In a Vase on Monday: I had to scrounge a bit

Once summer's flowers are purged from my cutting garden to make way for the bulbs, seeds, and plugs that will thrive in winter and spring, it gets a lot harder to put together floral arrangements.  Luckily, there are a few plants I can usually depend upon to help me out.

My first arrangement contains several stems of Grevillea 'Superb', which blooms year-round, but Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' surprised me with a flush of peachy-pink blooms to support it.  The Callistemon usually blooms during the summer months and I couldn't recall it ever blooming as late as November.  I scanned my own blog to check that recollection and found evidence of one flush in November 2016, when it was still a small plant; however, coming on the heels of a heatwave in September and "extreme" Santa Ana winds last week, I think I'm still justified in describing the flowers as a surprise.  As the shrub is on the list to be pruned by our tree service in just over a week, it was a given that I'd choose to make use of it this week.

The coleus was instrumental in pulling this arrangement together

The back side looks a lot like the front except there are more dangly bits of Cuphea in the back

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Cuphea 'Honeybells', Grevillea 'Superb', and Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Indian Summer' (aka coleus)

Senna bicapsularis, a tall shrub, usually blooms in October or November and it came through for me this week.  I had to scrounge to find materials to accompany those flowers, though.

Senna bicapsularis (aka winter cassia) is a host plant for cloudless sulphur butterflies (Phoebis sennae)

Back view: As I'm ready to pull Dahlia 'Break Out' from its pot on my back patio, the last of the Zinnia 'Zinfandel Peach' had to go too

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Tanacetum parthenium, Zinnia elegans 'Zinfandel Peach', Helianthus 'Sunfinity', and Senna bicapsularis

Last week's Santa Ana winds sparked three fires in Southern California, all north of us.  Two of the fires were smaller and have been all or mostly contained but the Mountain Fire in Ventura County has been fierce, swallowing over one hundred homes and over 20,000 acres.  It was only twenty-six percent contained when I checked its status yesterday afternoon.  Forecasters are projecting another, more moderate Santa Ana wind event midweek.  There are hints of the possibility of drizzle in the ten-day forecast but I'm not putting any trust in them yet.

On this Veterans' Day, best wishes to all US veterans and their families, past or present.  Thank you for your service and your sacrifices!

To find more IAVOM creations, drop by Cathy's blog at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - August 2024 (Early Edition)

August is the low point for floral color in my garden.  If it wasn't for a burst of new blooms from my cutting garden, I'm not sure it'd be worth publishing a Bloom Day post.  After a slow start the Dahlias are off and running as the stars of my cutting garden, with Rudbeckias and Zinnias rolling up behind them.

Dahlia 'Creme de Cognac', new to my garden this year, is perhaps the most floriferous at the moment but then I planted 2 clumps of tubers in this case

Dahlia 'Summer's End' is almost as prolific but all its flowers are the product of one small clump saved from last year

I planted 2 clumps of Dahlia 'Catching Fire' saved from last year too, both of which are putting on a good show, albeit on a staggered schedule

I picked up a Dahlia 'Vancouver' at my local garden center in early June when I got a late start planting my dahlia tubers.  As the temperatures have soared, its floral production has stepped up but, for some reason, the flowers have also taken a spidery shape.  Maybe that's a response to heat - or possibly a virus?

Dahlia 'Break Out' is a slow bloomer but pretty

Dahlia 'Mikayla Miranda' produced its first flowers last week.  This is one of my favorites from last year.

Dahlia 'La Luna' is another of last year's favorites.  I originally planted the tuber in 2022.  Reportedly a "late bloomer," it never flowered at all that year.  I thought I'd dug up the tuber and tossed it, only to find it make a surprise appearance in 2023.  I divided it and planted 2 out tubers this year.  It produced its first flower this week with more on the way.

At the moment, all but two of the remaining dahlia tubers I planted out have buds in development.  Those I expect to see in the next few weeks include: 'Brown Sugar','Excentric', 'Fairway Spur', 'Iceberg', 'Labyrinth', and 'Lady Darlene'.  The other 2, which still offer promise, are 'Belle of Barmera' (which sprouted just when I'd decided to toss it) and 'Hometown Hero', one of this year's new acquisitions.

Additional inhabitants of my cutting garden currently in bloom include the following:

Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara', planted as pubs I received by mail order in May.  All the plants look slightly different from one another.

The Zinnia elegans seeds I sowed in June are off to a relatively slow start.  Clockwise from the upper left, they include: 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Benary's Giant Wine' (which looks remarkably similar to 'BNP'), 'Golden Hour', 'Raspberry Limeade', and 'Zinderella Peach'.

Clockwise from the upper left, miscellaneous other plants currently in bloom include: Cuphea 'Honeybells', Pelargonium hortorum 'Hot Pink', Digitalis purpurea, Pandorea jasminoides, Dipladenia hybrid, noID Scaevola, and Tanacetum parthenium 

This is a poor photo but this squash flower growing underneath Dahlia 'La Luna' in one of my raised planters was a big surprise!  I haven't grown vegetables in this area for 7 or 8 years and I don't think I ever grew squash in this particular planter.

There are only a few flowers elsewhere in the garden that have recently made a splash.

Amaryllis belladonna always seem to catch me by surprise.  I noticed the first bloom stalks last week and there seem to be more each day, all pink this far.

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a flush of peachy-pink blooms at the end of July.  As the older flowers turn a buff-beige color, new ones are still appearing.

The first flowers of Crassula perfoliata falcata (aka propeller or airplane plant) are getting started

The 6 Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' in my front garden finished up in June, yet one plant produced a new flower stalk this month.  The plants often produce another round of blooms in the fall and this one is apparently getting an early start.

I've thrown the best of the rest into collages organized by color as I usually do.

Clockwise from the upper left: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Grevillea 'Superb', Hesperaloe parviflora, Lantana camara 'Orange', Leonotis leonurus, and Leucadendron 'Blush'

Left to right: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Grevillea 'Moonlight', and Lantana 'Lucky Yellow'

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Alstroemeria 'Claire', A. 'Inca Vienna', Crassula pubescens radicans, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Magnolia grandiflora. Myrtus communis, and Oenothera lindhiemeri (formerly classified as Gaura)

Clockwise from the upper left: Begonia 'Roseform', Cistus x skanbergii, Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', Eustoma grandiflorum, Grevillea sericea, Lantana camara 'Irene', noID Pelargonium

Clockwise from upper left: noID Ageratum, Eustoma grandiflorum, Nemesia hybrid 'Bicolor', Agapanthus 'Elaine', Osteospermum 'Purple Spoon', Verbena bonariensis, Wahlenbergia speciosa 'Blue Cloud', and Agapanthus 'Stevie's Wonder'

We hope for cooler temperatures in September, although the prospects aren't looking particularly favorable at present.  At best, we probably can't expect rain until late October either but who knows?  Maybe we'll get an errant tropical storm like we did last year.  Actually, there are residents in a nearby area that are dealing with a landslide who are hoping that La Nina conditions will minimize the level of rain during the 2025 "water year."  The slow-moving landslide, inadvertently triggered by construction activity in 1956, has started moving much faster after two years of heavier-than-usual rain, jeopardizing homes and recently leading the gas company to cut off service to 135 homes as the land moves as much as a foot a week in some cases and water "seepage" reportedly amounts to as much as fifteen gallons per minute in other spots.  If only that water could be captured and safely stored!  At the moment, what's diverted is being directed into the ocean.

For more flower-focused posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, the host of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, on August 15th.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - August 2023, a day late and a dahlia short

Since 2018, I've depended upon dahlias as the backbone of my summer flower garden.  My tubers got a late start this year because the cool season flowers held on for an extended period, as did our cooler-than-usual temperatures.  In late April, when I finally pulled the tubers out of the garage where they're kept during their dormant season, I planted them in temporary pots to germinate but getting them moved into the raised planters of my cutting garden was also delayed because I held off on clearing the space of the cool season flowers until early June.  So here we are in mid-August with the dahlias just getting started.

Dahlia 'Catching Fire' is off to a good start, while soft lavender 'Mikayla Miranda' is only getting started.  Other dahlias have lots of fat buds, which are taking their time opening up.

 

Luckily, not all my flowering plants have been so slow to get their bloom on.  Here are some of the plants providing starring roles this month.

Amaryllis belladonna (aka naked ladies because the bulbs bloom well after their foliage dies back) started flowering in earnest before I even looked for them

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a massive flush of bloom last week

Succulent Crassula pubescens ssp radicans is blooming en masse in spots throughout my garden

I wouldn't usually give Lantana star status but the 'Lucky White' and 'Lucky Yellow' varieties I cut back a couple of months ago have put on a major effort to elevate this area of my front garden

Unlike the dahlias, Zinnia elegans, most of which were sown from seeds in early June, didn't dilly-dally about blooming.  The varieties here include 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Queen Lime Orange', 'Giant Salmon Rose', 'Lemon Peach', 'Mazurkia', and an assortment from 'Candy Mix' 

 

Other plants may not deserve a starring role but they're great team players.

Planted last year, Cuphea 'Honeybells' took its time to develop but it's putting on a great show this year.  It's a trailing variety unlike my other Cupheas that have stems that stand upright.

Dipladenia, a relative of Mandevilla with a trailing habit, is new to my garden this year.  Both of these are growing in large containers mixed with other plants.

Gazania 'Otomi' has flowered more profusely than I'd expected.  The flowers vary in appearance as they develop.

I almost forgot about Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy), which I cut back hard several months ago

I can't forget the reliable and ever-flowering Grevillea 'Superb'

This Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' has been blooming for months now

 

Some plants are still providing splashes of color even as they're in the process of exiting the stage for the season.

I cut the last of the white Agapanthus in my garden on Sunday but there are still a handful of blue Agapanthus here and there.  The ink-blue colored flowers of Agapanthus 'Elaine' (left) got a late start, as was also the case last year.

The first flush of Leonotis leonurus is coming to an end but I've cut many of the stems back to see if I can get a second round

The paper-dry flowers of Limonium perezii are fading literally and figuratively

Magnolia grandiflora was dropping leaves by the bushel earlier this summer.  The leaf drop is now minimal but flower petals are littering the ground at a rapid rate.

I cut back Monarda hybrid 'Peter's Purple' earlier and got a second flush of flowers but I'm not sure it's got the energy for a third flush

Myrtus communis is an attractive but not particularly flashy plant.  I've found it isn't a great addition to floral arrangements either.

Just 10 days ago, Pandorea jasminoides (aka bower vine) was blanketed in white flowers but it seems to be about done now

This was the second flush of bloom from Salvia canariensis var candidissima, which is currently looking scruffy

 

As usual, my garden provided a few surprises, one of which isn't auspicious.

I tried Echinops ritro ruthenicus (aka globe thistle) a few years ago but it died without blooming.  It's doing better this time.

This is the second year I've gotten Medinilla myriantha (aka Malaysian orchid) to bloom

A friend gave me a Oxypetalum coeruleum (syn. Tweedia caerulea) a couple months ago.  This is another plant that I've tried and killed before but this one's made it to bloom stage.

The pretty flowers of Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' aren't a surprise as I've shown them often enough.  The plant blooms year-round, albeit not as heavily as Grevillea 'Superb'.  However, it's dropped a substantial portion of its leaves over the last 2-3 months, which has me concerned that it may be failing.  There was a gopher in the immediate area so that might have something to do with its decline, or maybe the heavy rainfall followed by a substantially drier period has something to do with it.  I lightly pruned the leaf-less stems and I'm monitoring it closely, while keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I'll end this post as I usually do with the best of the rest, lumped into collages organized by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', noID Bacopa, Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', the dried remnants of Cynara cardunculus (aka artichoke), Gazania 'Gold Flash', and noID yellow-orange Lantana

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, Angelonia 'Archangel White', Asparagus densiflorus, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', Helichrysum petiolare, Scabiosa columbaria, and Phyla nodiflora

Clockwise from the upper left: Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple', Nemesia 'Honey Bicolor Orange Flame', noID Phalaenopsis, Polygala myrtifolia, Scabiosa columbaria 'Deep Blue', and Sollya heterophylla

Top row: Cistus x scanbergii, C. 'Sunset', and Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'
Middle: Pelargonium 'Dynamo Hot Pink', P. 'Dynamo Purple', and noID Pelargonium
Bottom: Pentas 'Graffiti Pink', noID Thymus, and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'

Clockwise from the upper left: Daucus carota 'Dara', noID Hoya, Fuchsia 'Voodoo', and Pelargonium peltatum in red and burgundy

 

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts published on or after August 15th, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

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