Spring may still officially be several days away but it's already arrived here in my area of coastal Southern California. After an extraordinary winter rainy season, warm temperatures arrived and my garden literally exploded into bloom. It might actually be easier to list the plants not in bloom than to show those that are. I'll warn you now that I took a lot of photos but even so these don't capture everything.
I'll start with some of the plant combinations making the biggest splash at the moment.
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| Felicia aethiopica has formed a pool of blue here, surrounded by ornamental grasses. Echium webii to the left of the Felicia is in bud. |
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| There are too many blooming plants to enumerate in this photo but the pink glow is provided by Freesia, Cuphea hybrid 'Starfire Pink, and Argyranthemum frutescens |
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| Lavandula multifida takes center stage here, backed up by more Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' and Colenema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' |
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| Here, Limonium perezii is surrounded by succulents with self-seeded Osteopermum in the background (upper left) |
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| NoID Narcissi backed up by Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum' with Felicia in the distance on the upper left and Freesia bombing the shot on the lower right |
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| Zantedeschia aethiopica and seed-grown California poppies (Eschscholzia californica 'White Linen') growing at the bottom of the back slope. A Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri), not yet blooming, sits in the background in front of the mass of ivy spilling down the slope). |
As usual, there are a number of genera contributing to the current bloom count, including these:
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| Arctotis 'Opera Pink' is on the left and A. 'Pink Sugar' is on the right |
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| Freesias are blooming throughout the garden |
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| The flowers of Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola' on the left are fading but still plentiful and covered with busy bees. Grevilleas 'Ned Kelly' (top right), 'Peaches & Cream', and 'Superb' never stop blooming. |
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| Two forms of Lotus berthelotii are aggressively covering ground in the back garden. 'Amazon Sunset' is shown on the left and the more common golden-flowered form is on the right, mingling with Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'. |
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| The Osteospermums all responded well to our winter rains and cooler temperatures. Clockwise from the left are O. '4D Silver' and a self-seeded variation of 'Berry White'; 'Sweet Summertime Kardinal'; 'Violet Ice'; a white form that has self-seeded widely throughout the garden; and 'Zion Copper Amethyst' |
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| The Pericallis 'Senetti' hybrid on the left is blooming for its second year. The Pericallis on the right is one of those commonly sold as "Florist's Cineraria." |
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| Both of my Veltheimia braceteata have resurfaced and bloomed |
There were also some blooms that took me by surprise for a variety of reasons:
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| Clockwise from the upper left are: Scilla peruviana, which fails to bloom more often than not; Iris x hollandica, which made a poor spring showing throughout our 5-year drought; Eschscholzia californica 'White Linen', which I finally succeeded in getting to bloom; Helleborus 'Anna's Red', which produced a single bloom in year #2 in the ground; Helleborus 'Phoebe', which produced a couple of blooms after 5 years in the ground; and Salvia africana-lutea, planted last April, which produced its first bloom on Monday |
As has become my habit, I'll conclude with collages of other blooms, organized by color.
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Top row: Alyogyne huegelii, Anemone coronaria, and Brachyscome 'Enduring Blue'
Middle row: noID Ceanothus, Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum', and Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl'
Bottom row: Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy', Ipheon uniflorum, and Lantana montevidensis |
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| Clockwise from upper left: noID Alstroemeria, Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' (with Cuphea 'Starfire Pink'), noID Dianthus, noID Lathyrus odoratus, Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard', and Pyrethropsis hosmarianse 'Marrakech' |
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| Clockwise from the left: Russelia equisetiformis 'Flamingo Park', Alstroemeria 'Inca Husky', Calliandra haematocephala, noID Cymbidium, Gaillardia aristata 'Gallo Bright Red', Gazania 'White Flame', and Viola 'Pandora's Box' |
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| From the left: Zantedeschia aethopica, Argyranthemum frutescens, Auranticarpa rhombifolia, Coleonema album, Convolvulus cneorum, Jasminum polyanthum (which actually belongs to a neighbor but hangs over our common fence), and Pyrethropsis hosmariense |
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Top row: Aeonium arboreum, Bulbine frutescens, and noID Cymbidium
Middle row: Euphorbia rigida, Euryops 'Sonnenschein' and self-seeded Gazania
Bottom row: Papaver nudicaule, Phlomis fruticosa, and Sparaxis tricolor |
Have I burned out your retinas? For photos of what's blooming elsewhere in the country and around the world,
visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, our Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day host.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
