As temperatures begin to drop and it's finally feeling more like fall here in coastal Southern California, the bulk of the flowers are still those in my cutting garden but I'll start with the ones that can be found in other areas of my garden.
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| All 4 Arbutus 'Marina' (strawberry trees) are suddenly laden with flowers. The hummingbirds are going crazy, as is my cat, who's watching them from behind the windows as they careen about. |
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| Two of the 3 of the Australian fuchsias, Correa 'Ivory Bells' and C. 'Wyn's Wonder', have come into flower |
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| The Cupheas - 'Honeybells', 'Starfire', and 'Vermillionare' - are putting on a good show too |
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| I cut back most of the Lantana 4-6 weeks ago and they came roaring back. Clockwise from the upper left are: Lantana camara 'Irene', noID orange variety, L. 'Little Lucky Lavender', and L. 'Lucky Yellow'. |
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| Although they're not true flowers but rather colorful bracts, Leucadendrons 'Blush' and 'Summer Red' are in fine form |
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| Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and P. 'Sky Rocket' got a slow start |
The dahlias and zinnias in the cutting garden aren't ready to throw in the towel. As it's already past time to get my cool season garden started, which requires clearing the raised planters they occupy, I may have to evict them before they're ready to go this year.
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| Two dahlias have only recently deigned to grace my garden with flowers. Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera' (left) is just a day or 2 shy of opening its first blooms of the season while D. 'Hometown Hero' (right) produced its first flowers only last week. |
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| Dahlia 'Excentric' didn't really get started until last month but it's peaking this month |
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| All the orange and peach-colored dahlias are continuing to produce flowers. Clockwise from the upper left are: Dahlias 'Brown Sugar', 'Creme de Cognac', 'Fairway Spur', 'Labyrinth', 'Lady Darlene', and 'Summer's End'. |
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| The other dahlias that keep on flowering include, clockwise from the upper left: Dahlias 'Catching Fire', 'Iceberg', 'La Luna', and 'Mikayla Miranda'. The only dahlia that seems done for the season so far is 'Break Out'. |
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| The seed-sown zinnias also continue to do well, although the same can't be said of those I planted as plugs to fill in empty spots. Clockwise from the upper left are: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral', 'Benary's Giant Wine', 'Golden Hour', 'Raspberry Limeade', 'Zinderella Lilac', and 'Zinderella Peach'. |
As usual, I came across a few surprises this October.
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| Certain bulb blooms surprise me whenever they appear. Clockwise from the upper left are: Amarine belladiva 'Emanuelle', Hymenocallis festalis (aka Peruvian daffodil), and Lycoris sprengeri. |
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| I believe this is the first time Aloe labworana has bloomed |
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I thought Eriocapitella hupehensis (left, aka Japanese anemones) were fried during last month's severe heatwave but flowers have arrived anyway. Eustoma grandiflorum 'Light Apricot' (middle, aka lisianthus) flowered after I'd given up on it. Sollya heterophylla (right, syn Billardiera heterophylla, aka bluebell creeper) has produced purple berries to follow its blue flowers.
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| Hebe x speciosa 'Grace Kelly' keeps trying to shake loose its variegation but it blooms now and then |
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| I have Protea flowers at last! Protea neriifolia 'Claire' (left) and P. n. 'Pink Ice' (right) look nearly identical to me |
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| Some salvias are springing back after being pruned. Salvia canariensis candidissima (left) and Salvia discolor (right) are flowering again. |
I also added a couple of flowering plants to the garden within the past month, both of which I planted in barrel containers.
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| This is Helianthus 'Sunfinity' |
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| I grew Rotheca myricoides (formerly known as Clerodendron ugandense) successfully years ago in Santa Monica. I tried a small plant here and it failed but I couldn't pass up this larger specimen when I saw it at my local garden center a couple of weeks ago. It's in a barrel in partial shade with its own drip irrigator, underplanted with violas and Lobelia. My fingers are crossed. |
Everything else I photographed during the past few days was tucked into color-themed collages, as is my standard practice.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea, Echinacea purpurea, Polygala myrtifolia, Pelargonium peltatum 'Lavender Blizzard', Felicia aethiopica, Leucophyllum laevigatum, Salvia rosmarinus (aka rosemary), and Tulbaghia violacea |
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| Left to right: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', and Osteospermum 'Violet Ice' |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Hemerocallis 'Persian Market', Pelargonium hortorum 'Dynamo Hot Pink', Stachys 'Lilac Falls', Pelargonium 'Little Pink Splash', Gazania 'Otomi', P. sidoides, Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara', and Pentas lanceolata |
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| Clockwise from upper left: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', Salvia 'Skyscaper Orange', and a mix of Gazanias |
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Even after following your blog for quite sometimes, this abundance of October flowers in your coastal S. California garden is always a bit shocking to my PNW eyes.
ReplyDeleteI'm always saddened when Dahlias need to be evicted before they are done blooming. So much effort goes into arriving to this stage, both by you and the Dahlias... I wish they'd perform just as well in the garden proper. 'Lady Darlene' never fails to knock my socks off!
The closeup shot of Rotheca is spectacular! What an amazing intricate bloom.
Chavli
More and more dahlias are performing daily nose dives, Chavli - their blooms are just too heavy for stems too slender to support them. It's a LOT of work to dig up the dahlia tubers up and prepare them for storage and still more work to prepare the raised planters prior to sowing seeds and planting bulbs there. I can't say I'm looking forward to the task at the moment.
DeleteAs to the Rotheca, I love that plant and I hope it'll handle the spot I've selected for it this time.
I am in awe every time I visit your beautiful garden with an abundance of blooms and your assortment of Dahlias is amazing. I see we share Coneflowers and Abelia Kaleidoscope with its lovely blooms this time of year, which are an extra plus along with its foliage. I always enjoy seeing your succulents too!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very good dahlia year, Lee, even though the plants got off to a relatively slow start. However, the heavy blooms have started to take regular nose dives, snapping the slender stems that aren't able to support them. That in itself may signal the end of their season in the short term.
DeleteI love all of your Dahlia, Kris! Such a wonderful color wheel. I prefer the peach-colored dahlias especially as they go so well with the duller, blue foliage of autumn. And I see from your notes that the Anemones have changed their name to Eriocapitella—there is no keeping up with the changes these days! Goodness. But it keeps us on our toes and learning I guess, so that is good. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's very hard to keep up with the classification changes. The one that's surprised me most was throwing rosemary into the Salvia genus. With so many reclassifications and so much intergeneric breeding among succulents, I've almost given up on keeping up there!
DeleteI can't believe all the dahlias you have. They are beautiful, each and every one, and I should thank you for allowing me to see the beauty without the work. We (husband and I) both can no longer do the work of digging and replanting each spring, and the poor performance we had this year of our one dahlia made us realize it was time to let go. The other plant I really enjoyed was your strawberry tree. Just the thought of a hummingbird magnet makes me want to grow it. We grow cuphea for just that reason and have two of the three varieties you mentioned.
ReplyDelete