Thursday, April 26, 2012

Late April blooms in the garden...

With our recent “heat wave” (3 days of above normal temperatures) there are many blooms at their peak (or about to be) in my garden. Silly things! Don’t they know Garden Bloggers Bloomday isn’t for almost 3 weeks? The Echiums aren’t blooming yet, but every day brings growth and exciting changes. This one grew at least a foot in one week…

And the buds on the beefy stalk are swelling, larger and larger.

My second Echium x wildprettii 'Rocket' (also identified as Echium pininana).

And the Echium wildprettii.

Not wanting to be left out the hardy (zone 7) Echium russicum is also fixing to bloom.
At this point I am so enthralled with the progress of all of the Echium I could be posting about them 5 days a week, but I don’t want to bore you. Also exciting the Asphodeline lutea is stretching up it’s whirling stalk and getting ready to bloom.
Pulsatilla vulgaris var. rubra…
So glad I bought this plant! And it’s only going to get better as the blooms fade. Trust me.
Grevillea juniperina ‘Molonglo’ loaded with about-to-open buds!
All of the Ceonothus are exploding right now; this one is Ceonothus 'Pt Reyes'…
Although it’s a low grower you can still see electric blue as you drive by. And speaking of electric…wow. I am in love with Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'…

Beschorneria decosteriana

How can you not stop and stare at a bright pink stalk emerging from simple green foliage?

Clematis Montana (inherited, so that’s as specific as I can get)

2012 is the year of the floppy Euphorbia characias wulfenii, not just one plant…

But two! Why can’t these stems stand up?

Euphorbia polychroma in a sea of Galium odoratum
Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’

Surprisingly I managed to photograph a spider too…
Dyckia choristaminea 'Frazzle Dazzle'

I’ve already purchased my Kangaroo Paw for the season. While last year’s model seems to have lived through the winter I’m not so sure it’s feeling up to blooming.

Here’s an oddity, the tiny flowers of Hymenanthera alpina, with a cloudy white sky back-drop.
This is a plant my friend Megan (and plant lust founder) introduced me to, Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron'…
The foliage is beautiful but the blooms are AMAZING!
This one is Disporum cantoniense 'Green Giant' as you might have guessed greener, less black.
Flowers aren’t the only thing happening right now…is there anything cuter than new little Ginkgo leaves? I’m praying their variegation shows up as they get larger.
My little patch of Lily of the Valley is starting to bloom.

And really, it’s not so little anymore…
I bought a random Rodgersia last summer and planted it somewhere near the Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata' (London Pride). I keep hunting for its leaves…afraid it’s not going to show up. All my other Rodgersias have made an appearance. It wasn’t until I was trying to photograph the flowers of the Saxifraga…
…that I noticed this, one little leaf, hiding in plain sight! Rodgersia aesculifolia...
I think it’s because I was irrationally expecting brown foliage that I didn’t see it, like on the Rodgersia pinnata ‘Chocolate Wings’ Rodgersia podophylla 'Rotlaub’ (which I clearly need more of because it is HOT!)
Stachyurus salicifolius, love it!
And finally… Sonchus canariensis.

Sure you might think it just looks like a Dandelion…but oh what I would give to have a forest of these growing in my lawn.

35 comments:

  1. You have so many interesting flowers. The rental house we lived in the first year we were out here in the PNW had a patch of Euphorbia wulfenii, and it flopped too. In fact, all the similar ones in the neighborhood were floppy too. It was my first experience with a Euphorbia, and made me rather dubious of their value. I have others now, though, so I got won over by some of the darker leaved, smaller ones. That Sonchus does kind of look like a dandelion on steroids, but I love the little hooky things in the flowers!

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    1. Interesting that you've had such a "floppy" past with Euphorbia, I've been growing them for years and this is the first time they haven't stood up straight.

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  2. Superb selection of plants in your garden Loree! Our Asphodeline bloomed last year but has sent out lots of new shoots so might have a few more blooms later, although I like it for its foliage. The Disporum is lovely and yours is more advanced in flowering (perhaps because of your warmer weather). It's gone cooler and wetter here. Great pics!

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    1. That's good to hear about your Asphodeline as I was hoping mine would clump up as promised on the tag. Otherwise I would really regret passing a few by at a recent plant sale.

      How many of the same plants do we have!? How funny.

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    2. Hi Loree, just had a look at your blog post again and must add that I like the brown colour of your walls, with the plants looking great against it :) I suppose we have the same good taste when it comes to plants? lol!

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  3. SO excited about your echiums! E. russicum and E. lusitanicum are the only two that are hardy for me here in zone 5, but I keep on trying others.

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    1. Interesting that E. russicum is hardy than I thought. My mom could be growing it up in Spokane! I hear you on the "trying"...if we would have had the winter they were predicting I doubt mine would still be alive.

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  4. You do have some interesting plants.
    I've never even heard of that Sonchus canariensis. That is gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks Linda! We discovered the Sonchus at the Berkeley Botanical Gardens and fell in love (I should say rediscovered because we first saw a NFS speciman at Cistus). So when I saw this one in a nursery I grabbed it!

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  5. Sweet Jesus! Your Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron' makes me weak in the knees!

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  6. Wowsa! Amazing variety! I'd love to grow echium but I fear how much water they would need.

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    1. You might be surprised. Granted we get a lot of water "naturally" and it hasn't been very hot the last couple of years but the two in the front garden have gotten very little supplemental water during our dry summers. Actually...I think you just solved the mystery of why the one in the back garden is so much bigger! It is right next to the lawn which I do water...uhm....

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  7. I would like to invite 'Night Heron' to fly into my garden on 'Chocolate Wings'. Realistically, I probably need to hunt them down and trade cash for them...(Cistus?)

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    1. Oh that's good :)....my 'Night Heron' came from Gossler Farms but I see that plant lust shows Cistus should have it, I've also seen it at Garden Fever in the past. The 'Chocolate Wings'...well that's an interesting story. The old guy at Marbott's Nursery up on Columbia Blvd (at about 20th?) practically forced it on me. I thought he was crazy. It was just a container of soil with a label with no picture. He was VERY excited about it. I took a leap of faith and coughed up the $11.95 (this was before I had ever heard of Rodgersia) and now wish I had bought more. If you find it let me know!

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  8. Incredible blooms, all of them.

    That Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron' is just, well, I'm practically speechless. Barry's comment works best here.

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  9. This time of year, you can't wait for Bloom Day to share flowers or you'd miss most of them! I had to laugh at your Morticia Addams remark about the Pulsatilla, "And it’s only going to get better as the blooms fade." I think your inherited Clematis montana could be 'Rubens'? Lovely to see the mother patches of my new Saxifraga and Lily of the Valley. Happy un-Bloom Day!

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    1. But the Pulsatilla seed heads are so cool and why I bought the plant. I never expected to like the flowers as much as I do. And thank you...that name checks out for the Clematis...now I know! (btw not that it matters but the Lily of the Valley wasn't from me...I think it was from Patricia)

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    2. Ah, now I understand about the fading blooms...a much healthier reaction, Morticia!

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  10. Love the Echiums. There are some E. wildprettii a few blocks from my house in full bloom right now. I should go take some pictures. It is actually the first time I have ever seen this plant bloom in person.

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    1. You should go take some pictures! After all you are in Echium heaven down there!

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  11. Holy smokes, that Sonchus! It's incredible.

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    1. Isn't it? I love it! (enough to lug it on a bus, ferry, and home in the car, it's a very well traveled plant)

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  12. Im in love with your Beschorneria decosteriana! And those echiums ... epic!

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    1. I hauled that Beschorneria back from Flora Grubb...just because of the colored flower stalk.

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  13. I agree, the Disporum literally took my breath away! My Rodgersias seem to finally all have appeared, as well (almost gave up on 'Chocolate Wings' for a minute. Sadly, the R. podophylla have green up quite a bit...guess that's what happens when you move them from full sun to full shade...les sigh.

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    1. Didn't they burn in full sun? Better green than crispy. You need a Disporum...right now!

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  14. Some really great plants! Once the Echium russicum flowers, I'd love to get some seeds if you have any to spare (haha, as I know Echium produce bazillions of seeds).

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    1. See here's the deal. I am only an imitation gardener. I can't seem to leave spent blooms on the plant long enough to get the seeds! They irritate me, I cut them down. I loose out on free plants. Now you know my secret.

      Should I manage to let these stand you can definitely have some seeds.

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  15. WOW...wow. WOW! What a great tour, so many interesting plants, many of which are on my wish list. Your echiums are theenvy of all exotic gardeners, I look at my sad stump and sigh. Currently in the midst of seeding some, just pricked them out and I have 20 of each variety. Perhaps I'll get a bloom someday. That Sonchus is so awesome, how nice would it be to have a field of those. So exotic and strange. Spring is in the air, and this post is evidence, so much fun!

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    1. Thanks SGP...I was just out looking at how the Echiums changed overnight, the blooms are SO CLOSE! 20 of each variety? You're the envy of all exotic gardeners!

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  16. Triple Echium envy , mine looks sad,sad ,sad .

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  17. Great photos. Well done:)

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