Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - November 2018

All my flowers for November are blooms that looked better in my October Bloom Day post, so it's the trifecta of BD posts today: short, repetitive and late.  I'm very glad to still have some blooms in the garden, though, and this will be a good reference for December when even less will be blooming!

In the Northwest Territory, Erigeron glaucus is really on its last flowers of the year. Soon it will be time to cut it back for winter.

This big-box aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii) has just a few little blooms left. I'm leaving the faded flowers in hopes they will morph into those pretty aster seedheads, but so far they just look like brown blobs. I blame the rain.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is beginning to make those bright little urn-shaped flowers.

In the south back garden, Abutilon megapotamicum blooms on.

Since we haven't had a frost in my protected little neighborhood near the river, the bougainvillea continues to flower its in-your-face color.

And still, Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' is modestly flowering in the south front garden.

Pelargonium sidoides made it through last winter in the ground. Its slim little flowers are hard to appreciate until you get close up. I love the velvety, deep burgundy of the petals.

Anigozanthos 'Bush Ranger. I hope to winter over this pot of them, but if they don't make it, I'll go right out and get more in spring.

Echinacea 'Sombrero Red' is another plant I hope will winter over in the ground, but I have heard these fancy-pants hybrids don't reliably make it through the cold weather. It's another that I'll search out next year if I lose these.

Streptocarpus parviflorus was banished to the patio from inside the house this summer because of scale. Yes, the blooms are that intense.

It wouldn't be winter without some Rosemary blooms somewhere in the garden.

And last, no, these are not blooms. But I couldn't stop myself from sharing the gorgeous fall color of Lagerstroemia 'Natchez'. What a joy this tree has been for over a month!

Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of the month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Happy (belated) Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - October 2018

Was it really as long ago as June that I last blogged?! Yikes! Well I'm back this month for Bloom Day, with a report on my flowers for October.

First up, in the Northwest Territory, is the Beach Daisy,  Erigeron glaucus, still pushing out some blooms.

Keeping it company, color-wise, is a big-box aster,  Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, I picked up last year. It got tall and flopped over while I was away for three weeks but it's still a wonderful fluff of purple in the garden. Next year I'll stake it.

I'm not sure if this is Cyclamen coum or C. hederifolium. Whichever it is, the foliage is as charming as the blooms.

My summer splurge on a bougainvillea has rewarded me for months. It just keeps blooming!

After a haircut in late August, the Catmint, Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low', paid me (and the pollinators) back by having a second flush of bloom.

I bought two Kangaroo Paws, Anigozanthos 'Bush Ranger' early in summer; they have bloomed non-stop and they show no signs of quitting anytime soon.

These Pyracantha 'Mohave' berries are as exciting to me as any flowers; every year since we planted them in 2008, they have suffered from fireblight and formed no berries. I'm guessing our drier spring made the difference this year, since moisture is a factor in the spread of fireblight.

The last fiery flowers of Echinacea 'Sombrero Red'.

Monardella macrantha 'Marian Sampson' hanging in with some last blooms.

Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' is past its prime, but still flowering. Since I never water this plant, it's hard to be too critical of its looks.

Of course this is not a flower, but the turning leaves of Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy' are a fabulous color in the garden.

Abutilon megapotamicum keeps on keeping on.

Every year, it's a race between Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Steroidal Giant' blooms and a cold snap. Is this the year we'll have blossoms?

Just beginning: Fatsia japonica flowers.

Mahonia 'Soft Caress' is brightening up the space under a Trachycarpus palm.

And last, they don't look like much from here, but the fading blooms on Lagerstroemia 'Natchez' are still peppering the deck with tiny florets and making me happy.

Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Click over to see more blooms from all over.

Happy Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - June 2018

It's Bloom Day, that time of the month when we celebrate the flowers in our gardens. It's been a bit "Junuary" around these parts (though we are predicted to get temps in the low 90s next week) so most of the flowers haven't been stressed by sun. But they haven't come on as quickly as in some past years, either. Here's what's blooming at Longview Ranch today:

The dark coral blooms of Sphearalcea 'Newleaze Coral' look huge in this image but they are each only about the size of a dime.

In other red news, Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy Red' is putting on a show and feeding our local Anna's hummer.

Nepeta 'Walkers Low' is charming the bumble bees.

Eremuris struggle in my garden, because I'm stingy with water. Only this yellow one reliably returns to bloom.

I'm trying Allium caeruleum this year. The flower heads are quite small, but I like the color. Many are needed for a good effect so I guess I'll be buying more this fall - and planting them closer together.

Cypella herbertii looks like Tigridia but I think it's even more elegant. It also blooms in late spring rather than late summer.

Dianthus barbatus 'Green Ball' is exactly that. Crazy!

The NOID olive seems to be blooming happily.

It lost some limbs after a boring beetle attack earlier this month (detail pic below), but time will tell whether that will result in its demise. So far, I'm cautiously optimistic, and it doesn't look SO bad, despite fewer branches. If it makes it to next spring, I'll need to watch carefully for the next generation of beetles to emerge.

Daphne x transatlantica 'Eternal Fragrance' is softly scented.

Our native Lilium columbianum brightens up the shade below a Trachycarpus.

I draped a branch of Abutilon megapotamicum across the aforementioned Trachycarpus trunk to dress it up a little.

Nearby, Callistemon viridifloris is halfway through blooming.

Halimium ocymoides ('Sarah'? 'Sally'? 'Susan?'...one of those ladies.)

Acanthus spinosa. This plant is probably getting evicted at the end of the season. It flops when it gets big, and just looks messy, but I value the summer screening it's giving to the shade-lovers in the bed to its north, so something sizeable will need to take its place next year.

Here are the flowers of the Northwest Territory. The foxgloves are still flowering but are nearing the end of their main flush of bloom

Lewisia columbiana var. rupicola.

Erigeron glauca, another fine native.

Penstemon speciosus (or possibly P. subserratus.)  I'm fuzzy on most of the bigger penstemons.

Sidalcea oregana.

Back in the front garden, here's a penstemon I do know for sure, P. pinifolius.

Monardella macrantha 'Marian Sampson' is just getting started.

Hesperaloe parviflora. Mine can't hold a candle to the wonderful examples I saw in Austin during the Fling, but I love it anyway.

We can't overlook the bright yellow flowers of Sedum rupestre.

And last, some tomato flowers that promise such good eating later this summer. That payoff can't come too soon for me!

I'm joining with Carol of May Dreams Gardens where she hosts Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Happy Bloom Day!