I’m all out of space on Flutter & Hum, so this Bloom Day contribution will come to you from The Creative Flux – the blog I started a few years before I went off the deep end into my plant- and garden obsession. I suppose I could bite the bullet and upgrade to the next level, but frankly – unless WordPress and Blogger work out their kinks – I don’t really feel like it. Blogging is a social activity, and if I’m going to keep having problems commenting on anything and everything Blogger, it’s not all that fun anymore. So, since a lot of folks read the Bloom Day posts, I will post the question here: Do any of you have issues interacting with one or the other, or is it just me? Would love some input… thanks!
As for the garden, it feels like I’m constantly watering. It’s been a very dry early summer with frequent desiccating winds. Today we will hit 100F. It was nice earlier in the day when I was out snapping pictures, but now it’s hot, hot, hot, so I’m laying low and staying inside.
The earlier part of the month was adorned by these lovely Canadian lilies; Lilium canadense coccineum. I just love them!
The Hot Cocoa roses are through their first flush and working on the second. Love how they go from orange to a smokey pink as they age.
The little butter yellow buttons of Santolina ‘Lemon Queen’ looking good with the stripy leaves of Acorus variegatus in my hellstrip.
They are next to a stand of Leucanthemum ‘Real Galaxy’.
Zooming out a bit here. Crappy shot, but you get the idea. There are some grasses in there as well as a Yucca gloriosa.
A bee coming in for a landing on Verbena bonariensis.
Love the dark stems and purple, pin-pricked flowers of Trachelium caeruleum.
The tag for this Lysimachia atropurpurea explicitly stated that it’s not invasive. Let’s hope that’s true…
From my shady morning coffee spot, I look out at this; Schefflera taiwanense.
Not really hardy here, but don’t you just love those leaves? Westringia, or Coastal Rosemary.
Iris confusa and Sciadopitys verticillata looking good together.
Trying to curb the growth of Salix babylonica by growing it in a large pot and pruning it when needed. Wish me luck – those leaves are so darn cool, it’s worth having!
Senecio greyii (or Brachyglottis), Yucca rostrata, and Callistemon viridiflora combo on the west side – the only real sun I have, if only briefly.
The flowers of Acanthus spinosus have such marvelous texture!
Gladiolus nana ‘Atom makes me happy!
Not exactly sure which one this is, but it is a Fuchsia magellanica. It has sailed through even the worst winters, and blooms its heart out until the first hard frost.
I’ve been on a Fuchsia kick lately, exploring primarily the single ones with white sepals. This is Carmel Blue, which has almost the largest blooms I’ve come across.
I’ll be damned if I can tell them all apart, but this is some kind of Sarracenia flower. Love these!
Abutilons are almost as floriferous as Fuchsias, it seems.
I’m a big fan of the Clematis viticellas – this one is ‘Royal Velours’, snaking itself up a Snowbell tree.
Here is another recent viticella love… ‘Prince Charles’. The flowers are crazy abundant, and small. Only about 3″ across.
This super fragrant rose came with the house, and these flowers are above the gutters of said house – it’s huge! It’s rangy and rather misshapen, but good lord – I don’t have the heart to take it out! That FRAGRANCE……
Forgot the name of this lily. I thought it would be white, but instead it opened this lovely soft yellow, which works great against the stripes of Miscanthus zebrinus.
Forgot the name of this one too, but I like it. Some kind of spider day lily.
This was sold to me as Hemerocallis citrina a long, long time ago, but I really doubt that is truly what it is, as it doesn’t have a fragrance – at least not to my nose.
Gotta love this oddball; Impatiens niamniamensis ‘Congo Cockatoo’ – tons of red and yellow little shrimp like flowers. Not hardy so I suppose one can call it a very cool annual. 🙂
To finish off, Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’ is about to open. Let’s hope the weather gods see this as a plea for some rain. Not too much of a storm, please – just a pleasant, gentle drizzle would work just fine, thank you!
To see the glory of other summer gardens across our overheating globe, head over to Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Anna, your photos are gorgeous!! The flowers ain’t bad, either!
Thanks, Tina! 🙂
I haven’t encountered problems with interacting with other bloggers, but then I haven’t been doing it very long. Your garden seems to be full of interesting flowers and the photos are lovely to see. I’m surprised that westringea isn’t hardy where you are: it seems to be hardy everywhere here!
Thanks Jane! I hope I can overwinter it – it is currently planted with a few other marginally hardy things (like Acacia dealbata) in a large planter. The tag said Zone 9 – I hope it will survive winter in my unheated shed… Fingers crossed!
I took photos this morning too , but never got around to posting anything for Bloom day !
I love that Lilium canadense coccineum , but what happened to mine ? It most have gotten smothered . I’ll have to come and visit , you’ve got some nice things at the moment .
I blame the fact that I got my post up as early as I did, on the heat! Good grief… it was miserable out there. Nothing to do but staying inside. Ugh… You are welcome to stop by anytime I’m here. If my lily ever decides to spread, I would be happy to share! 🙂
Oh you have a lot of elegant shots, i thought i chose the first lily, then as i stroll down i saw again a few more elegant ones. They are so friendly to the photographer!
Hi Andrea! What a sweet compliment – thank you so much! 🙂
Is Trachelium caeruleum hardy for you? I tried it a couple of times but it never came back. It’s a lovely thing and I love your Lilium canadense coccineum. Impatiens niamniamensis ‘Congo Cockatoo’ roots really easily in a glass of water and doesn’t mind being stuck in a dark corner of the house during the winter so maybe you could keep it for next year.
I’ve never encountered any problems commenting on WordPress blogs. (I’m a blogger blog.)
Yes and no. It perished once, but that was after that horrid winter of 2016. This is my second try, and it survived this past winter in a pot. But then again, it WAS a mild one…
Thanks for the great info on Cockatoo… I will definitely try to overwinter it (or propagate it). It practically glows when backlit – I love it!
On the WP/Blogger thing – this Bloom Day post has revealed some interesting things. I have had NO problems commenting on either WP or Blogger posts this time. I wonder if it is because I’m using The Creative Flux rather than Flutter & Hum. I’m nowhere near out of space on TCF… perhaps all my issues stem from that…? It’s probably time I call the help desk!
Yucca gloriosa AND Yucca rostrata?! That sure got my attention. Each one of those is uncommon. Two together is just weird. I used to grow 49 of the 50 known specie of yucca, including some extremely rare specie. (Most of them I would not recommend.)
Hmm, that’s odd! I don’t think they are all that uncommon – at least not up here. A lot of gardens have them. I remember hearing about your Yucca collection – very impressive!
Those two should not be at all common. I would think that Yucca glorious would dislike the cool winters, and that Yucca rostrata would dislike the rain. Yucca rostrata rots easily even here if it gets too much water. It can rot from the top down.
After that unusually long, cold, and wet winter of 2016, I did have some damage on the gloriosa, but the rostrata is built up, so has really good drainage. I’ve had it for about 5 years, and it has sailed through it all. You’d be surprised – the rostratas’ availability vary from year to year (during the past couple of years they HAVE been hard to find) but I got my gloriosa at Lowe’s. They had them again this year.
I have seen the variegated Yucca gloriosa in nurseries here, but not commonly. I have seen Yucca rostrata only very rarely, and only with other novelty plants. There are a few mature specimens in the region of Western Los Angeles, but even there, they are not common. Yucca rostrata happens to be one of my favorites, although I use Yucca elephantypes the most because it repels deer.
I love Y. rostrata too – it’s so fabulously architectural!!! I just HAD to have one! I’m pretty sure I can only grow Y. elephantipes as a houseplant up here. It would be cool to grow it outside. Maybe it would survive in the right microclimate – out of the eastern Gorge winds and with great drainage…
Yes, I believe that it is sensitive to frost. It is a real beast anyway. I got mine as pieces from huge specimens that needed to be removed. I can grow them from ‘cuttings’ as long as the bed of the pickup, and even larger if there was some way to move them. I typically plugged them at about five fee tall (which were about as long as the bed of the pick up with two feet in the ground for stability), and close enough for the foliage of each plant to touch the foliage of the next. Deer would not go through the foliage.
Well, I guess there is a reason for the species name – elephantipes. It’s so funny… when you see them as dainty little versions in a pot on a windowsill, it’s easy to forget how big they actually get. Cool to know they are relatively easy to propagate! And, that they keep the deer out. A lot of folks up here would appreciate that. Too bad they aren’t hardier… (or maybe we just have to wait a couple of year for our climate to change. It seems it’s happening at an exponential rate…)
I love how you totally veered off into foliage appreciation for a few photos! I think I called ‘Prince Charles’ dreamy on FB or Insta, I’ll repeat that here. (the flowers, not the man)
Haha 😆 – I was thinking the same thing! How can something that dainty and beautiful be named after him? Maybe it was named after Bonnie Prince Charlie???
About the foliage – you know me… I tend to get more lasting enjoyment from that. Did I hear somewhere that Pam no longer hosts Foliage Follow Up? If so, too bad… 😦
Your photos look great! I have my blog on blogger and have a hard time commenting on some wordpress sites, but not all of them. It’s strange. Last summer I spent far to long trying to figure it out, but eventually gave up.
I’m so glad your comment made it onto this one! Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words! 😊
pretty shots of all plants…specially liked the schfellera shot
Arun – that’s my fave too. Just love that plant – it is so photogenic! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Your flowers are BEAUTIFUL!
I use Blogspot and have not had trouble posting on other people’s blogs; however, I do have trouble uploading pictures. It appears to have glitches in the program on particular spots on the page. Many times I have to delete everything and start over. I can’t complain since it is free.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
Thanks, Jeannie! And thanks for the feedback on blogger issues! How frustrating to not be able to upload photos… that would drive me nuts… I haven’t run into that issue, but not being able to comment is aggravating, too.
I didn’t realize you’d gone back to this blog for your garden posts, Anna. I’ve had periodic glitches with the Blogger-Wordpress interface, most of which I’m guessing had to do with upgrades by one provider or the other. Most smooth out within a day or 2 but the last one, precipitated by Blogger’s decision to change its previous sign-in provisions for comments, required specific action on my part to allow anonymous commentators. It can be frustrating! In any case, I’m glad to see your garden shots. You have me wishing I’d planted Trachelium, which has been missing from my garden for a couple of years now.
I never really intended to post any more garden posts on TCF, but I fell for the temptation as another Bloom Day was rolling by. I had already missed so many because of being out of space on F&H. I miss actual blogging (have several good ideas on topics I’m itching to explore) – it’s been so long since I’ve been able to write a “real” blog post. Upgrading F&H to more space is on my “need-to-deal-with-list” – I’m just reluctant to do it, if I’m going to keep having the same problems with commenting that have plagued me for a while now. After all, blogging is a social activity, and not half as fun in isolation. I’m glad you allow Anonymous commenters now – thanks to Loree’s suggestion, it has become my way to get through. 🙂 As for the Trachelium – I bet it would look fantastic in your garden with all that sun. I’m surprised it looks as well as it does in the half shade of my garden. It’s starting to get a little floppy now, though… I hear it’s good to cut it back, for more! I see a bouquet in my near future… 🙂