Blooms February 2024

 

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

 

The "flowers" are actually pollen generating cones, seen here nestled amid the brilliant red bracts:

Gardening is still difficult.  Mostly still resting the injured knee.   I managed to walk well enough to take some photos, finally.   More plants in flower at the moment than expected.  

Some x H. cybister 'La Paz' flowers faded, some still opening:

Always blooming 'Moonlight' Grevillea:

Protea 'Pink Ice':

 Australian Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' sparkling clean after a series of storms gave us nearly five inches of rain:

'Peaches and Cream' colors are more pastel:

One of the South African Ericas.  It looked somewhat  raggedy until last winter's incredible rainfall kick-started it into beauty:

Something in Aizoaceae, also from South Africa.  It's never grown very large, but the flowers are eye-catching

Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird' seedling will likely start flowering nexth month.  South Africa, yet again:

Ditto Aloe petricola, from the Mpumalanga region of the country:

Ditto Aloe marlothii,

...and Gerbera daisies:

Non South African--I knew there were some.  Why have various Hemerocallis flowered all winter?  

Volunteer Matthiola incana seedling just opening:

Saliva 'Mystic Spires Blue' prefers weather a bit warmer than our winters, but it's flowering anyway:

Ditto 'Wendy's Wish'.  The rain made them happy:

Hippeastrum papillio:

Abutilon 'David's Choice':

Even old, soaked with rain for several days, and fading, Hydrangea flowers remain beautiful:

Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star':

Love 'Rozanne'!  Love 'Rozanne'!

I Love 'Rozanne'!
Pelargonium peltatum:

Calendula 'Xeolites':

Ceanothus megacarpus is native to this area:

Back to South Africa. Leucadendron 'Blush' had ivory bracts a few weeks ago.  They are now turning yellow with orange highlights that nicely match the orange shades of Carex testacaea (New Zealand) in the background:

Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' flowers were hosting bumblebees that did not want to be photographed.  Managed a nice shot of of a bumble belly: 

Moving too fast for a clear shot.  Guessing this is Bombus californicus, which was also visiting the flowers of a nearby 'Austin Griffiths' Arctostaphylos:

Hellebores!  I didn't have the agility to reach and cut individual flowers, to float them in a bowl for a photo, but they look lovely at the moment, even as they hide their beautiful faces from view. 

'Glenda's Gloss', maybe.  Also did not have the agility to reach into the flower bed to read the tags:

Can't reach the tag.  This was in the same "series" as Glenda's Gloss'.  It needs to be moved after flowering because it spent the summer and fall completly covered up by a Hydrangea.  Happy it survived:

'Blushing Bride'?

'True Love'?

'Penny's Pink':

A few of the garden's various Rhodanthemum hosmariense plants.  This one on the very hot, dry west slope grows lower and tighter to the ground than the flatlanders and looks remarkably good despite tough conditions.  This plant is probably 20 years old, though it has not been in this particular location for 20 years.  It's been moved a couple times and is just starting its bloom:

If I could cover the entire slope with this...oh my!

The 'Casablanca' selection of the species has a black rather than a yellow center:

This is a seedling of the 20 year old plant, the only seedling I've ever discovered.  The flowers are twice the diameter of 'Casablanca's:

Rhodanthemum hosmariensis is from North Africa.

Back to a South African plant to end this post.  Leucospermum 'Tango':

With a background of 'Wilson's Wonder' Leucadendron:

Happy Bloom Day to all!