Sunday, July 15, 2012

July 2012, Bloomday!


Summer has finally arrived in Portland, in a big way, and my garden LOVES the sun and heat (and so do I). Breakfast on the patio has me enjoying scenes like the one above, with Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw, sorry I’m not certain which one)…

And my single Eremurus (Fox-tail lily) bloom…

There’s a tiny bloom in one of my Bromeliads…

And a larger ones on the Callistemon 'Woodlanders Hardy Red'

Acanthus mollis

Abutilon hybrid 'Fairy Coral Red'

Agapanthus

Sorry this one might blind you… Crocosmia Lucifer.

Paris polyphylla

Lysimachia Paridiformis F. Stenophylla

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’

Eryngium agavifolium

Eryngium giganteum

Eryngium variifolium

Genista aetnensis

Irish Moss

Echinops 'arctic glow'

I don’t normally include vegetable blooms…but the lemon cucumber flowers are especially nice this year.

Ligularia ‘ rocket’

The pretty Hosta blooms…

And the ratty ones, since removed.

Even though I cut back the Hydrangea at the same time and in the same way that I have for the last 6 years this year I must have done something “wrong” because the only blooms it’s got are at the top!

Sempervivum arachnoideum

Syneilesis (Shredded Umbrella Plant)

Sedum angelina

Verbascum olympicum

I thought my Grevillea juniperina ‘Molonglo’ was blooming again, then I realized it’s decorated with fallen Verbascum olympicum flowers.

Yucca flower spike count this year…a record 22!

All of them are the“garden variety” Yucca (NOID) that you see growing in older parts of town and next to parking lots. These I brought with me from Spokane, they aren’t anything fancy, but they bloom reliably every year, which makes them special to me.

And they smell good too!

The only Opuntia blooming in my garden this summer are the O. humifusa, if you’re not familiar with this plant it gets rather limp and wrinkly over the winter and looks dead. In fact I had a friend laugh and swear that they were…but look at them now!

Beautiful! In fact I took more than a couple of photos.

And even when I was done I had to take another one because all of a sudden this whole plant erupted in bloom!

That's it…Bloomday in my garden, here’s the link to the rest of the floral show over at May Dreams Gardens.

34 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a lot of flowers! I especially like the Eryngiums and the Yuccas. Anything that blooms reliably is special. Your pictures are gorgeous, as always. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. And I'd been wondering what that R stood for! Roger? Rebecca? Ralph? Rachel?...now I know! I don't think I could ever get tired of the Eryngiums...and it amazes me how much the bees love them!

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  2. That's one happy garden! Amazing what a little heat can do. Your terrific photos really captured the joy!

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  3. Fantastic blooms! I love the Eryngiums especially.

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  4. LOve your woodlanders hardy red callistemon!!!!! but I think the opuntia is my fav.

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    1. You probably need that Opuntia...(it's available at Cistus)

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  5. Ditto to all of the above, but I was especially taken by the Paris polyphylla.

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  6. What a variety there in Portlandia, that impresses more and more, as your pocket book shrinks less and less. But all priceless. I keep forgetting about those Eryngium plants...talk about dangerous! The only equal is Mahonia / Berberis hemaetocarpa / Algerita or B. trifoliata / Agarita, but you probably already have those. Funny that your Opuntia humifusa is flowering, but there are a few stray Opuntia in bloom here, a little confused for way down south.

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    1. Do the Eryngiums grow in your part of the world? They seem like they should. I've got several Mahonia, but not the rest...

      (my husband appreciates your looking out for the pocket book)

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  7. Holy smokes, you mean to say Syneilesis blooms?! I guess most of mine are too young yet, and the oldest one is suffering from being broken off by some creature of the night. That's something to look forward to.

    The Opuntia humifusa blooms are fabulous - I do love a cactus flower!

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    1. Yes! This is the second year I've got Syneilesis blooms. They make the whole plant a little top heavy and they bend those fabulous leaves over, this is not a plus.

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  8. Hi Loree,

    I am enjoying seeing all of those flowers!

    I am an analyst by trade and training and my pattern detecting brain seems to tell me that you don't post very often at the weekend and this is quite an unusual occurrence, am I right? Or is the old, grey matter getting old?

    I love the shot with all of the Yucca blooms.

    I have very few flowers in my garden because of all of the rain, but some of the foliage is looking great. I was looking at it tonight as the sun was setting (I love the quality of light throughout the day in the summer, but I really like the twilight intensity of light and how it contrasts with the lush greens) and it looked really good.

    Anyway, hope you had a good weekend. I now have 2 weeks holiday and I am really looking forward to it. My 2 eldest children will be celebrating their birthdays this week and it is a lovely time of year :)

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    1. I only post on the weekend when one of the monthly memes (Bloomday / Foliage Follow-up) that I take part in falls on the weekend. On occasion something else happens that makes me post on Sat/Sun but it is rare.

      Two weeks holiday! That's wonderful, are you going anywhere or just staying put? I've got a birthday this week too...Happy Birthday to your kids!

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    2. Ah, I was right, there was a definite pattern. Thanks for the explanation.

      We will be staying at home, I will be chilling out and enjoying my time off with my family and doing the birthday celebration things. I have some things to do in the garden, like cutting the hedge, which is an annual chore because on one side I have planted up really close to the hedge so cutting and clearing it up is a pain. However, it does look good when it is done. Another reason for doing it is that I have entered the local council's annual garden competition, so I want the garden to look at its best when the judges come around in mid-August.

      Happy birthday to you when it comes!

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  9. Wow-fabulous! I'm part of the group descending on your neck of the woods on Wednesday. Look forward to seeing it all in person!

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    1. I hope it lives up...we had a bit of rain today (first in almost 2 weeks) and things are quite floppy out there...

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  10. I thought you cut your hosta blooms off ? Hasn't this bit of rain freshen things up? Beautiful blooms

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    1. I do, and I did right after that picture was taken. I do leave the flowers on the first one, labeled "pretty Hosta blooms."

      I'm probably the only person in all of the Portland/Vancouver area that was upset about the rain...

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    2. No, not the only person...

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  11. So many amazing blooms in your wonderful garden. Most of them do not grow well down here so I will enjoy them in photos.

    Happy GBBD!

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  12. Have you eaten the yucca flowers! I recently read they are edible, but mine are months past the sampling stage. Happy GBBD!

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    1. I read that somewhere too, and I thought about it but then wondered if that's all Yucca blooms or just certain ones...

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  13. Great Bloom Day post! I was especially interested to see the Eryngium yuccifolium blooms, since I planted two this year that haven't bloomed yet. Love the Opuntia flowers too. Cactus flowers have a special quality.

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    1. Actually I forgot to take a picture of my Eryngium yuccifolium (seems I forgot quite a few things, I kept seeing them on other Bloomday posts and realizing what I'd done). The E. agavifolium blooms are similar but much much larger.

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  14. Great eryngiums! What do you have planted with them? I planted one last year and it came back, but it looks incongruous in my garden all by itself.

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    1. Actually they're kind of stuck in everywhere with everything. In the very top photo you can see E. agavifolium on the far right. In this post (http://dangergarden.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-week-in-pictures-again.html) the very last photo shows them with Callistemon.

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  15. Wonderful GBBD post, Loree! So much going on. The problem with going through similar posts is you see the plants in their glory and end up adding a whole lot to your must-have list, like that Opuntia for example. The colors are really vibrant especially the blooms hit by the sun.

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    1. Thanks Bom! While finding new plants to want is hardly a problem (in my mind) you do have a point that when they are shown in a Bloomday or Foliage Follow-up post they are probably at their best, giving you a hard to achieve standard. I wish I would have taken a picture of those Opuntia in January. Not as beautiful!

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  16. The eryngos are putting on a fabulous show -- so stingy with blooms for me.

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  17. Such a dizzying array of Eryngiums...love 'em...especialy giganteum...those wide bracts are so nice.

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