Rain Breaks in the New Garden

The drought has been vanquished and the garden rejoices. First we had a nice tropical storm to put out the fires in the area, and we've actually had consistent rains ever since! Every night I'm serenaded by the preludes to treefrog lovemaking outside my window, as they prepare to lay eggs before the next dry spell. Actually it sounds a lot like a nasal "BWAAA! BWAAA!" multiplied by the hundreds and repeated through the night. It's nice. Really.

The garden is so brimming with life that I got a frog and an anole in one frame!

The garden I've planted at my apartment complex has been a great way to start my day before plunging into my illustration projects. After all, what better way is there to get excited about plants than by enjoying them in person? While I'm happy to say that my illustration projects have been keeping me busy, they have been keeping me from blogging over the last week or so.

After seeing all of the fun stuff going on out there on my morning foray, I just had to tell somebody. I used to call my mom whenever I saw something the least bit interesting in the garden, but now I can just tell you guys instead!

Aechmea 'Blue Cones'

Liatris in the dry parking lot garden

Peacock ginger (Kaempfira) showing its lavender flowers

Tillandsias just love this humidity.

The tin shed garden is taking off!

The plants that I added in spring are really beginning to take off; especially the rampant chartreuse sweet potato vine. Let me tell you. If you plant some of this stuff in your own garden, you can space them out over ten feet apart and they'll still fill in. I have some plants in dry full sun and others in moist part shade and they thrive in both situations, creating the perfect electric green foil for the other plants. I've been growing the stuff for the last several years, and it has yet to disappoint.

Water collects in the center of a caladium's aquaphobic leaf.

Caladium 'Red Flash' is a stunner.

Caladiums are the stars of this garden, from the commonplace 'Postman Joyner' to some of the exciting new introductions from Classic Caladiums. I've spread them out along through both dry and wet areas of the garden and they've done so well that all of them have flowered this year. I know that the artfully painted leaves are the only reason to grow caladiums, but I still can't help but admire each hybrid's unique spathe. 

Actually, I have a hard time not admiring anything in the garden. Every leaf and every dewdrop just begs to be drawn, so I'm always excited to head back to the great indoors with my colored pencil and paper. What a beautiful world!