Local Spring Flower-fest

It's that time of year.  New flowers seem to appear nearly every day in my garden.

Appearing this week: noID Iris germanica, blooming on the back slope underneath the leaf of an agave (left), and Iris douglasiana 'Santa Lucia' in the front garden (right)

I wandered further afield this week to see what else is making an appearance now that our long-awaited rain has arrived.  I started my search in my own neighborhood.

Alyogyne huegelii (aka blue hibiscus)

Azalea 'George Tabor'

Beschorneria yuccoides, the first I've ever seen in bloom (or almost in bloom)

What I believe may be wild borage of some kind, growing head-high in a vacant lot

The biggest Leucospermum I've ever seen, which blooms reliably every year in this neighbor's garden

A yellow-flowered Leucospermum, planted just a few houses further up the road

A large pink-flowered Pelargonium blooming along yellow Euryops, Limonium perezii, Persicaria capitata, Cordyline and Agapanthus on a relatively steep slope.  This slope was replanted last year.

Wednesday, as a new storm was moving in, I also made a quick tour of South Coast Botanic Garden, just 5 miles away.

More of the garden's cherry trees have burst into bloom.

These trees surround the garden's amphitheater

The Wisteria vines planted along the arbors are producing their first blooms.

It'll probably be another month before the flowers thoroughly blanket the arbors

Even the desert garden has flowers.

The rains triggered the growth of California poppies and blue lupine here (while I've yet to see any sign of California poppies in my own garden)

The redesigned Mediterranean garden is studded with flowers in shades of white, orange, yellow and blue.

Top row: noID Cistus, Eschscholzia californica, and Nectarine tree blossoms Middle row: Penstemon heterophyllus, P. eatonii, and Phlomis fruticosa Bottom row: Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman', Trichostema lanatum, and Verbena lilacina

The new rose garden is getting ready for its grand opening in April.

The framework is in place and the roses are planted, but blooms are still relatively sparse

It'd started to rain as I photographed the roses so I didn't bother to look for name tags

And the Volunteer Garden has positively exploded in flowers.

I'm beginning to think orange California poppies go with everything

The centerpiece here is a noID Magnolia in full bloom

I don't usually like pink and red together but I liked this combination

This bed had me asking why I've never tried growing Cerastium tomentosum in my current garden

Note the Brugmansia in full bloom in the background.  The flowers on the Echium on the left were just beginning to open.  The bed on the right was full of various kinds of Pelargonium.

You may have noticed that I've paid more frequent visits to my local botanic garden of late.  Last month I started training to become a volunteer docent.  My last training session is next week.  My first 2 tours are already scheduled for April.  Ninety percent of the tours involve guiding schoolchildren, which isn't a group I've had much experience with in recent years.  One of my biggest problems has been coming up with the common names of plants and flowers as I've somehow managed to hard-wire my brain to produce the Latin names, at least for those plants I'm most familiar with.  So I've been working hard to pull common names back into my vocabulary.

Top row: Calendula (pot marigold), Crocosmia (montbretia), Dietes grandiflora (fortnight lily), and Eschscholzia (California poppy) 2nd row: noID Euphorbia (spurge), Euryops (African sunflower), Gazania (African daisy), and Gladiolus (sword lily) 3rd row: Helianthus (sunflower). Kalanchoe beharensis (felt plant), noID Narcissus (daffodil), and Nemesia  (no common name) Last row: Oxalis (weed!), noID Pelargonium (geranium), hybrid Penstemon (beard tongue), and Papaver nudicuale (Iceland poppy)

Top row: Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily), Arctotis (African daisy #2), Borago (borage), and Cerastium (snow-in-summer) 2nd row: Cerinthe (honeywort), Hyacinthoides (Spanish bluebells) Limonium perezii (sea lavender), and Myosotis (forget-me-nots) 3rd row: Osteospermum (African daisy #3),  pink Iceland poppy, Persicaria capitata (knotweed), and Salvia 'Mystic Spires' (sage) Last row: noID Salvia (sage), Scabiosa (pincushion flower), Scilla peruviana (another "Peruvian lily," actually of Spanish origin), and what used to be Solanum rantonetti (blue potato bush)

Wish me luck!

Actually, it is easier to remember this as an apricot trumpet flower tree than Handroanthus chrysostricha x impetiginosus, formerly classified as Tabebuia (and much simpler to pronounce)

Enjoy the first weekend of Spring!


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party