Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Bloom Day - January 2014

This January 2014 there are blooms here, there and everywhere.  While there are no large masses of flowers anywhere as there will be, hopefully, in the April-May timeframe, our unseasonably warm weather has once again produced blooms that won't show up in many other areas until spring.  There are no roses but that's in part due to the fact that I cut back all the rose bushes just after Christmas.  By comparison with most areas of the US, still contending with the "polar vortex" described by the news media, we nonetheless have an embarrassment of riches.  For lack of a better idea as to how to present them, here they are in alphabetical order.

Agapanthus (no ID), blooming significantly ahead of schedule

Alstroemeria (no ID) just coming into bloom in the backyard border

Anemone 'Dr. Fokker,' the first to bloom in the backyard border

Dwarf Anigozanthos hybrid, planted in the side border

Antirrhinum majus, rocket variety, in a raised planter in the vegetable garden

Arbutus 'Marina,' almost perpetually in bloom

Dark pink Argyranthemum frutescens, in a pot at the bottom of the slope

Light pink Argyranthemum frutescens in the backyard border

White Argyranthemum frutescens in the side yard

Yellow Argyranthemum frutescens in the side yard border

Bauhinia x blakeana (Hong Kong orchid tree) in the front yard

Camellia japonica 'Taylor's Perfection,' planted alongside the garage in the vegetable garden, doesn't care for our Santa Ana winds

Ceanothus (no ID), breaking into bloom in the backyard border

Cerinthe retorta, a new introduction I haven't made a decision on

Coleonema pullchellum 'Sunset Gold' in the front border, another long-term bloomer

Coreopsis 'Tahitian Sunset' - I'm not thrilled with it but, as its bloomed almost continuously since June, I'm keeping it for now


Crassula 'Springtime,' blooming in a neglected area under a Ceanothus hedge


Echium handiense 'Pride of Fuerteventura,' a dwarf variety, in the dry garden

Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum' in the bed surrounding our fountain

Geranium 'Tiny Monster' in the side yard

Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' in the side yard
Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola' in the dry garden

A newly unfurled bloom on Grevillea 'Superb'

A more mature bloom on Grevillea 'Superb'

Hebe 'Wiri Blush' in the backyard border

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' in the dry garden

The bracts on Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in the front border are shifting from yellow to red

A dwarf Leucanthemum x superbum 'White Lady' in the backyard border

Unbelievably, one of the Lisianthus 'Echo Pink,' planted in early June in the backyard border, is still blooming
A somewhat sad, but blooming, Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum in the side yard


Matthiola incana (Stock), blooming in the backyard border
Nemophila menziesii (Baby Blue Eyes) in the backyard border


Narcissus (no ID) in the border outside the living room window

This Osteospermum ecklonis '3D Silver' is in the side yard but all throughout the garden are in bloom

Osteospermum ecklonis 'Serenity Purple' in the dry garden

Osteospermum fruticosum (trailing African daisy), I think, in the side yard

Yellow Papaver nudicaule (Iceland poppy) in the side yard

White Papaver nudicaule, also in the side yard

Pelargonium hybrid 'White Lady,' sited on the slope

Pelargonium ionidiflorium 'Pink Fairy Cascade,' also planted on the slope

Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard' (ivy geranium) in a pot by the front door, another long-term bloomer
Phalaenopsis (no ID) brought from my mother-in-law's home last July


Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly,' planted near the street

Ribes viburnifolium 'Catalina Perfume Currant' on the back slope

Viola (no record of variety) in the backyard border


If last year's Bloom Day posts are an indication, the Agapanthus, Echium and Ribes are blooming earlier this year than they did last year.  Camellia sasanqua, which was still blooming last January 15th, is finished for the season this year, and Tibouchina urvilleana, also in bloom last January, has yet to recover from the last round of pruning. The timing of more recent introductions is harder to assess.

Please visit Carol, the host of Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, at May Dreams Garden for a look at what's blooming in other gardens around the US and elsewhere in the world.


22 comments:

  1. Such marvelous beauty! Great photos!
    You should check your link at May Dreams Gardens. The link there took me to one of your older Bloom Day posts. You may need to correct or re-enter your information.
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

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    1. Thanks for the tip, Lea! I did go back and attempt to change it, only to have the widget register me a 2nd time (albeit with the correct link).

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  2. Seeing your Bloom Day post with so many flowers was such a delight. I love your Arbutus 'Marina.' I need to find one for my front garden, preferably one that isn't just a little rooted stick.

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    1. The Arbutus would be a lovely addition to your revamped front garden, Alison!

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  3. Your Arbutus is wonderful Kris - it's one plant I'd like to give a go in my garden. It's one the list but never quite makes it too the top!
    How weird to see Narcissus and Agapanthus flowering in the same blog - your January bloom day resembles a reference to a whole 12 months here in Scotland. It warmed me up no end. Happy Bloom Day :)

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    1. The Narcissus read the calendar but I guess the Agapanthus is responding to the temperatures, which have turned decidedly summer-like.

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  4. Wow! that really is a wealth of blooms. Spring, summer, autumn and winter are represented. I think maybe your summers aren't quite as hot as mine but your winters are probably consistantly milder. It is why gardening is so interesting.

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    1. The "South Bay" area I live in rarely gets frosts - I think there was one, maybe 2, in the 20 years we lived at our last house and there's yet to be one in the 3 years we've been in the current house, just 15 miles further south. Summer heat can climb around the century mark (38C) and even a bit above.

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  5. The promise of spring in one alphabetical post, lovely!

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    1. As temperatures reached 85F (29C) again today, I'm not sure we're not skipping spring to head straight into summer.

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  6. What a marvelous climate in which to garden -- blooming at your place are things that bloom here at various times from March to July. The Iceland Poppies are my favorite. I didn't plant any last fall; now I'm sorry for that lapse.

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    1. The Iceland poppies are a sentimental favorite of mine, too, Jean.

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  7. It is amazing how much you have in bloom. Lovely, lovely things. I adore the Grevilleas and I have never seen that Viburnum before I wonder whether it is hardy. And as for the Agapanthus, I can't make out whether it is really late or really early but it is so pretty.

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    1. The Agapanthus usually arrive en masse during the latter part of May here and exit in July. This is really early...

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  8. Just today I was trying to make up my mind whether to order seeds of Cerinthe retorta. Not too impressed with it? If this is your BD post for January, I can't imagine how many photos May and June will take to document. Wonderful, Kris.

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    1. I have mixed feeling about the Cerinthe, Denise. The foliage is interesting and adds a certain punch in the border but the flowers don't impress me much thus far.

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  9. Wow! Blooms blooms and more blooms! Fun to see an Anigozanthos blooming in January, and I hadn't heard of Cerinthe retorta, very interesting. Do the Grevillea 'Superb' flowers really have such an orange cast wincing changes to pink?

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    1. In this instance, Loree, the camera isn't lying - those 2 flowers are on the same bush and the blooms do morph in color like that.

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  10. That purple Anemone...be still my heart!

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    1. That's my favorite anemone, Scott. I put tubers last year and added more this year so I'm hoping for a good showing.

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  11. I can't believe how much you have blooming! I don't normally like pale pink but that leptospermum . . . swoon!

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    1. I'm not sure you can go wrong with New Zeland tea trees, Heather, regardless of color.

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