New spring arrivals (week 6)

The spring parade of flowers continues, although I've no big reveals to offer this week.  Most of the plants I came across are relatively small but I'll share them anyway.  With spring already peaking here, the small stuff can get lost within the big picture.

Acanthus mollis goes underground each year when summer's heat arrives.  The foliage resurfaces in response to the cooler temperatures and rain during the winter months and, if I'm lucky, I get a few blooms in the spring.  Unfortunately, our temperatures have shot up this week so fingers are crossed they don't beat an early retreat.

While Antirrhinum majus 'Speedy White' has been flowering for over 2 months, the rest of my snapdragons have done nothing until recently.  I picked up 3 noID "fancy" tulips in a small pot and planted them near the mix of snapdragons shown in the raised planter on the upper right, one of which is blooming, although it's a bit wonky (closeup lower right).  It was also supposed to be orange, not red.

Campanula poscharskyana pops up alongside the back door every spring

I planted this "spotless" Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche' in the back garden last year.  Its flowers are much larger than any of the other Cistus I have.  Sadly, I discovered that this particular species contains a resin in its leaves that apparently make it particularly flammable so it may have to go, although it's not on my current list for removal in the near-term.

I love the little moons of Cotula lineariloba, although the plant can be very aggressive about climbing over its neighbors once it gets going

Helichrysum retortum only just opened the tight buds it's sported for 2 months now.  It seems it was waiting for the warmer temperatures that arrived this week.  The flowers have a paper-like feel.

I planted the bulbs of Hippeastrum 'Luna' in the ground a couple of years ago.  As the Hippeastrums in pots fade away, those in the ground are just getting started.

My favorite Pacific Coast Iris, I. douglasiana 'Wilder than Ever', showed up this week

The noID bearded Iris germanica growing on the dry back slope have also made an appearance

I have Lampranthus 'Pink Kaboom' growing in 2 areas of my garden.  I believe both plants came from Annie's Annuals & Perennials years ago.  The flowers are nearly florescent in color.

The papery flowers of Limonium perezii handle the dry conditions of my garden very well

I spent an hour in my lath house watering my plants several days ago and discovered that 2 of my orchids are blooming.  The one on the left is a miniature Cymbidium but I haven't a clue as to the identity of the one on the right.

Shown on the left, hybrid Pelargonium 'White Lady' (not to be confused with 'Lady Plymouth') has naturalized on my back slope - it makes a nice groundcover, although it plants itself wherever it likes.  Pelargonium cucullatum, on the right, is much taller but just as vigorous elsewhere in my garden.

There were a couple of things I was less pleased to find while out in my garden.

The weed, Lysimachia arvensis (syn. Anagallis arvensis, aka chickweed and scarlet pimpernel) is spreading in bare areas of my back slope

It's hard to make out but this is a photo of a rather deep gopher hole and a large surrounding mound in the middle of my south-side succulent bed.  The soil here is especially dry and sandy.  The larger agaves and other succulents look untouched but some of the smaller succulents have been dislodged.  I covered the area with deterrent granules and watered them in but the annoying creatures are likely to just move a few feet.  I guess it's time to order a trap.

This is probably the last of my series of spring arrival posts this year.  I'm already seeing evidence of summer blooms in development.  Meanwhile some of the earliest of my spring bloomers, like Scilla peruviana and many of my Narcissi are quickly beating a retreat as our temperatures soar into the low 80sF (26-28C).

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