September 2018 Blooms

 What's tough enough to flower after a brutal summer?  
Drimia (formerly Urginea) maritima
 After vanishing from view for a period of summer dormancy, the flower emerges from an 8 lb (3.6 kg) bulb in late summer.  The foliage then grows for the rainy season (when there is a rainy season) and dies off in early summer.  
 Zephryanthes candida

 White Pentas with silver Centarea foliage--refreshing.
Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and a late blooming Orlaya grandiflora.  The Abelia's foliage bleaches out somewhat in summer, which actually agrees better with the pinkish white flowers.  Hummers drink nectar from the flowers, so this plant isn't just a garden pretty.
 This sterile Euphorbia hypericifolia 'Space Blast White' is wonderful.  If it does well over winter I will plant more.  It has looked like this since I planted it in April.  This plant is similar to E. 'Diamond Dust', but more compact.
 Sweet!
 Leucophylum blooms at unpredictable intervals.  A delight whenever they appear.
 Saliva 'Amistad', on the other hand, never stops blooming.
 Because of the extremely hot summer I did not deadhead any of the Hydrangeas.  Their old blooms are turned green, with a new pink, white, lavender, or blue bloom appearing since the weather began to cool at the start of September.  A purple-leafed Alternathera in the foreground that needs a little more sun than it is getting. 
 I repotted the lavenderish Epidendrum orchid;  it's happy again.
Hunnemannia fumariifolia, which I struggle to spell correctly, continues to flower.  It will taper off soon and rest until late winter.

 This dwarf form of Tagetes lemonii has had a light sprinkling of flowers since I bought it.  Different from the "regular" version, which is day length sensitive, and flowers from mid autumn to spring, through the months of lesser daylight hours.
 Aloe 'Cynthia Giddy'
 Echeveria
 Japanese Anemone 'Pretty Lady Emily'.  This petite hybrid drifts,  sprouting in a slightly different place every year.  It's not a pest because of our dry climate; this cultivar does not spread into bone-dry soil.

  The Dahlias are tired, but there are still flowers here and there.


 And Protea 'Pink Ice'
 Here's a dried out version that has been sitting in a vase for about a year.  It has developed amazing colors in its dried out state, an unreal purple-tinged tan. 

And the sweetest flower of them all.  Natasha once again chewed a lot of the hair off the right side of Boris's face.  Little sisters are such a pain. 
Throw the ball.  Now.   
Happy Bloom Day!

Comments

  1. All lovely. I think hydrangeas are at their most lovely when they start to fade.

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    1. Wow, I think alternanthea and hydrangea belong together. And so great to see the drimia in bloom! Those little euphorbias are so good among succulents. Natasha just got a little overzealous with Boris' grooming, that's all!

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  2. Poor tolerant Boris! You're garden's looking great. Congrats on the perfect Protea bloom. Thanks for introducing me to Hunnemannia. I'll be looking for that neat Euphorbia next. As to the Salvia, I'm giving up on those - for some reason 'Amistad' hates my garden.

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    1. Happy you like Hunnemannia. It's a winner!

      'Amistad's loss!

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  3. All beautiful - I love the combination of the alternathera and the hydrangeas. Natasha is so beautiful!

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    1. The Alternathera/hydrangea combo was another example of dumb luck. Didn't have anywhere else to put the Alternathera. Dumb luck is still luck, I guess!

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  4. Boris is stoicism embodied; a sweet flower indeed.

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    1. He's exhausted now. He watched Dear Husband barbecue for several hours. "Helping" barbecue is very tiring!

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  5. Quite a number of these would do well in my garden for the same reason they do well in yours. I have ‘Amistad’ and it’s quite rampant and flowers for months-a really good doer, as most Salvias are. Boris is very handsome!

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  6. The Drimia... is such an interesting plant and WOW what a bloom. Poor Boris is a handsome dude despite his meany beany sister.

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  7. Wow, that Drimia maritima is so striking, especially emerging from the soil like that. You know I swooned over the Protea, even the dry one.

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  8. An 8 lb bulb... wow! I always enjoy your garden reports - such great variety of things I can't grow, and such fabulous photos! Poor Boris, but maybe Natasha was just trying to cool him off a little. I can't imagine having that much fur in CA!

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  9. Good to know Abelia could feed our sunbirds.
    Saw Drimia on our hike today, but ours was only a few inches high. Definitely a little sister.

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    1. Abelia is underrated in general but also underrated as wildlife support here, probably because most all of them are buzzed into globes or cubes, with the flowers constantly cut off. :(

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