Bloom Day May 2016

Welcome to the jungle. (Okay, so it’s a dry jungle.)

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This will be an abridged Bloom Day post, looking at the telescoped view through my office doorway and describing the big stuff that stands out in the frame.
Rudbeckia maxima on the left is nearly as tall as the pergola but not as tall as the tetrapanax behind it in this view. The kangaroo paws are starting to gain height.
Orange poppies on the far right are Glaucium grandiflorum,. Just one plant is at least a yard across this year.
It wouldn’t be summer without daisies, and this year there’s orange arctotis (right foreground near the sea kale, Crambe maritima).
And buttery yellow Anthemis ‘Susanna Mitchell’ with ferny, silvery green leaves, not pictured but at the feet of the glaucium.
The little white dots just to the right behind the dark aeoniums come from one of my favorite summer daisies, Argyranthemum foeniculaceum, a Canary Islander.
I never find it local, so this plant comes from a cutting I nabbed at a San Francisco park. Small, simple daisies with grey-green, finely cut leaves.
Purple and blues from Salvia uliginosa and Salvia leucantha. More Verbena bonariensis seedlings are coming into bloom.
In the foreground to the left of Yucca ‘Blue Boy’ I’m just stupidly excited to have the grass Stipa barbata coming into bloom.
Another grass I haven’t seen in bloom yet, Stipu ichru, way in the back under the acacia, has started flowering. I’ll be sure to grab photos for June.


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15 Responses to Bloom Day May 2016

  1. Simone says:

    What a beautiful collection! Its so great to see the full picture, especially after admiring so many closeup portraits of individual plants.

  2. ks says:

    You have surely managed to pack ’em in Denise-and there is a nice rhythm to the variety that keeps the dreaded onesies at bay. Kudos for pulling it off .And what a nice view from the office-I’d be so damn distracted !

  3. Renee says:

    Beautiful! I’m with Kris – if this was the view out of my office, no work would be getting done.

  4. Denise says:

    @Simone, I think May & June definitely need a big picture!
    @Kathy, you sound surprised about packing them in! And, actually, there’s a painter’s tarp that hangs in front of the office door this time of year, like we’re going to screen movies later in the evening, that we fling aside to enter the office like Lawrence of Arabia. The sun shines directly on my Mac, in my eyes, this time of year. We talk about constructing an awning, but then there’s the roof that needs doing, etc., etc.
    @Renee, it is hard not to give in to total distraction this time of year. I especially want to see every single winged thing that swoops in on the garden.

  5. hoov says:

    It is a beautiful composition, like a landscape painting. Makes my garden look empty!

  6. Kris P says:

    Your garden is so vibrant, Denise! Seeing that Glaucium in bloom makes me wonder why I’ve never planted it.

  7. Denise says:

    @Hoov, this is the biggest, sunniest area on the lot, so I tend to let it rip here.
    @Kris, I think this is it’s third year and still no seedlings. I’d be surprised if this original plant makes it another year.

  8. Nell says:

    I’m dazzled by your skill at composition; it might be a (dry) jungle, but one where a lot of thought has gone into placement.

    What are the bubbly whitish plants behind and to the left of the dark aeoniums? I’m assuming they’re in bloom now, or is each of those bubbles going to bust out in a flower?

  9. Denise says:

    Nell, the bubbly “bobbleheads” are ballota. Sometimes I cut them back to get new, velvety leaves, sometimes I leave them. Your nice words just made my day, so thanks!

  10. rusty duck says:

    That looks so good. It has everything: colour, texture, height and depth. Bravo.

  11. David Feix says:

    What a tapestry Denise, like a Russeau.

  12. Tim says:

    Simply exquisite, both the actual dry jungle and the photo itself. I could study this view for hours. You are so talented. My eyes keep tracing a diamond of purple shades from the acacia to the Ricinis to the Aeonium to the Verbena and back up again. l’m stupidly excited for your Stipa barbata as well. I bought seeds this winter, but no germination yet. 🙁

  13. Denise says:

    @Jessica, since the drought really kicked in I’ve concentrated probably more on texture, but this summer I wanted to see more color. And even just a little color stands out against all the grey shrubby stuff.
    @David, I know you understand — so many plants to grow, so little space, so little time…
    @Tim, I’d have more purple for you to trace if that Ebony leucadendron would speed it up a little. Supposedly that stipa is very stingy with seeds so I’m curious what happens next after these bloom. Thanks so much for the nice comments.

  14. David Feix says:

    Denise, I would be one frustrated gardener if I didn’t have a constant supply of new gardens and clients to place new plants. My own garden is just as crammed to the gills, but I don’t spend the time anymore to thin and edit, so it is survival of the fittest, and the trees and bromeliads are winning. I think I need to buy a machete…

    So yes, I completely understand the compulsion, as most of us do; ain’t none of us minimalists!

  15. Les says:

    I love all the colors, textures, and the lushness. Nice work!

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