Clematis Madame Julia Correvon

Clamatis viticella 'Madame Julia Correvon' is performing well in her first full season in our garden.

We purchased two at the end of the season last year on sale. 

Into the ground from their 3 gallon buckets, our Madames Julia must have settled right in last year, since they are blooming wonderfully this year after an early spring pruning of the entire plant.

They are planted at the long fence in the back yard, with Pink Lemonade honeysuckle and our 4 new Aloah roses. The fence has a south exposure, and is buffeted by the prevailing winds, so I was not sure how clematis would do. She must be one tough lady! I love the color; like the wine-red sea, and just as tempest-tossed.

Our second Madam Julia Correvon is growing at the end of the fence near the gate.

Flowers in the Spring Light

Helianthemum St. Mary

Clear sunlight penetrating the delicate tissue of all kinds of petals illuminates the garden.

Columbine

The humblest of flowers shine brilliantly in spring sunshine. Drawn from our winter habitats, we peer into these miracles of color and light with our eyes and camera lenses.

Clematis H.F. Young growing up through Jeanne laJoie

Clematis H.F.  Young on the brink of opening to embrace the sun and sky

The ever-changing patterns of color and light are an eternal source of fascination in every garden.

A Pink Lemonade Honeysuckle bud is generating its own energy

Bright, happy pansies are always welcome

The Sedona Rose

Sedona

I snapped this photo of the Sedona rose at a home center nursery in, appropriately, Sedona, Arizona last week. It is outstandingly bright orange, with a light scent. Sedona (the rose) was introduced by Jackson and Perkins last year. It was offered as a potted 2 gallon plant in the nursery through Weeks Roses. Sedona (the town) is famous for its red rocks.

From January, 2011, Sunset at Boynton Canyon area, Sedona, AZ

From January, 2011, Boynton Canyon area, Sedona, AZ, a mule deer is more indignant than surprised at our passing car.

The rocks in Sedona truly are RED, glowing in the sunset, brooding in the twilight, with changing variations throughout the day. Sedona is in Sunset zone 10, a dry climate with a fairly long growing season and enough winter chill for bulbs, stone fruits and lilacs. Sedona provides a very nice gardening climate for desert-lovers.

Grayback Mountain dominates the views in West Sedona, along with Italian cypress and the ubiquitous photina bushes .

I think that the Sedona rose is well named for this lovely, colorful place. 

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Until the Roses Begin to Bloom

The color of morning in our garden offers a soothing refreshment. 

It seems a long wait for the first of the roses to bloom. Many blogs I follow have displayed tantalizing photos of full, glorious flushes. In the meantime, I am trying to keep out of the wind and dust, and content myself with what is.

Creeping phlox and candytuft are doing their mightiest to bloom before they are upstaged by the roses

April 10, 2011, the last of  the rooted cuttings are bravely inuring themselves to our capricious spring weather.

The last of the rooted cuttings are now in the ground. The minis rooted well. A family emergency in the middle of potting up the rooted cuttings resulted in carelessness on my part, and several  labels got lost. I know there are white and pink minis, and a Double Delight or two. 

A pink mini from a rooted cutting keeping the Pink Lemonade honeysuckle company.

Mystery, perhaps Double Delight?

The roses are all planted, even the ones ordered from Chamblees and Heirloom. All have had frost-nip several times, but are carrying on with grim determination.

Seminole Wind from Chamblees

Moonlight Scentsation, a fragrant miniflora from Heirloom

One of 3 Peggy Martin roses, from Chamblees.

Overnight Scentsation, a fragrant miniflora from Heirloom.

The tiny new growth on all the new roses is encouraging. Roses are miracle workers; from the smallest little stick will grow a new blooming bush, holding its own by the season's end. Eden means pleasure, and there certainly is Edenic pleasure in the humblest of gardens.

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The Cultivated Sonoran Desert in Late April

I spent a few days in Scottsdale, Arizona in late April. The Sonoran desert is wonderfully delightful at this time of year. 

White Argentine Giant cactus flower ~ Amazing!

This is my Native Air, and I am forever enchanted with the atmosphere of the desert, especially in spring, when, as my daughter says, the desert seems to overcompensate for its normally neutral colors with its brilliant flowers.

The White Argentine Giant cactus is remarkably lovely. Huge, fragrant white flowers open for only a day, and are startling in their beauty. 

White Argentine Giant in Bloom

 The creosote bushes are what give the desert its signature fragrance after a rain. In cultivation or in the wild, creosote bushes are colorful and fresh.

A creosote bush wears its grooming as naturally as the nursery plants that it has joined in this landscaped yard.

A native creosote bush hangs over the wall, as beautiful as the cultivated ornamentals.

Though the saguaro cactus were the tall trees of my youth, I never loose the sense of  being in the presence of something great and exotic when I am with them.

The wonderful view out the window during my morning shower.

A friendly giant with buds that will bloom in a few weeks.

A regiment of saguaro soldiers marching up the mountain.

An early morning desert scene including creosote and mesquite.

The waxy texture and often hot colors of cactus flowers are amazing.

A lovely blending of colors. Any decorator would certainly approve.

Golden Barrel Cactus.

Palo Verde, creosote and mesquite silhouetted in the sunset, with contrails which, I am told, are created by military jets.

The contrails in the sunset, while strikingly beautiful, are a sobering reminder that with all its natural delights, the earth is not yet a paradise.
You may click to enlarge the above photos.