Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Wednesday Vignette: What says spring to you?

Even in the midst of drought, spring can be an almost overwhelming experience here.  This year, late winter blooms combined with spring blooms to create a floral explosion.  Honestly, it's left me wanting more foliage to put my garden into balance, although summer, expected to be very hot and dry again this year, will undoubtedly correct the problem all too soon - as temperatures rise, the flowers will beat a hasty retreat and the garden will be greener again.

However, now, with so many flowers competing (no, screaming) for attention, it's easier to focus on individual blooms, a few of which left me sighing this week.

This rose is 'California Dreamin'.  The flower is almost the size of my hand.  It was cream-colored with a neon pink edge when it opened but it morphed to what you see here before I made it around with my camera.  The high winds we experienced this week have already left it a shadow of its former self but perhaps the bush will produce another bloom before summer temperatures spike. 

I purchased Leucadendron 'Pisa' for its silvery foliage.  It produced only a few flowers last year, most late in the year, but this spring I suddenly found it covered with these luminescent yellow blooms.

See what I mean?  And this is after I'd cut several stems for different floral arrangements.

This sunflower seedling appeared in one of the raised planters in my vegetable garden after our meager rains (along with some self-seeded borage).  I don't know whether to view it as a pleasant harbinger of summer or a refugee fleeing in advance of the long, hot, dry summer ahead.


For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

22 comments:

  1. I was having a similar moment about flowers today, and I have far less than you! That Pisa is perfection! I checked the blog and found I planted it in 2014 -- and probably failed to give it the water it needed to establish as the drought strengthened its grip on us.

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    1. I picked up my Leucadendron in 2014 too but it went in a pot for several months until some of our lawn came out and space opened up in the backyard in November 2014. I was extra attentive to it when it was in a pot, which maybe gave it a boost.

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  2. Oh, that magnificent rose. Sigh. It's so lovely.

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    1. It is a pretty rose, although I only seem to get one flower at a time!

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  3. That's a lovely, lovely rose.

    Your 'Pisa' is fabulous. I got just a couple on mine--it's not overly happy and I'm not sure why.

    But...let's not think about or mention the-season-that-must-not-be-named yet, okay?

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    1. I'm in denial about the season-that-must-not-be-named myself - and still holding out a modicum of hope for more rain. We got nothing from the system that moved through this week except for plant-desiccating winds.

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  4. I want to grow Leucadendron 'Pisa'!!!

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    1. I initially had mine in a pot, Loree, and it did fine; however, it didn't bloom and I doubt it would have reached its current size, much less its projected mature height.

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  5. Well, roses and sunflowers certainly don't say spring here.
    I absolutely love your leucadendron- fabulous. Specially, as I know I have no hope of growing it here. I' ll have to be content with looking at yours.

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    1. What blooms in summer in the UK would fry under our summer conditions, Chloris, so I'm glad the plants are flexible with their bloom cycles.

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  6. There are many lovely SoCal plants that probably wouldn't be hardy for me, but I covet Leucadendrons the most, I think.

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    1. I DO love my Leucadendrons. I picked up 3 more (2 species) just last weekend. They're still babies, though.

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    1. It's a great plant, Gerhard. I hope you can find one for yourself. I see them quite often in the garden centers down this way.

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  8. I'm with Emily - Leucadendrons of all different kinds make me swoon! Pisa is spectacular!!! I also totally hear your summer dread. Yesterday, I did a small planting job in the hot sun (probably the first reasonably hot day of the year, but nothing compared to what's to come) and forgot to drink enough water. By the time I got home, I was so dehydrated I could hardly keep anything down. Had a miserable night - which is why my WV comments are a day late. Better now, though... phew! But yeah, I'm dreading summer too.

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    1. It's amazing how much difference a little water makes - for both us and the garden!

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  9. Gorgeous rose - it is a dream! I am pleased that I now recognize Leucadendron on sight - I'm learning the plants of another climate, yeah! Thanks for helping me do that. :) Happy Weekend.

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  10. I stopped and daydreamed about growing Leucadendron 'Pisa' in my garden. It's stunning.

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    1. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could grow ALL the plants we want to? Of course, I'd need several more acres if that were possible. The lovely primrose in your post is a gem that won't grow in my zone.

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  11. Leucadendron 'Pisa' is a real star, I love plants with greeny yellow flowers. I can only try you imagine your garden filled with such lovely plants that I never see here even though some of them would be suitable for southern or coastal Italy.

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    1. It does seem that some of these Australian plants could adjust to your climate, Christina. All the "blooms" (really cones surrounded by colorful bracts) on that Leucadendron surprised me this year as there were few of those last year. They seemed to appear all at once too.

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