Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Bloom day!

How lucky am I? My first bloom day and it’s in April. Who wouldn’t have something blooming in April? Actually since I don’t garden for the blossoms as much as I do the foliage is it just pure luck that one of my favorite plants, Euphorbia (or Martian Heads as my friend Erin has labeled them) are at their peak in April. There are so many fabulous varieties of this plant! Here are a few...
Euphorbia 'Despina'...
Euphorbia myrsinites...
Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii...
Euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tiger'...
Euphorbia polychroma...
Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae...
Euphorbia Red Wing...
Euphorbia dunno – my mom gave me a start of this one, don’t know what kind it is but it is a prolific spreader!...
I admit Bergenia isn’t exactly dangerous or exotic but there is a sentimental attachment as it came to Portland with me from my garden in Spokane. Don’t these blooms look almost florescent? ...
This shrub came with the house. I’ve always assumed it was a Spirea but could be wrong...
Our Camellia was also here when we bought the house, I have no idea what variety it is. It has a random white fleck on an otherwise pink flower, another one of those qualities that at first annoyed me, but I have grown to adore. I need to take the time to prune the bush though as it is rather unshapely.
And there is the Ranunculus, what an awesome plant! How many millions of petals can you smash into one blossom? And the colors! Fabulous. I read last night in Planthropology (Ken Druse) that Ranunculus means “from the pace of frogs” (Rana) and denotes a plant that hails from a moist habitat...
And of course the Hellebores are still going strong, and looking about the same so no new pictures of them. Wanna see more of what's blooming out there? Visit the blog that started this crazy thing called Bloom Day.

5 comments:

  1. I have gone to euphorbia heaven! I have been eying these beauties and wanting to try a few more...and here they are...nams ready to go on the list! This why garden blogging is dangerous...it's killing my budget! Welcome to GBBD! Gail, clay and limestone

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  2. Wow, you have some great euphorbias that I've never seen. I'd like to try some of those if I only had enough sun. Maybe I can squeeze a few in.

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  3. Gail, thanks for the welcome! I took a quick look at your blog (more later when I have time). I have in-laws in Tennessee, I'll have to turn them on to Clay and Limestone! Euphorbia are the best!

    Pam...the Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae is in almost complete shade and very happy, although it is a bit of a spreader, easy to pull up the runners though. So is another Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii that I didn't photograph, it's a little leggy but still puts on nice blooms!

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  4. Danger garden,
    That unnamed Euphorb from your mom looks like E. cyparissias, possibly a form called 'Fen's Ruby'...
    You'll want to contain that baby, as it will take over your garden.
    Don't you love the Euphorbias? My favorite has got to be E. stygiana. It can reach 6 feet, and has honey-scented blooms!

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  5. Thank you for the Euphorbia ID Lisa! And you are so right about it being a spreader. I meant to say something about that in my post but I forgot. I am not familiar with E.stygiana, gonna have to check that out...

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