Bloom Day - December 2016

Rain is virtually certain here today so I got out early this week to snap photos for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  By contrast to gardens in colder climates, I have quite a bit of floral color.  It's chilly here (low 60sF) but we don't generally get frost.  Sadly, we also haven't gotten much in the way of rain the past few years but, with each rainstorm, I remain hopeful that the tide will turn and, in the meantime, I collect every drop I can in rain barrels.

I'll start this Bloom Day report with the plants providing the biggest floral impact.

Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree) flourishes when the air is moister and the temperatures are cooler

Camellia williamsii (left), a hybrid of C. japonica, is just getting started, while the Camellia sasanquas are already beginning to wane

The flowers of Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' (sold in some locations as 'Little Grapes') are small but plentiful

I suppose it's getting old but I can't help giving applause to the Grevilleas each month.  Grevillea 'Superb' (top) deserves its name.  Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' (bottom, left) also blooms almost continuously while G. 'Scarlet Sprite' (bottom, right) is a a winter bloomer.

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' produces sporadic blooms at intervals during the year but it goes to town during our cool season

Most of the ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) are blooming now.  'Pink Blizzard' (upper right) is another consistent bloomer.  'Caliente Coral' (lower left) is a cross between ivy and zonal geranium species.

Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead) is doing very well in a pot.  I lost 2 I planted in the backyard border in late spring to the horrific start-of-summer heatwave.

Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) responded almost instantly to the greater sun exposure it's getting since we trimmed a nearby tree

Although Violas struggle with the dry conditions here, I love their cheerful faces and can't help but buy some plugs every year

There were a couple of surprises from plants producing out-of-season blooms.

A stray noID Agapanthus bloom turned up recently and Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' has produced one flower scape since I moved 2 plants a month ago, signifying a preference for its new location perhaps

Small collections of flowers are scattered throughout the garden.  I rounded them up into a few color-specific collages.

Clockwise from the upper left, white and yellow blooms include: noID Narcissus, Achillea 'Moonshine', Alstroemeria 'Claire', Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Peach', Gazania 'White Flame', and G. 'Yellow Flame' 

Orange and red blooms include: noID Antirrhinum majus, Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid', Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', red Gaillardia, Leonotis leonurus, and Papaver nudicaule

Pink blooms include, from the top left: Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', Argyranthemum frutescens, Cistus x skanbergii, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre', noID Dianthus, and noID Schlumbergera

Blue and purple blooms include, from the left: Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa', Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick', Felicia aethiopica, Hebe 'Grace Kelly', noID Lavandula, Limonium perezii, and Osteospermum '4D Violet Ice'

I'll end with what I suspect will be the last photos of the Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus), which bloomed in large numbers from May through the present.  I don't expect a reappearance until spring but, who knows, they may surprise me.

Stray blooms of the pink and yellow varieties of Eustoma grandiflorum managed to survive until December's Bloom Day, a first even here!

Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to discover what's blooming in other parts of the country and around the world.


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