Bloom Day - October 2014

The monthly floral celebration that is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, has sneaked up on me yet again.  With most of my available time absorbed in preparing the former lawn area in the front yard for planting, I've given very little attention to tidying up my garden, which makes picture-taking more difficult.  In addition, almost one month into the fall season, I'd normally have refreshed my garden beds but there's been no time for much of that either.

I took a look at last year's October Bloom Day post and, while some of the same plants are blooming for me on schedule this year, others are no-shows.  In some cases, as with my Coreopsis, Eustoma, and Osteospermum, my plants have already exhausted themselves (although I think the Eustoma is gearing up for a return visit).  Other plants, like my Acanthus mollis 'Summer Beauty' and Argyrantemum, haven't made an appearance since spring, which I attribute to the reduced irrigation associated with our drought.  Still others, like Centranthus ruber and Agapanthus appear disinclined to make the unseasonably early appearances they made last year.

With those disclaimers, here are the plants currently blooming in my garden, listed alphabetically by genus.

Ageratum houstonianium 'Blue Horizon' has perked up since the weather began to cool

Anigozanthos 'Bush Gem Yellow' is still blooming

I recently discovered that this Bougainvillea, on the back side of the hedge I thought represented our property line, is officially on our property

Camellia sasanqua has produced just a few tentative blooms thus far

Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' and Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' have been in bloom most of the year

Duranta erecta, in a pot, has responded to haphazard watering by blooming more this year

Flowers produced by an Echeveria (no record of variety)

Gazania 'New Day Yellow' blooming at the feet of Mexican feather grass

One of my most recent acquisitions, red and orange Gomphrena haageana

Grevillea 'Superb,' seated in front of Nandina domestica, is suddenly producing abundant blooms

Hebe 'Wiri Blush,' sitting in front of Phormium 'Dark Delight,' has produced a new flush of flowers

I'd planned to move this Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' but it won't stop blooming - it's on it's 3rd cycle this year

An unidentified Hoya I've had forever is blooming again despite repeated aphid infestattions

Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender) is hard to photograph but so are skipper butterflies

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' dried up a bit in the last heatwave

The flowers of Nandina domestica have been replaced by orange berries, which will gradually turn red (ignore the ugly air conditioning unit behind the shrub)

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' is doing its best to hide the bare dirt formerly covered by lawn behind it

Pentas lanceolata 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' has also produced a new flush of bloom

Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior' celebrates every October by bursting into bloom (although its foliage gets a little ratty)

Prostrate rosemary, almost always in bloom, plays host to bees all day

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' handled the recent heatwaves better than the rest of my Rubeckia, although the foliage on most of my plants doesn't look as good as this

Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) is another reliable October bloomer

Salvia 'Mesa Azure' looks better in person than it does in this photo

If dead-headed every 2-4 weeks, Salvia 'Mystic Spires' keeps on blooming

This dwarf Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) has lost its bushy shape and flopped over but I still love the sweet-smelling flowers

That's it for this month's bloom wrap-up from my little corner of coastal Southern California.  Carol  at May Dreams Gardens can connect you with other gardeners from all over the world with blooms to share.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party