After a winter of virtually no bloom, the garden is exploding into flowers. Well, perhaps that is an exaggeration, but that is most certainly what it feels like!
I misestimated what would bloom when, based on the flowering patterns in my garden in Phoenix. Where that was a low desert garden with nearly frost-free winters, this garden is in the intermediate zone at roughly 2500 feet above sea level. The colder winters, with their repeated stretches of frosty nights, make an outsize difference, and the sheer volatility of the weather here stands out even more.
I expected to see the native Salvias carry much of the flowering through the winter months. A perusal through this post will show no Salvias in bloom whatsoever. They are happy, green, and growing, and are behaving very much like perennials wakening after a winter’s near-dormancy. Ah well…
But bloom is now bursting out among other plants.
Here is the roster for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, March 2023, following Carol’s lead.
It is certainly Narcissus season. N x italicus “Minor Monarque” is just finishing as N “Scarlet Gem” is beginning. In fact, between yesterday’s photo session and today’s, Scarlet Gem went from furled buds to open flowers!
So did Iris “Pixie Power”. This is a standard dwarf bearded Iris, and it blooms quite early.
Muscari, on the other hand, are finishing up. I rescued these from a clearance rack last year and am amazed at how well they’ve flowered this spring. They did not get overmuch attention in the interim.
Dianthus are also coming back into bloom.
The lavenders are just beginning to flower. I expect Lavandula stoechas to be spring-blooming…
…But L dentata was nearly everblooming in my previous garden. Here it is loaded for a burst of spring blossom.
In an out-of-the-way corner I have planted Australian native Eremophila maculata “Kalgoorlie Gold”. I’m hoping its sturdy roots will help control erosion down the hillside. Its soft gray foliage is a constantly lovely sight. Its yellow-brown flowers are not particularly showy, but I enjoy looking at their spectacular form up close. It’s a typical emu bush type of bloom. This has been a carefree plant, requiring no extra water through the winter even though it’s still young.
The roses are just coming into bud, but I can’t resist including them anyway.
Here are the rosebuds. Left is china rose “Archduke Charles”; right is tea rose “Safrano”. Both are nineteenth century varieties. I should—and would—have had blooms from Safrano before this (it was a winter-blooming florists’ rose in its day), but the rabbits have been getting to it first. Their depredations can be seen on an earlier bud in the photo. I look forward to it climbing out of their reach altogether!
There are quite a few aloes in the garden area; in fact they’ve naturalized in places. As far as I know, these are all Aloe vera. They bloomed hardly at all last year, but this year they are sending up a good many flower stalks. I’m not sure what the difference is, as I’ve not watered or divided them and this winter was colder than the one before.
Then there is a very special group of plants that have just begun to flower. These are the wildflowers, which I am working to incorporate into the garden. The most in evidence is the showy Encelia farinosa, whose brilliant yellow daisies float above platinum gray foliage.
There are a few plants of Sphaeralcea ambigua here and there in the garden, volunteers that have sprung up on their own, much to my delight.
.And the first fairyduster bloom is open as well. Here is Calliandra eriophylla, another native which had apparently seeded itself into the garden some years ago.
There are more wildflowers, some unknown to me, others in other spots outside the actual garden area. California poppy has bloomed at the side of the house for the second year in a row. And so on.
It’s a rich season, and it’s very special to at last be sharing it with my new garden!
Happy Bloom Day!
Your garden is coming together quite nicely, Amy. Roses can't be easy to grow in your climate but even so I'd have been very surprised if you didn't have any ;) I love that Calliandra - in fact, I prefer it to my Calliandra haematcephala.
Thanks for the flowers! My garden is still covered in snow.