Even in the midst of drought, spring can be an almost overwhelming experience here. This year, late winter blooms combined with spring blooms to create a floral explosion. Honestly, it's left me wanting more foliage to put my garden into balance, although summer, expected to be very hot and dry again this year, will undoubtedly correct the problem all too soon - as temperatures rise, the flowers will beat a hasty retreat and the garden will be greener again.
However, now, with so many flowers competing (no, screaming) for attention, it's easier to focus on individual blooms, a few of which left me sighing this week.
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| This rose is 'California Dreamin'. The flower is almost the size of my hand. It was cream-colored with a neon pink edge when it opened but it morphed to what you see here before I made it around with my camera. The high winds we experienced this week have already left it a shadow of its former self but perhaps the bush will produce another bloom before summer temperatures spike. |
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| I purchased Leucadendron 'Pisa' for its silvery foliage. It produced only a few flowers last year, most late in the year, but this spring I suddenly found it covered with these luminescent yellow blooms. |
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| See what I mean? And this is after I'd cut several stems for different floral arrangements. |
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| This sunflower seedling appeared in one of the raised planters in my vegetable garden after our meager rains (along with some self-seeded borage). I don't know whether to view it as a pleasant harbinger of summer or a refugee fleeing in advance of the long, hot, dry summer ahead. |
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All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
