Beachcomber
By an edhat reader
There’s lots to see on neighborhood walks this summer. This poppy is blooming now in the parking strip on Brinkerhoff along with a stand of reddish Cosmos. The poppy looks to me just like a Matilija poppy (Romneya). Those usually bloom in spring, so this may be something similar. Another nice flower scene is this Hibiscus on Chuparosa Drive.
I wanted a close-up of this sage plant to figure out what species or variety it is. A jewel of an insect came for lunch and took over the photo shoot. The fly looks huge in the pics, but it’s just an ordinary sized fly on a small flower
The sage plant, I think, is a hybrid of Salvia leucantha and some similar groundcover sage. It grows about knee high and is extremely vigorous. I see it often on walks around Santa Barbara. This sample is in my own garden, where it has spread on its own to many parts of the yard. One of the few plants in my garden that gophers won’t eat.
