Spring Bounty - IAVOM & Bloom Day, April 2019

With cooler than normal temperatures and heavier than usual rain through our winter months, I'd expected a bountiful Spring but I think even I was unprepared for the sheer volume of blooms in my garden this April.  As two of my favorite memes, "In a Vase on Monday" and "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day," coincide again this month, I'm combining them in a single post.  I'll start with abbreviated coverage of the vases I prepared this week, followed by a lengthy Bloom Day segment.

I made up two vases again this week, taking advantage of some of the flowers most likely to die off quickly as our daytime temperatures continue to rise.  For more Monday vases, visit our IAVOM host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

A simple blue and white scheme shown from the front, back and top.  I included noID Ceanothus, Coleonema album, Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia', Osteospermum '4D Silver', white Ranunculus, and Salvia heldreichiana.

This pink and white arrangement is shown from the same 3 angles.  It contains: noID pink Alstroemeria, Centranthus ruber (pink and white forms), Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Pelargonium 'White Lady', and Zantedeschia aethiopica.

I took a LOT of photos for Bloom Day this month.  Believe it or not, what follows was trimmed down considerably.  I'll keep my comments to a minimum so as not to try your patience too much.

Let's start with the splashiest blooms gracing my garden at present, listed in alphabetical order as it's nearly impossible for me to pick favorites.

Ageratum corymbosum, a perennial shrub with purple foliage

Arctotis 'Opera Pink' (aka one of many of the so-called African daisies)

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar'

Cercis occidentalis (aka Western Redbud)

Coleonema pulchellum 'Album' (aka White Breath of Heaven), underplanted with Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Santa Barbara Daisy)

Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia' (aka Pacific Iris)

Two noID Iris x hollandica (Dutch Iris) and a noID Iris germanica (bearded Iris)

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' (aka New Zealand Tree Tree)

Leucadendron 'Pisa', displaying its yellow flower-like bracts

I wasn't going to admit to a favorite but I'm honestly in love with this plant.  It's Leucospermum 'Brandi', blooming in earnest for the first time this year.  Leucospermum are also known as Pincushion Proteas.

Leucospermum 'Goldie' is lagging 'Brandi' in the bloom department but it looks as though she's also going to have a good year

These photos show the various stages of the bloom of Leucospermum 'Spider Hybrid'

Limonium perezii (aka Sea Lavender or Statice)

Phlomis fruticosa (aka Jerusalem Sage)

Rosa 'Joseph's Coat', always the first of the few roses in my garden to bloom

Several genera of plants are putting on an especially good show right now when looked at as a collection.

I've got IDs on only 2 of my Alstroemerias.  The white one on the upper left is 'Claire' and the red-orange one next to it is 'Indian Summer'.

Cistus (aka Rockrose): 'Second Honeymoon', x skanbergii, and 'Sunset'

Echium handiense (Pride of Fuerteventura) on the left has been blooming since February but E. candicans (Star of Madeira) in the middle photo and E. webbii on the right are only just now beginning their blooms cycles

Eschschlozia californica, California's state flower, bloomed on my back slope this year after hardly any blooms last year.  The variety in the middle, 'White Linen' was planted from seeds years ago but the others are mostly products of plugs I planted this past winter.

I've no problem growing Euphorbia.  Clockwise from the top are: E. characias 'Black Pearl', E. rigida, 'Dean's Hybrid', and 'Ascot Rainbow'.

Grevilleas, clockwise from the upper left:  G. 'Ned Kelly', 'Peaches & Cream', 'Scarlet Sprite', and 'Superb'

Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset' (left) and 'Gold Flash' (right)

The Narcissus are fading fast: N. 'Geranium' (left) and 'White Lion' (right)

The Osteospermums aren't liking our warmer temperatures either.  Clockwise from the upper left: O. '3D Purple', '4D Silver', '4D Violet Ice', 'Summertime Sweet Kardinal', 'Berry White' and 'Double Moonglow'.

In contrast, the Pelargoniums like warm conditions.  Clockwise from the upper left: Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard', P. cucculatum 'Flore Pleno', P. 'Pink Fairy Cascade', P. 'Orange Fizz' (the name comes from the scent of the leaves rather than the color of the flowers), and P. 'White Lady'.

The simple white and yellow Pyrethropsis hosmariense (Moroccan daisies) have faded from the scene but 2 other varieties, 'Casablanca' (left) and 'Marrakech' (right) appeared this month

With the exception of the perennial Ranunculus californicus on the upper left, all these are R. asiaticus grown from tubers.  The latter haven't held up to our recent warm, dry winds.

Two very different Salvias: Salvia africana lutea (left) and S. heldreichiana (right)

Two other plants distinguished themselves for the oddity of their blooms rather than the size or sheer number of their flowers.

This quirky flower is Bupleurum rotundifolium 'Griffithii' Nigella orientalis 'Transformer', grown from seed.  (My thanks to the anonymous commentator for pointing me to the right ID here.  I sowed both Bupleurum and this unusual Nigella , both new to me, in the same location at the same time.)

This photo of Ferraria crispa (aka Starfish Iris) was taken early this month.  The flowers came on in a flurry this year but seem to be done now.

I'll close as usual with collages made up of the best of the rest of the blooms in my garden.

Top row: Ajuga 'Mint Chip', Alyogyne huegelii 'Swan River', and noID Ceanothus
Middle row: Cerinthe major, Geranium incanum (a weed!), and Helleborus 'Blue Lady'
Bottom row: self-seeded Lavandula stoechas, Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly', and Viola 'Blueberry'

Clockwise from the upper left: Aloe 'Rooikappie', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Hippeastrum 'Giant Amadeus' (producing a new bloom stalk months after the first one), Eremophila glabra, and Rosa chinense 'Mutabilis'

Clockwise from the upper left: Helleborus 'Phoebe', Babiana stricta, Centranthus ruber, Cuphea x 'Starfire Pink', Centaurea 'Silver Feathers', and Lampranthus 'Pink Kaboom'

Top row: Agryranthemum frutescens 'Mega White', Carpenteria californica, and Convolvulus cneorum
Middle row: Freesia, Fuchsia magellanica 'Hawkshead', and Gazania 'White Flame'
Bottom row: Ozythamnus diosmifolius, Westringia fruticosa, and Zantedeschia aethiopica

Clockwise from the upper left: Cotula lineariloba, Aeonium arboreum, Freesia, Kalanchoe orgyalis, and Nemesia 'Sunshine'

You made it to the end!  For more Bloom Day posts, visit our GBBD host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Top Ten (New) Blooms - Late March 2019

Chloris of The Blooming Garden posts a monthly top 10 list of what's flowering in her garden and invites others to join in.  I don't routinely participate as what I'd cover would frequently be a rehash of what's covered in my mid-month Bloom Day post.  As my March 15th Bloom Day post was particularly extensive, bordering on obnoxious, another post featuring many of the same blooms might strike readers as overkill.  Hopefully, Chloris will forgive me if I put my own spin on her meme.  The focus of this post will be on my favorites among the newest blooms in my garden.  With a few exceptions, these are flowers that didn't start blooming until the second half of the month.  In Spring, when almost every day reveals a new jewel, it isn't all that hard to come up with 10 candidates.  In fact, I had several that I culled from the list for the purposes of this post.

In my mid-month Bloom Day post, I bemoaned the fact that some of my most flamboyant bulb blooms hadn't yet made an appearance.  That changed in the second half of the month.

I was delighted when the Dutch Iris (Iris x hollandica) I planted around our backyard fountain our first year here bloomed.  I was more delighted still when they came back year-after-year, stronger than they were the prior year.  I've planted more of these bulbs the past 2 years and look forward to seeing similar results from them.

Scilla peruviana (aka Portuguese Squill) was a haphazard bloomer for my first few years here but it's become more dependable the last few years, a sign that I should plant more of these bulbs as well

I planted Ferraria crispa (aka Starfish Iris), a South African bulb, in December 2016.  If memory serves me correctly, the 2 bulbs bloomed for the first time last year.  I was able to get seeds to germinate too but I expect it's going to be a few years before I get those seedlings to bloom.  In the meantime, I'm pleased to see my original plants return to bloom again this year.  The flowers are about the size of a quarter and last only a day but they're spectacular nonetheless. 

I featured a single photo of one Leucospermum bloom in my earlier post, which is all there was to show at that point.  I took a ridiculous number of photos of that one flower as the bloom slowly unfurled.  My obsession has continued since then as more flowers have begun to open.

I planted Leucospermum 'Brandi' in March 2016 after a few prior failures in growing plants in this genus.  This one produced its very first blooms last year.  This year, the shrub's produced more buds and larger blooms.  The mature bloom is roughly the size of my hand.  I have 3 other species of Leucospermums in the garden now, all with buds, but 'Brandi' is the first out the gate.

Narcissi of various types have been blooming in my garden since January but more appeared last week, my favorite of which is the Tazetta Daffodil, Narcissus 'Geranium'.

This one produces as many as 6 flowers on each stem, making each stem look like a bouquet all by itself

I inherited several Phlomis fruticosa (aka Jerusalem sage) with the garden but most of the shrubs have declined significantly in the last few years, presumably due to persistent drought and soaring summer-time temperatures.  I pulled a couple and hard-pruned the others about 2 months ago.  I didn't have high hopes that they'd rebound; however, at least 2 shrubs are making a good go at doing just that.

I love the soft yellow of the flowers, which always strike me as something Dr. Seuss might have drawn

My mid-month post featured a single photo of a Ranunculus, the only one of these in bloom at that time.  The tubers in my cutting garden suddenly got cracking during the second half of the month.

From one bloom to more than a dozen in matter of days

In addition to white and pink picotee varieties I planted a batch labeled "salmon."  I was concerned that the latter would all bloom in exactly the same shade but "salmon" seems to encompass a range of pinkish-orange colors.  I've had problems growing poppies but these strike me as great substitutes.

The next candidate for my top new blooms list is an odd one.  Some of you may find it homely but I find it very interesting.

This is Salvia africana lutea.  I picked up a small plant at my local botanic garden 3 years ago.  It's still a little less than 2 feet tall but it's blooming well this year.  The flower's shape and color is unusual.

My next "new" bloom doesn't really fit the category as I've described it thus far.  It blooms nearly continuously but it's so hard to photograph that I seldom feature it.  I cut it back a month ago and it's looking particularly good right now.  I also managed a half-way decent photo of it for once so here it is:

This is Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender).  The pale pink-flowered Coleonema behind it helped the thin flower spires stand out in the photograph on the left.  The blooms last a long time and they're very aromatic, although I don't like the scent as well as I do other lavenders.  Its chief values to me are its deep blue color and drought tolerance.

My last entry is a flowering tree I found blooming only yesterday.  Once I noticed the blooms on mine, I noticed the same species in bloom all over town, as if a bell sounded to call them out.

This is Cercis occidentalis (aka Western Redbud).  In my garden it wants to be a shrub, producing a lot of suckers at its base.  If it wasn't for this annual display of flowers, I'd probably pull both of mine out.

That's it for my top 10 blooms for the second part of March.  Visit Chloris at The Blooming Garden to discover what she and other gardeners are celebrating as Spring kicks off.  Check out my Bloom Day post if you want to see what else is blooming in my garden at the moment - our heavier-than-usual winter rains have created magic.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

And the award goes to...

I don't watch the Oscars but Los Angeles is a company town and it's hard to escape the relentless coverage leading up to Sunday's event so it seemed an appropriate lead-in to a post on my favorite plants this February.  If I were giving awards to plants in my February garden, top honors would have to go to the Osteospermums.  These plants are usually at their best during the cooler months here.  The excessively warm weather we had through November slowed the start of their show and I've been concerned that our unusually warm (and dry) February would stall out their performance but such is not the case.  Osteospermum of all types are in bloom throughout the garden but I'll restrict this post to just a few.

Osteospermum 'Blue-eyed Beauty' blooms on shorter stems than many of the others in its genus but it's literally blanketed in flowers.  These were planted from 4-inch pots in December 2014 so they've aptly demonstrated their ability to handle both heat and drought conditions.

Osteospermum 'Pink Spoon', planted in February 2014, wins with its unusual flower petals

Osteospermum 'Summertime Sweet Kardinal', planted in January 2015, gets an award for top performance of a flowering plant in my dry garden.  And doesn't it complement Leucadendron 'Ebony' (on the right) beautifully? 

Some of my Grevilleas also got off to a slow start on their bloom cycle this year.

Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia may have small flowers but it puts on an impressive performance and continues to gain stature in the south side garden

Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola' bloomed about a month later this year but it's no less floriferous than in prior years

I'm not going to show Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' or 'Superb' in this post.  Even though both are still blooming and will probably continue to do so off and on throughout the year, they're at risk of overexposure on this blog so they're shying away from publicity right now.  However, did you notice that birdbath-style succulent planter in the wide shot of Grevillea 'Penola' above?  I'm very impressed by the Agave titanota 'White Ice' that forms its centerpiece.

Look at that cool color, those leaf imprints and the graceful form of those thorns!

The warm weather has also brought out the blooms on our Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis).  The blooms don't last long so they surely deserve notice when they make their annual appearance.

Regrettably, the Cercis occidentalis has a poor backdrop for her publicity shot

Like every movie, every garden has valuable supporting players.  One of the most notable this month is Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'.

I grow Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' for its chartreuse foliage color but it does a great job in the bloom category too

Like the Oscars, awards are made in many categories that contribute to the final product.  I took photos of other plants but, unlike the Oscars, I'm not going to stretch out this post with a lot of supplemental awards, yet I do want to share one more.  The award for best lighting in late afternoon goes to: Bulbine frutescens.

Making a late afternoon pass through the back garden with my camera, I couldn't help but notice how the Bulbine glowed

With that, I'll turn you over to Loree at danger garden, the host of this monthly favorite plants wrap-up.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party