Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June 2020

It's a wet Bloom Day here at Longview Ranch, but June will not be denied! She is forging on through our cool, damp late-spring, enticing blooms to open throughout the garden. Let's look at them in color order, beginning with lots of orange flowers.

Begonia boliviensis is livening up the patio with its florescent orange blooms. Believe it or not, they are even brighter than this picture shows.

I have two abutilons, (correction: 'Red Tiger' is the cultivar, not 'Temple Bells') both of which wintered over in the garden and are blooming for the first time this year. I'm so glad I didn't yank them out for non-performance last year!

Punica granatum is just getting started. Like me, it is so ready for more sun and heat!


Lobelia laxiflora. I see the Anna's hummingbirds checking these blooms regularly.

Verbascum bombiciferum camps out happily on the hell strip.


Halimium ocymoides in its first year.

Rosa 'Sally Holmes' blooms every June.

The interesting flowers (seed heads?) of Luzula nivea.

A cool, acid-green Nicotiana from a plant swap last year has returned. I used to know its species name but I've lost my tag - anyone?  (Edit: It's N. langsdorfii. Thanks for the memory jog, Kathy.)


Despite the lush bloom each year on this NOID olive, the flowers don't seem to interest pollinators so I get little fruit. I'm ready to take matters into my own hands with a tiny paint brush. Do you think it would work?



Daphne x transatlantica 'Eternal Fragrance' has overflowed her space. She is one of several foundation shrubs slated for removal and replacement in fall, but for now, she sweetly scents the air.

Dianthus petraeus var. noeanus.

Trachelospermum jasminoides provides some of our best screening and covers a chain link fence nicely. Plus it smells great!

Geranium x. oxonianum 'Katherine Adele' brightens up the shade.

Erigeron glaucus, looking perky.

This lavender is another plant that's outgrown its space and it's flowing over into the street from my narrow hell strip. I'll enjoy it while it blooms and do the dirty removal deed later on.

Sidalcea oregana, Oregon Checker Mallow in the Northwest Territory.





Penstemon... speciosus(?) Well, it's a penstemon of some kind.
Finally, Triteleia laxa 'Corinna' is the deepest, most beautiful blue in the garden this month. Last year I moved it into an area of the Northwest Territory where it gets more sun, and it's rewarding me this month with amazing color.
Bloom Day is hosted each month over at May Dreams Gardens. If you like these blooms, check out way more flowers on Carol's site. There are some amazing blooms in the links there!

Happy Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2020

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens, and it's an especially important one because... it's May! In the spirit of celebration, let's take a look at what's blooming at Longview Ranch this month.

Last month, I started off my post with a solitary bloom on Ceanothus 'Victoria'. This month, the rest of the plant has joined the act.

Ceanothus 'Joan Mirov' is fluffing out blue blossoms as well.

More blue in Iris pallida. The foliage is enough, but the blooms are a nice a plus in spring.

Scilla peruviana doing its spring thing.
Last month Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Shades' flowers were just beginning. This month they are winding down.

Other Lewisias include L. cotyledon var howellii, with two different colorations on one plant.

In the Northwest Teritory, Lewisia columbiana var rupicola is beginning to flower.

This L. cotyledon 'Rainbow' is white. So much for a name!

I always enjoy the grassy little flowers of Luzula nivea.

A volunteer aquilegia.

Abutilon megapotamicum keeps the hummers fed most months.

Another red summer flower back in action: Penstemon pinifolius.

If I'm honest, I'm a bit sad the Verbascum bombiciferum 'Arctic Summer' is in its bloom stage; I loved the fuzzy, silvery pre-bloom stage. Since it's here though, I hope the flower head stays for a while.

The surprisingly intricate flowers of Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'.

The color of the flowers on Halmiocistus wintonensis 'Merrist Woods Cream' is hard to capture, but they are the prettiest buttery yellow.

Lastly, a single apricot-colored bud leading a soon-to-be-truss of blossoms on Rosa 'Sally Holmes'.

And that's a wrap on May's Bloom Day. Check out Carol's namesake garden post for lots more flowers this month.

Happy Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2020

It seems to be my new habit to post a day late for Bloom Day, so here I am on the 16th of April with all the flowers blooming in my garden. Since I use my posts as a sort of garden journal, you'll see lots of plants that were blooming last month, but that need to be included for my flagging memory. Just skip past them - or marvel as I do, at their long bloom time!

First up, the Ceanothus. Below is C. 'Victoria' with a solitary bloom that has been open for literally three weeks. But I see lots of ready buds all over the plant, so I look forward to many more.

Ceanothus maritimus 'Valley Violet' is the loveliest color.

More beautiful blues - Camassia leichtlinii just beginning the show.

Here's Ribes sanguinea in full bloom now in the Northwest Territory.

Another from last month, Loropetalum chinensis 'Sizzling Pink' is a little past its prime but still looking very pink.

More pink: Malus 'Prairifire'. This street tree is a little ungainly, despite of the Mulch Man's careful pruning, but it puts on a great spring show.

Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder' is perfection in the Northwest Territory.

Ipheion uiniflorum 'Alberto Castillo' has settled into the garden and is rewarding with several honey-scented flowers.

The NOID primrose above makes for a dynamic contrast. Here's a closeup of its unique coloring.

A Primula veris (red) that reads orange to me.

 The happy self-seeding Eschscholzia californica.

More amazing golden-orange. 'Icon' is the first to bloom of five miniature dwarf bearded iris from Aitken's Salmon Creek Gardens. I'm not a big fan of the tall bearded Iris, but these little ones are hard to resist.

 Another NOID miniature dwarf bearded iris from a few years back.

More white flowers: Pieris japonica 'Prelude', a low-growing selection (there are three plants in there.)

  
Primula sieboldii 'Late Snow'. This is all the snow I care for in a year.

A common Zantedeschia I have been trying to evict from the garden for ten years, with a little slug damage but looking good enough to leave for this year.

Arctostaphylos 'Martha Ewan' is a happy little camper in my south hell strip.

The first few flowers on Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Shades' wind up the April flower parade.

Check out Bloom Day every month at May Dreams Gardens, where you can enjoy flowers from all over the place.

Happy Bloom Day!