Like Paint Drying

 Farmer MacGregor is a paint master.  No painted surface on our house or garden can be called "shabby chic". All - and I mean ALL - painted surfaces are well maintained to keep that Disneyland-like look.  Farmer MacGregor works hard to keep things just so.  His idea of a great summer outing with the garden gnomes was to take a ride down to the local paint and wallpaper store.  He was the only one convinced that was a great idea.  As summer began (Forget the calendar.  Summer started a long time ago here in Bakersfield.), the windows were washed then the trim was painted.  Next was painting the doors and shutters.  His day starts very early so that the bulk of work is finished before the heat hits.  He's allowed to go outside several times and admire his handiwork.  "Just look at that shine!"  Yup. 

The paint is not the only thing that thrives in this dry heat.  Some of the plants actually like it too.  Oh, they'll wither and poop out by summer's end; but for now summer is a good thing.  I only say that because the air conditioners are working beautifully.

Bougainvillea - Barbara Karst

Summer Flowers

Mandevilla - Apocynaceae

Typically I do not purchase nursery stock from the big box stores; but last summer I picked up a Mandevilla at Lowe's.  It caught my eye, the price was right, and I took a gamble.  It has done alright.  Last summer it did well and made it through the winter.  The current streak of blazing hot weather really brought on the blooms.  I have it in a ceramic pot with bamboo stakes for it to climb; but it's pretty much stuck as a short, squatty vine. The pot is under the wisteria pergola so it receives sun and shade throughout the day.  It's only watered once a day.  Mandevilla seems to be suited to zone 8-9.

Bougainvillas - Scarlett O'Hara & San Diego Red

I once had a garden wall draped with loads of bougainvillea (Scarlet O'Hara and San Diego Red).  It was a beautiful, thorny deterrent to anyone contemplating scaling my old garden wall.  These varieties look the same to me.  The names were probably the result of legal junk with different nurseries.  These plants were all zapped during a freeze one winter.  They were cut down and discarded except for one.  I still have a Scarlett O'Hara hanging on in a pot - fiddle-de-dee.  The old wall is long gone and has been replaced with a much taller wall to protect the garden from encroaching suburbia.


Bougainvilla - Nyctaginaceae

  Over the 4th of July holiday, while on another hardware run with Farmer MacGregor, I picked up the smallest bougainvillea I have ever seen. The purpose was to plant this Barbara Karst variety in a hanging basket on the shed.  It was put out on the pergola table that day with hopes of planting in the evening.  The poor little plant was fried.  Any flowers that it had dropped and lots of leaves were scorched.  I brought it into the shade of the patio for a week and am now giving it smaller doses of sun until it builds up its tolerance.  It has already started to sprout some fresh growth.  This tender gal may not be a very good candidate for full sun.  With time, however, she may prove to be just as determined as good old Scarlett O'Hara.



Bouganvillea

Three years ago, I had a wall of San Diego Bougainvillea. San Diego and Scarlett O'Hara varieties are essentially the same. My biggest, grandest plant (true Scarlett) was planted in the corner of the property along the wall. Sadly, a freeze last year killed (I thought) my plants. I waited until July and saw no green and no growth. It was time to move on. The loppers came out and I hacked away at the dead remains with hopes of finding some kind of life. No luck. I dug the dead stumps out and pitched them over the wall except for one stump that would not let go of the clay soil.

Amazingly, that one stump started to sprout at the end of summer. I was delighted to have a survivor; and sick that I had dug up all the others. At the end of last summer, the dude noticed what he thought was a weed in the corner of the property along the wall. Scarlett had returned to Tara! I dug her up and am now trying to nurse her back to health. The other stubborn plant is now changing its bracts to hot pink.

Kind of appropriate for Easter.