Here in the frost-free area of coastal Southern California the lines between winter and spring can be fuzzy. Winter is our rainy season and, since December, we've had a lot of it - not as much as Northern California but much, much more than we'd come to expect after 5 years of drought. Although temperatures ventured into the mid-70sF this week, more rain is expected beginning Thursday night and continuing through the weekend. In fact, if we get the 4 to 5 inches that some forecasters are predicting from the coming storm, my tally for this location shows that our rain total for the season-to-date will be triple (!!!) what we accumulated during the entire October 2015-September 2016 season, and the long-range forecasts show the chance of still more rain at intervals into April.
So, if rain signifies winter, then it appears this is still winter but those of you in colder climates might not draw that conclusion from a look at what I've got blooming this month. I'll start off with a look at the genera packing the biggest floral punch right now.
First, there are the African daisies,
Arctotis and
Osteospermum.
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| On the left is Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' and on the right is A. 'Opera Pink' |
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| Clockwise from the left are Osteospermum '4DSilver', a noID Osteospermum that's planted itself in several areas of my garden, what may be a mutated form of O. 'Berry White', O. 'Violet Ice', and O. 'Summertime Sweet Kardinal' |
Next up are the
Grevilleas. While some flower year-round, others have a more restricted bloom period.
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| Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola' blooms mainly during the winter here. While the shrub shown here is tied to the fence, another, larger specimen nearby has been listing badly since the January rains. I'm not sure I have any chance of straightening it out. |
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| Two somewhat smaller shrubs that bloom for just a portion of the year are: Grevillea rosmarinifolia x alpina (left) and G. 'Scarlet Sprite' (right) |
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| The ever-blooming category includes the large-flowered Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' |
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| And Grevillea 'Superb', an even more profuse bloomer in my garden |
Beyond the plants in these genera, there are a few others making bold statements right now.
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| Calliandra haematocephala (aka Pink Powder Puff) |
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| Several of the Leucadendron have winter "blooms." This one, L. 'Summer Red', is relatively new to my garden but still putting on a good late winter show. |
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| All my rosemary are blooming but I'm a little in love with this one, Rosmarinus 'Gold Dust' |
A variety of bulbs have also begun their bloom cycles.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Freesia, Alstroemeria 'Inca Husky', Anemone coronaria, Ipheion uniflorum, the first daffodil bloom (noID), and Sparaxis tricolor |
No, that's not it. With Bloom Day coming on the heels of Valentine's Day, it was hard to miss all the pink and red flowers the garden has to offer.
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| Clockwise from upper left: Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink', Aechmea fasciata, Argyranthemum frutescens, Camellia williamsii 'Taylor's Perfection', Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold', Crassula 'Springtime', Lathyrus odoratus (the first sweet pea blooms!), Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis', and noID Viola |
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| Red flowers include, clockwise from the left: Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', L. 'Wilson's Wonder', Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Red', Mimulus 'Jelly Bean Red', and Ranunculus asiaticus |
And, as I can't bring myself to overlook what's flowering in other colors, here are two more collages to capture the rest.
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| Blue and purple blooms include, from upper left: Tibouchina lepidota (new!), Felicia aethipica, Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Lavandula multifida, Limonium perezii, and Matthiola incana |
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| And the rest, from the upper left: Pyrus calleryana, a perfectly mounded Argyranthemum frutescens, a self-seeded Gazania in clear yellow, noID Narcissus, Papaver nudicaule, Ranunculus asiaticus, Rhodanthemum hosmariense, and the first Nasturium (Tropaeolum majus) |
I thought the current floral explosion might be attributable to all the rain we've had but, looking back at
last year's February post, I found there's not really much difference. It'll be interesting to see if the rain makes a difference in the floral output in subsequent months. That's it for me.
Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in her garden and other parts of the world.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
