Thursday, November 16, 2017

A belated Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - November 2017

It was a wet and windy scene at Longview Ranch when I took these pictures, but travel meant I couldn't publish until today for Bloom Day. Some of the regulars are back and holding tough against the elements, and a few seasonal changes brighten up the offerings this month.

Like these crazy blooms; Fatsia japonica, with its perfect, sputnik-like blooms, was just made for the garden of a mid-century modern home. My mid-century modest house will have to do for this particular specimen.

Also new this month are the welcome flowers of Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'. They seem a little early this year, but they will carry on for months if the weather doesn't stomp them. I see the ants are enjoying them, too.
The blooms of Abutilon megapotamicum look to me like little Chinese lanterns hanging off the branch.



The last, sopping wet trusses of Rosa 'Sally Holmes' are still hanging on. The big seasonal chop is coming to this plant soon.

Also bedraggled, but still quite definitely blooming, is Erigeron glaucus, commonly known as seaside fleabane, beach aster, or seaside daisy.

Well look: it's our old friend Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance'.

There are certain species that I don't keep very good track of when I have a number of them. Heathers and heaths are two of those species, so I can't tell you what this autumn blooming heather is. I had to pull off a layer of fallen maple leaves even to see that it was blooming.

It's rosemary bloom time. This is another species whose cultivar names I tend to be casual about, but I remember it was sold as Barbeque Rosemary. It's a compact, upright plant with clean, simple spears, perfect for skewering veggies when done carefully.

Mahonia 'Soft Caress' was blooming for last month's Bloom Day, and although it's nearly done, it still adds a little bright yellow to the green scene.

I'll leave you with the blooms of a NOID Schlumbergera. Their intense coral color is the perfect antidote to our wet, windy November weather.
I'm joining in on Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of the month by the lovely Carol Michel over at May Dreams Gardens.

Happy (belated) Bloom Day!


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Wednesday Vignette - miniature gardens

I am not a fan of our two Acer negundo 'Variegata' street trees. My biggest issue with them is the year-round rain of debris they produce, from samaras that just won't quit, to leaves that begin to fall in spring as soon as they are open, to brittle branches that scatter all over the front yard when they break. And sadly, they have been poorly pruned for years due to power lines that travel through their canopies.

Although I would never recommend the species to anyone, I have to admit that our trees do have their positives: they are large, so they create good shade for our house in summer, and they provide a place for wildlife to flourish. And once in a while, one of those brittle, dead branches falls and is a source of exquisite beauty.
The mosses and lichen on this branch create tiny gardens I can explore in detail.

How do they manage to arrange themselves so perfectly?


My thanks to Anna of Flutter and Hum for hosting Wednesday Vignette and reminding me to look a little more carefully at the world around me.