In a Vase on Monday: Rain!

I'm celebrating the fact that we had rain on Sunday, which is something of a minor miracle for us at this time of time of the year.  It's usually dry here from early April until sometime in October.  Yes, we do occasionally have a tropical storm move through but it's not common.  Although forecasters said we could get rain over the Labor Day holiday weekend, the predictions were on the order of a twenty-five percent shot for our area.  But a thunderstorm did indeed come through Sunday morning, delivering over half an inch or rain.  Luckily, we didn't experience any of the flooding some nearby areas did.

As the possibility of rain increased on Saturday, I decided to pick flowers late that afternoon just in case.  That worked out well as I suspect the downpour would've wreaked havoc on many of the dahlias I still had in bloom.  I was able to put together two arrangements again this week, the first of which included Dahlia 'Snowball', which I hadn't had many opportunities to use previously this season.

I did have to gather a scattering of other dahlias to flesh out the arrangement, though

Back view: I used several of the white zinnias as filler material too

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum', Dahlia 'Enchantress', D. 'Mikayla Miranda', D. 'Snowball', and D. 'Table Dancer'.  I note that 'Enchantress' and 'Mikayla Miranda' are still not pulling their expected weight this year.

The second arrangement is also heavy on dahlias but I squeezed in some sunflowers too.  Last week, I identified the sunflowers I used as Helianthus 'Astra Rose'; however, I think that was incorrect and that the sunflowers I used this week actually fit the description of that plant.  I haven't found the seed packet for the other sunflower.

The sunflower adds a nice note to the arrangement but the real stars are the 'Omega' dahlias

 

I tucked a single stem of Dahlia 'Break Out' into the back of the arrangement.  'Break Out' was the most vigorous of all my dahlias at the start of the season but it has effectively burned itself out more recently.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Dahlia 'Break Out', D. 'Omega', Helianthus 'Astra Rose', Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose', and Z. 'Queeny Lemon Peach'

The dahlias are still fading fast but I hope I'll be able to pull together a couple more bouquets before I call an end to my summer season.  Be sure to check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other IAVOM contributors have to share this week.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Dashing to the finish line?

The persistent heat has a taken toll on both the garden and the gardener.  According to climatologists, the problem at present here isn't so much the daytime peaks in our temperatures as the fact that we're not seeing the drops in the evening and nighttime temperatures we're used to, and which we rely on to provide relief.  We finally got a break in the daytime highs on Sunday with temperatures falling from the mid-90s (35C) to upper 80s (30C) along the coast but it remains to be seen whether the nighttime temperatures will show a similar decline.

There are still dahlias in my cutting garden but there are fewer varieties making an appearance. Nonetheless, I was able to cobble together two arrangements this week.  The first was headlined by another flush of Dahlia 'Labyrinth' with a few assists from some bit players.

One large, multi-branched sunflower finally bloomed recently and I was looking forward to featuring it this week with just a few dahlias as accents.  But the majority of the sunflowers were looking sad after last week's blistering heat so the sunflowers slipped into the background and the dahlias stepped forward once again. 

Back view: One Dahlia 'Honeymoon' stem also showed up after a long wait so I included it too.  Pretty as that dahlia is, it's been a disappointment overall.  I think it's given me only 4 flowers in total thus far.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Dahlia 'Labyrinth', D. 'Honeymoon', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Helianthus 'Astra Rose', Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum', and Zinnias 'Benary's Salmon Rose' and 'Queeny Lemon Peach'.  The sunflower doesn't look anywhere near as pink as it looked in the seed catalog.

Arrangement in place in the front entry

The second arrangement was comprised of a group of dahlias I've largely ignored this season.

Dahlia 'Mystery Day' is the focal point of this arrangement.  I was looking for a red and white dahlia last year to replace the 'Catching Fire' variety I lost to the dreaded dahlia virus but this one hasn't made the grade with me.  I'll be scouting around for a replacement again when I shop for next year's tubers.

Back view: I threw in 3 other dahlias to fill out the arrangement

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left, this vase contains: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', more Digitalis purpurea (!), Dahlia 'Admiral Rawlings', D. 'Mystery Day', D. 'Snowball', and D. 'Table Dancer' 

As our dining table has been taken over with various therapy materials these days, secondary floral arrangements have been consigned to the kitchen island

I've cleaned up the plants in my cutting garden that have suffered most from the combination of heat and mildew but it's not at all certain that will give them the boost they require to carry on through September.  There's little in the way of new floral content on the horizon at the moment.  I may have to turn to succulents soon, although even those plants are also looking battle weary at this point.

To find more IAVOM contributions, be sure to check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Save the last dahlia for me

Deconstruction of my cutting garden is well underway.  I left four dahlias with large buds in place for awhile last week but ultimately gave up on all but one of them.  All the other dahlias - or at least those I've chosen to keep - have been dug up, washed, divided, and tucked away in the garage for the duration of their dormant period.  The last dahlia produced a single bloom and I cut it for an arrangement as a nod to the end of my dahlia season.

Dahlia 'Breakout' is the centerpiece.  I added bits and pieces from elsewhere in the garden to fill out the squat decorative teapot, including a stem of Amarine 'Emanuelle'.  I planted 5 Amarines 2 years ago and so far 4 have bloomed, albeit each on its own schedule.

Back view: I added 2 stems of the pale yellow Senna bicapsularis to play off the yellow tones at the center of the dahlia

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Amarine belladiva 'Emanuelle', Callistemon 'Cane's  Hybrid', Correa 'Wyn's Wonder', Dahlia 'Breakout', Leucadendron 'Jester', Senna bicapsularis, and noID Zinnia elegans

 

With the dahlias and also the zinnias now gone, the pickings will be slim for the next few months.  This week I made use of some of the remaining Rudbeckias and Helianthus before they're also gone.  Rudbeckia hirta is a short-lived perennial but I generally treat it as an annual as it gets scruffy at the end of the summer season.  Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' is classified as a half-hardy annual and, given that we're frost-free, it could hang on but, after four solid months of bloom, it's suddenly looking tired so I may retire it in favor of a plant that will add color to my cutting garden.

The remaining Rudbeckias are short-stemmed but Tagetes lemmonii and Pennisetum grass added needed height to the arrangement

Back view: I also added stems of Aristea inaequalis studded with seedheads to play off the dark tones of some of the flowers

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Aristea inaequalis seedheads, Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash', Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl', 2 colors of Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset', Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder', Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum', and Tagetes lemmonii

 

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Gardens.  For those of you who observe the holiday, Happy Halloween!

I added a few Halloween-specific props to my arrangements this week

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

Bloom Day - October 2023

I'm two days early for Bloom Day but hopefully you don't mind.  Weather conditions here have been so variable, I've no idea what to expect from my garden the rest of this month but there are still a lot of flowers at the moment.  The biggest show is in the cutting garden, where the dahlias continue to reign supreme.  This may be my most prolific dahlia season yet, even if they took their time getting started.

Clockwise from the upper left, this group includes: Dahlias 'Breakout', 'Calin', 'La Luna', the noID variety that was sold as 'French Can Can' but isn't that, 'Romantique', and 'Summer's End'

Top row: Dahlias 'Belle of Barmera' and 'Lady Darlene'
Bottom row: Mutant and normal forms of Dahlia 'Fairway Spur' and D. 'Labyrinth'

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlias 'Enchantress', 'Iceberg', 'Lavender Ruffles', and 'Mikayla Miranda'

Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' deserves its name.  My seed-grown sunflowers are already gone. 

Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset' has bountiful blooms too

 

Cosmos and zinnias share space in the raised planters of the cutting garden with the dahlias but they're fading fast.  Like the dahlias, their foliage is afflicted with powdery mildew, which is common this time of year when our morning marine layer often combines with wind and higher afternoon temperatures.

Cosmos bipinnatus in a range of colors

Top row: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple' and pink and yellow varieties from 'Candy Mix'
Middle: noID varieties in gold, orange, and pink
Bottom: Zinnias 'Queen Orange Lime' and 'Mazurkia' 

 

Outside the cutting garden there were some welcome surprises.

This Malayasian orchid (Medinilla myriantha) started blooming well over a month ago.  It was a pale pink that gradually turned this delicious purple color with hot pink stems.

Top row: I had to scour my records to identify Amarine belladiva 'Emanuelle' (left) and Lycoris springeri (right)
Bottom: Hebe 'Grace Kelly' and Hippeastrum 'Luna' blooming off-schedule

 

A few other plants are beginning their seasonal appearances.

Eriocapitella hupehensis (aka Japanese anemone)

noID Liriope muscari

The Osteospermums are gradually reawakening, although I've recently cut much of their scruffy summer foliage back.  The plant on the left is a self-seeded variety that reminds me a little of O. 'Berry White' except that the undersides of the petals aren't pink.  I think the plant on the right is O. '4D Violet Ice'.

 

I can always rely on certain regulars.

Clockwise from the upper left: Gazanias 'Gold Flame', noID orange variety, 'Otomi', and 'White Flame'

The unsinkable Grevillea 'Superb', which blooms all year long

 

I've sorted the best of the rest into color-themed collages.

Top row: noID Angelonia, Pelargonium peltatum 'Blizzard Blue', and Polygala myrtifolia
Middle: Calibrachoa 'Superbells Double Blue', Duranta repens 'Sapphire Showers', and Nemesia 'Sun Glow Bi-color'
Bottom: Leucophyllum laevigatum, Salvia 'Mystic Spires', and Symphyotrichum chilense

Clockwise from the upper left:  Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, Angelonia 'Archangel White'. noID Dipladenia, Eustoma grandiflorum, noID Pentas, and Phyla nodiflora

Top row: 2 pink-toned Catharanthus roseus and Cuphea 'Honeybells'
Middle: Cuphea 'Starfire Pink', noID coral Dipladenia, and Fuchsia 'Windchimes White'
Bottom: Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', Leucadendron 'Summer Red', and Pelargonium peltatum 'Burgundy' 

Top row: noID orange and yellow Calibrachoa and Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
Middle: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Faucaria tigrina, and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'
Bottom: Lantana camara 'Irene', Melinus nerviglumis, and Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

 

That's my flower show for this month!  For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens on October 15th, its traditional day of observation.  In the meantime, best wishes for a pleasant weekend.

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

Bloom Day - September 2023

In mid-August I whined over the sad state of affairs in my cutting garden, especially the significant delay in getting my dahlias to bloom.  I won't run through the reasons for this again.  Suffice it to say that the situation is much improved this month with dahlias playing the starring role on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

View of my cutting garden.  The biggest problem with it this month are that many of the larger dahlias are flopping over one another because they weren't all properly supported early in their development, which was entirely my fault.

Top row: Dahlias 'Belle of Barmera', 'Fairway Spur', and 'Labyrinth'
Middle: 'Summer's End' and a noID variety that was supposed to be 'French Can Can' but isn't
Bottom: 'Mikaya Miranda' and 'Lavender Ruffles'

Two views of Dahlia 'La Luna', a tuber that never bloomed last year and was mistakenly left in its raised bed, only to appear this year with a vigorous crop of flowers

 

Dahlia 'Catching Fire' (not shown) bloomed profusely in August.  It has a few buds so I may see it again before the end of the season.  Meanwhile, five other late bloomers have buds but have not yet bloomed: Dahlias 'Break Out', 'Calin', 'Iceberg', Lady Darlene', and 'Romantique'.  I'm trying to remain patient.

Instead of sowing seeds of Cosmos bipinnatus once I cleared the raised planters in in early June, I planted plugs.  They're all blooming now.

I've had a good experience with the seed-grown sunflower, Helianthus annuus 'Joker', shown on the left and upper right at its peak this month.  I bought Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' as a potted plant in May and gave it more room to grow in a half-barrel (lower right).  It's rewarded me with continuous blooms ever since.

I've been very pleased with Rudbeckia this year.  The hybrid Rudbeckia 'August Sun' shown at the top is a new acquisition purchased in a pot but Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset' (shown bottom row) were planted as plugs.

The annual zinnias are flowering less vigorously this month than last.  A lot of them have been crowded out by the flopping dahlias.  Clockwise from the upper left, those still putting on a good showing include: Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Purple', 'Candy Mix', Mazurkia', and 'Queen Lime Orange'.

 

There have been several small surprises elsewhere in the garden this month.

I planted 5 bulbs of Hymenocallis festalis 'Zwanenburg' (aka Peruvian daffodil) last year and got the first blooms this year following Tropical Storm Hilary.  They stagger their blooms, one showing up after another finishes.  Hopefully, they'll naturalize and I'll get a more abundant display in future years.

This noID Plumeria is blooming for the first time.  The bulb was given to me years ago by a neighbor who retrieved it from a trash can, which I planted in a large terracotta pot.

I planted a single Stachys 'Lilac Falls' in a back garden border in February 2016.  It soon disappeared and I hadn't seen it again until this month.  I assume that it was brought back from the dead by our unusual summer rainstorm.  According to online sources it's a hybrid of Lamium and Stachys.  The flowers are tiny but pretty.

Stapelia grandiflora (aka starfish flower) blooms erratically on its own schedule

The Symphyotrichum chilense 'Purple Haze' I intentionally removed in 2021 is back!  It's a native California aster that spreads by rhizomes and, although I appreciate the flowers, it's more aggressive than I'd like when it gets a lot of water.

Tillandsia ionantha bloomed inside my lath house but it has a pup so I hope it'll stay with me awhile yet

 

Many of my garden stalwarts produced a flush of blooms following the rare tropical storm that passed through our area in late August, delivering two glorious inches of rain.

Clematis terniflora (aka sweet autumn clematis) is the only member of this genus I've managed to keep alive.  This year, in addition to climbing up an arbor, it's creeping through my Cistus shrubs.

Cupheas respond well to rain!  Clockwise from the upper left are Cupheas 'Honeybells', 'Starfire Pink', and 'Vermillionaire' (shown in closeup and in context).

The coral and white Dipladenias, relatives of Mandevilla, do well in heat with sufficient water

Many of the Gazanias in my garden are self-seeded.  The only named variety in this group is Gazania 'Otomi', shown on the upper right.

Globularia x indubia (aka globe daisy) has been productive this year

Grevillea 'Superb' is productive year-round every year

Lantana are beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds,  I have a variety of them in my garden, most of which are probably the shrubby Lantana camara.  The exception is the one in the middle of the top row, which is Lantana montevidensis (aka trailing Lantana).

I'd been disappointed by Salvia 'Mystic Spires' this year but it sprang to life after Tropical Storm Hilary's visit

Tulbaghia violacea (aka society garlic) is blooming more heavily now than it did this spring

 

 

Two plants that provided abundant color earlier in the year are now poised to exit the stage until next year.

The pale blue and white Agapanthus are done for the season but this dark-flowered cultivar, 'Elaine', is still producing new flowers.  I need more of these!

The majority of the pink-flowered Amaryllis belladonna are gone but I found a few slackers hiding out in shadier parts of my garden.  As usual, the white-flowered variety comes along at the tail end of the season.

 

I'll end as I usually do with the best of the rest, collected in collages organized by color.

Clockwise from the upper left: Sutera cordata (syn Bacopa cordata), Euryops chrysanthemoides, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Crassula falcata, Daucus carota 'Dara', and Leucadendron salignum 'Blush'

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Angelonia, Eustoma grandiflorum, Fuchsia 'Wind Chimes White', Catharanthus roseus, Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Pelargonium hortorum 'Dynamo Purple'

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', Achillea ptarmica, noID Angelonia, Pandorea jasminoidies, and Scabiosa columbaria

Clockwise from the upper left: Duranta erecta 'Sapphire Showers', Monarda 'Peter's Purple', Nemesia 'Sun Glow Yellow Bicolor', Echinops ritro ruthenicus, and Medinilla myriantha

 

For more posts celebrating September's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, visit our host, Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Enjoy your weekend!

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