Hurry up already, it's not August you know!

I was out scavenging in the garden for things to use in a vase when I discovered this - buds on my Acanthus sennii...

This happened once before, on another Acanthus, but they weren't this big and sadly they were cut down by frost before they could open.

It's November...what are the chances I'll get to see these open?

Ditto for the still tiny buds on Passiflora 'Lady Margaret' - which it appears are being enjoyed by some tiny aphids.

A single flower opened on the Passiflora jamesonii 'Coral Seas' earlier in the month, since then more buds have appeared but refuse to open.

This one is getting close...hurry up already!!!

Thankfully the Passiflora 'Sunburst' isn't being stingy. Since the blooms started opening back on the 15th it's been a non-stop show.

I've been bringing the flowers into the house to enjoy them, I just have to make sure they're gone before Andrew gets home. I'm not bothered by their unpleasant odor but it sends him.

After an entire summer of producing only beautiful foliage the Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' has finally decided to bloom.

There are 6 buds (of varying sizes) on both branches. These next two shots were taken yesterday, I feared the overnight lows might bite them but it appears they can take 38F in stride. Still, will I get to see any of them open? Why is everybody cutting it so close - it's not August you guys!

No blooms here (thank god) but I'm never one to miss an opportunity to share an Agave photo. These have all been lifted from their potentially soggy spot in the garden and are wintering over in one of the driveway stock-tanks (better drainage, more sun).

Finally the poster child plant for late, will-they-open-before-frost, blooms - the Tetrapanax papyrifer.

It might just be wishful thinking but I swear they're a little further along in their development than at this point in years past.

Maybe, just maybe?

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

A Wednesday Vine Vignette

I frequently walk by this vine covered fence, and first wrote about it back in 2011. Walking by a couple of weeks ago I thought it was looking particularly fetching and snapped this photo. I'm again scheming on something similar in my garden, only with metal poles. I seem to be on a passionflower kick (8 different plants at current count, although not all are winter hardy here) and need something for them to grow on next summer...

I'm linking to Anna, and her blog Flutter & Hum. Anna is the brains behind, and host of, Wednesday Vignettes. She's also the source for my most recent passionflower, a hybrid named Aphrodite's Purple Nightie (who names these things?!) - she dumpster-dived to rescue the cast off, thanks Anna!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

WWTT #22, Edward was there

One afternoon last week I had a date to meet up with my husband at Schoolhouse Electric, oddly I found myself running early. This never, ever, happens, I'm usually always late. I don't even know how to handle being early - so I decided to stop at Pomarius Nursery, that should take care of it. But as I was arriving Wes and Peter were leaving. We chatted a bit, they handed me this AMAZING metal container they're carrying at the shop (only $14.99!) and then had to take off for an install.

Isn't it fabulous? It reminds me of a smaller version of that old zinc planter I've been lusting after for ages. Anyway...I looked around, fell in love with several things, and slowly made my way back to the car. What? I still had time to kill. Okay, I'll stop in and catch up on some great parking lot plantings I first wrote about in 2013.

That's when I hit the brakes and shouted "What Were They Thinking!?!?!" although to be honest there was a swear word in there.

Someone had taken the scissors to the tips of these perfectly lovely Yucca rostrata.

Who does this?

Look at those gorgeous leaves, left in their natural state, a little spiky at the tip.

And the hacked version.

Looks like there was a bloom, also hacked.

Okay incredulity aside I tried to understand how this could happen. I suppose someone parked and was walking into one of the businesses not paying attention to their surroundings and walked into the spiky tip of one of the Yucca rostrata. They are near eye level, and everything cut off was extending beyond the curb but...BUT! This is so wrong!!!

The Pineapple Guava behind the small Y. rostrata was left to stretch it's arms.

And although I could see a few questionable cuts on the Ficus is was pretty much left alone.

There's even fruit!

The Arbutus unedo has been left to do it's thing (and what a stroke of genius planting a tree with that beautiful bark right next to the wooden wall).

Oleander blooming!

In Portland!

Thankfully this pair of stately Eucalyptus grow up, rather than out - which may have caused them to become a target.

The Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus var. asplenifolius) however...

Well, you know.

I do love this tree, and if not for all the litter I've been told it drops I just might have planted one in my garden.

Isn't it gorgeous?

As are the exposed branches of this Arctostaphylos (yes, exposed via some abrupt pruning).

But look! Olives...

Left to grow crazy and wild.

But still, I have visions of the poor hacked Yucca rostratas seared into my retina. WWTT?

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Big Leaves, Little Flowers - in a Vase on Monday

I've mentioned my admiration for those who religiously participate in the weekly "In a Vase on Monday" meme. As an sporadic participant I must admit I've caught the bug, in other words even when I'm not posting I'm still creating. I've always preferred to bring stems and branches from pruning into the house, rather than just to toss them in the bin, and the idea of creating a weekly composition made from materials found in your garden is compelling.

While other participants are still prominently featuring flowers in their vases, my vase this week reflects my garden - lots of foliage, and very few flowers.

One of my Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam' was getting quite leggy and a little ugly. A desire to see those rounded, curlicue tips up-close was the starting point for this week's arrangement. I wasn't sure how they'd hold up as a cut-stem but they're doing quite nicely. I do hope my pruning of the plant doesn't result in new growth that gets zapped by cold temperatures.

More foliage I wanted to see indoors: the glossy new growth on the Castor Bean (Ricinus communis) and the vines of Passiflora jamesonii 'Coral Seas'...

These tiny flowers belong to...

...the big luxurious foliage of Persicaria 'Brushstrokes'.

And the white flowers I've used previously, they're from Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’. The foliage is still red in some places but the really tall stems that are blooming have turned green.

Peeking through in the back is one of three dark Canna leaves, they're left-overs from last week's creation (not shared here on the blog, but enjoyed just the same).

There are still a handful of flower buds on the Passifora plant, I'll be temped to cut the flowering stems should they near opening before the weather cools. That will add a little flower-power to a future vase...

As always the hostess rounding up links for In a Vase on Monday is Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Oh and for those of you wondering about the entries for the Ornamental Cabbage and Kale Challenge, one of our judges is out of town so the winner will not be announced for a couple of weeks. I will do a post sharing all the fabulous entries next Tuesday, November 10th (yay!) a big THANK YOU to everyone who sent in a photo!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.