Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May 2013, Bloomday...

Happy May Garden Bloggers Bloomday! It's a very bloom-a-rific time here in Portland, Oregon, and in my garden. Things get a little crazy when you plant for foliage with little regard for bloom color. I'm going to try and organize this flower show so it's a little easier on the eyes than an actual walk around the garden would be. Let's start with the white ones...

Magnolia laevifolia 'Snowbird'

Way up, almost at the top, of my Magnolia macrophylla is the first of many big blooms on this tree.

Convolvulus cneorum, love the silver foliage...and the sweet little flowers aren't bad.

I had high hopes the drastic pruning of our Styrax japonica would result in few flowers this year. Obviously I was delusional.

Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata' (London Pride)

Rodgersia podophylla ‘Rotlaub’

Rodgersia aesculifolia (in front of a hosta leaf)

Disporum cantonese ‘Night Heron’ with a few blurry Solomon's Seal flowers in the background.

Sort of a white pink, Sambucus nigra.

Which leads straight to the pinks and the hottest one of all, the inherited Rhododendron.

Rodgersia 'Bronze Peacock' (sorry so blurry, like me the camera wants to focus on the foliage, not the flowers)

Echium russicum

The end is near for my monster Echium x wildpretii 'Rocket' as the last two arms are blooming. I'm sharing just a close up of the flowers today but plan to do a dedicated post on this plant soon...

And my 3-yr old Echium wildpretii has started to bloom, even after having it's top rot off...

Gift Llewisia from a Portland Garden Bloggers plant swap...

I'm going to call this one a smokey wine color...Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue,' one of three blooms on my plant.

And the iris gifted to me by Ricki (Sprig to Twig) has finally revealed just what color caused me to gush in such a way that she kindly gave me a bit of her plant, gorgeous ain't it?

In the purplish realm...Grevillea rivularis

Lupinus arboreus

Making the transition to yellow (those little flowers are yellow, right?) Cotinus ‘Royal Purple' before the blooms become "smoke"...

Genista lydia

I almost didn't include the Fremontodendron 'California Glory'...silly little thing has been in the ground for a year and hasn't grown a bit! However there've been more blooms than leaves this spring so it deserves a shout-out.

Tropaeolum peregrinum, so loaded with those crazy yellow flowers! So far the hummingbirds don't seem to care too much, they're much more excited about the Echium...

Yellow/green...Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow'

Euphorbia stygiana

And Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow'

Blue, Ceanothus 'Dark Star'...

Parahebe perfoliata

Salvia discolor (perhaps I should have put this in it's own black category?

Which brings us around to the orange and red flowers...

Grevillea juniperina ‘Lava Cascade’

Grevillea molonglo, which you've already seen in the background of several other images!

Grevillea 'Neil Bell'

The Flashbulb Parrot's Beak (Lotus hybrid) I picked up on a whim is already blooming. I think I'm going to really like this plant.

The flowers on my annual Kangaroo Paw are opening...

And I'll end with the too-bright-to-photograph flowers of Clianthus puniceus...

Visit our hostess at May Dreams Gardens for links to other Garden Bloggers participating in this monthly celebration of blooms.

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

44 comments:

  1. You weren't joking, that is a lot of stuff in flower!

    The Magnolia flower is stunning.

    I like the Styrax japonica. It looks like you have an umbrella of flowers

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    1. Yes an umbrella of flowers is a great way to describe it, now imagine the whole thing buzzing with bees, it's quite the sight!

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  2. So many beautiful plants! I'm particularly partial to the grevilleas. That Grevillea molonglo is something else.

    Neither my Clianthus puniceus nor my Lotus have produced flowers yet. Hurry up already!!! (BTW, how old/large was your clianthus when it first flowered?)

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    1. I purchased the clianthus at Annie's in March of 2012, planted it in mid April of that year. It's kind of freaky how fast it grew, there were 3 arms each about 6ft long, and sprawling out in different directions. I hate to admit it but I've hacked off two of them. One last summer because it was destroying a couple of other plants it was laying on, and one in April for the same reason, the smaller of my two trunking Yucca rostrata was being smashed. So now there is only one and it's branching. I want to leave it but it's such a silly looking thing!

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  3. I covet your magnolia so much. Everything looks fantastic!

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    1. Thanks Heather...you should plant one of those Magnolia, you've got the space...

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  4. How did you get that first Magnolia picture? Did you climb up on a ladder? So many wonderful and unusual flowers. Love the parrot's beak.

    In answer to your question on my blog, I'm pretty sure I bought the Echium russicum by mail order from Annie's Annuals. Maybe they mixed it up with a different one, they have plenty on their database. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like when it's more fully open.

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    1. I "zoomed" with the camera. I almost wasn't going to use it because it was a silly photo but decided what the heck.

      Thanks for the echium follow-up, and I am curious to see what it will look like too.

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  5. It's crazy just how far ahead of me you are this year...a good 2 weeks, i'd say. LOVE that Iris...then again, I'm a fool for Iris.

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    1. Really? But YOU are always ahead of me. What gives?

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  6. Great tour of your bloomers! Clianthus, Clifford, Echium, Iris...it's all looking so good. Ah, the magic of May and a hard working gardener!

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    1. Hard working? Nah...I just lounge around with a cocktail and things magically happen around me!

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  7. So many lovely blooms! I'm especially entranced with your simple Convolvulus cneorum blooms - that's my kind of flower and I want so want mine to bloom. And seeing your Grevillea 'Lava Cascade" made me realize I somehow overlooked picturing mine that's in bloom - and I waited a year for those flowers, too!

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    1. Jane that poor Convolvulus cneorum was massacred by the Oregonian delivery person, all winter long! I took pity on it in late March and moved it, and look! Blooms. I don't know why it's being so nice to me.

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  8. I've got several plants that I wish would never bloom because it ruins the look of the foliage. Those Grevillea though -- bring on the blooms! Love those!

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  9. Wonderful show you have there! I am relieved to see your iris blooming in the intended color. I placed some in various spots (especially to pick up that bit of the same color in 'Ascot Rainbow') and they all bloomed ordinary two-tone purple. I've asked the pros if iris ever revert, but I guess I must have been planting in some kind of daze and will need to improve labeling efforts.

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    1. Ricki that iris was looking blacker than black for days...it had me wondering, surely there is no BLACK iris, it was gonna be purple...for sure. Darn, I wanted a purple iris? That seems out of character.

      Then it opened and OH YA! I could stare at that color for days and days. It's changed to since opening, gotten richer. THANK YOU!!! (and I'm sorry about yours)

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    2. Actually, I just ordered one that is pretty darned near black. I'll keep you posted.

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  10. Jeeze. Are you sure you don't live in the tropics? Once again I'm having Echium envy... here I was being all excited my Echium amoenum ‘Red Feathers' survived the winter...all it does is grow to like 14 inches tall. ::sigh:: Congrats on the beautiful blooms!

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    1. At times over the last couple of weeks I was wondering that myself. Alas the weather has turned and it's cool again...

      I bought 3 Echium amoenum ‘Red Feathers' at a winter close out sale for $1 each. They were looking so good until I planted them and something completely ate the leaves on 2 of them. Damn.

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  11. I like your combination of the Hakonechloa with the London's Pride, which is one of my favorite plants for ease of spreading around. The Grevilleas and Echiums are sensational!

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    1. Thank you Hannah, that combo was purely accidental and due to the spreading nature of the London Pride!

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  12. Fabulously bloomtastic Loree! And to have Magnolia macrophylla already at a flowering size for you, as well as Melianthus major are rather extra special (to our eyes anyway).

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    1. My M. macrophylla is actually pretty tall now (it's been in the ground for 8 yrs) and has been flowering for 3 or 4 yrs. Of course every year it's exciting to see the big fat buds form, I'll never get tired of those flowers! Oh and I agree, the Melianthus flowers are extra special too, mainly because they aren't every a sure thing in my climate.

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  13. You have so many pretty blooms I hardly know where to start!
    The Iris! Most beautiful!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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    1. I agree that iris is pretty special, especially since it was a gift!

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  14. your Grevillea juniperina ‘Lava Cascade’ is honestly insane! I can't believe how beautiful that is!!! It's also really cool to see your melianthus blooms. And the soft pink flowers on the dark foliage of that sambucus nigra is stunning!!

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    1. Thank you Louis, it really is an amazing time of the year isn't it?

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  15. Nice series of shots! I wish I knew what half the plants were :). That Melianthus is on my list. Usually all we get in the greenhouses around here is the straight species. Salvia discolor...ooh-la-la...you have the coolest stuff. Happy GBBD!

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    1. I am very lucky to live where I do...nursery/plant heaven!

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  16. OMG you have a lot of different plants. When i visit here i always remember Mark and Gaz too! I love your whites, if only we can plant all the whites, and then the blues in another area, oh that is lovely. But we have limited whites and blues, but mostly the loud warm colors. Sometimes, i already get bored with our brightly colored blooms.

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    1. We always want what is hard to get don't we?

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  17. I finally sowed those E. Russicum seeds , very tiny at the moment, but I am looking forward to them.My Salvia discolor that I enjoyed so much last summer, bit the dust ! Wish I had got one at the sale. And to add to that my Clianthus perished in the winter...my fault . But I 've enjoyed seeing yours ....

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    1. Where was your Clianthus planted Linda? Why do you think it died? I didn't do a thing to protect mine.

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    2. I brought mine in doors...FORGOT to water possibly

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  18. AnonymousMay 15, 2013

    Such abundance of beautiful plants, and wonderful photos! But why don't you want flowers on your Snowbell? I think they are beautiful and they smell so good... Anyway, that red iris is spectacular!

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    1. They are beautiful and they do smell so wonderfully...but mine are planted as street trees and the flowers make the sidewalk a slippery mess when they fall (especially when there is a little rain mixed in). There is a park at the end of our street so we get a lot of foot traffic, I am constantly sweeping them up! Oh and then there are the seeds that fall later, marbles on the sidewalk. These trees are not great street trees, in my opinion.

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  19. So pretty. I once planted Convolvulus cneorum in my garden but it died the first winter. Love so much Grevillea rivularis, Clianthus puniceus and those yellow flowers on your Tropaeolum peregrinum.

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    1. I've heard that people around here lost a few Convolvulus cneorum in our wet cool January, I got lucky I guess.

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  20. It's a beautiful collection of spring flowers, Loree. With the emphasis you place on foliage, it's amazing how many flowers manage to fit themselves into your garden. Thanks for sharing these and for your kind comments on my blog.

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    1. It does kind of freak me out how many flowers show up, and the colors! More often than not they are a clashing riot, but it's a brief show.

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  21. I haven't had a chance to look at your blog in the past two weeks and just got caught up. I loved looking through all the photos! The Magnolia bloom here is beautiful! The Flashbulb Parrot's Beak is amazing too! Your garden makes me envious :)

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    1. The Magnolia is really getting with it now, new flowers popping open all over...love that tree!

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