October Bloom Day, 2012

It's a transitional time in Portland, Oregon. A day of rain (our first real precipitation in almost four months) was followed by a cool and cloudy day, perfect for fall planting. I need to get on with more of that, but first let's look at what's still blooming in my Zone 8b garden on this mid-October Bloom Day.

Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' wins the blue ribbon at Longview Ranch for longest bloom, easiest care and least water needed. It's been flowering non-stop since June.

Cistus obtusifolius regularly pops out a few of its crinkly white blooms. It might bloom better if it got more sun, but the Pampas grass is so big now, it shades it part of the day.

Speaking of big, I estimate the top of these Cortaderia selloana plumes at about 15 feet. After opening decidedly pink, the plumes have aged to an innocuous beige. I expected white plumes, but since the grass is primarily for privacy (and filling that need nicely), I'll settle for boring beige. Or maybe I'll talk myself into imagining they are the color of champagne...

This month I realized the blooms of Kniphofia porphyrantha look just like candy corn - perfect for October.

Phygelius 'Passionate' blooms on. Just yesterday, I saw a hummingbird feeding from its glowing orange tubes.

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' still has a few beaky flowers. Its deep-blue blossoms look even more intense under a cloudy sky.

Is there such a thing as too many flowers on a plant? I'm beginning to feel that way about this Abutilon 'Tangerine'. While I love the individual hibiscus-like blooms, and this shot near the top of the plant makes it look restrained enough, most of this short, squat plant is literally smothered in flowers. I should be grateful for such a non-stop bloomer, but if it doesn't make it through our winter, I won't shed too many tears.

The dwarf Pomegranate, Punica granatum 'True Dwarf' is still blooming sporadically and has formed its first fruit ever. It's a strange, misshapen little thing...

Our NOID Langerstroemia (possibly 'Catawba'?) is almost finished.

I've been delighting in the rich golden blooms of Rudbeckia triloba, acquired from Scott of Rhone Street Gardens at our spring garden bloggers plant exchange.

Also from our spring plant exchange courtesy of Ann (Amateur Bot-ann-ist), Campanula americana has flowered all summer. Each time I think it's finished, it comes back with a new flush of flowers. The latest ones are clustered tightly around the main stem I cut back earlier.

And now it's time to get planting all my late summer acquisitions from various plant sales, nursery visits, and our garden bloggers fall plant exchange a week ago. Among those waiting in the wings is my last bloom for today, Tricyrtis formosana var. grandiflora 'W-Ho-ping Toad'.

Bloom Day is graciously hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Click on over for a look at the flowers in gardens everywhere today.

Happy Bloom Day!

October 2 - it's autumn somewhere

Here are a few random images from the garden on this bright, warm, early autumn day.

The sun shines beautifully through the leaves of Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' and Libertia ixiodes on my deck.

After staying green in the shade most of the summer, the new growth of Loropetalum chinense 'Sizzling Pink' is emerging a rich plum purple. It's doing remarkably well for a shrub that has been moved at least three times and spent a few of its early years in a pot.

Aloe dorotheae continues to regain her orange tones after being moved outside. I don't know if it's because of the increased sun, or the cooler nights, but one of those two stressors is doing the job.

Plants from visits to Viscaya, Joy Creek, Far Reaches and the Xera open house (plus a few random acquisitions) are all waiting for wetter weather to be tucked in for winter. I couldn't resist another Arctostaphylos 'Martha Ewan', and A. 'Greensphere' is new to me. And I actually came home with Convolvulus cneorum - in late September. Just call me hopelessly optimistic.

In the Northwest Territory temporary nursery, more shrubs await the rainy season to be planted. The Mulch Man reworked a few beds and rock borders, so huckleberries, foxglove and mahonia had to come out. They'll be joined by some additional huckleberries, several new Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide" and Physocarpus 'Summer Wine'.

As this seemingly endless summer winds slowly down, we've been enjoying eggplant and tomatoes from the garden. If you look carefully you can see the fruit of eggplant 'Ping Tung Long' (I love saying that name!) through the blades of Libertia peregrinans.

I've been hearing rumblings of discontent about the continuing dry weather from some of my gardening blogger friends, and I seem to be alone in loving this weather. It just can't be too dry or sunny for me, so if this is autumn, bring it on!

Bloom Day, September 2012

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, and here in Portland, the September flowers are acting like summer will never end. Although I have quite a few plants blooming this month, here's a look at my very favorite ones:

Caryopteris is a late-summmer bloomer with a hue reminiscent of one of my favorite garden plants,  Ceanothus. The bees like it as much as they like Ceanothus, too.

This is only part of the original plant. A couple of years ago I accidentally shoveled it apart when it was dormant, but I stuck the broken off piece in the soil and it came back the next year. Now I have two plants.

Speaking of Ceanothus, C. 'Victoria" is showing a few blossoms this month, too. That may be the result of the small pruning it got following its spring bloom.

Also in blue this month, the indefatigable Fine-toothed Penstemon (Penstemon subserratus).

This pretty NW native has been blooming off and on since May. The Mulchman is enjoying the color in his Northwest Territory, so I've been sprinkling its seeds around in hopes of volunteers next year.

Another long-blooming plant is Agastache 'Acapulco Orange'. Its color seems pinker now at the end of summer, but it's been performing since June with absolutely no supplemental water. I love this plant!

An encore performer is Phygelius x rectus 'Passionate'. I cut the spent bloom spikes off a month ago, and it came back with quite a few more. I'm glad, because the hummingbirds seem to particularly like its narrow orange tubes.

Kniphofia porphyrantha is giving us one welcome (but probably last) bloom.

Our Crape Myrtle tree is in full flower. I don't know what cultivar it is, but from the color I'm guessing 'Catawba'.

In more Crape Myrtle news, the much younger Lagerstroemia 'Natchez' has two bloom heads this year! I planted this cultivar for its reputedly striking bark, but the flowers are a fun addition this time of year.

Trachelospermum jasminoides 'Confederate Cream' is still going strong.

This long-lived single bloom on the Acanthus spinosa has sprouted a little topknot of leaves. Since it's new this year I have no idea whether this development is typical or a little strange.

Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpus albus) is flowering, berrying and feeding bees.

Finally, though most of the Crocosmia are finished, 'Golden Fleece' (also known as 'Citron') still has flowers for September.

For more of what's blooming out there in the world this month, visit our host Carol, at May Dreams Gardens. Happy Bloom Day!

Elk Rock Island

This past weekend, my walking friends and I took a little hike...to an island.

Most of the year, Elk Rock is a true island, but this time of year when the water is low there's a land bridge from the east side of the Willamette River across to the island. I had only stared at it from the Bishop's Close gardens on the west side of the river, and I assumed you had to have a boat to get there. Luckily, one of our party knew better.

There was a surprising wealth of wildflowers in bloom where we crossed, maybe because the land is wet so much of the year there.

This is Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). The small leaves looked like thyme, but their spicy, pungent scent was mint on steroids.

Oenothera - Evening Primrose. There were lots of tall stalks of these beautiful flowers. They seemed unfazed by the aphids all over their stems.

The ubiquitous Queen Anne's Lace.

A few ripening blackberries looked almost ready.

Asters

The large daisies might not be true wildflowers, but they appeared to have naturalized.

Once onto the island we found native Mahonia and Quercus...

...an aster-like flower (possibly Aster radulinus a.k.a. Rough-leaved Aster)...

...and a wonderful view downriver from the top of the rock.

The US Geodetic Survey has been here - at least twice.

It was the perfect place to bask in the early-September sun.

More Oenothera and Yarrow Tansy (thank you, Grace) on the way back across.

Last, here's a pretty flower I couldn't find in my wildflower book. It looks a little like a verbascum. Anyone know what it is?

There's some Portland history associated with this place. If you're interested in knowing more, here's a link to Portland Parks & Recreation's Elk Rock Island page.