The first photo is an update of the front garden planted by my brother and his girlfriend. In January, I shared a photo of the green mass of seedlings sprouted from the pounds of seed they scattered in the fall (which you can see here). My brother sent me an updated photo last week to show me how things have progressed.
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| Flowering plants include Dimorphotheca sinuata, Linaria maroccana, Lobularia maritima, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, Cosmos bipinnatus, Lupinus succulentus, and Eschscholzia californica (Photo courtesy of ericnp.net.). Close-ups of individual flowers taken in 2015 can be found at http://ericnp.net/garden2015/ |
Those of you who viewed my last Bloom Day post may find it hard to believe but I inadvertently dropped several of my floral photos, including these of the Aeonium arboreum blooming along my front slope.
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| There are a total of 8 Aeonium floral spires blooming in this area and a few others scattered elsewhere in the garden |
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| Close-up of one flower cluster |
My last photo may not look like much but it represents a major achievement from my point of view: a peony in bloom in my garden. Just one bloom. On a plant I don't think is any bigger than it was last year when it also produced just one bloom. And, yes, I also featured it in a Wednesday Vignette last year (which you can see here). But, for me, peonies are the holy grail of flowering plants and the fact that this one lived to flower another year is a cause for celebration.
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| This is Paeonia cambessedesii, a Mediterranean species I planted in March 2014. The bloom shown here was shattered in our last rainstorm. There's no sign of another, at least not yet. |
Visit Anna at Flutter & Hum for other Wednesday Vignettes.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Hurray for the peony!! Your tenacity is paying off :) Now, if only I could get my poppies to sprout like your brother clearly has...!
ReplyDeleteI haven't managed that myself, Amy, and I'm only 50 miles away.
DeleteThat's wonderful, Kris! Hooray for signs of spring! Congratulations on the Peony flower. Do you read Matthew from the Lents Farmer's blog? He is a fellow Peony lover, and has some wonderful ones. I love the Aeonium flower cluster, too. I don't think I've ever seen one before... very cool!
ReplyDeleteThere are relatively few peony options here, Anna. I can't grow the herbaceous varieties - we simply don't get cold enough (and my attempts to mimic a "real" winter by applying ice cube was unsuccessful). Even growing tree and Itoh peonies has proved difficult. This Mediterranean species, the first and only one I've come across, is the closest I've come to success.
DeleteYour brother's yard looks great! Lovely peony of yours and those aeoniums look like little golden Christmas trees. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit odd how those Aeonium flower spikes spaced themselves like that, isn't it? It does create a tree-like appearance.
DeleteCongrats on the second, of what will hopefully become many, peony blooms!
ReplyDeleteThe plant needs to grow a bit larger but it seems frozen at 6 inches in diameter.
DeleteAlthough Peony blooms are very common here, peony blooms getting ruined by rain are also very common. Congrats on the accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteI only noticed the bloom by chance between rainstorms. Maybe I should mark my calendar for a peony watch in mid-February each year...
DeleteWell done with the peony. One of the rare things we can share, although blooms for me are months away.
ReplyDeleteYour peony blooms may be delayed, Jessica, but I suspect they'll put mine to shame.
DeleteA Mediterranean Peony? Cool, and well done! Well done too, your brother's wildflower meadow.
ReplyDeleteThe rain gave both a boost this year! The peony came from Annie's, the only place I've ever seen it.
DeleteA peony in your climate? You're a magician! Your brother's garden is full of glorious bloom. Does he not have as many critter problems as you?
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day I'll conjure up more than a single peony bloom. My brother hasn't complained of anything other than squirrels that I remember. It's in an inland valley suburb with lots of surrounding street traffic, which probably keeps the wildlife away, although there are plenty of critters hanging out at a nearby community college.
DeleteYour brother's wildflower meadow looks spectacular! I have lots of seedlings popping up from the flowers I had last year, and that photo makes me very eager to see them in bloom again. I love the aeonium blooms. So wonderfully odd and tree-like. Congratulations on the peony bloom! Perhaps the plant will manage to grow this year thanks to the extra rain you've had.
ReplyDeleteMy brother and his girlfriend put a LOT of effort into that wildflower meadow. That inland valley isn't a particularly hospitable growing environment.
ReplyDelete