New spring arrivals (week 3)

There are fewer showstoppers in the new spring arrivals category this week but even those that shine in the background are worth sharing as they all contribute to the big picture.  I don't know about you but I need as many bright spots as I can find at the moment.

Once again, I'm rolling out the plants in alphabetical order:

Ceanothus arboreus 'Cliff Schmidt' trails the noID Ceanothus hedge elsewhere in my garden.  It's a tree-sized plant on my back slope and it'll be another month before it's in full bloom but I'm just happy it's blooming at all after a very long dry period without supplemental water. 

The Cistus usually produce several flushes of bloom but I'm glad these two, C. 'Grayswood Pink' (left) and C. x skanbergii (right),  are off to a good start.  They're almost identical in color but the flowers of the first are larger with ruffled petals whereas the other is more prolific.

All my Cupheas got a hard pruning this winter but have nicely recovered.  From left to right are 'Honeybells', Starfire Pink', and Vermillionaire'.

Two Delosperma are blooming.  I suspect the plant on left, purchased without a label last year, is Delosperma hybrid 'Jewel of the Desert' and the one on the right, inherited with the garden, is D. cooperi.

I cut back Felicia aethiopica 6-8 weeks ago and it's also coming back

I've had less luck with the true geraniums in my current garden than in my previous one but Geranium 'Tiny Monster' returns reliably each year

Iris hollandica 'Pink Panther', more lavender than pink in color, has come on like gangbusters this week

I discovered that the bay laurel hedge (Laurus nobilis) on my back slope is currently in full bloom

More and more lavenders are flowering around the garden.  I think the one on the left is Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence' and the one on the right is L. stoechas.

The Osteospermum 'Serenity Coral Magic' shown here in the succulent bed fronting our garage are recent additions.  I had some in the same area last year but most didn't survive the summer heat and excessively dry conditions.

The prostrate rosemary growing along the path leading down the slope (now classified as Salvia rosmarinus) is in full bloom with flowers bluer than this photo captures.  I recently learned that rosemary is considered highly flammable, which is unfortunate as I have quite a lot of it, most or all of which I plan to remove as it poses a fire risk.

The Scabiosa 'Flutter Deep Blue', which has been growing in one of my barrel planters since 2021, has come back

The orange varieties of Sparaxis tricolor (aka harlequin flower) have been blooming for weeks but this white and pink variety has only just shown up here and there

I've no idea which Viola this is but it's been holding its own flower-fest since the rain stepped up.  Although the cutting garden barrels and planters get relatively frequent water, apparently rain really has its own special magic.

I have one foliage entrant this week too.

This is one stretch of Xylosma congestum hedge among many surrounding my garden.  It's new foliage has an orange tint, which has more to do with having been sheared recently than the influence of spring, but it's still worth sharing.

Spring officially arrives tomorrow but it's been rolling out here since late February.  The recent rainstorms, light as they've been overall, gave the garden a major boost when they finally showed up but some plants have been particularly slow to get moving this year.  The status of my sweet peas is alarming.  I thought they were slow to bloom last year when the first flowers opened by mid-March but this year the vines are only just starting to climb, even though the seeds were sown on the same schedule I've used in prior years and germinated promptly before entering a long period of stasis.  I wouldn't be overly concerned except that I usually pull the sweet peas out of my cutting garden in late May to make room for the dahlias, zinnias, and sunflowers.  I've got a ridiculous number of dahlia bulbs stored in the garage at the moment!

Best wishes for a colorful spring, wherever you are and whenever it arrives!

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party