hortulus aptus

Happy New Year!! (Centaurea ‘Filigrana d’Argento’) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm3SVDoO6Rr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Robins are really enjoying the Toyon this year (nearly stripped bare already!)! https://www.instagram.com/p/CleaoLSPamM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Arum pictum, unique in its genus as it flowers at the start of its fall growing period. As I was taking this photo I detected the earthy stinky scent of the newly opened flower (fly pollinated). https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci5l3fevNL7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Our potted specimen of Centaurea 'Filigrana d'Argento' (a chance seedling that appeared in our garden years ago) is looking quite happy about our recent rain! It is a more compact plant than the ubiquitous C. cineraria grown in gardens everywhere (usually mis-ID’ed as C. gymnocarpa). https://www.instagram.com/p/CiszFUPPyLg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Our old Asparagus retrofractus randomly bursts into flower, possibly in response to the recent excessive heat? https://www.instagram.com/p/CiVd7YnJYfK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The ‘big bulbs’ are blooming - Drimia maritima & Brunsvigia josephinae https://www.instagram.com/p/ChksPBzPnPN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

at Wildflour Bakery https://www.instagram.com/p/CcZlJ7HOX8P/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

We recently moved house and we are so pleased that this form of Viola riviniana has followed us. A plant that prefers to grow where it likes (rather than where you plant it), it is a treat to see it sprouting among our potted plants!! https://www.instagram.com/p/CbwWhVGOKyZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

One thing we enjoy about our new space is how easily we can watch the phases of the moon! https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ8Kz5MFfaC/?utm_medium=tumblr

Blooming since the end of 2021, Crassula ovata “Pink Beauty” has been putting on a show for us. It is smaller and more compact than the forms usually grown in our SF Bay Area. This cultivar was introduced into the US by the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden from a plant sent to them in 1961 by a Mr. Wormald of Zimbabwe, Africa. My plant was a cutting from John Trager of the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. https://www.instagram.com/p/CZDrPH0Lpim/?utm_medium=tumblr

Robert William O'Hara (1925-2006) https://www.instagram.com/p/CY9kT2EPp9B/?utm_medium=tumblr

Our Drimia maritima (a.k.a. Urginea, Charybdis, Scilla) burst out of it's pot last year! Some of the huge bulbs were buried and were not growing. After the arduous transplant, they put up stunted flower spike (instead of leaves like the others). Everybody seem in sync now for 2020! Happy New Year! https://www.instagram.com/p/CYLFuOTLYAP/?utm_medium=tumblr

Our Drimia maritima (a.k.a. Urginea, Charybdis, Scilla) burst out of it's pot last year! Some of the huge bulbs were buried and were not growing. After the arduous transplant, they put up stunted flower spike (instead of leaves like the others). Everybody seem in sync now for 2020! Happy New Year! https://www.instagram.com/hortulus_aptus/p/CYLEPIZLy5g/?utm_medium=tumblr

‘Sautéing’ sourgrass (Oxalis pes-caprae) with a torch - using a new technique to battle this weed. https://www.instagram.com/hortulus_aptus/p/CXMN2BfJayd/?utm_medium=tumblr

Our Asparagus retrofractus is enjoying it's new location beneath the toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). One of our neighbors chickens is also enjoying a brief evening roost in the toyon! https://www.instagram.com/p/CXCYP3Uv1dG/?utm_medium=tumblr

While refurbishing some vintage metal bins we’ve had many years for a new use, I could not help but admire patina of rust/paint - the reason we love to collect these things! https://www.instagram.com/p/CW_PaDEPzJ7/?utm_medium=tumblr

The canopy of an old walnut tree. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWyY6Ndv-DY/?utm_medium=tumblr