Lantana just how I like it: bright, clashing colors. Great low water, heat-loving, sun-loving perennial for this climate. Plus it attracts butteflies and hummingbirds. What's not to love?
Magenta-colored four o'clock (Mirabilis jalapa) starting to rebloom now that the heat of summer is behind us.
Yellow flowered four o'clock bloom. They open right around 4:00 p.m. and close late the following morning. They have a lovely, sweet scent too.
Purple-flowered flowering tobacco, Nicotiana alata.
A nice native plant I planted in the back garden, firecrack penstemon (Penstemon eatonii). Nice and leafy despite being low water use. They flower early spring through early summer, and then again in autumn. Individual plants live a few years then decline, but they gently self sow. Don't over water in summer! :)
Stapelia gigantea, also known as the starfish flower. I bet you can see why.
Stapelia gigantea bloom up close and personal. They smell like rotting meat and are pollinated by carrion flies. The scent is foul, but interesting, and only noticeable if you are very close to the bloom.
Stapelia gigantea with a tennis ball to show relative size of the bloom.
Several stapelias in bloom or in bud, with a tennis ball almost lost among the balloon-like flower buds.
Another native planted in the back garden, the Superstition mallow, named after the nearby Superstition Mountains where it is very abundant.
Grandpa Ott morning glory
Cypress vine, Ipomoea quamoclit in bloom. Available in white, red and pink.
White flowering form of Ipomoea carnea, or tree morning glory.
Birdbath and several cacti and succulents, October 2009.
Close view of emerging foliage and almost open blooms of Jatropha gossypifolia. The species name means foliage like cotton (Gossypia) and the foliage really is similar to cotton's foliage.
Close view of a small but lovely flower on a cypress vine, or cardinal vine, Ipomoea quamoclit.
White flowering form (they're usually pink) of Ipomoea carnea, commonly called "pusy toes" due to the shape of the small, furry seeds.
Closer view of a single young leaf of Jatropha gossypifolia. These are interesting (to me anyway) leafy low-water plants. They are bare sticks in winter but are leafy and dark from spring through late autumn. They are reputed to self-sow though I have yet to find any seedlings. I'm hoping though! This plant is two years old.
Hurray! Our very long (nine month) petunia season is back. They languish in summer but thrive autumn through late spring.
Arizona yellow bells, Tecoma stans.
SEE? I told you stapelias attract flies. :) Don't be jealous.
Rain lily, genus Zephyranthes. These bloom off and on all year and really benefit from irregular watering, so don't hook them up to automatic irrigation, just slop water on them every now and then. If they go dormant and drop their leaves, don't water them at all. I usually water them a few times a week for a month, then only once or twice the month after, and so on, then not at all in winter. EASY for mild winter climates.
Several haworthias in ceramice bird containers. This has become an addiction. :)
Table #2 of haworthias and bird planters.
Both tables with ceramic plantes. Tennis ball to show size.
Limequat (Lime x Kumquat hybrid) and lantanas, October 2009
New paper spine Opuntia (Tephrocactus?).
Petunias around an olive tree in a 36 inch pot. They'll bloom October through June or so, and then succumb to the summer heat.
"Senita" cactus, Lophocereus schottii. They are common here and get quite tall. When the branches are over 6 feet tall the new spines will be long and hair-like.
"Totem pole" cactus; a monstrose form of the senita, Lophocereus schottii. These are very common and popular here and one of the few crested/monstrose types of plants I like. They remind me of melted candlewax. I've got another one in the front garden too. The aloes in front are the common weedy (but fun) Aloe saponaria.
Rain lily, Zephyranthes, in bloom.
Dieffenbachia after repotting.
New concrete birdbath under lemon tree.
New concrete birdbath; top view.
Ipomoea carnea, white form, in bloom, October 2009.
Nice large clump of hollyhocks from last year's seed. Should be a very, very nice show spring 2010.
Perennial morning glory, Ipomoea indica 'Ocean Blue' still open during the daytime now that days are cooler. In summer they are open only early in the a.m.
Simple but lovely, orange pansy. They bloom autumn through spring and often have a lovely sweet scent like this one does.
"Snow pole" Cleistocactus strausii planted among Opuntia englemanii, Aloe striata, and others in the back yard.
Firecracker penstemon, P. eatonii tossing out a nice bloom in mid-October. They bloom off and on all year with a big show in late winter/early spring, easy, leafy, and low water.
Alluadia procera, the so-called "African ocotillo". These are great plants for this climate and can get quite large. Water once a week when they have leaves and not at all when they don't. Full or partial sun.
Popcorn cassia, Cassia didymobotrya in bloom October 2009. Nice tropical-looking plants that are leafy, green and beautiful. They bloom prolifically spring through late autumn. Give them a warm location as in cold years (for here) they can get cut back by frosts. Easy from seed too.
California "fuchsia", Zauschneria californica in bloom. Give these plants partial sun in the Phoenix area and water when lightly dry. In cooler coastal areas they'll tolerate full sun too.
Old-fashioned true Christmas cactus stems (Schlumbergera bridgesii). Note the rounded, scalloped edges to the "leaves".
"Thanksgiving cactus" often sold as Christmas cactus nowadays, stem segment. Note the rubbery appendages on the edges. Schlumbergera truncata.
Magenta-splattered yellow bloom on a four o'clock flower (Mirabilis jalapa). Great annuals for cold winter areas and nice perennials for mild winter areas. Easy and quick from seed.
The Phoenix area's version of autumn color: the first lemons of the season.
Society garlic blooms up close and personal. Pretty flowers, musky-scented leaves if brushed or bruised.
Pineleaf milkweed (Asclepias linaria) blooms and foliage.
Pineleaf milkweed (Asclepias linaria) seed pods; one almost ripe and one open with seeds beginning to escape.
Freebie aloe (from a garage sale this summer) and dyssodia. Nothing fancy but I thought they made a nice contrast in form. A total Phoenix-area classic combination: wildflowers and succulents.
A bad pic of the foliage of Caesalpinia platyloba. In autumn it gets some nice burgundy highlights.
