Bloom Day May 2018

I had far too many flower photos, so--apologies.  I will offer the standard gardener's excuse:  it's the weather's fault.  Our Spring has been slightly unusual in that nights have been consistently cooler than normal, in the mid 50's F rather than already pushing into the low 60's F.  The garden has loved this.   So has the gardener;  its
 made up a bit for our horribly dry winter.  Anyway, lots of flowers.  Too many, as already stated.  

This old old Hellebore flower aged to a wondrous steely grey-lavender.  What a gorgeous color!
Orlaya grandiflora, which seeded itself prolifically over the winter.  I must deadhead lest the garden will be overrun next year.  Photobombed by a few leaves and flower stems of Cordyline 'Festival Grass'
The bees like it. 

Okay, enough, enough!

A small Evison Clematis, 'Cezanne', perhaps, hiding under a rose.
This one is 'Moonlight', I think.  Joy Creek purchase from last year.  It didn't bloom its first year, but did this time. 
Proteana is looking lush or even a bit wild.  Leucospermum 'Flame Giant' above Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' on the lower left and Tecoma 'Sparky' on the lower right.  Happy bees, happy hummers, happy warblers.  
'Flame Giant'
Aloe pseudorubroviolacea and Aloe camperi mark the finale of Aloe season, and I neglected to get a photo of Aloe camperi, which considering the length of this post, was fortunate.  Warblers and Orioles will come and strip off the flowers and fly off with them, but at this moment, pseudo is a real glory.  A yardstick added to indicate size.
Hippeastrum 'Red Lion'.   Too dry for it here in Proteana, where I've killed off another Phylica, which can be seen on the right.  Well, now I know they both need more water than this area can provide.  'Red Lion' will move to the Gully Terrace, with the rest of the Hippeas.  Phylica to the compost, sigh. 
Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' still looks glorious, but by next Bloom Day most of the flowers will have dropped.  Ten weeks of this--can't complain.
The first flush of roses is complete and the Hemerocallis take over in the interval.  'Butterscotch Ruffles':
'Spacecoast Starburst'
Home Depot Cheapo:  the kind that come three-plants-to-a-plastic-bag from The Netherlands.  It's an ankle-high beauty.
'Sabine Bauer'
 Can't remember offhand, but a favorite.
 Something with a wine grape in the name, 'Merlot Magic' or 'Cabernet Candy' or similar, with the foliage of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' as a complement.
 'Bella...something'
 The fountain area looks great!  The white rose is 'Bolero', which had a heavy winter bloom, making it later than the rest of the roses because it was the last one cut back.  

A hot spot for songbirds to drink and bathe, unfortunately it's also become a hot spot for Redtail hawks to snack.  The nature of nature.  The resident Scrub Jay flew by with one of my beloved lizards yesterday.  The nature of nature:  accept it.   
The Coulter Bush,  Hymenolepis crithmifolia (its current name).
It is too far large for this area and I'll remove it (with regrets) after it finishes blooming.  It belongs in either Proteana or the Gully Dry Garden;  it being deep rooted, I'm unsure it will transplant.  
Surrounding Agave 'Joe Hoak' are red red Crassula pubescens ssp radicans and its red red flower stems (the flowers open cream), the orange stems and yellow flowers of a Dudleya hybrid (well watered and never rottted), and the orange flowers of Aloe 'Rooikappie'
New plant:  Lotus 'Amazon Sunset', which I've coveted for a while having admired Late To The Garden Party's plants for ages. 
Quite a stunner with a blooming Sedum 'Angelina' as a backdrop.
Combination meditation on almost the same intense orange,  Alstroemeria 'Rock n Roll' with new fresh leaves of Acer 'Oshio Bene'

Rose 'Twilight Zone' peaking around a Leucospermum that (hint to self) needs to be planted in the ground.
Another combination meditation,  'Geranium Rozanne' and Leucanthemum.  Yum!

'Evelyn' rose with the added blurry color of 'Yellow Bird' and Salvia 'Amistad'
European meadow sage 'Blue Hill' with Southwestern desert Calylophus--only in California!
Leucophyllum 'Thunder Cloud' with Limonium perezii
Another Austin rose, 'The Poet's Wife'.  This rose has an excellent fragrance and a low, wide growing habit.
The Dahlias are starting, but I only managed a photo of an arrangement made for Beloved's mom for Mother's Day.  Another Home Depot Cheapo bagged plant, the Dahlia was labelled "Go Go Purple Mix'.  With Alstroemeria, rose 'Dee lish', 'Flame Giant', Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon' foliage, and dried Echeveria coccinea bloom stems.  More than you ever wanted to know, right? 
Rose 'Yves Piaget' on the back side
Happy May Bloom Day!   I'm blaming the length of this post on the weather.  This time, it wasn't the squirrel's fault.

Comments

  1. Oh, I hate to see that coulter bush go. How about a pruning experiment? They are so prone to getting leggy anyway. That's strange, I've never had orlaya become a pesty reseeder here and had to bring in plants again around January. Probably a soil thing. And, lastly, out of all that beauty I'll single out Joe Hoak and that crassula -- inspired!

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    1. Coulter: pruned it hard last year!

      Orlaya: water, perhaps. That is a constantly damp(ish) spot.

      Joe/Crassula: thanks! With 'Blue Glow' even better, but I had a bunch of Joes.



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    2. Okay, I was already envious about the Orlaya (the bunnies ate my plants to the ground and, thus far I've got one flower) and the Leucospermums (will mine ever be as grand?!) but then you threw in a dahlia bloom! I thought I was doing well to have foliage sprouting from most, but not all, of mine. I won't even speak of the roses...Happy Bloom Day HB!

      P.S. I note that Roger's has adopted another way of voting on California-friendly gardens this year and, after reviewing the entries, rued that you hadn't entered yours, which would have won hands down!

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    3. Your flowers are magnificent! One question: How do you treat your Crassula pubescens ssp radicans? Are they planted in regular soil? Do they get any water? I had some that did very poorly and I yanked them. Maybe I didn't water them enough (I didn't water them at all.) Your pictures are always so enjoyable, thank you!

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    4. I will never grow another Lotus vine after seeing what you and Kris can do. And somehow I’d forgotten you have such an extensive Hemerocallis collection. Too bad that garden we visited in Austin had so few blooming.

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    5. KP, I thought about entering the Roger's thing this year since they didn't do the Facebook voting, but decided against it--lack of water and the edge of the front slope just really really bothers me, looks so bad. Must resolve that somehow. Maybe next year. Many Agaves have bloomed so I can try to make the front look a little more "designed" and less haphazard.

      Rachel, thanks. Yes, that Crassula does fine and dandy in regular soil but absolutely needs regular watering.

      Danger, we'll see if mine ever look half as good as Kris's. Yes indeed too bad there were almost no Hems blooming in Austin, but that garden was still very interesting, don't you think?

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  2. You'll get no blame for excess photos from this corner ! That Leucophyllum is mighty tempting , though I don't know where in the world I would put it.

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    1. The Leucophyllum needs full full sun. It would love Napa summer heat, but needs sharp drainage.

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  3. Your plants are blooming so wonderfully. I love that yellow rose. I don't have luck with roses. I have always blamed the lack of sun. We lost a mature tree so there is more sun in the back garden. Maybe I should try again. Happy GBBD.

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    1. Yes, you need a good amount of sun for roses. Maybe look at "Earth-Kind roses" (just search on that phrase), the cold-hardy cultivars, as they are tough and considered pretty successful in more challenging climates.

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  4. That aloe is a stunner! Is lotus the same as "Parrot's Beak" that is sold here in hanging baskets? I purchased a small one last year and could not get it to bloom. The foliage was nice but no flowers, no matter what I did. What do you like?

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    1. It is common-named "Parrot's Beak" by some growers, yes. (Though of course there are other different plants with the same common name, to confuse.) The thing about this Lotus is that its blooming is strictly due to the right night time temperatures: it will cease blooming once night time temperatures go above about 60F. So we (or at least Kris) get lavish flowers from this plant in very late fall, winter, and early spring, and nothing in summer and early fall.

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  5. Gorgeous! Your explaination of when that lotus blooms doused cold water on my desire to have one (nights under 60 are...rare) so I'll still to admiring it in your and Kris's gardens. Along with all the other gorgeous blooms! I'm loving how long everyone's bloom day posts are this month!

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