Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Bloomday for May, 2016

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloomday for May, 2 days late! What can I say? It's a busy time of year. You're going to experience a little weather whiplash in these photos. I knew there were a lot of blooms to capture so I started taking photos on Friday when it was sunny (thinking I'd be posting on Sunday the 15th, actual Bloomday). I finished up on Saturday when the skies had turned grey and a steady drizzle was falling.

I start the tour with Embothrium coccineum, blooming way up where the hummingbirds can feel safe enjoying it.

And where I can only enjoy the vague outline of the flowers...

Unless I use the zoom on my camera.

Euphorbia 'Excalibur'

Abutilon 'Victor Reiter'

Lucky shot with the camera hand reaching around behind another flower...

Abutilon Nuabyell

Just keeps on blooming and blooming, and look at all those buds!

Abutilon megapotamicum 'Red'

This one defoliated over the winter, but look at it now!

Amsonia hubrichtii

Over wintered Anigozanthos (yay!) – oh and it's in a container, not in the ground.

Eryngium pandanifolium var. lasseauxii, nearly impossible to get in focus, especially if I wanted to show the flower and the plant.

Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi'

Callistemon sieberi, I believe – this one was bought without a label at a "tough love" sale.

Callistemon viridiflorus and Echium wildpretii

Callistemon viridiflorus

Echium wildpretii, at my favorite stage, with the drying-up older blue flowers and the new bright pink.

Echium russicum, the shorter and hardier little sister of E. wildpretii.

Parahebe perfoliata, which just didn't want to photograph well!

Veratrum Californicum, the foliage is way down out of frame, but very cool (images here)

Genista lydia

Ceanothus impressus ‘Victoria’

Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' – I am thrilled this one has finally started to seed around my garden.

Leptospermum lanigerum

Grevillea ‘Poorinda Leane’ – damn, that's out of focus!

Lomatia tinctoria, a Protea family member from Tasmania.

Magnolia macrophylla...love those huge blooms!

And then they turn brown.

Nicotiana alata ‘Lime Green'

Saxifraga x longifolia

Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold' – it's gone a little crazy.

That's my tardy look at what's blooming in my garden this May, thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

30 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2016

    So many flowers, so much beauty! thanks.

    John(Aberdeen)

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  2. Wow, soooooo many plants in bloom!!

    Great to see Echium russicum. I've never gotten one to survive in my garden, which is odd because Echium wildpretii thrives here...

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    1. Maybe it likes the cooler temperatures?

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  3. How nice to be able to plant a blue Agave with Amsonia! Love the yellow Abutilon and the red buds on the next one are gorgeous. I just planted Genista 'Lydia' not quite across the path from Axminster Gold. Hope I don't come to regret those chartreuse and gold contrasts.

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    1. That was a total accident. The Amsonia is loved for the foliage, the blooms weren't even considered.

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  4. You haven't been talking about your garden too much lately, and then boom! this bounty of blooms! I guess that's what bloom day is all about: a reason and reminder to show us what's going on. Echium stealing the show?

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    1. It wasn't until I read your comment (and went back and looked at my recent posts) that I realized I'd been neglecting my garden. I've been so immersed in it lately that I guess I was seeking out other topics to talk about on the blog. Re: the Echium, yes...in the front garden for sure!

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  5. Great collection of blooms. Love the Ceanothus and the Echium wildpretii.

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    1. I wish that Ceanothus was a better shape, it's almost been removed a couple of times because it's so ugly...

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  6. It's hard to beat the exuberance of May flowers and you've got some great ones! (Or at least favorites of mine.) I'm jealous of your Embothrium coccineum flowers. Mine continues to grow but just doesn't seem the least interested in blooming.

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    Replies
    1. Really? Has it not ever flowered?

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    2. Never. To make matters worse, I saw some tiny ones in pots at Joy Creek that had blooms on them.

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  7. Better late than never, and a fab lot as always!

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  8. Looks so good. Love the Embothrium. I wonder if there are dwarf or shrub versions, so you could enjoy the blossoms in a more human scale? Love your Abutilons, too. That A. megapotamicum; what it lacks in petal-power it makes up in elegance. The slight twist of the eggplant-colored buds is as beautiful as the blossom itself to me.

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    1. The other Embothrium I've seen planted around town are much shorter, and thus bloom lower to the ground. As Evan points out (below) mine was/is rather crowded and thus there isn't much going on lower on the tree. That said I am still quite happy with it. I had another that never amounted to anything. This one was happy from the moment it went into the ground and started shooting up almost immediately. Plus tall and skinny means it gets to stay no matter how crowded things get.

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    2. Well, tall and skinny is good, especially on the fashion runway! I bet it is a fabulous exclamation point in your densely-planted wonderland.

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  9. So much in flower and such a range.

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  10. So glad I wasn't the only tardy one. The Embothrium is magnificent. Wish they were closer to viewing level, but your zoom photos turned out well.

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  11. Great selection! I love the Abutilon megapotamicum 'Red'. The callistemon and Lomatia are pretty fantastic, too. I think my favorite in this post is the Amsonia, though. The flowers echo the Agave ovatifolia perfectly, and the foliage contrasts beautifully in both color and texture. Now I'm going to be a bit of a snot. You know, that Embothrium might have branched and bloomed lower down if it weren't so crowded...

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    1. Crowded? In my garden? I have no idea what you're talking about.

      Seriously though, yes. I get that. The Grevillea is finally completely gone (the one that started going away last year...to Cistus) and I took something else there out too (can't remember what) so it is better. The other Grevillea that's on the other side of that bed is so damn floppy (it got a pass last winter with the ice, but after last weekends rain it did it all over again) so it might be going too.

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  12. Seriously...you are really about foliage? lol. Lovely bloom day digital walk through your gardens.

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    Replies
    1. What can I say? The little buggers insist on flowering!

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  13. Abutilon megapotamicum Red.. How beautiful is that?

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  14. That Chilean firebush is impressive! I love the Lomatia too but it's the green-flowered Callistemon that had me sighing - my C. pinifoloius still hasn't shown its colors.

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  15. I was 2 days late, too because there were so many things in bloom. (Not complaining after despairing the dearth of blooms over my first winter in the inland NW. (It's been an adjustment after living in Western WA) Love all of your big, bold, beautiful flowers!

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  16. You may need to have Andrew build a viewing platform. Then you can squeeze in lots of tall, skinny things.

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