Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Bloom Day - September 2022

I'm getting a one day jump on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day as Wednesday is a better fit for my schedule this week.  Due to the extended heatwave that concluded just last Friday, there are far fewer flowers to be found in my garden this month.  We're also in the middle of a 15-day outdoor watering ban and I've been running around like a madwoman with watering cans just trying to provide emergency rations to plants where I can.  A random tropical storm, the remnants of Hurricane Kay in the Pacific, provided an assist but any rebound the garden may get from that event isn't evident yet.

I took many of the following photos during the heatwave.  I'm going to start with those that don't usually receive much attention.

My ornamental grasses are getting started.  This Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' looks better than almost anything else in my front garden.

Tulbaghia violacea (aka society garlic) is easily overlooked most of the year but it makes a statement when it's one of the few things in full bloom

Clematis terniflora (aka sweet autumn clematis) is the only member of the genus I've been successful at growing.  I managed to train most of the vine up the arbor but one long stem evaded me and managed to weave itself through a Cistus shrub (photo on the right).

I took this photo of Leucophyllum laevigatum (aka Chihuahuan sage) a little before our heatwave swung into full gear.  Responding to an uptick in humidity, it exploded into bloom for a brief period before fading away almost as quickly as it appeared.

Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' may have tiny flowers but they're abundant and keep on blooming regardless of weather conditions

I haven't been thrilled by the performance of my dahlias this year.  Even now, in mid-September, there are several that have yet to bloom.  Clockwise from the upper left, here are those that are blooming now with varying levels of vigor: Dahlia 'Calin', D. 'Summer's End', D. 'Southern Belle', D. 'Catching Fire', D. 'Enchantress', D. 'Lavender Ruffles', D. 'Karma Prospero', and D. Mikayla Miranda'.

The performance of my zinnias have also been spotty.  These 3, all grown from seed, have been the most rewarding: Zinnia elegans 'Carmine Rose', Z. 'Benary's Giant Deep Red', and Z. 'Benary's Giant Purple'.  For some reason, those in the 'Queen Lime' series, also grown from seed, have been disappointing this year.


I've crammed everything else into collages organized by color.  This month even old standbys like my large-flowered, ever-blooming Grevilleas are looking a little forlorn.

Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) 'Balboa Blue Rim' and a noID blue variety, Geranium 'Tiny Monster', Petunia 'Night Sky', and noID Phalaenopsis

From the upper left: Agastache 'Morello' (still in its temporary pot), Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Anthurium 'Maine', Cosmos bipinnatus, Eustoma grandiflorum, Hoya carnosa, Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Persicaria capitata

From the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', A. g. 'Kaleidoscope', Amaryllis belladonna 'Alba' (which crashed early into the heatwave), Cosmos bipinnatus, Pandorea jasminoides, Pelargonium peltatum 'White Blizzard', noID Phalaenopsis, and Phyla nodiflora

From the upper left: Grindelia camporum, noID Phalaenopsis, noID Plumeria, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', Gaillardia aristata 'Spintop Copper Sun', Leonotis leonurus, and Rudbeckia 'Denver Daisy'

From the upper left: Alstromeria 'Inca Lucky', Cosmos bipinnatus (in true red!), Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree), Pelargonium sidioides, and noID Phalaenopsis

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, check in with Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

 

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party


20 comments:

  1. This has been a challenging summer for weather pretty much everywhere. You still have lots of blooms even if they are fleeting in nature. We have ended our heat streak here but are now shrouded in wildfire smoke so even a short period outside is unpleasant. Who would have thought that winter might become my favourite season.

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    1. I'm sorry you're dealing with smoke, Elaine. I know how miserable that can be. While we've had some fires down my way, we haven't faced anything on the order that others have (so far). My husband and I've talked about moving north and even received support for that idea from one member of the family who lives in the PNW but I'm not sure there's any way to dodge the impact of climate change.

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  2. You have a lot more blooms in your garden than I currently do, but I suppose it's a true statement throughout the year :-) Its a very fetching photo of the ornamental grasses in the front garden, not an angle you often show.
    I've recently acquired a couple of young Hoya plants. I hope not to wait too long for those quirky blooms.
    Chava

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    1. My Hoyas didn't flower until I started giving them a 2x/year dose of cactus fertilizer (although one has yet to do so yet even so). You might want to try that to "encourage" yours to bloom.

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  3. So many beauties! You went a day early, I'm going a day late. You definitely win for number of blooms though!

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    1. My Bloom Day prep amounted to a scavenger hunt this month, Loree ;)

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  4. Happy Blooms, Kris. They bring a lot of happiness to us all.

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    1. Thanks HB. I couldn't get by without a lot of color in my garden.

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  5. Many of those look remarkably happy considering what you all have suffered through down there. So glad to hear you and the garden got some relief finally!

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    1. The rain was a major boon! Mother Nature showed us a touch of pity. Six more days to go on the outdoor water ban, not that all (or maybe even most) of my neighbors are compliant.

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    2. ??? I don't have any lawn, Diana - we pulled up the lawn we inherited with the house in segments, taking out the last area in 2014. All I have are some ornamental grasses.

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  6. thank goodness the water ban is half over -- almost there! What a summer, what a gauntlet -- but so many flowers! So glad you still have your little beauties greeting you every morning and enough for a few vases.

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    1. It's true that I've a LOT more flowers than I had at this time of year in the early days, Denise. I remember using succulents as centerpieces for In Vase on Monday ;)

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  7. Where are my favorites, the African daisies! I like the Chihuahuan sage, and such pretty dahlias.

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    1. Both the Arctotis (like 'Pink Sugar', which I seem to remember you were particularly fond of, Lisa) and most of the Osteospermums ('4D Silver', 'Violet Ice') hunker down during the peak of summer and reappear when the weather becomes cooler - if I'm lucky. The 'Pink Sugar' plants in the back garden look as though they were torched at present but I'm hoping they'll come back. Osteospermum 'Berry White' was the only variety in that genus to produce a smattering of blooms this month. Even the Gazanias were unhappy about the combination of the heatwave and the outdoor watering ban.

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  8. That’s quite a few different flowers given what the summer was like. They look really good! I was surprised how many I had because I felt I really neglected the garden this year. Glad you got some rain. We’re still waiting in Oregon.

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    1. Given that my garden is at low ebb at this time of year, I admit there are still a lot of plants with flowers, even if the quantities of each are in short supply. The combination of low rainfall and increasingly problematic irrigation restrictions are leading to a steady shift in my plant palette but I'm not going with the flow without a good deal of kicking and screaming ;)

      I hope you don't have long to wait for your rain, Jerry. The tropical storm we just had was an anomaly. We probably won't see the start of our short rainy season until November.

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  9. Kris- when you say there are only a few blooms, that means there are still many! Your garden is spectacular in every season and I always look forward to the visit. Your Dahlia and Zinnia collection is amazing in my eyes, as are all your other selections. Happy Bloom Day (a few days late!)

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    1. Thanks Lee. I always seem to view my late summer garden in negative terms - it's probably entirely unfair to compare my September garden to my April or May garden.

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