Hellebores
Disruption this week from both rain and a crew of painters repainting all 40 windows and doors on the house. 2.8" of rain over two days, bringing our rain year's total to 4.48".
This is the free Hellebore I got a few weeks ago at the local nursery that closed down:
Metrosideros 'Springfire' providing significant support to the local nectar drinkers at the moment:
Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star':More Hellebores. These were from Trader Joe's last year and the year before:With Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer' and Sedum 'Angelina':
These are Gerberas dug up, split, and potted up to recover before replanting.
Little recent purchase Rosemary whoops, no Salvia rosmarinus 'Blue Spire' has lovely blue flowers:
A Gerbera in the ground is sloughing off old foliage because......there's plenty of new foliage coming in:The 'Springfire' down in the gully, also providing food for the nectar-drinkers:Hmm. Foliage detour. This Coleus uh...Plectranthus...uh, no, it's back in Coleus again. It looks pretty good surviving winter. Most of them don't. Bloomy color, no blooms. Yet.
Portent of spring--roses sprouting:
A volunteer Matthiola ("Stock"). The joy of these is their wonderful sweet fragrance I was able to inhale while taking this photo:Another 'Spring Fire':Aloe marlothii:Aloe gariepensis:Leucospermum 'Tango':Aloe petricola:Oh, what's that behind 'Vanzie'?
Leucadenron 'Reverse Polarity' has gotten quite tall:Tiny iceplant, Delosperma, maybe, that's always stayed tiny. It managed to survive the gopher that killed and ate three adjacent Agaves and a Mangave. The gopher was not interested in the iceplant.
Aloe striata
Grevillea 'Superb':Ah, that's what's behind 'Vanzie'--Arctotis 'Pink Sugar':Vivid on a gray day:And a native Lupine, L. succulentus: That's all there was time for.
I'm surprised they didn't put off the paint job, but it all worked out? Love the coloring of Springfire. What a sturdy hunky marlothii!!! Your description of the volunteer stock fragrance has me going through seed packets to see if I have any in the stash.
ReplyDeleteThey were able to paint Mon,Tues,Wed, thenThurs they did the windows under the balcony that don't get rained on, and indoors they repaired the baseboards Boris and Natasha chewed to ruin back when they were puppies. I've been looking at chewed up baseboards for a long, long time. They came back this morning and finished off the last 3 windows and a door.
DeleteHunky marlothii, yes. I prefer the blue ones they are even prettier but the green one is here now.
Highly recommend stock--heavenly scent while the roses are growing back. Not a garden without some fragrance.
Vanzie stole the show for me....
ReplyDeleteShe's gorgeous isn't she? I put the picture in the post because she's so gorgeous--the Arctotis in the background was my excuse. Was terrified the gopher had killed her--but she's whew! okay. Got the gopher before the gopher got 'Vanzie'.
DeleteI wish my hellebores did half as well as yours - I spotted the first flowers of 2 varieties but the majority haven't made an appearance. My Arctotis foliage looks good since the rain arrived but even 'Pink Sugar', always the first to flower, has produced just a handful of blooms thus far.
ReplyDeleteColeus isn't Plectranthus any more?! The botanists rushing to reclassify everything need to slow down! I may establish a policy of refusing to accept new classifications for a year - or three! - before adopting them, especially if the new names are longer and harder to remember than the old ones. Or maybe I'll just throw in the towel and embrace common names...
My Hellebores are not all blooming yet. The larger more mature plants are, but not the smaller ones. Still settling in. They are not the fastest.
DeleteI rolled my eyes when I saw the thing about Coleus/Plectranthus. Maybe it's back in Plectranthus again by now?
The excellent 'Pink Sugar' here is only excellent this year due to an absence of rabbits (thank you owls and hawks raising chicks and Coyote that lives in the gully down the road please do something about the squirrels too).
The Springfire are such a gift, like the year-round grevilleas, to our nectar-sipping friends, and easy on the eye too ;)
ReplyDeleteI was happy about all the bees and hummers at the 'Springfire's since the Salvias and Cupheas are cut back at the moment. I try to have something blooming all the time so critters have some food sources.
DeleteFree Hellebores--nice! Your bowl display really drew me in. And the African Daisies--wowza! They would truly brighten any day. Lots of lovely blooms and amazing plants to celebrate in this post, and clean windows for viewing them: Yay!
ReplyDeleteI think the painters cleaned the window glass because I sure didn't do it. I did get out and wash my car in the rain, though. Free water!
DeleteHellebore flowers floating in a dish of water, what a perfect crystallization of February blooms!
ReplyDeleteI wish our Trader Joes carried hellebores. I'd buy a bunch!
The local TJ's didn't have them this year--looked on last year's tag, they were grown in Canada. Guess they didn't want to risk sending them to the US this year.
DeleteI don't blame them one bit.
The Plectranthus that are Coleus are the tough succulent ones, which were always a strange fit among the tender shade-loving Still Plectranthus.
ReplyDeleteI guess painters have to learn to work around and with rain - glad our rain came after to lay the dust.
I was wondering why that particular Plectra/coleus was fine with our admittedly mild winter. What you say makes sense!
DeleteRainy days are days off for painters--unless it's an indoor job.