What's for lunch?

It's so wonderful to see in the garden several plants blooming almost throughout the year, providing nourishment and habitat for the pollinators.

My ultimate goal is to plant native plants that bloom during different seasons to guarantee food at all times, and so far we seem to have a promising start.

The Ray Hartman ceanothus must be the easiest California shrub to grow.

It never needs to be fertilized, is so drought tolerant that it doesn't need water in the summer and grows quickly. It provides shade and habitat for bees, butterflies and birds.

And best of all, this ceanothus produces lovely lilac-blue pollen-rich blossoms almost steadily throughout the year.

If you look carefully, in the image above you will see a flower fly to the right on the large Ray Hartman ceanothus flower cluster.

The borage plants, much to my surprise and delight, have been blooming throughout the winter and have reseeded themselves.

Borage isn't a California native, but it is a nectar machine.

The Chiapas salvia in one of our patio plant beds appears to be thriving.

With the winter rains it has grown to at least 20 inches high by 20 inches wide, with several stems rising from its roots. And look at all those beautiful fuchsia colored blossoms.

The Chiapas salvia isn't a California native, and comes from the province of Chiapas, Mexico.

It was first collected in 1981 by a group collecting for the University of California Berkeley Botanic Garden.

It attracts Anna's hummingbirds and many kinds of butterflies and bees.