Bloom Day - August 2021

To my eyes, the pickings look slim this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  However, after looking back at last year's mid-August post, I found that, with a few exceptions, most of what was blooming then is also blooming now, albeit in smaller quantities in many cases.  Both last year and this year, the dahlias and zinnias I rely on for color during the hot, dry summer were late in getting their bloom on.  This year, I made a point of planting my dahlia tubers earlier, using temporary pots, but even so they've been slower still to bloom this year.  I even purchased three dahlias as plants this summer without much impact on net flower production.

Dahlia 'Akita' is the first of the plants I grew from tubers to bloom this year.  The flowers, photographed late yesterday afternoon, still weren't fully open.

Dahlia 'Cafe au Lait Royal' is lagging just behind 'Akita'

I bought a Dahlia 'Dark Side of the Sun' plant by mail order in June but it's only produced a few flowers thus far, usually one at a time.  The same has been true of Dahlia 'Mystic Illusion', purchased at a local garden center in July.

I've organized the rest of my Bloom Day photos by color, presenting just one or two stars in each category, while lumping the rest of my photos into color-coordinated collages in the interest of brevity.  The white flowers are up first.

Yucca 'Bright Star' surprised me with a bloom stalk this month

Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', A. 'Kaleidoscope', and Amaryllis belladonna 'Alba'
Middle row: Angelonia 'Archangel White', Centranthus ruber 'Albus', and Cosmos bipinnatus
Bottom row: Crassula pubescens, Eustoma grandiflora (aka Lisianthus), and Gaura lindheimeri

Top row: Magnolia grandiflora and Myrtus communis 'Compacta'
Middle row: Osteospermum '4D Silver', Pandorea jasminoides, and Penstemon 'Opal & Pearls'
Bottom row: noID Phalaenopsis, Phyla nodiflora, and Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum'

There's an ample variety of blue flowers, although the quantity of each species isn't large in most cases.

The flowers of native California aster, Symphyotrichum chilense, are plentiful but a lot of the flower stems turn brown and crispy before blooming due to inadequate water.  I'm trying to keep my water use as low as possible in response to calls to conserve water during California's severe drought.  The rain water I collected earlier is long gone and realistically we can't expect rain again until late October or November.

Clockwise from the upper left: Duranta 'Sapphire Showers', blue and lavender Eustoma grandiflorum, the last of the Limonium perezii for the year, Salvia 'Mystic Spires', Rotheca myricoides, noID Scaevola, and Trichostemma 'Midnight Magic'

Top row: Calibrachoa 'Calitastic Ice Blue', Convolvulus sabatius, and Lycianthes rantonnetii 'Variegata'
Middle row: Nierembergia, Ocimum 'African Blue Basil', and Osteospermum 'Violet Ice'
Bottom row: Pelargonium peltatum, Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Deep Blue', and Verbena bonariensis 'Lollipop'

The pinks are up next.

Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced a massive flush of peachy-pink blooms virtually overnight earlier this month.  A stretch of temperatures in the low to mid-90sF turned the flowers a pale tan color in less than a week.

The leaf-less bloom stalks of Amaryllis belladonna (aka naked lady lilies) have popped up throughout the backyard border, although there seem to be fewer blooms than last year

Top row: Cistus skanbergii, C. 'Sunset', and Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'
Middle row: Eustoma grandiflorum, Hoya carnosa, and Lycoris squamigera
Bottom row: noID miniature Phalaenopsis, Rosa 'Pink Meidiland', and Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Rose Pink'

There were a couple surprises in the red category.

Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' finished up its bloom cycle in early June - or so I thought.  One plant produced a new bloom spike this month and has been offering me new blooms every other day or so.  This is a reblooming variety but I don't usually see the second round until late fall.

Stapelia grandiflora (aka starfish cactus and carrion plant) blooms on an irregular schedule and usually catches me by surprise.  The flower's odor attracts flies.  There are at least two more buds.

Top row: Crassula perfoliata falcata, Gaillardia 'Amazon Sun', and Penstemon mexicali 'Mini-bells Red'
Middle row: Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Zinnia 'Profusion Red', and Z. elegans 'Queen Red Lime'
Bottom row: Cosmos bipinnatus, Daucus carota 'Dara', and Pelargonium sidiodes

The orange category contains a few new favorites as well as some old standbys.

Intergeneric hybrid Echibeckia 'Summerina Orange' is new to me.  Regrettably, it's requiring a surprising amount of water.

Top row: Agastache 'Sunrise Orange', Cotyledon orbiculata, and noID Gazania
Middle row: Grevillea 'Superb', Hesperaloe parviflora, and Leonotis leonurus
Bottom row: Xerochrysum bracteatum and 2 incarnations of Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Orange'

Last up are the yellow flowers, headlined by one of my favorite year-round bloomers.

In addition to blooming year-round, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' is beloved by bees and hummingbirds

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift', noID miniature Phalaenopsis, Zinnia 'Profusion Yellow', Phlomis fruticosa, and Lantana mix

That's it for my August Bloom Day wrap up.  Hopefully, I'll have more dahlias - and zinnias - to share in September.  My post is one day ahead of schedule this month but you can visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens for more GBBD posts on August 15th.  Best wishes for a pleasant weekend!

All material © 2012-2021 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

In a Vase on Monday: Escapees from the brutal heat

Unfortunately, the weather forecasters were right last week when they predicted a miserable record-breaking heatwave.  For two days prior to the heatwave's arrival I spent early mornings and early evenings hand-watering sensitive areas of my garden.  Even so, I was still scrambling on Saturday and again early Sunday to cover areas I'd missed on my initial rounds.  As Sunday was supposed to be particularly nasty, I cut flowers for "In a Vase on Monday" early Saturday morning rather than Sunday as I normally do.  In retrospect, I only wish I'd cut everything that was in full bloom in my cutting garden.  Our temperature didn't drop overnight on Saturday - when I went to bed near midnight, it was still 100F (37.8C), down from a mid-day peak of 106F (41C), and when I got up in the morning the temperature was the same.  It quickly rose over the course of Sunday morning and got stuck on 108F (42C) for most of the day.  Other areas, like our inland valleys, had it far worse, though.  The inland valley I grew up in peaked at 121F (49.4C) on Sunday.

Luckily, on Saturday I'd cut both of the Dahlia 'Einstein' blooms in my cutting garden, as well as several Zinnia stems and selected fillers from other areas of the garden.

One of the two dahlia blooms was already a little past its prime on Saturday but there was no sense in leaving it in place to wither

Back view, featuring Zinnias

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Einstein', Clematis terniflora, Coriandrum sativum, Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Melaleuca thymifolia, Polygala fruticosa, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', and Zinnia elegans (mostly 'Benary's Giant Lilac')

The last gladiola in my cutting garden was already struggling so I cut that too and searched the garden for a few companions.  Another of my 'Bright Star' Yuccas was in full bloom and, although I wasn't sure how its stems would hold up in a vase, I cut two of those as well.

This is a photo of Yucca 'Bright Star' shortly before the heatwave began

The last stem of Gladiolus 'Vuvuzela' took center stage

Back view, featuring more Clematis stems

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Gladiolus 'Vuvuzela', Clematis terniflora, Yucca 'Bright Star', Liriope muscari, and Vitex trifolia purpurea

The first bloom of Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera' has been opening every so slowly in the cutting garden and I'd hoped to include it with this week's arrangements but, as of Sunday evening, it still wasn't fully open.

If it opens within the next day without shriveling in the heat, I may create another vase mid-week

The heat isn't expected to abate significantly until Tuesday and even then it'll remain above average through the balance of the week.  We haven't had a power outage thus far but our air conditioning has been running continuously.  The window shades are down throughout the house so it feels a little cave-like.  I've ventured outside several times but it isn't pleasant.

Even my cat, Pipig, who hates air conditioning, wasn't willing to stick things out lounging in her screened catio and took refuge in a corner of the living room

I hope your weather isn't as brutal!  For more IAVOM creations, visit the meme's host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

My late addition:

Featuring Dahlia 'Belle of Barmera', a late arrival, and Zinnia elegans 'Queen Lime Blush'

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