{"id":10990,"date":"2010-12-15T15:46:32","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T19:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=10990"},"modified":"2011-04-15T17:22:18","modified_gmt":"2011-04-15T21:22:18","slug":"bloom-day-december-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=10990","title":{"rendered":"Bloom Day December 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><big>(Actor Slim Pickens riding the bomb in Kubrick&#8217;s <em>Dr. Strangelove<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/070210-strangeloveScreening.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A December <a href=\"http:\/\/www.maydreamsgardens.com\/2010\/12\/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-december-2010.html\">Bloom Day<\/a> post begs for a little goofiness.  No other word describes prowling a drizzly garden for photos in non-existent light searching for non-existent blooms.  <\/p>\n<p>The roster for this month is pretty thin.  The paperwhites are budding.  (The single most important factor for success with bulbs is foresight, foresight, foresight.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom012.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Erysimum linifolium &#8216;Variegatum&#8217; loves zone 10 winters. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom005.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The bracts of the &#8216;Waverly&#8217; salvia color up duskiest in December.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom027.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantdelights.com\/Catalog\/Plants\/Amicia-zygomeris.html\">Amicia zygomeris<\/a> surprisingly putting out lots of fresh growth through winter, as well as these almost hidden, pale yellow, bruise-like flowers.  My first year growing amicia, planted in fall, a favorite of the late Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter.  Any plant that flourishes in zone 10 winters is instantly suspect for being unable to endure zone 10&#8217;s dry summers.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom028.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been deadheading Queen Anne&#8217;s Lace, Ammi majus, to bulk up the plant for spring, but it insists on throwing out blooms.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom032.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Being a cloud-forest sage, Salvia chiapensis prefers the cool temps in fall, winter, and early spring.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom036.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pelargoniums.  (If Kathy sees this, she&#8217;ll know I&#8217;m stealing Filoli&#8217;s scheme of potted pelargoniums for the porch steps.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom039.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The reed-stem orchids, epidendrum, are throwing a few blooms.  They&#8217;re blooming like crazy all over town, which they might do here if I wasn&#8217;t so stingy with fertilizer.  Run-off into storm drains is behind the stinginess, not money.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom049.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copper Canyon Daisy, Tagetes lemmonii &#8216;Compacta&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215bloom056.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some succulents in bloom.<\/p>\n<p>Graptoveria &#8216;Fred Ives&#8217; harassed by one of the predators of winter.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/1215mornrain011.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This one came labeled as Echeveria elegans &#8216;Grey Red&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/123aft004.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Amidst all the drizzle and grey, it looks like there&#8217;ll be roses for Christmas this year.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/123aft011.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>May we all ride Old Man Winter as joyfully as Slim Pickens atop the bomb and trust to expanded garden pickings ahead.  Happy Bloom Day!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/Slim-pickens_riding-the-bomb_enh-lores.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Photobucket\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/big><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Actor Slim Pickens riding the bomb in Kubrick&#8217;s Dr. Strangelove.) A December Bloom Day post begs for a little goofiness. No other word describes prowling a drizzly garden for photos in non-existent light searching for non-existent blooms. The roster for &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=10990\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[63,36],"tags":[248,424,4667,422,418,394,423,420,419,421],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-2Rg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10990"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16012,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions\/16012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}