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This spring, every day has been Bloom Day. June Gloom hasn't changed that.
June Gloom is Southern California's transition time between mild Spring and The Misery Called Summer. Though the days have been grey with ocean-generated overcast, flower and foliage color are at their absolute best, right before months of hot cloudless days bleach and brown blossom and leaf. Toast and roast. They fry, I cry.
Metrosideros excelsa 'Gala'
Hey, who you staring at?
Hemerocallis 'Apollodorus' with flowers of Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' and Salvia
Aeoniums 'Zwartkop', 'Mardi Gras', with Hellebore 'Penny's Pink'
Trachelium 'Hamer Pandora'
With Arctotis 'Pink Sugar'
With Gallardia 'Arizona Apricot'
Constancea (formerly Eriophyllum) nevinii 'Canyon Silver' has flowered
Though with foliage like this, who needs flowers?
Leonurus leonotis at peak beauty
The new Clematis jackmanii is settling in
A garden speaker in October of 2017 enthusiastically talked up the virtues of Ceanothus 'Valley Violet'. Vigorous! Heat loving! Gorgeous! Unfortunately, I believed him.
Pole beans soon! I pick them tiny and tender. Yum!
The rich golden flowers of Agave marmorata are now opening. Most Agave flowers are not so bright in color. Bees and hummingbirds are not, so far, mobbing it. Is it the gloomy weather?
Ever flowering 'Rozanne' and 'Belindas Dream' make a perfect pair.
Gloom, bloom.
Love all your aphorisms. Totally agree.
ReplyDeleteSummers are hotter for you, too. Stay cool, in both senses.
Delete'Rozanne' goes with everything I think. It's too bad it doesn't like my current garden. The gloom has been lovely, hasn't it? We cleared up early today, before 2pm. I hope that doesn't signify anything - the weather forecast currently predicts drizzle on Friday.
ReplyDelete'Rozanne' does indeed go with everything. I adore it. Do you have Verbena 'De la Mina'? I think it might be the xeric version.
DeleteI just hope this coming July 6th isn't like last July 6th, which I think was the day it was 117F. Love drizzle, just hope it doesn't interrupt your kitchen destruction. No delays! No surprises!
All beautiful Hoov ! Love the combo in the first photo especially ! We have had a few June Gloom days so far , but except for that god-awful heat wave a couple weeks ago even the sunny days have been mild.
ReplyDeleteI loved that first photo--could have just posted that one. The colors are all so saturated. In a week or two everything will look over-exposed.
Delete"God-awful heat wave" sends fear into my heart.
All of your bloom certainly brightens the gloom. I like so many of your color combinations. I bet the gloom is keeping some of the bees away. Either that or they have easier to get to blooms. Enjoy it while it is happening.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. The gloom is my favorite time of year--perhaps because it doesn't last, mostly because it is Not Hot.
DeleteAll so beautiful - is the leonurus a perennial there? I have grown it here as an annual. We just got some at our nursery yesterday.
ReplyDelete"it can survive and remain evergreen in temperatures down to 20 degrees F and if it freezes back in the winter, it will often resprout with new growth from hardened wood - for this reason it is often treated as a perennial and has been known to grow in the south of England and USDA Zone 8 gardens. In cold locations plants should be mulched well to protect the wood crown and in even colder locations can be grown as an annual."
DeleteSee: https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=961
I love all your plant combinations! We also suffer from toast and roast during summer, so I appreciate what you are saying. Winter is rarely a challenge to survival for our hardy plants, but summer is tough on everyone, plants and people alike. I don't expect much of "pretty" in July and August; if a plant lives through the summer I am happy with it.
ReplyDeleteI think you have it right: if a plant survives the summer, that's all that matters!
DeleteDefinitely no gloom in your garden. Everything looks spectacular. Hope the 'gloom' hangs around a bit longer for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Everything is so bleached out come hot weather. The richer colors are such a treat. A few more days..a few more wonderful days... :)
Deleteso glad the constancea is thriving -- that's one I've got to find some room for. And it rained/spritzed last night too. June gloom for me is anything but gloomy, it's a godsend.
ReplyDeleteThe Constancea is gorgeous. Wasn't expecting that. Another gloom-lover? Glad I'm not the only one. Considerable drizzle last night, washed everything off one more time. :)
DeleteThat Trachelium is so scrumptious! Have tried growing it, but unfortunately, it doesn't like the light levels I can offer it. :( Bummer about your Ceanothus... I hate when new plants get talked up - just to prove to be the exact opposite. With the kinds of unpredictable weather swings we all seem to have these days, the tried and true are often a safer bet. So far...
ReplyDeleteThe Ceanothus was planted in shredded wood; I should have shook all that off and gotten the roots into real soil. Sort of my bad, but sort of not--native shrubs should not be grown in shredded wood IMO.
DeleteAm really enjoying the Trachelium; last time I tried it, it was not near so big and beautiful.