In a Vase on Monday: Vivid Color

We're facing another heatwave this week so I cut a lot of what was blooming in my cutting garden on Sunday morning.  Dare I hope that this will be our last heatwave of the year?  There are no guarantees and rain is still a distant prospect but my cutting garden is in peak giving mode nonetheless.

The intense color of Dahlia 'Rip City' grabbed my attention when I first saw a photo of the flower online early this year.  I ordered the tuber but I didn't really expect it to live up to its publicity photo; however, it has.

The blooms of 'Rip City' are almost black

Back view: The dahlia's color made it difficult to find partners that would complement rather than clash with its dark bluish-black undertones

Top view: Hot pinks offered the best match and the purplish color of Ageratum corymbosum's foliage gave the arrangement additional interest

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Rip City', foliage of Ageratum corymbosum, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Callistemon hybrid 'Hot Pink', Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', and Pentas lanceolata

Even though I used Dahlia 'Enchantress' in a vase last week, a good flush of fresh blooms had me cutting it again for another vase this week.  'Enchantress' performed well last year as well.  It's an especially prolific bloomer.

New blooms of a noID Japanese anemone that came with the garden were a last minute addition to play off the yellow in the center of the dahlias and the in the Lantana flowers

Back view: I used a few Zinnia 'Envy' flowers as accents here

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Enchantress', Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Lantana 'Samantha', noID Anemone hupehensis, and Zinnia elegans 'Envy'

As it's fall and I'd like to welcome the change of seasons (even if it doesn't yet feel like fall here yet), I cut sunflowers for a third vase.

The bees and the birds have been all over the flowers of this 'Delta Sunflower' in the cutting garden so I felt a twinge of guilt in taking some but the bush is still producing a steady supply of new blooms

Back view: I added stems of variegated Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' to brighten the mix a bit

Top view

Clockwise from the top: Helianthus annuus 'Delta Sunflower', Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

A friend planned to stop by to bring me a package of the cleaning wipes that have eluded me for months, so I prepared a final impromptu arrangement in a jelly jar to hand off to her as well.

The centerpiece of this arrangement was Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera'.  Other elements included: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' (foliage), Correa 'Wyn's Wonder', and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Blush'

I hope you enjoy a colorful week too!  For more flower arrangements, visit the leader of our merry IAVOM band, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Putting a positive spin on my late summer garden

Okay, I know that, technically speaking, it's now fall in the Northern Hemisphere; however, summer probably won't really come to an end for another 5-6 weeks in my area of Southern California.  In fact, aided by our devilish Santa Ana winds, we're expecting high temperatures in the 90s next week.  My garden is generally at its lowest ebb at this time of year.  After the last severe heatwave some areas look downright sad but the extra hand-watering I did in advance of that nasty heatwave did help and there are a few things to crow about.

This hybrid Callistemon 'Hot Pink' surprised me with a flush of blooms.  I think it's the first time it's flowered this year.

Despite the fact that the heatwave singed all the buds on Dahlia 'Iceberg', it produced another gigantic bloom.  The stem was very short and I couldn't cut it without sacrificing the two side buds so I decided to enjoy it where it was in my cutting garden.

Dahlia 'Rip City' produced its first blooms.  The first dahlia tuber I planted this year, it was nearly the last to bloom but it currently has more than two dozen buds,

'Rip City' (left) is nearly black.  The contrast with 'Loverboy' (right) emphasizes just how dark it is.

Helianthus annuus 'Delta Sunflower' is very happy in my cutting garden.  Both the bees and the birds are all over it.

This isn't the most impressive photo but I was thrilled when I noticed a bud on this Iris germanica 'Autumn Circus'.  The plant was a gift from a friend in late May.  It's a reblooming variety and this will be its first bloom.

Even though I threw out my rule against planting anything other than succulents during the summer months, I also managed to hang onto most of what I've recently planted.  Last Friday, I posted a photo of a new delivery of mail order plants. 

This was last week's delivery from Annie's Annuals & Perennials in Northern California

After unpacking the box, I held off on planting those new arrivals until early this week but I took care of all of them early this week.  Here's a closer look at the newly installed plants:

This is Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass'.  I've wanted one for a long time but large specimens are pricey, if you can even find them.  I'm giving this one an opportunity to bulk up a bit in a pot before it gets a permanent placement in the garden.

This is one of three new Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' plants.  I admittedly have a lot of these already but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to plant a few more in 4-inch pots as the fall and winter-planted specimens have always done the best in my garden.

Ceanothus x pallidus 'Marie Simon', a pink-flowered variety, was my biggest splurge.  I plan to plant it in my back border but I'm going to let it spread its roots in this temporary pot until I'm comfortably certain that our hot weather is behind us.

This drought-tolerant white-flowering groundcover, Falkia repens, was an impulse purchase.  I divided it in two before planting it out.

I have a checkered past with Penstemon in this garden but Penstemon x gloxiniodes 'Midnight' is supposed to be tough.  I planted three in an area that already contains pink and blue Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Salvia 'Mystic Spires' and Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'.

Sideritis cypria is a plant I've grown before that has very interesting flowers.  This is a new location for these plants.

Pleased at having everything taken care of, I treated myself to another trip to my local garden center.  I was in the area to get my flu shot, so why not stop?  New plants are a better reward for taking care of that chore than a lollipop. 

The three grass-like plants in the 1-gallon pots are Lomandra.  The green one is a replacement for one than died (the first and only loss of these plants I've had).  I'd been looking for additional pots of the variegated variety, 'Platinum Beauty' and I found these at a reasonable price, so I couldn't pass them up (and I've already planted both).  The rest consists of three 4-inch pots of Santolinas and 6-packs of Digitalis purpurea and Limonium perezii, all best purchased in small sizes.

I can't help it.  Even though it still feels like summer here, I can feel fall's siren call and fall is prime planting season in this part of the country.  I've got several significant projects in the offing but must hold off on some of these until the tree service pays its annual visit, probably next month.  The arborist dropped by this week to discuss what I want done and, in addition to the annual trimming, I'm having two trees taken out.  Their removal makes me very sad but there really isn't any alternative as one is dead and the other is nearly so.

I think the Heteromeles arbutifolia (aka Toyon) was felled by the pathogen that causes sudden oak death.  This tree-sized shrub is one of many plants sensitive to the pathogen.  Once I noticed the leaves turning red, it was already too late.  As it sits on the top of a steep slope overlooking a neighbor's driveway and next to a huge tree stump, I'm not going to be able to plant another tree in that spot but I may try making room for one nearby.

We had emergency surgery performed on this Albizia julibrissin (aka mimosa) two years ago in an effort to stop or slow the spread of damage caused by shot-hole borers but the tree's decline continued.  It produced unsightly adventitious growth and the bark of its trunk is now decaying.  Despite the fact that it also sits atop a steep slope, the arborist believes we can safely grind the stump on the inside of the hedge behind it.  I'm hoping I can plant a small tree in that area but that idea requires further evaluation.

Time to get to work on planting the rest of what I picked up at the garden center this week and planning for the future.  Happy gardening!

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - September 2020

As if the pandemic and the awful political state of affairs in the US weren't bad enough, Mother Nature threw us a couple of new challenges in September: a truly nasty heatwave and a boatload of terrible wildfires that have left us blanketed in smoke that refuses to move out of here.  Still, I recognize that my husband and I are very lucky - we have our lives, our home, and our health, ignoring the persistent throat irritation and headaches I've had since the smoke arrived.

As spending a lot of time outside is inadvisable at the moment, half the photos I'm using for this Bloom Day post were taken earlier in the month; however, with one exception, all the plants shown are still in bloom now.  I'll start with the exception.

The second (and largest) Yucca 'Bright Star' developed a bloom stalk in late August.  It was nearly at full bloom when I took this photograph on September 4th, just before the horrendous heatwave settled in.  It declined rapidly in the heat and I cut it down on September 11th.

The Yucca bloom was a short-lived surprise but let's proceed to September's floral stars, starting with the dahlias and the zinnias.

Dahlia 'Labyrinth' wins the top spot.  It has big, beautiful flowers and it's produced a steady stream of new blooms. 

Other dahlias currently in bloom include, clockwise from the upper left: 'Belle of Barmera', 'Loverboy', 'Mr Optimist', 'Iceberg', 'Enchantress' and 'Einstein'.  'Candelight' bloomed at the end of August but the next set of blooms haven't fully opened yet and 'Rip City' is full of buds but no blooms.  'Rancho' and 'Gitts Crazy' are still keeping me waiting.

I planted two mixed packets of Zinnia seeds and four named varieties but they were also mixed together when I seeded the raised planters in my cutting garden.  I think flowers from 'Northern Lights Mix', 'Unicorn Mix', 'Benary Giant Lilac' and 'Envy' are represented in this array.

I planted plugs from 'Dreamland' and 'Profusion' Zinnia mixes here on the south side of the house

There are plenty of other blooming plants making a statement this month too.

The Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) looked terrible for months but its twiggy branches are finally covered in both leaves and flowers

I finally got Clematis terniflora (aka sweet autumn Clematis) properly tied up against the south side arbor, encouraging it to climb but a couple of stems have also sought to weave themselves through the Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' at the plant's base

Cosmos bipinnatus is continuing its bloom-fest this month

The sunflower seeds I sowed produced disappointingly small plants but the Helianthus 'Delta Sunflower' (left) and 'Sunfinity' (right) I bought as plants are doing well

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' will only get better as we head into fall

Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy' lasts longer in a vase than anything else in my garden

I made repeated attempts to get a decent shot of this large Vitex trifolia purpurea in full bloom but none of my photos captured the plant's beauty well.  The leaves are olive green on top and purple on the bottom and the flowers are a delicate blue.

The dependable large-flowered Grevilleas are particularly floriferous this month.  They didn't pay our recent heatwave a speck of notice as far as I can tell.

This is Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'

and this is Grevillea 'Superb'

I had a few surprises as well this month.

I didn't notice the blooms on this Leucophyllum laevigatum until mid-day yesterday.  Regrettably, the greatest profusion of flowers faces the hedge.

This is the first time I've ever gotten a passionflower vine to bloom in this garden and this is the only bloom I've seen thus far.  This is hybrid Passiflora 'Oakland'.

I discovered this noID Stapelia (aka starfish flower) in bloom earlier this month.  It didn't last long.  It's odor is said to attract flies but I didn't see many.

  

I'd also like to offer special notice to a plant that normally gets little love.

Phyla nodiflora (aka Lippia and frogfruit) has done a nice job as a groundcover below the backyard fountain.  The flowers are tiny but colorful.

With that I'll conclude as I usually do with color-coded collages featuring the best of what else is in bloom this month.

Clockwise from the upper left: self-sown Amaranthus, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', Penstemon mexicali 'Mini-bells Red', Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy', Salvia lanceolata and, in the middle, Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite'

Clockwise from the upper left: Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' , Lantana camara 'Irene', Rosa 'Medallion', and Rudbeckia 'Sahara'

Left to right: Alstroemeria 'Inca Sunshine', Lantana 'Samantha', and noID Phalaenopsis

Clockwise from upper left: Allium tuberosum, Asparagus fern, noID Hoya, Gaura lindheimeri, self-sown Osteospermum, Pandorea jasminoides, and Coriandrum sativum

Clockwise from upper left: Cuphea 'Honeybells', C. 'Starfire Pink', Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', Eustoma grandiflorum, Osteospermum 'Berry White', Pentas lanceolata, and Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' (with 'Pow-wow Berry')

Top row: Erigeron glacus 'Wayne Roderick', Liriope muscari, and Melaleuca thymifolia
Middle row: noID Phalaenopsis, Plectranthus neochilus, and Plumbago 'Imperial Blue'
Bottom row: Polygala fruticosa, Symphyotrichcum chilense, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

For more Gardeners' Bloom Day posts, visit our host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party