Hello gpoders!
This season we enjoy the beauty of the wonderful range of spring plants: flowering trees and shrubs of vast sizes and shapes, bold bulbs that welcome spring with bright colors, and perennials that kick the season with diverse (often temporary) flowers. Today we head to Northern California to felt the Adriana Porter and see the spring plants she enjoys the most and yet still untold this season.
Hello gpod,
I’m writing you from Berkeley, California.
I planted the pride of Madeira (Echium candican, Zones 9-11) for spring flowers. They exploded into a tall blue spire in mid-March, which continued into May, providing an early but long-lasting statement in the garden. I located it in both my hillside yard and the container along my sidewalk strip.
I’ve seen Madeira’s pride, described online as short-lived, but I’ve grown for decades in my neighborhood. Some of my neighbors are proud of Madeira, with trunks as thick as my legs. I think the secret is that our climate and topography are very similar to the native habitat of Madeira. Like Madeira, we have dry summers and I only offer limited summer irrigation. I also live on a rocky clay hillside. This is inappropriate for English cottage flowers, but is perfect for rugged mountain Mediterranean plants.
Countless bees flock to it for spring nectar. I spy on European bees, native carpenter bees, bumble bees in the mix. I love sitting in an Adirondack chair and surround myself with their humming.
Each plant has a slightly different colour, ranging from light blue to dark purple. Some special plants have multicolored flowers.
The best,
Adriana (@adriana_igs_holes on instagram)
At the beginning of the season, flowers begin to bloom on the large inflorescences of this plant. At maximum, these spires can grow to a length of up to 20 inches.
As its name suggests, Madeira Pride is indigenous only to the Madeira Islands, a member of Portugal and famous for its stunning landscapes, vibrant culture and unique plant life. Outside of incredible natural scenery, including the ancient Laurel Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are numerous incredible gardens that have won many nicknames for Madeira: Garden Island, Floating Gardens, Gardens.
Found on the rocky slopes of Madeira, this plant is drought-resistant, salt-resistant and deer-resistant. Like Adriana mentioned above, these characteristics are in great agreement with Northern California’s climate, but this can also be a disadvantage. If not under control, it can escape the cultivation area and invade native plant species. Keeping these plants away from open natural spaces and removing flowers before seeds mature is a best practice to boost your Madeira pride in California.
Adriana is restricting her planting. Her rocky black slopes are completely dotted with these bright flower spires. They look particularly lovely with the early flowers of her pink flowering dog tree (Cornus floridaf. Rubra, Zones 5–9).
This shows another angle of Madeira’s pride, scattered across Adriana’s hillside garden, blending well with other plants, complementing all the other purple and pink flowers in the spring landscape. She did the incredible job of creating a garden in the lush English cottage atmosphere, but has plants suitable for rocky clay conditions.
Finally, Adriana included a video of these spectacular flowers shining in the sun, with beautiful sounds of birds singing in the background.
Choosing your “favorite” plant is always difficult, but is there a specimen in your garden that you are particularly proud of? What plant you saved from the brink of death, a species that you carefully winter indoors every year to grow in your zone, or a plant that has enough sentimental meaning to you that you dig it and bring it to a new garden or hand it over to another gardener in your family? Please let us know in the comments below or share your prize photos with our blog! Follow the instructions below to send a photo by email or DM via Instagram: @girlherdogandtheroad.
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