Cosmos 'Double Click'

Marigolds offer months of blooms. Flagstaff grows to 4ft.

Marigolds are often the first flowers to be grown by children but rarely grown by many gardeners because they are considered too simple.    Marigolds have a very long bloom season provided they are deadheaded. I selected three varieties to add to the border along the western porch.

‘Cottage Red’ is a French style heirloom variety with deep rust red blooms edged with orange. It grows to about 24 inches forming a large multi-branched plant with the substance of a shrub.  I used this variety last year among the tomatoes, this year I paired it with Rudbeckia ‘Moroccan Sun’. Rudbeckias are another great annual for sunny spots. This mix from Burpee has sunset color double quilled blooms growing to 20 inches.

Rudbeckia 'Moroccan Sun' has long stems for cutting.

I prefer tall growing annuals such as Cosmos that are ideal for cutting.  I choose another double flower in ‘Double Click’ with mixed shapes of pink, coral, red, and white. Cosmos are ideal for mixed borders backing roses.

A less common cut flower is Celosia ‘Kurume Corona’.  This heat lover has unusual crested velvety flower heads that are both irridescent red and yellow.  Each head lasts for weeks on end in the garden, in a vase or even dried.  The plants themselves are a bit stiff and awkward, so place this 45inch grower at the back of the border.

Kurume Corona has velvet two-tone blooms.

You are probably thinking that my choices seems to tend heavily towards orange and that would be right, but hear on the coast, oranges, yellows and reds stand out well on grey foggy days.  My last choice, Marigold ‘Flagstaff’, offers deep orange blooms until October. It is another heirloom  variety with large blooms on a massive branched plant to 4ft tall. That is alot of blooms!

I did choose one lower growing flower that I have grown for years. Godetia ‘Satin Mix’ can be direct sown in January for a flush of poppy-like flowers in April and May.

Godetias bloom in a solid mass of satiny blooms.

The blooms are solid or splotched in pink, white, red, or salmon. I have not found seeds lately so I special order starts from my local nursery.

All the varieties I mentioned today are available from Burpee Seed at www.burpee.com

In my own garden I have enjoyed a large Continus ‘Royal Robe’ shown here in bloom.

Pink "smoke" catches the morning light.

The deciduous large shrub offers dark purple leaves and pink blooms with vibrant fall foliage.  The plant is drought and heat tolerant with a hardiness to about 10F making ideal as a specimen in harsh high and low desert climates.  It makes a great fire safe plant by offering color, year round interest and substance to the garden without adding dry fuel.

Available from ForestFarm Nursery in Tetherow OR, www.forestfarm.com

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Yellow Phlomis lanata anchors the end of the border

Though there were a few things that survived from the old scheme, like the magnificent Purple Robe Cotinus in full bloom.

Out of the fire comes flowers, literally!

The deep purple Cotinus dominates the new East Border

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California poppies thrive in fire-cleared landscape

It is strange to think that only 6 months ago I was compiling lists of landmarks and homesteads as they were overtaken by the fire: Overstrom, Boronda, Case, Hopkins, Hangover, Newell, Stone House.  Then the regrettable phone calls I answered in the night, “Is it true? Did my home burn down?” asks a quavering voice.  One of the oddest experiences was the night I received a page out for a fire alarm.  The ridge line had mostly burned that first Sunday, and it seemed ironic that some alarm company was reporting that a smoke detector going off in a house I figured had beeen lost hours earlier.  Was the house calling for help, surrounded and frightened? Of course the narrow road and fire in the canyon made it impossible to go to it’s rescue late that night.  Even day’s later I was barred by burning trees laying across the debris-choked road.  Later I learned that the house has survived when it’s water tanks had melted and sent thousands of gallons of water gushing over the decks and roof. A miracle perhaps, or like the flowers, just the natural course of things in Big Sur.