Late to the Garden Party: Nigella 'African Bride'

Showing posts with label Nigella 'African Bride'. Show all posts

Monday, June 7, 2021

In a Vase on Monday: Under gray skies

As much of the northeastern and mid-Atlantic areas of the US experienced scorching heat this weekend, coastal Southern California was comfortably cool, thanks to our seasonal "June Gloom." The gray clouds usually move out by early afternoon but that morning cloud cover keeps our afternoon temperatures down. Today's expected to be especially gloomy, even offering the opportunity of light drizzle. I'm not holding my breath over the prospect of real rain but even the high humidity that accompanies our June Gloom often causes the roof to shed some moisture into my rain barrels, which is always welcome.

View looking toward Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, from my backyard late Sunday afternoon

My garden is slowly shifting from its cool season mode to its warm-hot season mode in anticipation of summer. My cool season annuals are dying off quickly while many of my summer-flowering plants have been slow to get started but there's still plenty of color to be found. The inspiration for my first vase this week was three gladiola stalks that surprised me with blooms in my cutting garden. I thought I'd dug all the gladiola corms out of my raised planters last fall but apparently I missed a few.

I recently planted a package of orange gladiola corms and I have another collection yet to plant but the early arrivals of the dramatic purple Gladiolus 'Vuvuzela' were appreciated

Back view: As usual, I picked more than I actually needed to fill my vase, much of which got stuffed to the rear of the arrangement

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily), Coriandrum sativum (aka cilantro/coriander, which is popping up all over my garden), Gladilous 'Vuvuzela', white and lavender Consolida ajacis (aka larkspur), Penstemon digitalis 'Onyx & Pearls', and Nigella 'African Bride'

My second arrangement was inspired by the first flush of blooms on the tree-sized Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' in my back border.

The appearance of a few short stems of Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach' in my cutting garden sealed the peachy-orange color scheme. I couldn't help myself from cutting one stem of Leucospermum 'Brandi' as it's nearing the end of its season and as the squirrels polished off the majority of Leucospermum 'Goldie'.

Back view: The foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' picked up the raspberry undertones evident in some of the flowers

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', Grevillia 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Leucospermum 'Brandi'

With the usual touch of sadness, on Saturday I tore out the sweet peas that occupied most of one raised planting bed in my cutting garden. It always seems that they forever to grow from seed to flowering plants, only to be gone all too soon. I met three friends for lunch (at a restaurant!) last Friday and I'd hoped to bring each one a small bouquet of sweet peas but there weren't enough presentable flowers left to do that.

I managed a small vase for the kitchen island and my office from what was left. The very short stems came from Lathyrus odoratus 'Sir Jimmy Shand','Blue Shift', and 'High Scent'.

For more IAVOM creations, check in with our host, Cathy of Rambling in the Garden.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May Bloom Day

With most of my attention given to other concerns this month, I haven't had much time to take pictures of the garden, much less work in it. Picture-taking has also been hindered by a few days of soaring temperatures and low humidity, which turned once plump, healthy blooms into ragged versions of themselves. Nonetheless, I'll present the best of what I've got.

There's a lot in bloom in the backyard border. I need to add some foliage plants to improve the color flow.

Alstroemeria (no ID on variety) and Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Santa Barbara Daisy)

Digitalis purpurea 'Foxy'

Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum' backed by Hebe speciosa 'Varigata'

Hebe 'Patty's Purple' fronted by Geranium 'Tiny Monster'

California native Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita Bop' and daisies

Bearded Iris are blooming in the back border and elsewhere. The first 2 photos below show Iris I inherited with the property. Those in the next photos were added within the last year.

Butterscotch-colored Iris (no ID)

Lavender/purple Iris (no ID)

Iris germanica 'Hautles Voiles'

Iris germanica 'Ravenous'

Adding this unnamed Iris is a bit of a Bloom Day cheat as it shriveled in the heat prior to the middle of the month

Oenothera and Cistus are the highlights of the dry garden right now.

Oenothera speciosa (aka Pink Evening Primrose) with Phormium tenax 'Apricot Queen'

Cistus 'Sunset' and Oenothera speciosa

Genista canariensis, Phormium tenax 'Yellow Wave' and Oenothera speciosa

Hemerocallis 'Russian Rhapsody'

Since the removal of the Eucalyptus tree that once dominated the right side of the property, the side yard gets more sun. The wind that sweeps through the area in the afternoon is also having a greater impact than it did when the area was somewhat protected by the 60 foot tree. I've pulled out ferns, primrose and other shade-loving plants but I may have to move others, like the Acanthus mollis and the Arthropodium cirratum as well - I'll see how they do when summer arrives and our temperatures sit in the upper ranges for prolonged periods.