This Bloom Day arrives at a difficult time. I suspect that, like me, you're sick at heart over the news out of Paris. After 9/11, I hoped that we'd find a way to end the hatred and inhumanity that leads to such acts of terrorism. After each new incident, I wonder what we can do. A blog post is a small thing but bloggers create communities based on shared interests, which in turn support friendship and goodwill. And friendship and goodwill is a start.
Periodic temperature spikes, hot Santa Ana winds, and dry conditions have left my November garden low on floral color. My
Senna bicapsularis, the star of last November's Bloom Day post, has already dropped most of its blooms and many of the other plants that provided color at this time last year have failed to make an appearance yet.
The biggest splashes of color are provided by:
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| Barleria obtusa, which is a brighter blue than this sun-soaked shot suggests |
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| Bauhinia x blakeana, which though ruffled by the Santa Ana winds, has maintained a good many blooms |
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| The delicate blooms of Camellia sasanqua (no ID) wither when temperatures soar but the row of plants along the back of the house continue to pump out new flowers |
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| Rather than a "splash" of color, it may be more appropriate to say that Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' offers floating bits and blobs of color |
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| The grasses, especially Pennisetum 'Fireworks' and Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' continue to make a big impression |
Other spots of color can be found in corners here and there:
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the blue and purple flower contingent includes Brachyscome 'Enduring Blue', Duranta 'Sapphire Showers', Eustoma grandiflorum 'Borealis Blue', and Hypoestes aristata |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the pink and red flower group includes the one and only bloom on my Stapelia grandiflorum, an Echeveria bloom, the last bloom of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo Pink', Grevillea 'Pink Midget', burgundy and pink forms of Pelargonium peltatum, Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom', and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland' |
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The white, yellow and orange group includes, at top: Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Agastache 'Sunset' and Gaillardia 'Gallo Peach'
Middle: Gazania (one of the few not eaten by squirrels), Grevillea 'Superb' and Lantana 'Lucky White'
Bottom: Osteospermum 'Blue-eyed Beauty', Rosa 'Joseph's Coat' and Rosa 'Medallion' |
Visit Carol, our Bloom Day host, at
May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming elsewhere around the world.
All material
© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
It's such a delight to see so much still flowering there. The news out of both Paris and Lebanon is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI walked around in a fog a good portion of this weekend. News like that we heard Friday night makes me feel powerless but then that's what terrorists seek to do. I'm reminding myself of Gandhi's admonition to "be the change you want to see in the world."
DeleteLots of beautiful blooms! I love your Camellia sasanqua, ours didn't last as long as usual this year, record breaking heat in Central Florida.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a break from the heat soon, Janice. My Camellias have struggled this season too. Every time the temperature spikes or the Santa Ana winds blow, the blooms quickly wither. But the buds haven't dropped so, as long as the heat ends soon, I may get a mass of blooms yet.
DeleteDoes Pipig go after the Stapelia grandiflorum bloom? Lila is positively obsessed with finding the source of that delicious rotten meat smell.
ReplyDeleteI remember you writing about Lila's reaction. But I think your Stapelia was inside the house, which may intensify the smell. My plant is outside and, frankly, I could just barely detect an odor when I took a whiff the second day of bloom. Pipig walked right by and took no notice whatsoever.
DeleteLovely blooms! I particularly like the composition of the next to last collage. The Stapelia bloom is amazing!
ReplyDeleteThe Stapelia bloom was a nice surprise. I got just one flower but it's still a very small plant.
DeleteYour part of the world is awesome for color when most of your hemisphere is turning brown.
ReplyDeleteBy comparison to last year, I'm light on floral color this November, Betty, but, yes, our gardens fare much better than those in most of the US during this time of the year.
DeleteAs usual you have such beautiful blooms Kris. I love the Barleria. You seem to have non stop Eustoma blooms. I have never seen it before. I didn' t know you have a Stapelia. Mine gets buds but they always drop off. What is your secret to get it to flower?
ReplyDeleteLast year, the blue Eustoma rebounded in November and, while I'm getting a few new blooms now, the plants aren't as prolific as they were then. The pink form appears to be preparing for a time-out - hopefully, it'll come back if/when the rains do. My Stapelia is a relatively new acquisition. I picked it up 2-3 months ago. It wasn't labeled but I guessed it might be a Stapelia when I saw 2 tiny buds developing. One bud did drop but the other grew under a regimen of benign neglect - it's in a small pot in partial shade under our Magnolia tree.
DeleteYour opening statement is beautiful. Let's not let go of hope. It's great that you have so much color still at this time of year! If this wind/rain business that we're having now reaches you soon as they're predicting, you'll certainly have even more lushness. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteI heard that the storm up your way was supposed to move down here. This morning the weatherman gave us a 30% chance of rain this afternoon, along with gusty winds. Well, we got the wind but no rain and the likelihood now sits near zero until next Sunday. But they say El Nino is definitely coming (someday).
DeleteNice stapelia bloom! I like the floating bits and bobs on the Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'.
ReplyDeleteThat Gomphrena really is a fun plant.
DeleteI can see by your bleached images that you still have a lot of sun and light, which though I know takes its toll on the plants at least stops depression from low light levels. I think you still have a lot of blooms but the one that really amazed me was the size of the flowers on the Bauhinia x blakeana. It seems unusual for a tree to have such large flowers at this time of year, it is a lovely colour too.
ReplyDeleteIf only the Bauhinia flowers lasted more than one to two days in a vase, Christina...
DeleteI love the blooms on that Bauhinia tree - such a shame the wind takes some of those. Plenty in bloom there Kris and despite your continued conditions the garden looks relatively happy.
ReplyDeleteLovely sentiments at the top of the post, I think we all pretty much feel the same.
It's a sad time, Angie, but we still need to do what we can to find beauty and offer support.
DeleteYou still have a lot of great blooms! Grevillea 'Superb' certainly deserves its name, and I love the blooms on the Bauhinia. I've been meaning to ask how you make your photo collages for these posts. I like the look and appreciate how they shorten these posts. By the way, if you go back to my foliage follow-up post, ignore my comment about Astelia possibly being too thirsty for you. If you can grow Camellia sasanqua, Astelia shouldn't be a problem with a bit of afternoon shade. Cistus has lots of 'Red Devil' ready for good homes.
ReplyDeleteI use the free collage app at Pic Monkey dot com. Pic Monkey has photo editing upgrades for sale as well but the options available under the free app have been good enough for me thus far.
DeleteI inherited the Cameliia sasanqua with the house and don't imagine I'd put in anything with similar water requirements under current conditions so I'll have to take another look at the water needs of Astelia 'Red Devil' before I invest. Thanks for the heads-up.
Kris I really enjoyed your warm garden still sporting lots of color...a lovely stroll. I especially like the Bauhinia...a tree with beautiful blooms.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely tree and a reliable bloomer, Donna.
DeleteThat Stapelia flower is so cool! And, I'm a big fan of the Bauhinia too. It wouldn't survive up here, I imagine... I hear you about Paris... good grief, I can't even fathom how these people think. We live in a sick world.
ReplyDeleteThe Bauhinia has tropical origins - its common name is Hong Kong orchid tree.
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