Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at
May Dreams Gardens, and In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden, are once again falling on the same day and, rather than publishing two separate posts, I've merged the two. They are related. My affection for flowers is at the heart of my avid participation in both memes.
I'll start the mash-up with this week's vase. There's just one for a change!
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| I went with a burgundy and white color mix. There's burgundy in the blooms of the wild carrot (Daucus carota 'Dara'), the spots on the white foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian White'), and the foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'. Dangling down the front of the vase are the tiny dark red flowers of Lotus jacobaeus, which look almost black. |
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| Although I added a little dusty pink in the back in the form of an ornamental oregano (Origanum 'Monterey Bay') |
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| Top view |
Rather than my usual collage showing a close-up of each component of my arrangement, I'll show you what these plants look like in my garden.
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| Daucus carota 'Dara' ( wild carrot) is new to my garden. I'm hoping it'll self-seed. |
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| I planted Digitalis purpurea in my cutting garden this past winter. It's usually done in by the time summer arrives but we had an unusually cool spring and, thus far, a mild summer. |
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| Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' hit its peak of bloom in late June/early July. The onset of warmer temperatures during the past week is slowly taking out its pretty white flowers. |
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| Origanum 'Monterey Bay' is a vigorous summer bloomer here. It flops but I don't mind. |
The only element of the arrangement I didn't include in the photos above is the Lotus jabobaeus spilling down the front of the vase. You can find that later in my post among my final collages. Now let's focus on the current stars of my July garden.
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| The yellow flowers woven between the Agaves in this succulent bed are Crassula pubescens ssp radicans |
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| I'd hoped to have more Dahlias in bloom by mid-July as I planted my tubers earlier this year but perhaps the cooler weather slowed their flowering. I've got buds on lots of plants but only 3 are blooming at the moment. Dahlia 'Citron du Cap' (left) just produced its first bloom while 'Enchantress' (middle) and 'Labyrinth' (right) have been blooming for weeks now. |
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| Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', shown here with Gaillardia aristata 'Amber Wheels', produces its blooms in flushes |
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| All my Lavandula angustifolia are blooming but this one is making a big splash in my cutting garden |
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| Leonotis leonurus (aka lion's tail) is doing especially well this year. I credit all the extra rain we had winter into early spring. |
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| The ruffled Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are also blooming heavily this year |
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| Pandorea jasminoides 'Alba' (aka bower vine) came with the garden |
Many of the plants that were going strong last month are still doing so this month.
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| Dozens of clumps of Agapanthus also came with the garden. They were the stars of my June garden and they're still doing well, although some of the blooms are getting ragged. |
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| The blue lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) have been blooming for weeks but blooms in other colors have been slow to make an appearance. The yellow bloom on the right, returning for a second year, is the first to show up. |
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| Grevillea 'Superb' blooms steadily year-round. It's joined in this bed by Cotyledon orbiculata (aka pig's ear, lower middle) and Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' (lower right). |
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| The Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) at the bottom of my back slope are well above my head and thus hard to photograph. As I had a second run-in with fire ants down there, I haven't been visiting that section of my garden as often as I'd like. |
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| Varieties of Salvia clevelandii are in bloom in different parts of my garden but 'Winnefred Gilman' is the strongest performer |
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| Lagurus ovata (aka bunny tail grass) has been blooming for months and is beginning to wane |
In addition to the dahlias, wild carrot and ornamental oregano that took off this month, several other blooms taking the stage.
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| The Albizia julibrissin (aka mimosa) trees have been in bloom in my area for some time now but the first blooms on my tree appeared late last week |
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| This noID Anigozanthos (aka kangaroo paws) is the only one of the 2 I planted years ago to bloom this year |
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| Aster/Symphyotrichum chilensis 'Purple Haze' produced its first flowers last week too. Aided by the heavier-than-usual winter rains, the drought-tolerant California native has spread much more vigorously than I'd expected, to the point of becoming pesky. |
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| Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights', planted almost 5 years ago, has been slow to develop |
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| This is the first time I've gotten a bee balm to bloom in my garden. This is Monarda 'Peter's Purple'. |
I'll end the Bloom Day portion of this post as I usually do with an array of collages depicting the best of the rest of what's in bloom now, organized by color.
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Top row: Artichoke, Catananche caerulea, and Delphinium 'Pacific Giant'
Second row: Limonium perezii, Melaleuca thymifolia, and Osteospermum '4D Silver'
Third row: Osteospermum 'Violet Ice', Plectranthus neochilus, and Polygala fruticosa
Bottom row: Salvia cacaliifolia, Thymus serphyllum, and Wahlenbergia 'Blue Cloud' |
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Top row: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Calendula 'Zeolights', and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'
Middle row: Gallardia 'Arizona Sun', Gazania 'Gold Flame', and Helichrysum 'Icicles'
Bottom row: Lantana camara 'Irene', Lobelia laxiflora, and Tagetes lemmonii |
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Top row: Allium sphaerocephalon, Arbutus 'Marina', Bougainvillea, and Centranthus ruber
Second row: Cistus 'Sunset', Gomphreana 'Itsy Bitsy', Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and Leucadendron 'Devil's Blush'
Third row: noId lily, Lotus jacobaeus, Osteospermum 'Berry White', and Pelargonium peltatum
Bottom row: Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard, noID Pentas, Rosa 'Pink Meidiland' and Salvia canariensis |
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Top row: Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher' and Achillea ptarmica 'Peter Cottontail'
Second row: Centranthus ruber 'Albus' and Gaura lindheimeri
Third row: Fuchsia mangellanica 'Hawkshead', Magnolia grandiflora, and self-seeded Osteospermum
Bottom row: Scaevola 'Compact White', Persicaria 'Red Dragon' and Tanacetum parthenium |
For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens
here. For more IAVOM posts, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden
here.
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| Today's vase in place on the card table serving as our dining table for the duration of our home remodel |
All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
