I got my Christmas wish: it rained off and on from Thursday through Saturday night. Out total rain for the current "water year" (which started October 1st and runs through September 30th, 2022) now stands at 3.91 inches. With more rain expected later today and also Wednesday through Thursday, it looks fairly certain that the total as the calendar year comes to a close will already exceed the paltry 4.12 inches we received over the entire course of the last water year. I'm happy, although as I've read that December may be Southern California's wettest month (instead of February which is normally the case), it's way too early to count our chickens. At least there's been some improvement in Northern California's drought status.
The downside of the rain is that a lot of the blooms in my garden were looking bedraggled when I walked through it on Sunday morning. With a few exceptions, there was little in the way of new blooms to cut.
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| The first of the 'Moonglow' Aloe divisions fellow blogger Denise of A Growing Obsession passed along to me in July has bloomed but I couldn't bring myself to cut it |
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| I couldn't cut the blooms on Aloe 'Safari Rose' either |
Instead of
Aloe blooms, I cut stems of one of my small-flowered
Grevilleas and took my inspiration from those, resulting in a color mix that resembles the arrangement I created prior to Thanksgiving.
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| The tiny orange and yellow flowers of Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia got lost behind the larger blooms |
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| You can see a bit more of the smaller Grevillea flowers in this back view but here the tubular flowers of Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' steal the show |
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| Top view: I'd also hoped to feature the ripening berries of Auranticarpa rhombifolia in this arrangement but they too got buried within the arrangement. Most of the orange berries have split open to show the sticky brown seeds within. |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Auranticarpa rhombifolia foliage and berries, flowers of Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia, Grevillea 'Superb', Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', and Tagetes lemmonii |
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Your arrangement today is "sunshine in a vase", very much appreciated as Seattle is buried under several inches of snow and will remain well below freezing till Saturday.
ReplyDeleteBrr! I can't even imagine that. Of course, the one and only time I actually saw snow falling from the sky (on a Thanksgiving trip to Northern California), I asked my husband what it was, such is the massive gap in my experience with respect to snow. Apparently, my Nordic ancestry is VERY deeply buried...
DeleteYour vase of golden blooms is so exotic to our 'wintery' eyes, and very uplifting. Sending you my best wishes for a Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Noelle. I hope you enjoy a wonderful new year as well!
DeleteVery pretty and cheerful. You amaze me with your garden bounty grown with 4 inches of rain!
ReplyDeleteIrrigation is fundamental to gardening here, Amelia. Although more and more of my garden is being given over to succulents, I still fear the day the taps could be turned off. Mandatory water restrictions are looming.
DeleteGrevillea made good inspiration. Lovely flowers, Kris. Glad you showed the berries. They are interesting. Was not really familiar with Auranticarpa rhombifolia.
ReplyDeleteAuranticarpa rhombifolia used to be classified as a Pittosporum (P. rhombifolium). Earlier owners of our property initially used it as hedge material but, when many of the plants abruptly died, the plants were mostly replaced with Xylosma congestum. About half a dozen plants, now tree-sized, remain. The berries are their most interesting aspect.
DeleteThe aloe flowers look just like kniphofia blooms! Your vase exudes a warm glow, Kris, and would bring warmth to any room - thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. I was going for a feeling of warmth as it's cold here - at least by our standards, if not by those of many gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere ;)
DeleteThe grevillea blooms look like dancers, arms and skirts flying! (God must have had fun creating that one. ;) )
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the rain continues at least through Jan. At least there is snow in the mountains to tap later on.
The common name for Grevilleas are spider flowers, which I think is terrible. "Dancing flowers" would be so much better, Eliza!
DeleteThe snowpack is good, although the warming temperatures reportedly have an impact there too, leading to premature melts that don't make it to reservoirs and rivers.
I can see why you couldn't cut those aloes; they're so brilliant out in the garden. The back garden area here has quite a bit of Aloe... presumably vera, and it's naturalized out onto a couple of slopes. It remains to be seen whether it will supply any bloom this season.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing this warm-hearted combination of flowers in your vase, especially the way you've let Tagetes lemmonii have its share of attention.
Hope you have a wonderful New Year, with a good share of rain! Your last storm made it all they way out here--thanks for sending it over. ;-)
I'm glad you got some of that rain too, Amy. I'm sure there are areas of the PNW that would have loved to have sent both of us some of the precipitation that's landed as snow up north but unfortunately Mother Nature doesn't negotiate!
DeleteA friend gave me Aloe vera plants years ago which have never bloomed - I hope you're are more cooperative :)
I see no signs of bloom stalks so far, Kris, but it's widely used in street plantings in Phoenix and I've seen it flowering there, so I'm hoping it's just not quite time yet.
DeleteFingers crossed - for both of us!
DeleteLovely for you to have some rain. I love your arrangement, I am always delighted with your gorgeous grevilleas.
ReplyDeleteGrevilleas, especially the ever-blooming 'Superb' and 'Peaches & Cream', are wonders. I can't believe I gardened for so many years without them!
DeleteAll I can think of when I look at this creation is TANG. I grew up drinking that powdered beverage and it's been years since it came to mind...
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm not sure I've ever drunken TANG (despite its endorsement by astronauts!). I had to look it up to see if it's still around and it is. According to Wikipedia, it's now marketed in 35 countries, often sold in liquid form, and it's available in flavors other than the original orange now.
DeleteSuch a generous proliferation of sunny blooms to pick so close to Christmas Kris and they certainly don't look in the least bedraggled! I hope that the wet stuff was an extra thrown in by a generous Santa and that you have yet more on the way before winter is out.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope, Anna!
DeleteThe warm colors of your bouquet look so--warm.
ReplyDeleteA contrast to the crazy cold of the past few days--I'm constantly wearing a jacket that sat untouched for years because the winters were never cold enough. Still I like this weather better than summer heat waves.
'Moonglow' has a beautiful flower. Mine are just starting to open, too.
Well, you can always add a layer but you can only take so many layers off ;) I was just outside sowing some seeds I should've taken care of a month or more ago - it's 47F and I was wearing a sweater and a jacket, which would have been okay if I'd only been wearing warm gloves. I spent an hour on the back slope this morning trying to make a dent on cleanup but it was sunny and 51F then - almost comfortable!
DeleteOh wow! All that warmth and sunshine is good to see Kris! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt was cold outside (by our standards) but the arrangement did generate the illusion of sunshine and warmth inside, Cathy!
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