Spring starts early in my part of the world, where winter freezes are a purely theoretical concept. This year, rain has also seemed an abstract notion, although we did get a little bit of it this week.
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| This was the view from our back garden on Wednesday morning. We got a total of 0.14/inch of rain from the storm system that passed through, which was less than I'd hoped for but better than nothing. At present, our total to date for the rain year starting October 1st is 2.95 inches, which is very, very low. |
Despite the low rainfall, parts of my garden are already showing off spring blooms.
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| Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' (aka breath of heaven), Lavandula multifida, Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy', and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' provide the biggest splashes of color in the front garden |
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| Freesias have appeared all over the garden. In September, I planted more of these bulbs in the south side garden area behind the Aeonium 'Kiwi' shown on the left. They were supposed to be a "tropical sunset" mix of red, yellow and pink but instead of the pink I got a lot of blue flowers so it hasn't created the effect I was going for. |
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| Freesia blooms are beautiful and wonderfully scented but they do tend to flop |
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| They come in a range of colors as well |
While Freesias are the most prevalent bulb blooms at present there are other bulbs in flower too.
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| Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant' has been the most satisfying cultivar in this category this year |
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| Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Bi-color' isn't as prolific but it is beautiful. 'The Bride', on the other hand, has been disappointing with few flowers and extremely short stems. |
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| Ipheion uniflorum (aka springstar) returns with more flowers every year |
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| Narcissus 'Katie Heath' and an unknown cultivar are also popping up in spots throughout the garden |
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| This is the first Scilla peruviana to make an appearance but there are others close behind |
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| Despite planting mixed colors of Sparaxis tricolor, so far all of mine are coming up orange |
Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' is looking far better this month than it did last month.
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| When the temperatures warmed up and the humidity level dropped, 'Taylor's Perfection' produced more flowers but it's been less bountiful than in prior years |
I've been surprised by how well the snapdragons I planted as plugs are doing this year.
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| Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are usually covered in rust within weeks of my planting them but this year, perhaps because it's been so dry, rust hasn't been a problem. I water them by hand and I've avoided getting any water on the foliage. |
In contrast, the Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicuale) plugs I planted have done absolutely nothing thus far.
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| They've previously bloomed for me as early as January. I even gave them a bloom booster fertilizer this year without any result thus far. |
The biggest impact the rain had this week was to scrub the foliage clean.
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| All five Drimia maritima (sea squill) bulbs planted on my back slope have produced foliage despite receiving little water. The foliage will die back when temperatures rise before the plants bloom in summer. |
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| This is a another gratuitous photo of my south side garden. There aren't many flowers in this area but the succulents and other foliage plants are looking great. |
I'm expecting a mail order delivery of plants today on top of two smaller orders delivered earlier this week. Conditions here are expected to be sunny and warm this weekend so I'll be keeping myself busy in the garden. I hope conditions in your part of the world allow you an opportunity to putter outside as well. Enjoy your weekend.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
