Theodore Payne "Hummingbird Mix"

A list with photos of the flowers included in the "Hummingbird Mix" seed packet -- "an assortment of annuals, perennials and low shrubs most attractive to hummingbirds, designed to keep hummingbirds in your garden year round" -- from the Theodore Payne Foundation. All images from Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons.

Castilleja exserta (Owl's clover).

Purple owl's clover, March 2015, Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve, Lancaster, California. Photo by Walter Siegmund.

Clarkia unguiculata (Elegant clarkia), May 2010, photographed on Panoche Road, San Benito County, California by Eric in SF.

Clarkia unguiculata, at the Grotto Trail, Circle X Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California.

Diplacus longiflorus, syn. Mimulus longiflorus (Monkey flower), May 2017, photographed by Jesse Rorabaugh.

Penstemon centranthifolius, photographed at the Wild Animal Park, Escondido, California, USA by Wikimedia Commons user Stickpen.

 

Penstemon centranthifolius (Scarlet bugler), photographed in Cottonwood Heights City, Utah.

Penstemon spectabilis (Showy penstemon), Wild Animal Park, Escondido, California.

Penstemon spectabilis, photographed by Wikimedia Commons contributor Dennismudd.

Peritoma arborea, formerly Cleome isomeris (Bladder pod), photographed near California State Route 58 west of Barstow, California by Stan Shebs.

Peritoma arborea (formerly Isomeris arborea, syn. Cleome isomeris)m photographed on Kelbaker Road near Willow Wash, Mojave National Preserve, southeastern Californiaby Stan Shebs.

Salvia columbariae (Chia), photographed by Walter Siegmund in a dry wash west of Godde Hill Road, 150 m north of Hacienda Ranch Road; Lancaster, California.

Salvia columbariae (Chia), photographed by Walter Siegmund in a dry wash west of Godde Hill Road, 150 m north of Hacienda Ranch Road; Lancaster, California.

Salvia mellifera (Black sage).

Salvia mellifera.

Theodore Payne "Meadow Mix"

These are the seeds in the "Meadow Mix" seed packet available from the Theodore Payne Foundation --

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow), photographed by Wikimedia Commons user Georg Slickers.  [Note that the TPF doesn't specify, but perhaps the one they include is A. millefolium var. californica].

Blue dicks (Dichelostema capitatum), photographed in Mitchell Canyon by Wikimedia Commons user John Rusk from Berkeley, CA.

Dichelostemma capitatum leaves before the appearance of flowers. Photographed at Hedgepeth Hills, Maricopa County, Arizona by Wikimedia Commons user Mike.

Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) by Wikimedia Commons user Ryan McMinds.

Western blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) photographed by Wikimedia Commons user Björn S... [sic].

Creeping or molate red fescue (Festuca rubra "Molate").

Festuca rubra, photographed by Wikimedia Commons user Bildoj.

Acmispon glaber, formerly Lotus scoparius (Deerweed). Photographed on the Backbone Trail in chaparral habitat, in Circle X Ranch Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California, February 2004.

Stipa pulchra, syn. Nassella pulchra (Purple neddlegrass), photographed in the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Southern California. Credits NPS photo from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California.

False parasol mushroom

The false parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) is a very common and very toxic mushroom, often found in Southern California lawns.  Because its appearance is similar to the edible parasol mushroom, and because it is so often found in lawns, it is one of the most commonly-consumed poisonous mushrooms in North America. Apparently it will not kill you if eaten, but will make you very uncomfortably sick, with vomiting and diarrhea, so is best avoided altogether.

Interestingly, when I picked the mushroom, it looked like this,

and by the next morning the cap had opened and spread to this,

The brown scales had also begun to flake off -- it often looks like this while growing.

The ruler I used was not the best for this lighting, obviously -- this particular mushroom is about 4 inches (10cm) long, but can be found larger or smaller.

A distinctive characteristic of the false parasol is the greenish spores, which are beginning to be apparent in the photo, and came out quite clearly in the spore print I made -- the name "chlorophyllum" comes from the Latin chloro, green, + phyllum, gills.

For further reference, and other pictures to help you identify this toxic mushroom, see the Wikipedia article "Chlorophyllum molybdites", Tom Volk's "Fungus of the month" for August 1999, the C. molybdites pages at California Fungi and Urban Mushrooms.

Camellia

An unidentified Camellia japonica, growing in our garden. This particular one is admirably hardy, having survived growing about a foot from the foundations of the house, for many years in utter shade while smothered with overgrown Cape hawthorn, being sawed off almost to the ground, and at least two termite tentings. The flowers have a tendency to wither rather quickly, but I have to admire its persistence.

This one is I think in the "formal double" shape, with its series of neatly overlapping petals, without revealing the stamens. The color is a salmon pink; I would say it is "Ed Combatalade" were it not for the pale pink stripes. Time to head over to Nuccio's, perhaps ...

Wildflower garden

A very charming front garden in the Preservation District of Fullerton. Included are California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and mountain garland (Clarkia unguiculata), both California natives.  Mountain garland -- the tall pink ones here -- are also known as elegant clarkia.

Christmas cactus

The Christmas cactus, Schlumbergera bridgesii, also found as S. buckleyi and Zygocactus truncatus, has arched, drooping branches of curiously flattened and jointed sections, growing as much as 3 ft. across (1 m), with long tubular and many-petalled blooms of purplish-red, red, pink, white, and even yellow, depending on the variety.  It can be grown outdoors in Sunset zones 16-17, and 21-24 in half-shade, or indoors in a cool but bright spot out of direct light.

I hesitate to jinx my luck by saying so, but I do almost nothing to this plant -- I don't feed it, I don't keep it in a dark spot in November to set its blooms for December, and I usually forget to water it regularly -- and yet it still rewards me with scores of blushed-white blooms in early December, and even here and there at other times of the year.  It is also absurdly easy to root new plants -- pinch off a section of stem and put it in water for a few weeks, or plant directly into a pot.

This photo was taken from underneath the plant, which sits on top of a bookcase near a north-west facing window.