We’ve been babysitting a cat whose life had been previously confined to indoors. His love for his newfound garden kingdom almost matches my own. But his ungainly enthusiasm translates into tearing through the garden like a baby elephant, and stalking birds, so I’ve been cutting back a lot of the summer stuff much earlier than usual.
Depriving him of cover and maybe a bell for his neck should even the odds.
But there remains a few blooms to report. Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ is a big, luminous presence now. almost always in bloom. ‘Robyn Gordon’ has been in reliable bloom all summer as well.
The eremophila have grown into substantial shrubs in one summer.
Sedums are in bloom. I don’t usually spring for the herbaceous sedums, but these new darker colors were too tempting to resist. This one ‘Touchdown Flame,’ held the dark coloration without fading, and I so appreciate the yellow flowers versus pink.
Salvia uliginosa and Calamintha ‘Montrose White’ both get the Most Attractive to Wildlife award this summer, in bloom for months.
A summer-blooming aloe is what makes ‘Cynthia Giddy’ so special. I pulled this offset off the main clump just weeks ago, and it’s already throwing a bloom.
Not a great photo but I got home late and was losing the light. This Plectranthus neochilus weaving around the Copper Spoons kalanchoe has been a friend to hummingbirds all summer. Plectranthus zuluensis is also in bloom.
A little potted crassula has erupted in pearly blooms.
The grasses pretty much own the garden now. This is Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’ with some agastache and bog sage in the background.
But leucadendrons and aloes are biding their time to shine in winter.
Glaucium grandiflorum keeps throwing trusses of blooms, this one a little beaten down (probably the cat again)
The beauty and vigor of the vine Solanum ‘Navidad Jalisco’ continues to be simultaneously alarming and delightful.
The Lady’s Slipper, Euphorbia (or Pedilanthus) macrocarpus bracteatus has been much more floriferous in the ground than a container.
And that’s about all there’s light for. Happy Bloom Day!
Your photos of Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ may just make me cave about adding one to my garden. I hope my Solanum does as well as yours. What kind of support did you give it?
Lovely, lovely. My ‘Moonlight’ is getting tall. Once it started flowering it has never stopped.
I cannot figure out how to wrestle a rosette from my ‘Cynthia’ clump–it is so tight together there’s nowhere to grab. Happy GBBD!
Love the dark leaved sedum. I saw some here this year too and am tempted. Will be seeking out ‘Touchdown Flame’. You’re so right about the yellow flowers!