Bloom Day - December 2019

I've got fewer flowers to share than I had last December but perhaps that can be explained by the colder-than-usual temperatures we had in late November and lighter rain.  Or, it could be largely attributable to my reduced involvement with the garden during our protracted remodel, the last piece of which wasn't completed until this past Friday.

Let's start with the plants I consider my stars this month:

This is Hippeastrum 'Zombie'.  Each of the 4 bulbs I potted up has at least 2 flower stalks.  The flowers shown here are on a single stalk.

Bauhina x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree) is blooming heavily now, right on schedule

The noID Camellia sasanqua that came with the garden took a major hit during our remodel but this particular shrub is doing its best to make up for the lesser performance of the others

After repeated attempts to establish Hypoestes aristata (aka ribbon bush), a plant I grew in my former garden, I've finally gotten 2 of them established here.  The one shown on the left is backed up by one of several Polygala fruitcosa (aka sweet pea shrub) in my garden.  Vigorous plants, this one self-seeded in this spot.  The shrub flowers heaviest in the spring but produces a smattering of flowers, like the one shown in close-up on the right, during much of the year.

Even though this Tagetes lemmonii (aka Mexican marigold and Copper Canyon daisy) grows in partial shade, it blooms heavily at this time of year

The next group consists of plants that surprised me for one reason or another:

This is a pup of a bromeliad I've had growing in a pot for years.  I planted the pup in the ground with succulents about a year ago.  I believe it's Aechmea orlandiana.  The flower isn't as exciting as those produced by many other bromeliads but it's the first one I've seen this Aechmea produce.

I planted this Aloe vanbalenii x ferox in April 2016 and this is its first flower.  I don't have sufficient experience with Aloes to say which of its parents it more closely resembles.

I acquired Dermatobotrys saundersii (aka tree jockey) at a Huntington Garden sale in 2017.  It's semi-deciduous and looks so terrible in October/November that I always think I must have killed it with neglect - but then it blooms.  Still, it's looking leggier this year and I've been wondering if if would respond to pruning.  Mine has both dried and fresh fruit clinging to its stems, even as it's put out a fresh batch of flowers.

I grow Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) year-round but it doesn't usually bloom in December!

Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' came close to perishing in a horrific July 2018 heatwave.  Luckily for me, it recovered but it didn't bloom in spring or summer this year.  Yet, it's got a light flower flush going on now.  Pennisetum 'Sky Rocket' seems to be sending up fireworks in celebration behind it.

Although I haven't done as much gardening this fall, I have a few new additions to share:

I cleared out the bed shown in the top photograph back in September and subsequently planted it with Argyranthemum frutescens 'Everest', Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum)  and purple, white and orange Violas.  Antirrhinum majus plugs (bottom, right) were planted in November and I popped Cyclamen (bottom, left) in a pot in my lath house last week. 

As always, I have a collection of flowers that don't fall in any of the previous categories, yet are worthy of notice.  As usual, I've organized these into color collages:

Clockwise from the upper left: Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Lavandula multifida (against a background of Coleonema 'Sunset Gold'), Campanula poscharskyana 'Blue Waterfall', noID self-seeded Osteospermum, and Phalaeonopsis seco vivien 'Golden Leaves'

Clockwise from the upper left: Arbutus 'Marina', Correa 'Pink Eyre', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', Grevillea 'Superb', Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses', and Osteospermum 'Berry White'

Clockwise from the upper left: Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschein', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', noID Gazania, Mahonia x media 'Charity', and Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy'

For more posts on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, check in with our host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  Best wishes to all for a pleasant holiday season!


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party