Consolida ajacis 'Earl Grey'?

 This Consolida self-sown itself in my garden on Guerrero in February.   Copiously so I know it was one I planted last year.   Which according to my seed records it would be Consolida ajacis 'Earl Grey'.   I have sown a few different Consolida over the last three years.  One is white but this one doesn't match the photos I see when I search the internet.  It's a single and the leaves are more palm-like than fern-like, dark green with a heavy waxy surface.

Gladiolus n. papilio 'Ruby'

 I planted this one a couple years ago.  Love this rich ruby coloring.  It doesn’t seem to get the rust like the larger florist gladiolus. 

Agapanthus 'Back in Black'

 I planted this clump of Agapanthus from Digging Dog Nursery in December 2022.   This is the first time to bloom and the first time I have been able to assess the color. 

Spring and Summer Border - My Home Garden

 Last week, I spontaneously sent out invites for an open garden.   The key was to offer Pimp's Cups and a prize.   It was wonderful to share with my twenty or so friends who stopped by.  It was looking good; Photos just don't capture the colors, wind, smells and mood.  Each year it gets fuller and more mature.   Here's some from the most recent party and then few from last year.

July 27th - My home garden.

MUG’s Personal Garden with Nursery

 This is my small urban garden located in the Mission Delores neighborhood of San Francisco.   I have gardened this small strip since 2003.   Lots has happened here over this period and its current theme in the long border is spring pinks, blues and whites moving into summer reds, yellows and blues.  

Some still photos of the long Spring/Summer border.

Repotting Bay Topiary with Root Pruning

 The multi-tiered topiary in the middle of this photo is a Bay Leaf tree that I've been training for maybe 10 years now.  It is currently potted in a large Airpot which makes pruning its roots easy.  

MUG Trial Garden and Nursery

An idea that came to me over the past couple years is to focus on sharing a few of my garden spaces that I have been cultivating for over 15 years.  This is an attempt to show my clients, friends and colleagues the places I have created in these private spaces.  

Dozens of Tiny Birds

 I’m testing adding YouTube videos to my blog.  

The first one is 30 tiny birds gleaning my shrubs of insects. 

Drought in California and the State of my nursery.

January 2014 was spectacularly warm and sunny. But it's an official Drought and that has taken some of the pleasure of working in perfect 70 degree weather. The soil is not heavy or mucky from winter rain. I just read that parts of England had record high rainfall for January. Whereas we had a record low rainfall. January normally our wettest month was bone dry. I think England got all our water. I hear these tweets from England suggesting lots of mud and water. We're at the complete opposite end of dread here. Some rural communities in California have less than 100 days supply of water.



Sedum 'Angelina', Euphorbia characias wulfenii, Centaurea gymnocarpa 'Velvet Centaurea'