My Helper

I'm always monitored by my special helper.

She frequently walks ahead of me anticipating my next stop in the garden.

Penstemon

Native to the hills and mountain regions of California, these hardy plants with their cute trumpet shape flowers are loved by hummingbirds and bees.

Penstemon is known as beardtongue because of the hairy stamen that hangs out of the tubular flower.

My pink and purple penstemons bloom all summer and into late fall. The bees and hummingbirds that frequent these beauties are always fun to watch.

Hanabi-Fireworks

Agapanthus, also know as Lily of the Nile, is not in the lily family. This plant is native of South Africa. Agapanthus is an easy-to-grow perennial that produces a globe of white to deep purple trumpet-shape flowers from summer through fall.

Each year around July 4th, my white and light blueish-purple Agapanthus bloom. I enjoy using them in a cut arrangement to decorate my dinning room table during the month of July since the globes remind me of fireworks. And the flowers also remind me of my summers in Japan watching the spectacular hanabi.