Spring bloom time!

It's the height of spring here in SoCal. Just about everything is blooming--especially the roses. Here's what's blooming in my garden:

Cymbidiums

The most recent addition to my collection, which I bought last weekend for $5 at a garage sale:
Green and pink:

And pretty pink:



Front yard cottage garden
We're gradually transforming our front yard, formerly a flat, dull patch of scruffy lawn, into a cottage garden. Here's my favorite corner, which is actually beginning to look "done" (or as done as a garden ever gets). That's a lavender rose and sweet peas.


Here's a wider angle, which doesn't look quite as done. Left to right, there's an almond tree (variety is All in One), with nicotiana and basil in front, then some purple salvia in front of the lavender rose and sweet peas.


And here, not quite so nice, is the street side of the fence. I need to add some more bedding plants to fill out this stretch.

Roses

My husband and I both love roses, and they look nice most of the year down here (not such a long winter dead period), so we've been going a little crazy planting them. Here's what's in bloom now: One of several roses we got from a neighbor last year. I don't know the name.

 And another mystery rose from our generous neighbor:

And another one. This one looks something like Double Delight, but our Double Delight has a slightly stronger scent, I think. I need to wait till both are blooming simultaneously and compare side by side.

Another gift from our neighbor:
 

And another, which unfortunately has some discoloration on the petals:

And here's our newest rose, at least till my order from David Austin gets here. It's called Sheer Bliss, and it smells as wonderful as it looks:

 And a closeup of the lavender rose in the cottage garden pics above:

By the front porch 

 Mandevilla, rescued last winter from the clearance rack at Lowe's for a couple of dollars:

Succulents and portulacas in my favorite terra cotta planter. We found this planter at an estate sale years ago, and I've tried a bunch of different plants in it, none with much success. I think I've finally found the winning combination.


This is my favorite time of year here in SoCal. There are so many flowers, lots of perfect sunny days, and the heat and smog of summer are still about a month away. Now if I could just finish planting vegetables--and stop buying every plant I see--I could sit in the garden, relax, and enjoy the view. Yeah, like that will ever happen...