Bloom Day November 2017

Hydrangeas may seem an odd flower for November, but this is California, after all, and the Hydrangea is 'Endless Summer'.  The red tint of the aged flower is a delight and limited to this time of year.  In summer, the flower heads morph to pale green.  
 
Roses never take a break unless they are cut back hard.  'The Poet's Wife':
 The Grevilleas are like the roses--unceasing.  'Moonlight':
 'Robyn Gordon':
 Kalanchoe luciae's flower stems have a thick coating of sticky white powder.  I have a smear of it on my arm--easily wiped off. 
 The silver stems look very fine with white Pentas. 
 Salvia leucantha's flowers are fuzzy. 
 Aloe 'Roikappie' is having a good November.  Many of the plants burst into flower as soon as Hotober transitioned into Coolvember.
 Tagetes lemonii.  Some people do not like its pungent Marigold scent, but the intense golden flowers are like distilled sunlight.  Mature plants are covered with flowers.  This plant is new, so the foliage is visible. 
 Out of the ordinary Tweedia caerula (Oxypetalum coeruleum) a milkweed relative.  The plant is underwhelming but the flowers are pure powder blue.
 Echeveria 'Blue Knight' sports coral red flowers
 Coral red flowers also on Eremophila...now which Eremophila was this...?  Ah,  yes.  E. glabra 'Fire and Ice'. 
And one of the last Daylily flowers of the year, 'Bella Rosa'.  Won't be many more until next March. 
Happy Bloom Day!

Comments

  1. Your garden wears November Bloomday well...

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    1. After such a brutal Hotober, I'm surprised and grateful!

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  2. Now that's a properly classy hydrangea, especially in its red tinted guise.

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    1. They are such uncomplaining shrubs. No wonder they are garden favorites for what, centuries?

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  3. I remain envious of your 'Moonlight' as mine is still dinky and has yet to show signs it's even thinking about blooming. Is the Tweedia the one you got from Dustin Gimbel? Mine is still alive but also still tiny - I hope it's busy underground. Happy GBBD!

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    1. My 'Moonlight' got going instantly, the other Grevilleas sat for 6 months before they exploded. Getting water?

      Yes, that Tweedia is from Dustin. I had to hit it with a little fertilizer to get it going.

      I had Orlaya grandiflora seeds packed ready for you and Denise and forgot to give them to you. Sigh. Have sprouted plants in a damp spot. Those lace-doily flowers were so striking!

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    2. Did you start them originally from seed or plants? I want them whenever I see them, and have the fantasy that they could persist here as self-seeders like annual fleabanee and Queen Anne's lace. I'm unlikely to start anything from seed that I can't just sow in place.

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    3. The Tweedia, Nell? Got that from Dustin as a little plant. It has some seed pods. The Orlaya, got a couple seeds and then an Annies Annuals plant; one seed grew and flowered, the plant flowered, got seeds which I scattered and they have spouted...want some seeds? I sow-in-place with seeds also--too disorganized and lazy to carefully sprout seeds in tiny pots. We get those dramatic shifts in weather from cool mild (fine for seeds in tiny pots) to fierce drying winds (fatal to same). That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

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  4. I love the rusty colors of Hydrangeas in Autumn. Salvia leucantha is worth treating as an annual here, just to get those fuzzy flowers.

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    1. Hydrangeas are "out" here these days, one day they will be back "in" again--they are like roses in that respect. Salvias, there are a gazillion! I agree, the old flowers have amazing, fascinating color--worth waiting out the pure, clear pinks and blues. LOL? :-)

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  5. Hydrangea 'Endless Summer', that name cracks me up. So perfect for California although its target market is probably elsewhere.

    I just removed a Tagetes lemmonii. I had a cultivar called 'Martin's Mutant' and, true to its name, it got too big for the spot. Now I'm looking for a dwarf selection called 'Compacta' (http://montereybaynsy.com/T/tagetes_lemmonii_compacta2.jpg).

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    1. With our near endless growing season 'Endless Summer' seems quite ideal.

      The Tagetes I got was clearly labelled as a 'Compacta', but I'm not seeing it. It's nearly shoulder high already and must be moved. Grrr!

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  6. HB, those hydrangeas are beautiful! I love hydrangeas and should have more of them in my garden. Rose here bloom all year round if left unpruned too. The poet's wife is a gorgeous cultivar I am especially fond of yellow and peach roses.

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    1. I would think Hydrangeas would do very well for you with your high summer humidity. Do you see any of the new rebloomers there?

      I am also very fond of the yellow and peach/apricot Austins--they do very, very well here, much better than the pink Austins. 'Molineux' and 'The Ambridge Rose' have been excellent.

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    2. I'd be a bigger fan of the hydrangeas if the ?bracts went straight from green to that remarkable red, but never anywhere near pink. The foliage on a few of the oakleaf hydrangeas here has turned almost that exact red, which in addition to being gorgeous in its own right seems to make the tan inflorescences really jump out in 3-D. Most other color has fallen or is currently blowing off the trees in high winds, so it's the only show going in the front yard...

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    3. HB, The only hydrangeas I know here are the common Macrophyllas, they have a long blooming period in this climate, usually from november to april.

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  7. Stunning pics... that hydrangea, Wow. & I learned something: "roses never take a break unless they're cut back hard." Newbie here, so I was wondering why mine were still going, if they were supposed to, etc. Now I know ;).

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    1. That would be for So Cal. Other places have that "winter" thing. The traditional time to prune in So Cal is Super Bowl Sunday, when everyone else is watching TV and you have the whole outdoor world to yourself. :-)

      Generally here January sometime is good.

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