Bloom Day - March 2018

Last March, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day followed a long period of heavier than usual rain and the garden was looking good.  While there's no real shortage of flowers this year, there aren't the large blocks of color I found last year.  Such is the life of a gardener.  I know I'm still luckier than gardeners in the US Northeast who are facing down their third Nor'easter.

The early spring bulbs are providing the best splashes of color at the moment.  I've featured some bulb blooms in posts over the past week so pardon me if some of this is redundant.  These blooms will be mostly gone by next month so now's the time to celebrate them.

The Dutch Iris (Iris x hollandica) I planted my first year here are continuing to naturalize

After failing to bloom for several years, Scilla peruviana has bloomed for a second year in a row despite this year's low rainfall

Ipheion uniflorum (aka starflower) has also naturalized here

I've already made a big to-do about this plant, Ferraria crispa (aka starfish lily), this month but I can't help it

Freesias are blooming in areas throughout the garden in a range of colors and both single and double forms.  No matter how many I add each year, I never feel I have enough.

Some Narcissus I planted this fall are blooming alongside those I planted in prior years.  Clockwise from the upper left are: Narcissus 'Geranium' (new this year), a noID variety, and N. 'Katie Heath'.

Prodded by our recent rain, the Ranunculus tubers I planted this fall are finally blooming.  Pretty as the red variety is, I'm still annoyed that these aren't the purple they were supposed to be.

Meanwhile, the "mixed" collections of Sparaxis I planted in beds in both the back and front gardens are still all coming up orange

Last month's Bloom Day post led off with a photo of Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' mingling with the gold form of parrot's beak and that's still the most compelling combination in the back garden but 'Pink Sugar' and other so-called African daisies are popping into bloom elsewhere in the garden too.

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' planted with gold Lotus berthelotii in the back garden

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' occupies the background in the front garden here with another African daisy, Gazania 'White Flame', occupying the foreground.  Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' can be seen in between them on the left.

Another African daisy, Osteospermum '4D Silver' (lower left), blooms on and off all year here.  It's shown in the photo on the upper left mingling with Echium handiense (shown in detail in the upper right) and Aristea inaequalis (lower right).

The photo in the upper left shows a slice of the front garden alongside our driveway.  Osteospermum 'Violet Ice' (upper right) and 2 forms of Pyrethropsis hosmariense (lower photos)  are in full bloom despite regular digging in the area on the part of raccoons and skunks.

After seeing Osteospermum blooming en masse at Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria on a recent shopping trip, I added more of these plants to this dry garden area on the northeast side of our house.  Osteospermum 'Summertime Sweet Kardinal' (upper left) was already in place, as was a self-seeded white variety, but I added 5 O. '4D Violet Ice' (shown lower left) a week ago.  It looks remarkably like '4D Silver' except the flowers are larger.  The plant on the lower right is Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy).

Clockwise from the top left, here are a few more African daisies: Arctotis 'Opera Pink', Osteospermum '4D Purple', O. 'Berry White', a self-seeded Gazania, and a self-seeded Osteospermum.

Other South African and Mediterranean plants are also putting on a good show.

Coleonema album is shown in the left and middle photos and Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' is shown on the right

Cistus x scanbergii was blooming lightly last month but the blooms are profuse now

Lotus bethelotii 'Amazon Sunset' is also taking off, shown here with the first bloom on Leucospermum 'Goldie'

I'll close as I usually do with collages capturing the best of the rest of what I've got blooming this month.

Clockwise from the top left: Gardenia jasminoides, Jasminium polyanthum, Limonium perezii, Lavandula multifida, and Ocimum hybrid 'African Blue Basil'

Top row: Kumara plicatilis, Argyranthemum frutescens, Bulbine frutescens, and Calendula 'Bronzed Beauty'
Middle row: Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach', Euryops chrysanthemoides, Hunnemannia fumariifolia, and Nemesia 'Sunshine'
Bottom row: Grevillea 'Peachs & Cream', G. 'Superb', Leucospermum 'Hybrid Spider' (new), and Lobelia laxiflora

Top row: Alstroemeria 'Indian Sunset', noID Alstroemeria, Argyrantemum frutescens, and Bauhinia x blakeana
Middle row: Calliandra haematocephala, Cymbidium Sussex Court 'Not Peace', Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' and Grevillea 'Penola'
Bottom row: Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', Leptospermum 'Pink Pearl', Oncidium 'Wildcat', and Pyrethropsis 'Marrakech'

For more bloom Day posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.



All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party