After seven rain storms in close succession (and with two more on the way), my garden has had its deepest soak in years but flowers are still on the light side this month. I took this month's photos between rainstorms and I'm posting them two days early because this weekend is expected to be another wet one.
I'll start with the plants making the biggest splash at the moment.
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| Hybrid Aloe vanbalenii x ferox, cozying up to Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold' |
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| More aloe hybrids, Aloe vanbalenii x striata and Aloe 'Safari Rose' |
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| Camellia williamsii 'Taylor's Perfection' lost many of its developing buds during stretches of heat in early fall so flowers aren't as abundant this year but each one lives up to the cultivar's name |
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| With periodic dead-heading, Felicia aethiopica keeps on blooming |
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| Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' makes up for the tiny size of its flowers with their sheer number |
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| The ever-blooming large-flowered Grevilleas are going strong. Clockwise from the upper left are Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', G. 'Peaches & Cream' and 2 shots of G. 'Superb' |
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| Among the small-flowered Grevilleas, the blooms are most abundant on Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' |
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| Other small-flowered Grevilleas currently in bloom include, clockwise from the upper left: Grevillea alpina x rosmarinifolia, G. 'Poorinda Leane', G. lavandulacea 'Penola', G. rosmarinifolia 'Dwarf Form', and G. sericea |
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| The flower-like bracts of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' are largely a no-show this month due to an unfortunate encounter with a gardener's electric pruner but other varieties are filling in. Clockwise from the top are: Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' (2 photos), L. 'Summer Red' (which has winter "blooms" of pale yellow), and L. 'Safari Sunset'. |
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| Osteospermum '4D Pink' isn't sporting the striking blue centers it had last year but it's still pretty |
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| Osteospermum '4D Violet Ice' is currently the most prolific of the varieties in my garden |
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| Prostrate rosemary, now officially classified as Salvia rosmarinus, is in full bloom in a few areas of the garden. It blooms lightly most of the year but it's taken off in response to the rain. |
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| Seen from afar, Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum' is most noticeable for its glowing silver foliage but the small flowers are also pretty |
Other flowering plants are just getting started.
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| Aeonium arboreum has developed blooms stalks all over the garden. It's impossible even to count them as more show up daily. |
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| The foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) have produced their first bloom spikes |
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| Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' could use a good post-summer pruning but its flowers aren't waiting around to give me time to get around to that |
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| While I had a few Narcissus flowers last month, they're really beginning to roll this month in response to the rain. I've noID for this one. |
Still other plants are flowering in smaller numbers. I've organized them as usual into color-related collages.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Pink Comet', Bauhinia x blakeana (battered but not bowed by the rain), Boronia crenulata 'Shark Bay', noID Camellia sasanqua, Medinilla myriantha, and Persicaria capitata |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Lucky', Argyranthemum 'Red Grandaisy', Calliandra haematocephala, noID Cyclamen, and Primula vulgaris |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: yellow and orange Calendula, Gazania 'Gold Flame', Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum', and Primula vulgaris |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Hebe 'Grace Kelly', Lavandula multifida, Salvia discolor, and Salvia leucophylla x clevelandii 'Pozo Blue' |
That's it for January's floral parade. I'm hoping for a colorful spring as the garden continues to respond to the rain. Check in with Carol of May Dreams Gardens for other floral displays when Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day official kicks off on Sunday, January 15th.
All material © 2012-2023by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party