February 19, 2009
From the producer: February 20, 2009
Last weekend, Sam helped me in the garden. Thankfully, he soon wore out, and flopped in the cat cove catnip.
![cat in catnip cat in catnip](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sam-in-catnip-web.jpg)
Just beyond, the first spring starflowers (Ipheion uniflorum) showed up.
![Spring starflower (Ipheion uniflorum) Spring starflower (Ipheion uniflorum)](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/spring-star-flower-web.jpg)
Chester the cocker spaniel stays far away on rose pruning day, since his first spring in residence. Eager to “help,” he ran through the pile, where a thorny cutting snagged in his curly fur. But I wasn’t alone this time as I pruned and fertilized. When I saw these two, I pulled off my gloves and got the camera for the early birds.
Mutabilis
![Mutabilis rose Mutabilis rose](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rose-mutabilis-web.jpg)
Isabella Sprunt
![Isabella Sprunt rose Isabella Sprunt rose](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rose-isabella-web.jpg)
The mountain laurels aren’t going to go nuts this year, but the one in the crape bed wins first prize for first flower. A butterfly, I think a sulfur, jumped in for a drink.
![Mountain laurel flower Mountain laurel flower with sulfur butterfly](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mountain-laurel-web.jpg)
Here’s an unidentified beauty, if anyone knows what it is. Its leaves look like dandelions.
![Yellow flower ID](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/yellow-plant-web.jpg)
I cut back almost everything, except the bicolor sage (Salvia sinaloensis), the abutilons, since they’re full of buds, and the shrimp plants. I’ll do those in a few weeks along with other touch-ups. With just the bit of rain we’ve gotten, the plants I pruned in January are fluffing out like crazy.
Here’s a bonus, two fabulous plants from friend and fellow gardener Tom Poth.
Agarita in spring bloom
![Agarita flower Agarita flowers](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/agarita09_1977202.jpg)
Acacia rigidula
![Acacia rididula Acacia rigidula](/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/acaciarigidulart09_1984.jpg)
This week on CTG, Tom and designer Dylan Robertson look at the garden’s big picture. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to tackle, but his ideas and philosophy open a new door to view our gardens. Like Julie Moir Messervy’s The Inward Garden, Dylan’s concepts are ones that can be translated to the DIY on a budget.
Until next week, Linda