My Southern California garden has benefited from the
June Gloom that has kept the heat at bay thus far. A heatwave is expected to arrive this weekend, however, and, although the coastal area in which I live should fare better than the inland valleys, I anticipate this may signal the beginning of the end for some of the flowers included in this post. All the better reason to give them a moment of glory.
I'll start with the stars of my late spring/early summer garden:
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| Achillea 'Moonshine' has been blooming for at least 2 months now |
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| The Agapanthus, which were just getting started last Bloom Day, now dominate the entire garden |
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| Arbutus 'Marina' have some blooms most of the year but the trees are dripping with flowers at the moment |
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| Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' is another year-round bloomer - the only time it isn't in bloom is following the severe haircut it gets in late winter |
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| Gaura lindheimeri 'Snow Fountain' is continuing to strut its stuff in the front garden |
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| The sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) surprised me by hanging onto into June this year |
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| Leucanthemum x superbum (aka Shasta daisy) usually blooms on the same schedule as the Agapanthus, which is lucky as they make good partners |
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| Magnolia grandiflora began producing its massive flowers early this year, to the delight of the bees |
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| Salvia 'Mystic Spires' is living up to its name this month |
My daylilies were slow to get started but have bloomed in fits and spurts this month. I haven't had a mass of bloom in most cases but rather a steady production of a few blooms at a time.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem', 'For Pete's Sake', 'Indian Giver', Russian Rhapsody', 'Persian Market' and what I believe is 'Sammy Russell' |
In contrast, the large-flowered
Grevilleas continue to produce blooms on a steady basis.
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| From the left: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', 'Superb' and 'Peaches & Cream' |
A few plants, while not blooming in profusion, nonetheless deserve special mention for a variety of reasons:
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| The tall yellow-flowered Anigozanthos did me the honor or returning to flower for another year despite receiving less water than they'd like |
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| My Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' finally did me the kindness of blooming even though it receives haphazard watering and is regularly battered by the wind here |
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| The Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) have begun to bloom - although generally treated as annuals even here, many of my plants, like the one shown here, are holdovers from prior years |
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| Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead), my latest plant crush, has produced dozens of flowers that look like miniature feather dusters |
As I use my Bloom Day posts to keep a record of what's in flower each month, I'll end with a few collages showing the best of what I haven't already captured above:
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Top row: Convolvulus sabatius (with no ID Brachyscome), Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick', and Felicia fruticosa
Middle row: Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', Linum perenne, and Lupinus propinquus
Bottom row: Phyla nodiflora (aka Lippia), Prunella grandiflora 'Freelander Blue' (with violas), and Scutellaria 'Violet Cloud' |
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Top row: Abelia x grandiflora, Achillea millefolium 'Appleblossom', and Agastache 'Kudos Mandarin'
Middle row: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Gazania 'Sunbather Otomi', and Lantana camara 'Irene'
Bottom row: Origanum 'Monterey Bay' (with Scutellaria sufffrutescens), Pelargonium peltatum, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland' |
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Top row: Cotula 'Tiffendell Gold', Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' and Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach'
Middle row: Gazania 'White Flame', Jacobaea maritima, and Nandina domestica
Bottom row: Rhodanthemum hosmariense, Tagetes lemmonii, and Tanacetum niveum |
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| Succulents in bloom include, clockwise from the upper left: Oscularia deltoides, Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Aloe 'Rooikappie', Crassula dubia (my best guess), Crassula pubescens ssp. radicans, and Delosperma cooperi |
Visit Carol of May Dreams Garden, the host of the monthly Bloom Day phenomenon, to get a look at what's blooming in other parts of the world.
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Your garden is very colourful Kris, with all those blooms! Plenty of material for vase arrangements :)
ReplyDeleteYou're right - there's no shortage of material for "IAVOM" at present!
DeleteHiya Kris,
ReplyDeleteI finally worked out what a SoCal girl is :-)
What a brilliant garden. So much in it. ...so much work :-)
I have Arbutus unedo, which looks a bit different. I also have black spots on the leaves of it, all over, and blackbirds getting to the berries before they turn orange.
That sweetpea stellage looks very efficient. I haven't even planted mine outside yet - too cold for them and for me.
Lisianthus - that's a great looking one. Double is clearly the saving grace.
Arbutus unedo is a lovely tree - I had one at our old house until it abruptly succumbed to the same micro-organism that causes "sudden oak death." I also had a problem with black mold - preventing it isn't easy but thinning the branches to allow lots of air circulation helped a lot in my case.
DeleteThe double Lisianthus definitely deserve a starring role in a vase, while the single forms serve better as fillers and accents. I've fallen under the flower's spell, even though I'm not entirely thrilled with the foliage.
Wonderful, Kris!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Your post still has me thinking about dahlias...
DeleteVery smart to trial phyllica in a container. Maybe waiting for fall planting? What a fabulous garden you've made! I think you're at the point where it would take 40 minutes to tour it in depth, the supposed requisite to being on a garden tour...hint, hint...
ReplyDeleteAh, you assume that I sensibly stuck to trialing the Phylica in a pot, Denise. When they appeared in my local garden center at a reasonable price, I picked up 2 more, both of which I planted in the backyard border. They're doing very well so far!
DeleteYou are welcome to a tour any time! I'd invite you next week except that I'm on-call for jury duty. Maybe after the anticipated miserable heatwave is over?
Vibrant June flowers. Spanish Harlem' is a lovely daylily and that Dean's Hybrid Euphorbia look great in the green/yellow container.
ReplyDelete'Spanish Harlem' is one of my favorite daylilies. Its blooms have been more robust in the past. Its diminished flower power this year may be the result of dividing or the perpetual shortage of water.
DeleteAgapanthus dominating the entire garden. I have to work on that!
ReplyDeleteThe original designer of this garden used dozens of clumps of Agapanthus scattered throughout the garden, Diana, so I can't claim it was my doing. The flowers are so common in southern California that they tend to be dismissed here but, when they bloom en masse, they're impressive by any standard.
DeleteLooking very floriferous :) We have heat predicted here too for next week; I guess I'll spend part of the weekend making sure everything has enough mulch... I've been so looking forward to seeing your lisianthus again! And the Anigozanthos is so graceful; rabbits have taken out my second try in the garden (I still have one in a container) so I'm not sure whether to keep trying though I just love them. How long do your Achillea plants last? I've been admiring yours, but I'm afraid I'll have to start them from seed. I think surely they would grow here?!! Love the looks of "Appleblossom" :)
ReplyDeleteI'd have never imagined that rabbits would go after Anignozanthos, Amy. What a pity! I'm glad that's one pest I don't have.
DeleteAchillea 'Moonshine' lasts longer in my garden than A. millefolium but the flowers of both dry in place so it's hard to define the duration of flowering. 'Moonshine's' flowers are only now showing signs of discoloration (2 months into the bloom cycle) but new blooms have also continued to appear. I should point out that their bloom period this year is significantly longer than it's been the 2 prior years. My guess is that's due to the cooler temperatures in May and June.
The sheer number of flowering plants you have boggles my mind month after month. This post is like a catalog from an online nursery :-).
ReplyDeleteRegarding Arbutus 'Marina', how messy would you it is? I love so many things about it, I almost recommended it to a friend recently. But since I've never had one, I couldn't really say how much litter there is. It could be pretty substantial, esp. fruit drop.
If you'd asked me about the Arbutus last month, Gerhard, I'd probably have said it doesn't create much mess but, in just the past week or so, it's begun dropping loads of its round flowers. They decay in place in relatively short order but I have noticed the pile-up. (The flowers tend to impale themselves on sharp-leaved plants like agaves too.) However, the trees present less of an issue for me than either the mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) or Magnolia grandiflora. The fruit of the Arbutus does often smash when it hits pavement or another hard surface but I found 'Marina' less troublesome than A. unedo. The leaves of the latter, as Joanna mentioned above, is also prone to a black sooty mold, which hasn't proven to be an issue with A. 'Marina' (although I get my current trees thinned on a regular basis to accommodate my foliage-hating neighbor so air circulation between branches is generally good).
DeleteSo many blooms! The sheer number of different blooms you have in your garden amazes me, and there are so many things you have that I wish I could grow. We're expecting heat to return next Monday. I've enjoyed the 60's while they've lasted and am not looking forward to the high 80's returning.
ReplyDeleteI'm dreading the return of the heat too, Evan. For the most part, May and June (thus far) have been blissful.
DeleteThanks for the encouraging words.
ReplyDeleteHere it is so dry, we need lots of rain but it probably needs you too.
best regards
Mariana
I hope you get some refreshing rain before your garden tour, Mariana!
DeleteKris you really are a flower floosey - and I mean that in the nicest way!
ReplyDeleteAt this time of year it does seem as though absolutely everything is blooming. Even plants I choose for their foliage and the trees seem to be in bloom!
DeleteAmazing Kris, you still have so much blooming in your garden, everything looks great. I sowed Estoma in January after admiring all you yours for so long; they are very, very slow - they are still in a small module and about 2 inches high, I think the trick is going to be keeping them alive over the next winter and hope they flower next year.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you've already had more success than I did when I tried to grow Eustoma from seed, Christina. My fingers are crossed that the plants come through for you in the long haul.
DeleteI always love seeing your Gazanias, as well as all your other gorgeous flowers on Bloom Day.
ReplyDeleteThose 'White Flame' Gazanias remain my favorite of the genus, Alison, but they're all tough plants.
DeleteOh that magnolia. Glorious! I've only ever seen it growing against a wall here. The blooms really are huge.
ReplyDeleteThe Magnolia blooms are too high up for me to get an accurate measure of their size, Jessica, but they're indeed huge - certainly well over 1 foot in diameter.
DeleteYour Agapanthus are spectacular. Here in Ontario Canada they survive but are not so lush. They do not like our winters.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, Agapanthus "don't get no respect here." It's a perfect climate for them so they're everywhere, from street medians to shopping centers, and people take them for granted. I fell into that category myself until we moved into our current house and I inherited several dozen clumps with the garden. They're very impressive, especially when blooming en masse.
DeleteWhat a gorgeous garden! So many blooms!! I especially like the Succulents in bloom at the bottom photo. Thank you for sharing. Happy GBBD!
ReplyDeleteSucculents are very dependable growers here, Keity, but it's always a bit of a surprise when they bloom.
DeleteGorgeous blooms Kris. I love your collages. I wouldn' t mind a bit of that heatwave, just for a day or two. I always admire your eustomas, I wish I could grow them.
ReplyDeleteSummer heatwaves here bring problems I suspect you wouldn't like, Chloris. There's a wildfire burning up near Santa Barbara (already encompassing 4000 acres) and our own area is covered in a dense haze almost as thick as the fog I photographed last week. Air quality is horrible.
DeleteYour garden is a veritable feast Kris. I like the look of that Arigathanthos, it makes quite a nice statement in that particular spot.
ReplyDeleteThe Anigozanthos got taller than I'd anticipated, Angie, but I like it in that spot too.
DeleteWhat a wonderful profusion of flowers you have; I hope some of them will survive the heat. I don't think I've ever seen Achillea 'Moonshine' blooming so enthusiastically. -Jean
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid July will be far less flowerful, Jean. The problem is the water limitations as much as the heat.
DeleteWow Kris - what an abundance!! So many lovely blooms - and I love the overall shots. I'm looking forward to a plethora of Monday vases from you! :)
ReplyDeleteThe summer heat seems to have arrived with a vengeance, Anna, so I'm not sure how many vases you may see beyond this Monday's edition. I may be back creating vases out of succulent cuttings all too soon.
Delete