Calochortus vestae

“One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” Aristotle

Calochortus vestae

Well the onslaught of Calochortus blooms continue. I need to work on my photography techniques for sure. Never has a plant so challenged me. Apologies for a one underexposed and one overexposed shot. I guess the perfect one is somewhere in between and you'll have to use your imagination.

Calochortus vestae

This species, aka the Coast Range Mariposa, Or the Goddess Mariposa,  hails from the land of my relatives, Occupying clay soils throughout Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties of California. This on is a show stopper for sure. As  you can't walk past it without sneaking a peak into the wonderfully marked inner portions. An easy increaser and a fast grower from seed, this really should be in anyones garden, especially those with Clay Soils, who want a great early summer show stopper that is very drought tolerant.

An early summer heat wave is approaching as we speak, noting that temps are supposed to peak in the mid 90's this week. More shots of the Mariposa's are coming.

Cheers,

Mark

Calochortus obispoensis

"The finest clothing is made of a persons own skin, but of course society demands something more than this" Mark Twain

Well  I have been a little bit busy for a bit apparently, Just noticed that i'm not likely to break any blogging records this year. There are however bulbs blooming and occasionally I have gotten around to taking pictures of them. Restoring historic gardens has had me pretty busy this spring. I would come home and a Calochortus that had been open all day was just closing up for the evening and I'd miss it and the same thing would happen the next day. I finally got an evening to myself and was able to get around and shoot some photo's.

Calochortus obispoensis is not the easiest plant to photograph
But neither are any of the Calochortus for that matter, you either have to do the straight down from the top shot, the eagle view or try to capture the sometimes less than stunning side view.

Calochortus obispoensis

Hailing from of all places San Luis Obispo County California and said to mostly occur on ultramafic soils. The San Luis Mariposa lily is a beautiful little flower. Said to be rare in the wild and difficult in cultivation. I've given it a basic mix of composted cow manure, pumice and a sandy loam topsoil. This mix seems to compact down more than the 50/50 cow manure and pumice mix that I use, as the fines in the topsoil fill the pore space readily, however it does a good job of holding a balanced moisture level, especially for species that appreciate growing in clay. 

The weather has been that typical Oregon mix of sun and showers and relatively mild temps but I hear we are headed for a heat wave. Temps are supposed to hit the 90's next week for an early start to the summer proper. 

Cheers, 

Mark