Bloom Day - November 2023

When I look at my garden I see far fewer flowers than there were last month when I still had dahlias, zinnias and cosmos but I admit I still have more than many gardeners in colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere.   We don't get frosts here but we haven't had much rain either and it's very dry as we wait for our first real rain of the 2024 "water year" this week.  I'm looking forward to it - despite the surprise provided by Tropical Storm Hilary in September, my rain barrels have already been dry far too long.

I'll kick off this post with the plants putting on the best show this month.

The blue flowers are Barlera obtusa, aka bush violet.  It's a drought tolerant South African native.  I've never seen it in a local nursery or garden center.  I picked up a single 1-gallon pot at a local botanic garden's plant sale several years ago and I now have 2 large clumps in my back garden and 2 in the front.  It self-seeds freely but it's easy to control.  The bees and hummingbirds love it!

I inherited 3 Camellia sasanqua shrubs with the garden.  There are 2 varieties but they're almost identical in color if not form.  The recent Santa Ana winds took out the first flush of flowers but they're on a roll now.

Tagetes lemmonii, aka Copper Canyon daisy and Mexican marigold, blooms lightly in spring and more robustly in autumn.  We took out a large shrub that previously loomed over the Tagetes late last year and it's never bloomed as well.  It has a strong scent that generally doesn't bother me but my husband tolerates it in only small doses.

There are other plants offering decent, if less splashy, shows.

This is a mix of 3 colors of Catharanthus roseus, aka the humble vinca.  I never gave these annuals the recognition they deserve until this summer.

All my Correas, aka Australian fuchsias, are blooming.  The variety shown in the top row is Correa 'Ivory Bells'.  The 2 in the bottom row are Correa 'Dusky Bells' and C. 'Wyn's Wonder', a variegated form.  They're the very definition of subtle flowers but, unlike true fuchsias, they get by on relatively little water. 

All the Cupheas are currently in need of a good pruning but, given the minimal attention they've received from me, they're looking pretty good.  From left to right are Cuphea 'Honeybells', C. 'Starfire Pink', and C. 'Vermillionaire'.

What can I say?  My top workhorse, Grevillea 'Superb' never, ever stops blooming.  This is another bee and hummingbird magnet.

Many of my Leucadendrons are currently covered in flower-like bracts.  Leucadendron 'Summer Red', left and top right, is outdoing itself this year.  The one on the lower right is L. 'Blush'.

I have 3 varieties of Pennisetums in bloom.  The 2 shown here are Pennisetum 'Sky Rocket' and P. advena 'Rubrum'.

This is another humble plant that deserves an honorable mention.  It's Persicaria capitata (aka pink knotweed).  It's truly a weed in some areas but it's been remarkably well behaved here, even if it did plant itself underneath 3 potted blueberry shrubs in my back garden.

There were a couple of surprises.

I planted 5 bulbs of Amarine belladiva 'Emanuelle' 2 and a half years ago.  All 5 have bloomed for the first time, albeit on completely independent time schedules.  The one shown here is finishing up and the 5th one has buds preparing to open.  They're an intergeneric hybrid of Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine bowdenii.

If Salvia discolor with its light green foliage and its blackish-purple flowers has a bloom schedule, I've yet to figure it out.  It's a relatively uncommon plant that's been part of my garden for several years now.

There are some flowers that largely disappeared earlier this month but they're worthy of mention nonetheless.

Clockwise from the upper left, flowers that were taken out prematurely by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds include: Eriocapitella hupehensis (aka Japanese anemone), Senna bicapsularis, Hemerocallis 'Persian Market', and Iris germanica 'Autumn Circus'

And, then there are plants that are only just stepping onto the stage to take advantage of our cool season even if cooler temperatures are taking their time to settle in.

Aloes and other succulents are starting to flower.  Clockwise from the upper left are: noID small Aloe, A. 'Safari Orange', A. 'Safari Sunset', Echeveria 'Black Prince', and Faucaria tigrina.

Argyranthemums are short-lived perennial shrubs here.  These are 2 new ones: Argyranthemum 'Grandaisy Dark Pink' and A. 'Angelic Maize'.

Defying its name once again this year, Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' is flowering in the fall.  The plant is currently covered in buds.

The Osteospermums have struggled to rebound as our "cool season" has been punctuated by several excessively warm spells.  In the top row are: Osteospermum '4D Pink', O. '4D White', and O. 'Double Yellow'.  The bottom row shows a more vigorous self-seeded variety, which I think may be the offspring of O. 'Violet Ice' with a little O. 'Berry White' in the mix.

Even though my perception is that there aren't many flowers at this time of year, there's obviously a lot of color left in my garden, even if much of it isn't as bountiful as the spring and summer displays.  I'll end as I usually do with the best of the rest organized by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: berries of noID Cotoneaster, Dipladenia 'Sundenia Coral', Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', 2 noID Gazanias, Rudbeckia hirta, and Pelargonium peltatum 'Dark Burgundy'

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Claire', Angelonia 'Archangel White', Antirrhinum majus, Dipladenia 'Sundenia White', Pandorea jasminoides, and Pentas lanceolata

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Angelonia, Bauhinia x blakeana, Fuchsia 'Wind Chimes White', and Pentas lanceolata

Clockwise from the upper left: Anchusa capensis, Calibrachoa 'Mini Double Blue', Hebe 'Grace Kelly', Polygala myrtifolia, Salvia 'Mystic Spires', noID Scaevola, Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic', and Viola 'Peach Penny'

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, visit our host, Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party