Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Late February Blooms

Inevitably, as soon as I publish my monthly Bloom Day post, something else pops up in the garden.  That's especially true in early Spring and, with temperatures close to 80F yesterday, it certainly feels like Spring now.  Some of the flowers making a late February appearance may still be around in mid-March but I'm going to go ahead and celebrate their arrival now, starting with the 2 biggest surprises.

I almost missed the Majorcan peony bloom entirely, catching it out of the corner of my eye mostly hidden by plants I hadn't gotten round to cutting back.  I cut back the Pennisetum and Lobelia laxiflora the very next morning to reveal a single bloom of the Paeonia cambessedesii I planted in March 2014.  As best I can remember, it's never produced more than a single bloom in any given year, perhaps because I allow it to be engulfed by other plants year-after-year.

I planted  2 varieties of species tulips in early December but only half-expected blooms.  Seeing Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane'  suddenly appear all at once was a delightful discovery.  I'm still waiting on T. clusiana 'Cynthia'.


Other bulb blooms were more predictable.

This noID bearded Iris on my back slope was in bud for weeks but didn't open until last week

Italian hybrid Anemone 'Mistral Rarity' had a single bloom prior to Bloom Day this month but is now unfurling one bloom after another

Another hybrid, Anemone 'Mistral Azzurro', followed on 'Rarity's' heels.  The stems on this one are longer.

A few blue Freesias have been in bloom for almost a month but this week Freesias in all sorts of colors are making an appearance

I planted Ipheion uniflorum in my garden a year or two after we moved in, along the edge of borders than were subsequently expanded twice as we slowly removed the lawn in the back garden.  They now appear in the middle of beds, steadily multiplying each year.

Some of the larger-cupped daffodils showed up this week, scattered in various corners of the back garden.  I don't have names for most of them. 

Sparaxis tricolor showed up this week too.  The vast majority of mine are orange but there are a few whites and pinks.

Calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) planted by some prior gardener on the back slope reappear every year, aided by rain.  The plants completely disappear during out hot, dry summers.


A couple of other plants caught me by surprise too.

Daphne odora 'Leucanthe', purchased on a whim back in October, bloomed.  I'd given it a 50-50 chance here.

I'd forgotten pretty Osteospermum ' Spring Day', planted 2 years ago, before it was suddenly covered in blooms.  The petals are pale pink on top and a sunny yellow underneath.


That's my late February line-up but, with 3 days left in the month, who's to say there won't be more?  I'll be watching the garden closely!


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

12 comments:

  1. These gorgeous blooms just make me long for warmer days. I can hardly wait.

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    1. It is warm here, Lisa. Maybe you should book a trip to SoCal!

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  2. Gorgeous spring blooms, Kris. I just love Sparaxis, such a bold face it has. And fuzzy-buttoned anemones and sweetly scented freesia make me swoon.
    I'm having such nostalgia this week on the anniversary of my trip out to LA, wish I was there now to enjoy that 80 degree weather!

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    1. The temperature is expected to soar even higher tomorrow, Eliza, possibly hitting a record in downtown LA. We've stayed a little under downtown's high each day but just barely.

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  3. (your pictures without the text watermark, have a ghostly line near the bottom edge)

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    1. Thank for the heads-up, Diana. Now that you mention it, I can see faint lines in the photo collages I created using the free Be Funky Collage app. It looks as though it's happened with the collages created for the last 2 posts. If it continues, I guess I'll be looking for a new app.

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  4. Lady Jane is my favorite tulip - I love it SO MUCH! I bet your garden smells fantastic with both Daphne and Freesia in bloom. Yum!

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    1. My nose isn't good enough to catch the scent of most blooms unless I stick my nose right in there, although cutting them and bringing them inside usually gives the perfume a boost.

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  5. Congrats on your Daphne flowers and the gorgeous tulips. And all the other beauties deserve mention as well.

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    1. The first 'Cynthia' species tulips opened today too!

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  6. What lovely flowers. The species tulips are so dainty. Was meaning to plant some myself, but haven't gotten to it. Bulbs I tend to buy at the big box stores and the selection is not adventurous.

    Peony! Awesome! Anemones, the colors are so delicious. Sparaxis here just waking up.

    Have a beautiful weekend!

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    1. There are so many bulbs available through on-line sources now, it's overwhelming - and then there's the fact that many if not most of those don't work well in our low-chill winters.

      Hoping for rain on Sunday!

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