Bloom Day - May 2015

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and it's been a surprisingly wet month here in Southern California.  Our rainy season generally runs from November through March.  We don't expect rain in May and, given that we're in the fourth year of a serious drought, the 2 storms we've had this month have been more than welcome.  They did make picture-taking a little more difficult, however.

Heatwaves in March and early May took a toll on my garden.  Spring flowers are quickly giving way to those we traditionally associate with summer.  The following flowers are making the biggest splash (excuse the pun - the rain makes me giddy!):

Agapanthus are blooming throughout the garden

Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily) is giving the Agapanthus a run for its money in terms of the sheer volume of blooms

Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain' is putting on a show in the front borders

Hemerocallis are blooming here and there throughout the garden (clockwise from upper left: H. 'Blythe Belle', H. 'For Pete's Sake', H. 'Indian Giver' and H. 'Spanish Harlem'

The Pelargoniums are continuing to make a strong showing

Flowers can be found in a range of colors:

White flowers include (clockwise from the upper left): Globularia x indubia, Abelia x grandiflora, the last few flowers of Carpenteria californica, the first flowers of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Echo White', Leucanthemum superbum, and Osteospermum fruitcosum, encouraged to rebloom by the return of cooler temperatures

Yellow flowers include (clockwise from upper left): Argyranthemum 'Butterfly', Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' (shown with Osteospermum 'Zion Copper Amethyst'), Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach', Gazania 'White Flame' (which looks more yellow than white at the moment), G. 'Golden Flame', Leucadendron 'Pisa', Sedum 'Lemon Ball', and Senecio cineraria (aka Dusty Miller and now classified as Jacobaea maritima)

Orange flowers include (clockwise from upper left): Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Bignonia capreolata, Cuphea 'Stybring Sunset', Dahlia 'XXL Hidalgo', and Leonotis leonurus

Pink and red flowers include:
Top row - Arbutus 'Marina', Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', and Centranthus ruber
Middle row - Cistus 'Sunset', Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' and Fuchsia 'Swingtime'
Bottom row - Gallardia x grandiflora 'Goblin', Grevillea 'Superb' and buds of a no ID Hoya

Blue and purple flowers include (clockwise from the upper left): Senecio stellata (probably actually Pericallis), Aquilegia 'Spring Magic', Aster frikartii 'Monch', Delosperma (no ID), Duranta repens (no ID), Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly', prostrate rosemary, and Salvia 'Amistad' with Solanum xanti

Even a couple of my houseplants are blooming:

Hoya multiflora and Miltassia shelob (Note: Those droplets on the Hoya's leaves are a sticky sap produced by the flowers, not water)

There are some wonderful combinations of flowers too:

The gate between the vegetable garden and the dry garden is covered by a white trumpet vine (probably Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba') and Trachelospermum jasminoides with dark pink Pelargonium peltatum climbing up the left side

In the dry garden, lavender Lantana mixes with pink Oenothera speciosa and purple Limonium perezii

This jumble in a corner of the front garden includes Grevillea 'Superb', Nandina domestica, Gaillardia 'Goblin', Salvia 'Mesa Azure' and Agapanthus

But the best sight to my eyes this Bloom Day is this one:

160-gallon tank filled by yesterday's first rain (The 50-gallon tank is also filled and the 265-gallon tank is about 2/3rds full but we're still getting light rain)

Have a wonderful Bloom Day and don't forget to check in with Carol, our Bloom Day hostess at May Dreams Gardens.

Rainbow over the Los Angeles harbor Thursday evening - if you look closely you can see a second rainbow to the left of the one in the center of the photo

All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party