Bloom Day - March 2015

Last May, Southern California was slapped with 2 major heatwaves, breaking records and signaling an early demise for many spring blooms, while setting back some summer-blooming plants as well.  We hoped that was an anomaly but now find ourselves in the midst of a record-breaking March heatwave.

Yesterday afternoon's temperature reached 94F (34C) with near zero humidity (and my garden sits along the coast!)

I've been giving the garden extra water since the temperatures started to soar on Thursday but the plants are struggling nonetheless.  Some early spring flowers, like the Anemone coronaria, are withering in bud.  The heat is expected to hang on until mid-week.  The damage of this extraordinarily early heatwave won't be entirely evident for a few weeks but it's reasonable to expect some plant losses as even extra water can't offset the impact of the combination of unseasonable heat and Santa Ana winds.

There are a few stars in my garden this Bloom Day.  The one making the biggest splash at the moment is the perennial Ageratum corymbosum, which is far flashier than its cousin, Ageratum houstonianum.

Ageratum corymbosum produces large blooms and has interesting foliage

Ageratum houstonianum, a short-lived perennial here, does get points for a long bloom period

Two of my Grevillea are also putting on strong showings.

This Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' was purchased in a one gallon container almost a year ago and this its first bloom cycle (the larger G. 'Peaches & Cream' in the front garden has only buds right now but its been blooming off and on)

Grevillea 'Superb' is loaded with blooms and buds, which unfortunately don't show up well in my photo

From the left, Grevillea 'Superb,' G. Peaches & Cream,' and the fading blooms of G. lavandulacea 'Penola'

Many of the genera I featured in last month's Bloom Day post are still going strong.

NoID yellow Argyranthemum frutescens, A. 'Butterfly,' and A. 'Madeira Red'

Freesia in assorted colors

Gazania hybrids 'White flame' and 'New Day Yellow'

Osteospermum, clockwise from top left: trailing O. (noID) and O. hybrids 'Blue-eyed Beauty,''Peach Magic,''Zion Copper Amethyst,''Serenity Purple,''Pink Spoon,''Berry White,' and '3D Silver'

Pelargonium : Top - P. hybrid 'White Lady'; Bottom, from left - P. ionidiflorum 'Pink Fairy Cascade' and 3 NoID P. peltatum

The biggest surprise was the appearance of flowers on a hedge I'd never seen bloom before but there were a few other surprises as well.

Prunus caroliniana, inherited with the house, bloomed for the first time

Plants just beginning to bloom this month include: Top row, from left - Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin' (last year's plants, blooming again), Anigozanthos hybrid 'JoeJoe Red' and self-seeded Euphorbia' Dean's Hybrid';  Middle row - self-seeded Cerinthe major, Cynoglossum amabile and Felicia aethiopica 'Tight & Tidy'; Bottom row - Helleborus orientalis 'Phoebe' and 2 Schizanthus pinnatus from 'Star Parade' series

As a change this month, I also put together photo collages by garden area.  (This is what happens when one has to take refuge in the house to escape the heat rather than spend the weekend working in the garden.)

Flowers blooming in the front garden: Top row - Arctotis 'Pink Sugar,' Gazania 'White Flame,' and Coleonema album; Middle row - Grevillea 'Superb,' Calliandra haematocephala and Polygala fruticosa; Bottow row - Gaillardia 'Goblin,' Argyranthemum 'Butterfly' and noID Westringia

Flowers blooming in the dry garden, clockwise from upper left: Limonium perezii, Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl,' Gomphrena decumbens, and Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'

Flowers blooming on the slope, clockwise from the upper left left: Geranium incanum, Pelargonium 'White Lady,' P. Pink Fairy Cascade,' Zantedeschia aethiopica, and NoID Heuchera

Flowers blooming at the northern end of the backyard, clockwise from upper left: Arbutus 'Marina,' Gaillardia 'Gallo Peach,' Solanum xanti, Ceanothus (noID hedge), Hibiscus trionum, and Calliandra hybrid 'Hot Pink'

On the back patio: Bryophyllum manginii and noID Sedum

Flowers blooming in main backyard border: Top row - Alstroemeria (noID), Hebe 'Wiri Blush,' and Cynoglossum amabile; Middle row - Osteospermum '3D Silver,' O. 'Pink Spoon,' and Cerinthe major; Bottow row - Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream,' O, 'Blue-eyed Beauty' and Ipheion uniflorum

In the fountain border, clockwise from left: Dutch Iris (an early casualty of the heat), Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum,' noID Narcissus, Anagallis, and Gazania

Blooming in the bed outside the living room: Top - Ageratum corymbosum; Bottom - yellow and white Freesia and Helleborus 'Phoebe'

In bloom in the side garden: Top row - Phlomis fruticosa, Bulbine frutescens and Osteospermum 'Peach Magic'; Middle row - O. fruticosum, O. '3D Silver' and limonium perezii; Bottow row - Cistus x skanbergii, noID Hoya and Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid'