Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Garden Blogger's Bloomday for May 2019

It's Bloomday! And it's not just any old Bloomday, it's May's Bloomday! As you may know, if you follow the Bloomday meme, Carol who authors the blog May Dreams Gardens is our hostess for this monthly floral celebration. May is her namesake month, which in my book makes this month's Bloomday extra special. Thank you for hosting Carol! On with the blooms...

I returned from a long weekend away to discover the buds on my Akebia longeracemosa 'Victor's Secret' were swelling and beginning to open...

I've had this vine for a few years now, these are it's first flowers.

And check out how cute they are!

On to the carnivorous plants, Darlingtonia californica.

Sarracenia purpurea has sent up a super tall bloom, and new growth that's green...I hope that changes.

I haven't kept track of the species names for all of the Sarracenia, but there are lots of blooms...

Iris x robusta ‘Gerald Darby’ is fixin to bloom. I wish the flowers were purple, but they're blue.

Pittosporum illicioides 'Strappy'

Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida’, I went to take a photo and pulled the catkin around so you could better see it, and it fell off in my hand. Oh well...

Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold', with Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’ in the background.

Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' with fallen ceanothus flower dust...

Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby'

This shrub—I have three—is so floriferous this year; the other two, not so much...

Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer'

Scadoxus puniceus, I thought the little hot-spell we had last week would push this one forward into bloom time, but no.

The pre-bloom stages are still quite fascinating.

I'm thrilled this Lupinus sericatus over-wintered in a container and is going to bloom. Hopefully there will be seed!

Fertile fronds of Osmunda regalis.

Thalictrum 'Evening Star'

This Saxifraga ‘Primuloides’ represents all the different saxifrage blooming in my garden this month. This post is already long enough without showing 10 different (yet quite similar) little white flowers.

Podophyllum pleianthum

Podophyllum 'Red Panda'

And like the saxifrage this Sedum spathulifolium 'Carnea' represents for all the blooming sedum in the garden.

Some are more floriferous than others...

Grevillea juniperina ‘Molonglo’   

Grevillea miqueliana

The flowers of my Embothrium coccineum are so high in the sky I couldn't get a good photo. Here are bits that fell into the hanging leaf dish.

And there are the flowers, up against a cloudy sky. We've just had our first rain in over three weeks, thank goodness...

Abutilon megapotamicum 'Paisley'

Prostanthera cuneata (and a photobombing abutilon)

The bottle brushes are about to bloom! Callistemon viridiflorus here.

Disporum cantonese ‘Night Heron’

I grow Polygonatum odoratum for the foliage...

The strong scent of the flowers always surprises me. Since they're tucked under the leaves I don't know they're there.

The Grevillea rivularis is very happy this year, it's covered in these freaky purple flowers.

They're so cool.

Grevillea x gaudichaudii is popping out of it's winter funk.

Love them too...

There are three Bukiniczia cabulica blooming in the garden. I grow this plant for the foliage (see pics of the foliage here) and since it's monocarpic this is the end (it will die after blooming). Fingers crossed for seedlings.

Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow'

Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Series’ (so many flowers)

A gifted NOID Lewisia

Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow' performs with colorful new foliage and blooms—lots of blooms—both at the same time.

The length of the blooming bits is pretty insane...

I've got a pair of NOID Verbascum getting ready to bloom. They're seedlings from long gone plants that have taken several years (more than the usual two) to get to this point. Hiding below this one is a Genista lydia.

Close up of the genista...

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus ‘Zanzibar’

The Corokia cotoneaster was COVERED in yellow starts last week, now just a couple remain.

And lastly Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Hindwarf'. Happy May Bloomday!

Weather Diary, May 14: Hi 62, Low 53/ Precip .11"

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

39 comments:

  1. A stunning collection of plants and blooms. Got to love the month of May.
    Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby' has unusual flowers, both in shape in gorgeous color.
    Do the Akebia blooms smell like chocolate? I have the unimpressive white variety with light sweet scent.

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    1. I haven't yet detected a scent, but it's been pretty grey and rainy since they started blooming. Hoping maybe a sunny day will help.

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  2. Some of these blooms are amazing! (Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Series’ and the Grevillea)
    Looks like you finally got some rain too!

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    1. Yep, cooler temps too. A/C was on last week and the heat is back on this week.

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  3. So many delightful and unusual blooms - I love the Grevillea!

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  4. Great flowers to show off today! That Akebia is pretty fabulous. I was so relieved when it started raining again. I hate setting up my sprinklers and I really didn't want to do it this early.

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    1. Ya, for once I'm not minding the rain...since it's easier to stay indoors and work when the weather is like this. Plus I still have plants to acclimate to the outdoors. That's much easier to do when it's cloudy and cool.

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  5. Your Bloom Day posts never cease to surprise me. Your Akebia has me thinking I should try to find a place for one even if it is a heavy drinker. (It just takes one year of decent rain to develop illusions that I can grow anything I want.) Having tried and failed to grow the Disporum, I've reluctantly accepted that one's beyond my grasp; however, my Callistemon viridflorus is alive and well, developing new leaves if not yet big enough to flower. I'm hoping some of your rain is headed our way.

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    1. I wonder why the disporum wasn't happy there? Glad the callistemon is doing its thing and I'm always happy to share the rain...

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  6. AnonymousMay 15, 2019

    I stopped doing bloom day a while back because it was getting repetitious but yours are always inspirational. The Akebia stands out with exceptional flower and leaf forms but it all has me googely-eyed.
    rickii

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    1. Thanks ricki! I caught myself editing a few photos of things that appeared in last month's post and decided that was silly when there was so much new to share.

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  7. Great color on that Grevillea rivularis, and the Lewisias. Happy Bloom Day!

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  8. You win the award for the most flowers I've never heard of! Such strange and fantastic shapes.

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    1. Thanks, that's an award I will happily accept.

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  9. That Akebia! I wonder if it will grow here. I'm so excited that my Sarracenia is still alive (Gerhard enabled me at the HPSO plant sale in Sept) that I don't care if it blooms or not. But having said that I might upgrade their residence this summer in hopes that I can coax a flower or two.

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    1. I bet it would, and yay for sarracenia success!

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  10. Iforgot ot was Bloom Day! You have so much gorgeousness happening, I don’t know how to take it all in. Just bought that Thalictrum. We’ll see how it does here.

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    1. I've lost three (yes three!) other thalictrum, I'm glad this one is happy. Good luck!

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  11. Those are some serious blooms! I totally forgot about Bloom Day... perhaps there is still time... Just yesterday, I saw that Genista in full, fabulous bloom in a parking lot, and had no idea those cool stringy plants actually bloomed! And, until now, I didn't know it was a Genista, so thank you for that.

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    1. You're welcome. They've got some super big specimens at Cascade Station, is that where you saw it?

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  12. May is a splendiflours month.

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    1. And I really didn't think I had much blooming...

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  13. Happy GBBD, Loree. Oh those grevilleas...

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  14. It all looks fabulous. Oh my. Hoping to visit you potted plants & rest of the garden one day soon. I'm rethinking my lots of things and need some inspiration.

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  15. You have a truly fantastic garden! Thank you!

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  16. Oh that are some rare beautiful blooms ...Grevilleas are most unique beauties amongst all of the blooms.Happy Blooms Day.

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  17. I'm a fellow portland girl that recently discovered your IG and Blog and am obsessed with your garden. So impressive. We have recently fixed up our hellstrip and the big splurge was a larger specimen Yucca Rostrata we got at Cistus because we wanted that statement piece and are impatient. Problem is I'm also worrying over it because after about a month in the ground we've got quite a few yellow/brown leaves and some dark spots and I know little to nothing about care and trimming. I emailed Cistus but they weren't very helpful. I'm wondering if you could share any websites that may be helpful, especially if they have a good forum to share photos and get input. Thanks in advance!

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    1. Congrats on your Yucca rostrata purchase! I'm sorry it's causing you worry. The last few weeks have been rather hot and dry (all that came to a screeching halt on Monday), so it might be suffering some transplant shock. The older leaves on my plants turn yellow too, and I have a friend who's plant sulked for several months after planting it and he was quite worried, but now it looks great. I wish I could recommend a website for you but I don't know of any. I'm guessing patience and a little water when it's hot and dry, will do the trick. Good luck!

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  18. The Akebia flower is very interesting - it makes me think of a purple turtle. 'Purple Turtle' would be a good cultivar name. I like the blue of the western Ceanothus - ours is a boring white.

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  19. Have you found that the Alstroemeria overwinters alright here? I'm a fellow Portlander and love the colors, but as I'm already digging and storing a lot of dahlias every year, I'd prefer plants I can leave in!

    Sorry if you answered this question on another post, I just found your blog a couple days ago! A friend from the east coast actually sent me a link to your blog because we apparently share a love for trifoliate orange plants!

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    1. Actually my Alstroemeria is in a container. Not because I was worried about its hardiness, just because I didn't have a great place in the ground for it to go and the one other Alstroemeria I've released kinda ran around the planting area coming up in less than desirable places. Glad your friend shared my blog!

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  20. That Akebia longeracemosa 'Victor's Secret' is spectacular. I can't understand why there doesn't seem to be a single nursery propagating it at this point despite plenting offering less interesting Akebia cultivars.

    If you ever decide you'd be willing to share cuttings from it please let me know. I'm sure I can come up with something interesting to trade with you for it!

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    1. If you find yourself in Portland at the right time of year you're welcome to try. I've had two others try and fail. It came from Cistus, if you haven't looked for it there you might.

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    2. Thank you. I've succeeded at rooting other Akebia from cuttings. It seems to help to have a long piece with most if it planted below ground. Unfortunately, Cistus doesn't seem to have made this variety available for some time. I wish they would.

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