Spring Blooms to the Rescue!

It's been a surreal and very turbulent week.  Trying to fill gaps in the pantry as grocery store shelves go bare.  One activity after another abruptly cancelled.  Limited to talking to friends by phone or text rather than seeing them in person.  Required to sit a the parking lot while my cat is unloaded from my car and taken inside the veterinary clinic for chemotherapy.  Then, last night, receiving notice from California State and Los Angeles County government officials directing the majority of residents to stay home, leaving only for essential tasks like grocery shopping and medical services.

My garden provides the only real sense of normalcy at the moment.  I collected another round of photos to share with those of you who are also seeking distraction.  I'll start with the blooms I missed when I put together my mid-month Bloom Day post less than a week ago.

How did I forget to show you a view of my California poppies?

The bed adjacent to the small patio on the south side of our house contains not only orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica, top row), but also Leucospermum 'Goldie' and Sparaxis tricolor (bottom row).  Hard pruning the  Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' shrubs that had dominated this bed provided the space and the sun that allowed the poppies to bloom here.

Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow' echoes the colors of the in Yucca 'Bright Star' behind it

Narcissus tazetta 'Geranium' is making a statement in the front garden

Pelargonium hybrid 'White Lady' gets around on the back slope

Clockwise from the upper left, other flowers that were left out of my Bloom Day post include: Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', white and pink Ranunculus, a noID Antirrhinum majus, a noID spoon-petaled Osteospermum, Ajuga 'Mint Chip', and Veronica 'Waterperry Blue'.  I pruned most of my Cuphea back hard 2 months ago but I left one mostly intact because I didn't want to disappoint the hummingbirds.  The Ranunculus, planted as tubers in late November, have been disappointing thus far but perhaps conditions have been too cool and water too limited to allow them to do their best.

All sorts of flowers made their first appearance this week.

Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia' unfolds new blooms daily

Two more Leucospermums, 'Brandi' (left) and 'Spider' (right) are on their way

My first rose of the season bloomed!  It came with the garden and has a beautiful scent but I've no ID for it.

Clockwise from the upper left, the other new arrivals include: Alyogyne huegelii (aka blue hibiscus), Hyacinthoides hispanica (Spanish bluebells), Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset', Linum grandiflorum (red flax), and Centranthus ruber.  I sowed red and blue flax seeds in November and this is the very first flower.

I even had a couple of pleasant surprises.

I purchased this plant by mail order in 2012.  It was simply labeled Abelia species.  The seller no longer grows it and I've never found a species name for it.  The shape of the flowers is like that of other Abelias I grow but but it doesn't have the glossy foliage common to the Abelias commonly sold by garden centers.  It blooms every year but is partially hidden under an unruly trailing Lantana on the back slope.

I planted 3 Hippeastrum papilio in a mostly shade bed next to our living room window a couple of years ago after they completed their first bloom cycle in a basket.  They didn't bloom last year and I was afraid they weren't going to do so this year but one plant has produced a flower now, albeit on a very short stem.  I'll probably move all 3 bulbs in late spring to a spot where they can get more light in an effort to encourage more blooms next year.

Our shelter-in-place order remains in effect until at least April 19th so I guess I'll have time to tackle the variety of garden projects, big and small, that I've been putting off.  If you've found yourself suddenly at loose ends, I hope you're finding positive ways to occupy yourself too.  I'll close with another shot of the Scilla peruviana in my back garden, not because you didn't see it in my Bloom Day post, but only because I think it's very pretty.

Best wishes for a stress-free weekend.


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

Bloom Day Postscript

One of the glories of spring is that each passing day brings new revelations.  While some of the new arrivals may still be around to celebrate April's Bloom Day, others may not so I'm going to go ahead and share a few (well, maybe more than a few) now.

Echium webbii (a dwarf) is now blooming alongside Felicia aethiopica

Ajuga hybrid 'Mint Chip' has appeared with the first blooms of Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin'

Aristea inqualis, planted in 2014, has finally produced its first blooms

Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia' is in bloom along the driveway.  I've had a remarkably difficult time getting Pacific Coast Iris to bloom here but this winter's rain appears to have provided the help I needed.

Ageratum corymbosum has had buds for months but, the day after March Bloom Day, they finally began to open

This noID Delosperma has appeared in spots all along the street-side succulent bed.  I thought it made the pretty Agave 'Blue Flame' shown here look even prettier.

Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa' produces a smattering of flowers most of the year but now it's really blooming!

The 2 Cercis occidentalis (Western Redbuds) that came with the garden just burst into bloom

The first Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) of the season has appeared!

Higher than normal temperatures last week knocked out most of my daffodils but Narcissus 'White Lion' seems to be a sturdier sort

The Prunus laurocerasus hedge is blooming on the southwest side of the garden

A few noID Calendulas, presumably from seeds I scattered 2 years ago that never germinated, have bloomed, nicely complementing Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark'

This is a poor photo of a relatively new addition to the garden, Verbascum arcturus

I've had California fescue (Festuca californica) in my garden for a few years but this is the first time it's flowered like this

There are blooms on fruit trees too!

Blossoms on the navel orange tree (left) and peach tree (right).  Both trees came with the garden but the noID peach was invisible until we removed the giant Yucca elephantipes at the bottom of the back slope a few years ago.

And more of the Pelargoniums are blooming.

Clockwise from the left: Pelargonium 'Tweedle Dee', noID, 'Golf Ball', 'White Lady', and 'Vectris Glitter' 

I even have my first rose bloom, appropriately perhaps, 'California Dreamin'.

I've been fighting an onslaught of aphids on all my roses and it looks as though I need to leap into the fray again

I hope this post isn't too obnoxious.  Spring does come very early in coastal Southern California.  Unfortunately, summer's heat does as well so we have to celebrate when we can.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party