Monday, February 15, 2010

Bloomday, February 15th

There are only a few blooms to share this Bloomday, my predilection for foliage leaves the February garden pretty bare of blossoms. You won't find any of the bright cheerful daffodils, crocus or snowdrops that welcome the season so well in others gardens, while I go without my neighbors more than make up the difference!

I am enjoying a couple of Hellebores. This one has been given up for dead several times and actually this is the first bloom I've seen in years. naturally I can't remember it's name. I continue to just love this Helleborus foetidus or Bear's Foot Hellebore. Green flowers have a special place in my heart (right next to black ones).
This Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red' is a new addition to the danger garden via last weekends garden show. I fell in love and since it's the closest I'll ever come to being able to grow a Protea (it's in the Proteaceae family) I had to have it.
The Bridal Veil Spiraea is slow to get started this spring.
The Pieris japonica is having a bouintiful year!
The shrub is a bit on the ugly side but I do like the blooms. And lastly the Euphorbia are all on the brink of exploding into bloom. Right now they are all putting on their shy act and bending down towards the ground, so charming! Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae
Euphorbia characias wulfenii
Euphorbia 'Despina'

As always for more posts on what's blooming around the world on February 15th visit May Dreams Gardens...

19 comments:

  1. I have always loved the hellebores but think they are more suited to your climate than here. Maybe if I had a shady wooded lot but dry limestone wouldn't work. I wonder if euphorbias would work. Both these plants seem to grow well in england so I am guessing they wouldn't work here. Nice to see yours though and HGBB day

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  2. aloha,

    wow, what a great show your getting this morning, beautiful! i love grevilleas and the one you have there is spectacular, also love the pieris blooms, beautiful

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  3. If your garden is "danger garden" because it aspires to look spooky then I'll agree green flowers have that edge - that's how they look to me. I can get behind the dusty rose Hellebores but I have yet to achieve green appreciation. Fun to visit you in N.E. Portland! (Love the pug!)

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  4. Lovely shots, I love those green hellebores & the Pieris.

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  5. Your hellebores are lovely. The Grevillea is not to be missed, too. Happy Bloom Day.

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  6. Nice plants! The one that's most exotic for me is the pieris. The individual flowers are really neat (and sorta manzanita-like), and I like how they're arranged in along the radiating little stems.

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  7. Green flowers are way cool.

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  8. Nice hellebores. I plant foetidus fairly often. The green flowers have really grown on me. They make a really long-lasting and elegant cut flower, I've found.

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  9. Great blooms! Your Pieris japonica is freaking out! I love the new Grivillea juniperina too. We've been too cheap to invest in a Proteaceae, but I love them!

    -Megan

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  10. Did you tell me you got a 'Low Red'? Funny that we both got the same plant!
    I really do need some euphorbias. I've mentioned my fear of them morphing into uncontrollable monsters, but when I see them here I'm reminded why I like them so much!

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  11. Love all your cool greens. Happy GBBD!

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  12. I really like Grevillea and all those other fanciful Australian blooms. Maybe one day when I get the time and patience I could start some seeds-I doubt I can manage to smuggle a tree!

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  13. Sooo pretty. It is so nice to visit all these gardens and actually see blooms. I am so used to seeing pure white with sticks poking out.

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  14. Well, that's about as many flower as I have, so you are doing pretty well for a foliage preferrer! I couldn't get a post together for today but am enjoying looking at your beauties. Can't wait to see what else you scored at the show. Did you have someone to help you carry stuff, I hope?

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  15. Those green hellebores and euphorbias are just yummy! I've only got one bud with color showing so far on my dozen hellebores. So I'm trying to be patient.

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  16. That's one cool Hellebore. I have H. nigra, which I hope to see finally bloom next spring. A green & black-flowered garden would be interesting. hmmmmm

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  17. I think andromeda (Pieris) - with those pendant white flowers - should be reintroduced as the fabulous evergreen winter fragrance plants they are. They may be old-fashioned and their foliage looks sorta dowdy - except on some of the new cultivars with fiery red to orangey new growth. But I bet they'd look good in mixed containers or integrated with other plants instead of as solo "foundation" plants. It's high time we appreciate them again! Thanks for those piccies - I can practically smell that lovely, sweet scent just from the photos!

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  18. Lancashire rose, I think you should give a couple of Euphorbia a try, they are tough!

    Noel, aloha to you, thank you for stopping by.

    Country Mouse, really? But green flowers are so cool! Danger garden because I love spiky plants...and they can hurt!

    Thanks Susie!

    NellJean, happy bloom day to you too!

    James, a little drive around Portland and it (the Pieris) would be exotic no more, they are everywhere!!!

    Les, exactly!

    ryan, you are so right about that! And in fact I should cut some right now...

    faroutflora, oh gosh...if I lived in SF I think I would be spending my lunch money on Proteaceae!

    Jane, I am so happy I went back and got it, I obsessed about it all weekend! You should get a few Euphorbia, there are definitely ones that are more easy to control than others. I would be happy to give you a couple of small babies!

    Caroline, thank you for stopping by!

    Nicole, time and patience? Better you than me...

    Teresa, I don't know how you are putting up with that stuff!

    Karen, actually I paid to park in the convention center garage so it was easy to get my purchases to the car. Usually I NEVER pay to park, it is against my religion and goes back to my days living on Seattle's Capitol Hill. There is always a free spot to be found if you know where to look!

    VW, good for you growing Hellebore in Spokane, I don't remember ever seeing them there!

    Lynn, it would! But it would also require a lot of self control to stick to that palette!

    Kate, I want one of the fiery red to orangey ones!

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  19. I luv the look of the 3 white blooms on the branch of the Bridal Veil Spirea. All of your blooms are lovely.

    donna

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