Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July 2022 - from Astoria

Bloom Day greetings from the far west U.S. outpost of Astoria, Oregon! Here, and in my Portland, Oregon garden, the weather has finally turned from cool, cloudy and wet to dry, warm and generally sunny. I and my gardens are very happy about the change! 

So what's blooming in Astoria, you ask? Let me show you. 

I moved three plants of Kniphofia 'Timothy' to Astoria several years ago, and they have rewarded me with beautiful salmon-colored blooms every year since. They had stopped performing in my increasingly shady Portland garden.

Several Santolina chamaecyparissus from Skyler at Tangly Cottage Garden are being the perfect, easy-care survivors of my limited ability to attend to them. I love their  bright yellow button flowers and their silver-gray foliage.

 

Campanula punctata punctata was in the garden when we bought the house, but it has responded to our wet spring with lots of blooms this year.

Verbascum bombiciferum is drawing to a close, bloom-wise. It responded well to life in Astoria, and I want to get multiples next year.

Verbena bonariensis is such a great punctuation mark in the garden. This year I have some that are very short and I'm wondering how that works; do they get tall in their second year? They're happy, whatever.

 

Will you grow up next year?

 

The brilliant color of Penstemon heterophyllus 'Electric Blue'.

 

Digitalis parviflora 'Milk Chocolate'. I'm hoping the little seedlings to its northeast are its babies. I love this unusual foxglove.

 

Baby digitalis parviflora seedlings?

 A common and very welcome Escallonia hedge gives us privacy and pretty pink blooms in summer.

 

Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane' is one of my best Astoria plants. It has out-competed the deer and blooms nearly year round. It's a total winner in its exposed spot on the south side of the house.

 

Berkheya purpurea hitchhiked in with another plant from Alan at Mardi Gras Gardener. I couldn't be happier to have this odd, thistle-y plant in the garden. The deer certainly have no interest in it.

Lavender figures prominently in the Astoria garden, and July is its month. It's another deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, easy-to-grow plant that looks good a lot of the year and really lovely in bloom.

Last, but hardly least because of its steadfastness, is Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'. It's another of my almost ever-blooming grevilleas and has at least a few flowers almost every month. Those green seed pods give you an indication of its past flowers.

Bloom Day is hosted monthly by the lovely Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Skip over there to see what's blooming in gardens all over creation.

Happy Bloom Day, all!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - June 2022

Here we are, halfway through June and almost halfway through the year. The skies in most of the Pacific Northwest have been cloudy, cool and wet for too long, and continue as I write this. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of days I haven't needed an extra layer. I am cold! Although most of the plants continue to grow and bloom, they are all behind by at least two weeks from last year. I guess I should be grateful we haven't had a repeat of last year's heat dome, but really, does it have to be feast or famine?

Okay, I'll stop whining and show you what's blooming this month at Longview Ranch, with a couple of Astoria flowers at the end for fun.

Erigeron glaucus is just beginning, but the bumblebees instantly gravitated to it.

Brugmansia sangunea surprised me with a lush trumpet bloom about a week ago. It's holding nicely and another is forming to follow it.

I have been nursing this Echium wildprettii along for two and a half years. This year, it finally decided to spit out some blooms, but it's apparent that the center was stunted or damaged this past winter. At this point, however, I'll take whatever it cares to give.

 
This is my first time growing Dactylorhiza.  D. fuchsii 'Bressingham Bonus' has the coolest patterned florets that easily show why it's in the orchid family.

 

Lewisia continue to bloom this month, probably because of our cooler weather. Here are two L. cotyledon 'Sunset Shades'. They are one of my favorite natives!

Ceanothus 'Victoria' has been glorious outside our dining room window. Because I suffer from a complete inability to understand mature plant sizes, you can spot two Eremuris coming up through its structure.

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green' adds the perfect acid note to the shade garden. I don't know whether it will self-seed, but I hope it does that, or comes back from the base next year.

And here are a couple of happy Astoria dwellers. Cistus obtusifolius is in its third year and blooming like mad - much to the delight of my local bees.

Lastly, several Penstemon 'Electric Blue' have weathered deer predation and extreme weather for two years. I can't say they are the best examples of their cultivar, but I'm happy to see a few intense blue flowers bravely blooming.

Bloom Day is brought to you by the lovely Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, where you can see all sorts of flowering plants on the 15th of each month.

Happy Bloom Day, all!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - May 2022

The cold, wet spring continues at Longview Ranch. Everyone is hoping for a bit of warmth, but there's no denying the wet weather with its mountain snowpack will be a positive thing come summer. And the plants just keep growing, though some flowers are getting tattered by the rain. Here are some very moist examples.

I love the reliable Lewisia cotyledon 'Sunset Shades' in my garden. These cultivars of Pacific Northwest wildflowers are happy to grow if given sun and good drainage.

Scilla peruviana is an arresting sight and remarkably hardy in my zone 8b garden. It's hard to tell here but the blooms are up to five inches across.

It's the month for some intense blues; here's Ceanothus 'Joan Mirov' just getting started blooming.

This is the first time I have had any blooms on Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' reptans 'Mahogany' (thank you LL Garden for noticing my incorrect ID!)  It's getting more sun after we took out a big eucalyptus last spring and that's apparently what it was waiting for.

Iris tenax is, as I mentioned, struggling with the rain.

Our patch of Camassia leichtlineii is always a delight. The blues range from very deep to pale violet.

 

NOID Pacific Coast iris in a lovely golden shade.

Iris x pacifica 'Drives You Wild' is the most robust PCI I have.

I selected this white iris from a group of lovely Iris x pacifica 'Meadow Pastels' at Xera Plants.

Here's the first, brave California poppy, Eschscholzia californica.

And a few outliers: Lathyrus aureus, a gorgeous tangerine-colored pea flower, still waiting for its place in the garden.

 

The tiny flowers on Berberis verruculosa.

 

The filmy little flowers of Luzula nivea. This happy grass loves shade and manages with a modicum of water.

 

Finally, a couple of little native penstemon blooming this month in the Northwest Territory. Here is P. rupicola. davidsonii var menziesii. (Thank you, Tamara!)

And Penstemon davidsonii var menziesii. rupicola (and another hat-tip to Tamara for straightening me out!) Both are lovely little groundcovers.

May is our namesake sponsor's special month at May Dreams Gardens. Jump over there to see what else is blooming for Carol and other bloggers this Bloom Day.

Happy Bloom Day, all!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2022

It's been an unseasonably cold month at Longview Ranch in Portland, Oregon, since the false spring of March's Bloom Day post. Mother Nature has severely rationed her lovely days, yet flowers are opening and plants continue to grow. Here's what's blooming for April's Bloom Day.

First up is a series of lovely spring ephemerals.  You can spot an ipheion, Primula 'Hose-in-Hose Yellow', and a pulmonarium in this mix, in addition to Primula veris 'Sunset Shades' as seen in more detail below.

This one is a deep orange.

Another P. veris in a redder tone.

And a golden orange P. veris. I love the bold color the 'Sunset Shades' primulas series bring to the springtime garden.

Here's a closer look at Ipheion uniflorum 'Alberto Castillo'.

The little flush of flowers on Mukdenia rossii 'Karasuba'.

We added one of my favorites, Arctostaphylos x media 'Martha Ewan' to the Northwest Territory last year. This year she's happily giving us a few blooms.

Also in the NW Territory, Cornus 'Eddies White Wonder' is unfurling.

And Ribes sanguineum is rounding things out with a resounding pink pop.

The lovely deep red flowers of Malus 'Prarifire' are about perfect right now.

More pink: Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Fire Dance'.

Ceanothus 'Victoria' is just beginning to bloom. She is listing badly to the west after our surprise snowfall earlier this week, and will need some tying and staking in order to support her blooms.

Lastly, here's a miniature Iris, cultivar unknown, that has adapted to my tough love approach. It's the first of my miniature and dwarf Iris to bloom and has me anticipating the rest later this month.

And that's it for Bloom Day at Longview Ranch this month. To see more beautiful flowers from all over, visit Carol, at May Dreams Gardens, where she hosts Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Happy Bloom Day, all!