May 2021 Blooms (Warning: A Lot)

 

Echinopsis 'Flying Saucer'  

This is the first and only flower 'Flying Saucer' has produced.  Not the plant's fault.  I've taken poor care of it.  Must do better.

The flower lasted only two and a half days, but what a beauty it was.

Blooms of May, 2021.  Despite the dry winter, we're having a fabulous spring.  Perhaps it is the previous winter that determines the health of flora?  Last year we had excellent rain in April, just as most plants started growing again in earnest.  

The Hemerocallis got going about a week ago. 

 'Merlot Magic'

 Hesperaloe parviflora, which has produced only one flower stem in the several years its been here, has produced not four, but five stems this spring.  I've been thanking it with extra water.

While the stem and the buds are a bright, eye-catching coral, the open flower is a delicately pale yellow:

Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird's spring show will be fallen and gone by June Bloom Day.  The flowers are just beginning to fade.  Each flower falls cleanly off the plant without any help. 


The show had been even better this year.   The plant I grew from a 'Yellow Bird' seed has established and produced more flowers than it did last year.  This plant, on the other side of the driveway from its parent, is impressive now as well:

Leucospermum 'Blanche Ito' produced only a few flowers this year.  'Flame Giant', hasn't even started yet.  The flower buds are still developing.  

'Blanche Ito'

Sprekelia, a Mesoamerican member of the Amaryllis family:

Boophone distichia, a Sub-Sahara African member of the Amaryllis family

As the flower stem dries, it elongates, so the dried head of seeds can eventually pop off and roll away on a light breeze to spread seeds elsewhere. 


 I've already posted many photos of the hybrid members of the Amaryills family this Spring.

'Rilona'


Then there are all the roses.  'Iceberg' still looks great...

 Even closer up

'Tamora' and 'Young Lycidas' 

'Petal Pusher'

The biggest show of all, 'Bishops Castle'

 

Pink crown for an Agave


This is one rose bush:
Perfumed stairway:



Okay, okay, enough of 'Bishops Castle' .

'Earth Angel'

 Starting to establish, finally

'Bolero 2004'

'Queen of Elegance'

'Fourth of July'
Iris 'Thorn Bird' flowers later than the other Iris here. 

 

Clematis 'Wisley:

'Perle d'Azur'

Clematis seedling that appeared a few years ago, and a darn nice seedling it is:

 'The President' has never bloomed so much.  A dozen flowers is nothing for a Clematis, but 'The President' usually produces just one or two flowers a year.  

Salvia 'Blue Hill'

Salvia 'Blue Hill' with Salvia 'Love and Wishes', rose 'Munstead Wood', and Clematis 'Wisley'.  I like these colors together.  Must move that Ballota, though, and switch the warm pink Gerbera for the near-lavender one.  Thinking hard about color combinations is a rabbit hole all on its own. 

Salvia 'Pavement Purple' with Leucanthemum and Geranium 'Rozanne'

Unknown Fuchsia decorating the pond pipe I broke my arm trying to hide last year. 

Hunnemannia with Leucophytum brownii.  Thought the lighting was kind of dreamy. 
I thought all the native Lupine succulentus had been eaten by blankety-blank rabbits, but they missed these that are somewhat surrounded by Agaves and Yuccas.   

Delicious?

The last of the Itoh Peony flowers is just about to fall apart.  A short but glorious few days of bloom.  

See you next year!

Callistemon 'Slim' is done for a while, so it's time for 'Little John'

This one was on the Lowe's death rack.  I knew it could bounce back. 

Even the 'Elijah Blue' Fescue is flowering.  It rarely does. 

Can't forget Sweet Peas, which were just beginning this time last month.  The next heat wave will kill them off, but the next heat wave thankfully hasn't happened yet.

 Aloe camperi:

 Aloe ellenbeckii under a curtain of Russelia

Aloe pseudorubroviolacea is the finale to the Aloe season that runs from August to June.  (What's July's problem?)

Opuntia microdaysis 'Wavy Bunny Ears' flowers are not particularly showy.  The Bougainvillea steals the shot:

One last shot of the now-fading Alstroemeria flowers under the Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene'...

And we'll end with the towering Agave marmorata flower stem, now over 25' tall.  There won't be any close-ups of those flowers.

Too far away, up in the sky!

Too many, too much.  But I did warn you.  Happy Bloom Day May!

Comments

  1. A beautiful way to start my day - thank you! I love the staircase of roses. That is stunning!

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    Replies
    1. A garden stroll is the best way to start every day. Happy growing, Philip!

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  2. And I thought I had a lot of flowers! That bougainvillea and bunny ears shot is one for the ages.

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    1. I see you got some bougies of your own--enjoy! Maybe you can introduce them to your Opuntias.

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  3. Wowza!!! I'm always blown away by your roses but this month I think I'm even more overwhelmed by their beauty and sheer floriferousness (if that's not a word, it should be). I'm also in love with the area below your Japanese maple. You're one incredible gardener, HB!

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    Replies
    1. I'm still gobsmacked a few modest changes to the Acer bed improved it so much. How'd that happen?!!?

      In August the roses will look sickening and I'll be in tears, but...not in May.

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  4. Wow, it was NOT too much at all, but it sure was a lot! The roses alone would have been wow-worthy, but then when you jumped from S. Africa to Australia to S. America it became just plain amazing. I hope your heat holds off for a while, I'd hate to see it tire out these blooms.
    That agave is crazy.

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    Replies
    1. A good spring is a soul-sustaining joy. Happy gardening, bittster.

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  5. Wow! You have the most fantastic flowers! Too many to mention, but the Opuntia/Bougainvillea shot made me gasp. The Agave marmorata stem is INSANE!!! Happy Bloom Day, hb!

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  6. Your garden is not a peace of Eden but IS EDEN. Such an amount of beautiful flowers in it.
    I love to see it.
    Have a wonderful new week ahead.
    Rosehugs Marijke

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    Replies
    1. Eden involves effort, and that's is not a bad thing. If we all put more effort into taking care of our planet, it can be Eden everywhere. Rosehugs back to you!

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  7. Your rose pruning skills really come through in the month of May! I mean, flanking a stairway!? So fine.

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    Replies
    1. At the time, there wasn't anywhere else to plant them. It worked out better than expected--aromatherapy stairway. (Is aromatherapy still a thing?)

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  8. I love all of these gorgeous plants and flowers but especially the Aloe campari is special to me! The love and effort you put in certainly shows!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Aloe camperi has plain green foliage, but the flowers sure put on a show.

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  9. Your roses are looking mighty fine this May Hoov, and the Clems too. My fingers are crossed for a lengthy June gloom season this year-if we can't have rain at least give us a marine layer !

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    Replies
    1. A prime rose year. How I've missed that! Let's go for the big prize and cross our fingers and toes for "an unusually cool summer and autumn". We can dream, right?

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  10. An amazing selection! The roses (esp 'Icberg'), the Aloe, the Clematis and on and on! Magnificent.

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    Replies
    1. A wonderful Spring. Hope yours is wonderful, too.

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  11. Lots of pictures but all a treat, what a display of blooms!

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  12. Spectacular! Everything looks happy and healthy. Critics of roses should check out how well they integrate into the surrounding plantings in your garden. Love it.

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    Replies
    1. I like roses mixed in with other plants best. When the rose is not at its most perfect, there are other things to look at--and vice versa.

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  13. Greetings from Kashmir. We are here early this year so have seen the roses in their first flush. I am writing because for me you are the Iceberg Lady. When you did your study of Iceberg and its relatives such as Moondance you had rated Iceberg the number one rose. I had put in a word for Starry Night. When we came a couple of weeks back there were a hundred roses putting on a fantastic show. The gardener said wait till you see Iceberg next week. I waited. It was a ten foot mound of solid blazing white. You were right. It is the top rose. I had to tell you.

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    1. A very interesting experience with your roses, thank you for sharing it. 'Moondance' is still doing very well, but 'Iceberg' is still the queen! Hope you are enjoying your beautiful specimen!

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  14. About Moondance, some years ago I was in Tehran and avenue after avenue was lined with the same beautiful white rose. It suddenly dawned on me. Moondance. All-America Rose Selections (AARS) Winner 2007. Thank God for flowers. It’s a worldwide brotherhood.

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    Replies
    1. And sisterhood. 'Easy Spirit' is a newer one that is also very good.

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  15. I was very happy to hear your 'Flying Saucer' lasted more than a day. I got an Echinopsis 'First Light' on my recent Arizona trip, and while the flowers are spectacular, they lasted just 12 HOURS (!!!).

    Lots of other beauties, too. I hope they're still going strong.

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    1. They open for the nighttime pollinators, and that's it. Survival mechanism in a harsh environment.

      Garden still looking good--the heat hasn't hit here yet. Next week. :(

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  16. Exciting to see the Boophone flower!

    In that wide view that 'follows' are the deep red trees Japanese maples?

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    Replies
    1. Yes that is the first flower ever from the Boophone. I was thrilled to see it. A friend's son grew it from seed and she gave me the little bulb several years ago.

      Right, Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene' (on the left) and 'Emperor I' (on the right).

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