Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - November 2019

November isn't the best month for gardens in the Northern Hemisphere and mine is no exception.  There's less in bloom in my garden this month than there was last year at this time but that's a byproduct of both weather conditions and inattention on my part.  We've been dry since early May and, although our rainy season officially kicked off in October, we've yet to see a drop of rain.  We've had warmer days than typical for this time of year and bout after bout of high-velocity Santa Ana winds, which spread wildfires as has become the pattern in recent years.  On the positive side, the nights have been cool and the marine layer has raised our humidity during the morning hours of late.  We don't generally get freezes here but the warm daytime temperatures and wind have knocked out many of my plants and, as our 5-month home remodel finally nears its end, my attention has been focused on the inside of the house, with the garden forced to fend for itself.  I'm hoping that'll change in the next month.

I posted photos of my fall floral standouts in late October.  My Senna bicapsularis and Plectranthus 'Zulu Wonder' are mostly done for the season.  The bush violets are still blooming, although they're past they're peak now.

Barleria obtusa (aka bush violet), lending a cool note to our warm days

Several other plants are making a splash right now.

Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree)

The ever-blooming Grevilleas, 'Ned Kelly', 'Peaches & Cream', and 'Superb'

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and P. 'Sky Rocket'

Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy'

Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy)

A handful of others have just begun their bloom cycle.

NoID Camellia sasanqua, which lost a lot of bud-filled stems when the house exterior was painted

Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre'

Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses'

Hypoestes aristata (aka ribbon bush)

Mahonia x media 'Charity'

There were a few surprises too.

The foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea, left) I planted as plugs in October 2018 have bloomed off and on all year and those I didn't pull to make room for dahlias this summer are blooming again now.  Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' (upper right) is blooming for a third time this year. Nerine bowdenii 'Stefani', picked up at The Huntington's 2017 fall plant sale. is blooming now for the first time.

I'm ending my post as I usually do with a few collages showing what's flowering on a smaller scale.

Clockwise from the upper left: Duranta repens 'Sapphire Showers', Polygala fruticosa, noID Wahlenbergia, Lavandula multifida, and Campanula poscharskyana

Clockwise from the upper left: Arbutus 'Marina', Gazania 'White Flame', Pentas 'Graffiti Pink', and 2 of the Zinnia elegans I haven't yet pulled from my cutting garden

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Lantana 'Lucky White', self-seeded Osteospermum, Gazania 'Gold Flame', and 2 more varieties of Zinnia elegans

For more Bloom Day posts, visit GBBD's ringleader, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.


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

In a Vase on Monday: Going tiny

Today is the anniversary of the popular meme, In a Vase on Monday, launched by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden six years ago.  I joined up at the end of March 2014 and have participated regularly ever since.  To recognize IAVOM's anniversary, Cathy challenged contributors to go small this week, creating diminutive arrangements.  I didn't quite make the six-inch height and width limit she suggested but I came close.

The Bauhinia flower was difficult to cut as all the flowers on the Hong Kong orchid tree are now well above my head

Rear view, showing off the delicate flowers of Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses'

Top view

From left to right: Bauhinia x blakeana (aka Hong Kong orchid tree), Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses', and Pseuderanthemum 'Texas Tri-star'

As usual, I cut more than I could stuff into the three-inch green vase so the overflow - and a couple of extras - went into a second vase.

I was surprised to find a Lisianthus bloom. You may be surprised to see the foxglove bloom on the left - that came from one of the plants I put in last winter.  I pulled most of them but I still have 3 or 4 in my cutting garden and they're flowering again!

Back view: given Cathy's theme, I couldn't resist tucking in a few stems of Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy'

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus), Alternanthera 'Little Ruby', Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', Hypoestes aristata (aka ribbon bush), Digitalis purpurea, and Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'

Happy anniversary Cathy!  Thank you for leading this meme without ever dropping the ball.  You've made Monday special for many of us!  Visit Cathy to find more IAVOM posts.

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

In a Vase on Monday: Imitation orchids and faux flowers

As both of last week's vases are still in great shape and as the front entry, normally one of two spots I place a vase is currently showing off a Christmas display, I didn't "need" to create any new vases this week.  But, of course, that doesn't mean I didn't.  My Hong Kong Orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) is one of a dozen trees scheduled for trimming next Saturday so it seemed only prudent to cut a few of those flowers while I still can.

The orchid tree was slow to recover after the horrific heatwave that struck in July but it's finally full of flowers again

View from one side

and the other

This overhead view lets you see almost all the elements at once

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Bauhina x blakeana, Alternanthera 'Little Ruby', Artemisia 'Powis Castle', Hemizygia 'Candy Kisses', Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', and Persicaria capitata

The new arrangement found a spot in the master bedroom, one of the few empty spaces available at present

With the new vase occupying the bedroom mantle; a Christmas display in the front entry; last week's orchid and Leucadendron arrangement now in the living room, along with a half-decorated Christmas tree; and last week's teapot arrangement still gracing the dining room table, I didn't have space for any more vases.  However, I stumbled across a new Instagram trend involving decorating with succulents Saturday evening and I decided to give it a try and share the results with you.  Although #succiepotinapot is a Instagram challenge, I discovered it via Pinterest.  I relied on materials I already had on hand, which limited my options, but I still had fun with it.

I used an 8-inch ceramic pot and a 2.5-inch clay pot, creating a bouquet of "flowers" using small specimens of the following succulents: Echeveria agavoides 'Red Tips', E. 'Azulita', E. 'Morning Beauty', E. 'Violet Queen', and Jovibarba heuffelii.  I used cuttings of Crassula pubescens radicans to create leaves.  I stole gravel from my cutting garden to cover the exposed soil.

There are many better succulent pots in a pot arrangements posted on Instagram and Martha Stewart has a post on the Instagram challenge too.

For now, I've moved the pot to my lath (shade) house to keep it out of the way of the tree trimming crew due on Saturday.

I used plastic pot feet to display it on a tilt

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other IAVOM contributors have put together this week.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party