garden

and avocados,

it is a good day

to have an Earth Day salad.

April in my Neighborhood

April is a very flowery month in my neighborhood.  Some the the blooming plants are: Jasmine polyanthum,

Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides),

Rockrose or Cystus 

in three

colors,

Polygala fruticosa, 

Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas),

and Mexican Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa).

Ixia

The Ixia bloom in my garden after the Sparaxis have finished flowering.

The are sometimes called Wand Lilies and are in the Iris family.

They are native to South Africa.

Babiana stricta

I have Babiana sticta corms planted in a little clump near a walkway. They are native to South Africa.

They have not bloomed for four years because the winters were very dry.

Now finally, because of a wet winter, they are blooming.

It is good to see them again.

Clivia miniata

Clivia miniata is a spring blooming plant in my garden.

It is in the amaryllis family and

native to woodlands in South Africa.  It thrives in the shadiest places.

Sparaxis

The Sparaxis are blooming now in my garden.

They are native to South Africa

and grow from bulbs

planted in pots

or at the edge of the flower borders.

The purple ones are Sparaxis grandiflora.

All the others are

Sparaxis tricolor.