Our Own Penstemon

This evening I went out to work on our photo plant inventory.  Here's what I got before the sun went down.

Last fall we bought and planted six Penstemon spectabilis around the house.  Now we have discovered a volunteer at the far corner of our property.  It wasn't from one of the plants that we planted, they are barely blooming right now.  What a pleasant surprise!

In the background you might see some black sage.  Here's a closer look at the top of one:

And right next to it there's some yarrow:

It's such a vibrant green plant with beautiful yellow flowers.  The whole hillside, above is covered with blooming yarrow right now.  Here's a single plant:

And a close-up of just a flower head:

You might have noticed that orange color in the background.  It was evening when I took these photos so depth-of-field was shallow, plus DOF is always very shallow in close-ups.  Those orange blotches are Mimulus, or Monkey flower!

Here's a red one:

Here is some pearly everlasting:

Janet tells me this one is golden bush:

The laurel sumac sure look pretty when they are putting on new growth:

I thought deerweed just had yellow flowers, but here is a branch with yellow and red both.

Whether you have an urban yard landscaped in natives or acreage you should try to keep an inventory of what you've got growing.  It's fun and could help you keep track of changes over the years.

--Brian