Wednesday, June 15, 2022

June's soggy Bloomday

I returned last Sunday (from four days away), to discover almost 4.5" in the rain gauge I had emptied before we left. 

From the National Weather Service: "With still another couple weeks left in June, this April-May-June is already the wettest on record at the Portland Airport with 12.23" of rain as of June 11th... More rain in the coming days will only pad the lead." Extremes in any direction test our patience and folks, this is getting ridiculous. Besides the seemingly nonstop rain it's also been cool. I believe we've only hit 80 twice this year. At this point the garden is still (mostly) looking good but if we don't turn a corner soon I fear plants are going to start showing the damage of growing in saturated soil. I know I am suffering.

But for now, there are flowers, blooms to share on Bloomday—starting with Aloe aristata, aka Aristaloe aristata. This is the first of the four to start opening.

Amsonia hubrichtii

Echium russicum, a little beat down by the rain, but still inspiring visitors to stop by, there's one coming in on the right.

Santolina chamaecyparissus 'Lemon Queen'

Parahebe perfoliata

And a close-up of those bright blue flowers—against the foliage of Erica arborea var. alpina.

Podocarpus alpinus ‘Orangeade’—I think this one goes by a different name now, but that's what I bought it as.

Yucca filamentosa bloom spikes on the rise! There are ten of them this year.

Nigella orientalis 'Transformer’, I'd like to claim I grew these from seed, but I actually bought Langley Fine Gardens starts at Portland Nursery earlier this spring.

Embothrium coccineum, against a cloudy sky.

The first of the Callistemon viridiflorus blooms are starting to open.

I love these bizarre bottle-brush blooms.

White flowers of a saxfraga, I can't remember which one this is. The small yellow beads are from the Trachycarpus wagnerianus that bloomed above and dropped its seeds.

Speaking of blooming and dropping, these scarlet trumpets belong to Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet'. I've had exactly three blooms open, the rest I've had to cut off due to an aphid infestation. I am about to remove the plant... it's just not worth it if I get no flowers since I'm constantly trimming away the buds due to pests.

You may remember my recent obsession with the foliage of Saxifraga stolonifera 'Maroon Beauty'? Well it turns out the flowers are pretty cute too.

Euphorbia 'Excalibur'

Lomatia tinctoria, aka "guitar plant"... those guitars should burst open in a few days, hopefully.

The carnivorous plants are blooming, a colorful mix of sarracenia...



And Darlingtonia californica...

Another lonicera, this one carefree in everyway, Lonicera crassifolia.

Scadoxus puniceus

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' took its time opening its blooms, I mean it's really all about this foliage...

But the blooms are a fabulous color with longer petals than my other podophyllum have.

Still blooming! Thalictrum ichangense 'Evening Star' 

Billbergia nutans 'Blondie'

My various Billbergia nutans (three different plants) have sent out 17 bloom spikes this year, it's pretty incredible!

The Epimedium 'Amber Queen' has sent out a few more blooms. It's so cool and wet the poor plant thinks it's still early spring!

Alchemilla mollis shows off the rain well.

The lower (and more easily photographed) blooms of the Magnolia macrophylla haven't opened yet, but I was able to zoom in on one way up in the tree.

And finally, Paris polyphylla 'Heronswood Form', a plant I forgot to photograph so I cheated and stuck in a photo I took on a sunny afternoon. Here's hoping my July Bloomday post will have sunny warm days to report!

Bloomday is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. All material © 2009-2022 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

15 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 15, 2022

    I haven't seen aphids yet but spittlebugs are a new novelty for me. So glad you still have Euphorb 'Excalibur' -- wasn't sure if this was a short-timer in your garden or not. I might try some of that instead of bringing in more E. characias. And Lonicera crassifolia looks like the evergreen GC I've been looking for!

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    1. Wow, you've avoided spittle bugs all this time? You can't go wrong with that lonicera, it's fab!

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  2. AnonymousJune 15, 2022

    Although I love cloudy cool days and don't mind the rain (no watering, yay!), it shortened the life of my iris blooms; that was annoying.
    I'm so used to seeing callistemon with red blooms, the chartreuse ones on your Callistemon viridiflorus always startle me.
    The pitcher plants are so beautifully odd and mysterious... I really should read more about them.
    chavli

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    1. They're an easy plant to grow in a container, give one a try!

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  3. I'm sorry about the nearly continuous rain, Loree - if only a rain exchange was possible! I loved seeing your Callistemon viridiflorus blooms - so far I've only seen one on my plant this year and it was singed by the time I caught sight of it. Thalictrum 'Evening Star' earned a deep sigh, as did the Lomatia. Your Billbergia are spectacular.

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    1. I would gladly do a weather exchange with you Kris!

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  4. Hardly any plants I grow or can grow. So I can just ooh and aah and enjoy. Very hot, windy and somewhat dry here. Hard to know what’s weather and what’s climate change anymore. But it’s making me nervous.

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    1. Indeed. This time last year we were gearing up for record setting heat, this year the opposite.

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  5. Plants look great despite all the rain. Guess you won't have to water for a while? Trade you some serious drought for all that luscious mud.

    Cool flowers on those Serracinias, which are cool to begin with.

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    1. Kris and I are working on a weather exchange, I thought you would appove.

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  6. Your carnivores must be living their best life with all that rain ! It's always a struggle here to decide what gets water and what doesn't. Do you expect your N. 'Transformer' to seed true ? My Nigellas have been reseeding for so many years that the colors are getting a little insipid. I bought some fresh seed this year to kick them up a bit.

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    1. I need to ask the folks at Langley Fine Gardens about the seed of that N. 'Transformer', as I have no idea...

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  7. Love the delicate handkerchief petals of Saxifraga stolonifera 'Maroon Beauty' and your carnivorous plant blooms look like daffodils on acid! Very cool.

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  8. AnonymousJune 17, 2022

    Here in Phoenix we have not had a drop of rain in several months and record heat of 113º and over. Too much of a good thing is definitely not a good thing. I am amazed at how well your agaves do in such rain!

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  9. I can't even imagine all this rain you've been getting in late spring/early summer. Here in the Sacramento Valley it's bone dry.

    I know that it gets old dealing with the coolish temperatures and the rain, but you sure got nice photos out of it!

    Funny that your last image is Paris polyphylla. I drooled over one at Fraser's Thimble Farm Nursery on Salt Spring Island, BC last week!

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