Flower Friday : : Trailing Rosemary

If I look out the back door there are mushrooms coming up under the palm tree. If I look up the hill the daffodils are in full bloom, tiny daisies are growing from the spaces in the rock wall, and the plum tree is beginning to blossom. The blooming plants are mirroring the current state of the weather, but the mushrooms are still making an appearance reminding us that there is supposed to be much more rain to come…

When we first moved here three years ago, we were a little alarmed by the  retaining wall holding back the hill. It was long,slightly pink and very glaring. The people from whom we bought the house were going for a clean, polished, desert style. One of the first things we did was plant a couple of rosemary plants in the hope that they would trail over the wall and break up the starkness. Not only did it do an admirable job of that, it seeded itself at the base of the wall and is now starting to grow up to meet the trailing one.

Not only does rosemary look quite spectacular when it blooms, if you look closely at a cluster of the flowers, they are quite delicate and complex. I have put a close up in extras…I will actually remember to do it this time. I was reminded that the extra I described at length on the 10th was nowhere to be found. I have remedied that, if you have any interest in looking a a female mallard waving her arms in frustration as Mr Mallard swims away.

The rusty cactus above the rosemary is a sculpture. The green one next to it is a real spineless cactus, developed by Luther Burbank in Santa Rosa. Our friend David gave it to us and OilMan stuck it in the ground. I didn't much like the cactus or the placement, but given the fact that it is so hard to grow anything on the hill, I figured it would die before it ever took root. Apparently I was wrong…it is thriving.