A Midwinter Tumblr Salad

It’s been two months since the last Tumblr Salad! It was a slow period at first, but I eventually picked up the pace and got some good shots going on the boZannical Tumblr.

With so much of the country enduring ice storms and extreme cold, we’ve been having springlike warm days out here in California, though we’re suffering a record-breaking drought. Despite the foreboding associated with the lack of water, we’ve definitely been appreciating the comfort level. Tons of plants blooming out of season have been making it a surreal winter.

In any case, enjoy the fluff. 🙂

Having some fun altering color with a photo-editing app. 🙂

Amazing color contrasts at the Thai restaurant on Castro at 19th.

I finally did a little work in our own garden. The succulent bed was overgrown and messy, so I emptied it, cleaned the plants, took cuttings (nearly 300) and replanted.

A closeup of the replanted bed, from an ant’s perspective.

Yep. Roses. In January.

A whimsical winter wave of wisteria on Romain.

Detail of beautiful ironwork on Graystone Terrace.

I took these cuttings well over a year ago and haven’t dealt with planting them yet. They’ve just been sitting here all this time. Succulents are amazing.

Tomatoes still growing on last year’s vines. In January.

Sunflowers on Clayton St. In January.

Working with the forces of nature. The prevailing winds are quite evident here. The tree has a gorgeous form!

A little tree ninja.

A homeowner on Shrader in Cole Valley had a Monterey cypress that needed to come down. The solution? Carve the trunk into a sculpture of Winged Victory.

Cool! Looks like a leaf-boring insect tunneled through this leaf at CCSF before it unfurled.

This Michelia (“dwarf magnolia”) is giving a good fight! Poor thing’s been so brutalized.

A cycad on Grand View Terrace.

A beautiful vignette on a rainy day.

This Agave attenuata is such a beauty. Sanchez at 20th.

Wild plums in Sutro Forest.

This is some intense pruning. So rigid.

Nice formal flanking, but with atypical plants.

Hard to notice the cool plants when there’s a mustache on the house!

Mattress vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa) actually trimmed like a mattress. 🙂

Now I know the trick to getting cymbidium orchids to bloom: Ignore them. We’ve always gotten one or two inflorescences. This year, with drought and ignoring, we had half a dozen!

I love this punch of color on an earth-toned house.

How have I never noticed this poinsettia growing a full story tall?!

This is one way to fix the problem when your street tree is buckling the sidewalk.