Garden Blogger Bloom Day

Sneaking in, just under the wire. Again.

The scarlet runner bean has a bean.





Mandevilla laxa and Calendula officinalis opening up. Blurry pictures don't look so blurry when they're small. Heh.



I feel like I ought to buy a special camera just to take close-ups of flowers for Garden Blogger Bloom Day; my camera just won't focus close up. In the normal course of things, I'm not that excited about taking close-up pictures of flowers. Boring, I think. What hasn't been done with close-ups of flowers? Show me something new about how a plant works in the landscape. But then GBBD comes along and I want crisp close-ups. Sigh.

The flowerless rosette in the middle is Echium wildprettii; the brass buttons is some Cotula sp.



And that flower in the upper left belongs to Mimulus aurantiacus. I have the species...



and a cultivar:



These pictures don't pick up the floral distinction. No matter.

Deadheading the lupine (Lupinus arboreus) is a daily chore.



I might still have the cineraria next month, but it recently started making seed.




I've had to take out a lot of poppies because I over-watered to compensate for the droughty winter and the poppies turned into crowded shrubs. I have plenty more coming along with less irrigation that you'll see more of later.



I can't resist doing this.



Is it technically a calyx? It's conical and fused, and always reminds me of bugles.

Just one flower on the brugmansia right now. I really want to re-shape this plant, but I think I should wait until next year.



Underneath it, Philadelphus lewisii and nasturtium.



(The foliage next to the mock orange belongs to Datura wrightii--I'm sure to have pictures of that flower next month.)

This is not Oenothera californica, but it looks like it. I can't remember the species of this oenothera, but it's a Utah desert native so you tell me. :)



The flowers are lovely (and it makes numerous, fragrant flowers), but the body of the plant itself is not so hot.



(Over there next to it is Salvia 'Hot Lips' which I'm sure most people have seen before [i.e., I don't have a picture of it to show you]. Great hummingbird plant! Nicely fragrant foliage. I had it in the ground last year, but it got too big and clashed with higher-priority yellows and oranges, so I potted it. I can't say it seems thrilled to be in a pot.)

Do you call this armeria, thrift, or sea pink?



Alonsoa meridionalis. So glad I bought this plant. I'd like to try some other colors. Seed is easy to obtain.



This used to be mostly Cerinthe major, but now it's mostly Lathyrus odoratus. The sweet pea turned out to be pretty much the same color as the cerinthe! Weird!



Do you know what these wildflowers are? Please tell me. I have them everywhere in all kinds of colors, and I have no idea what they are.



Nolana paradoxa in hanging baskets. Should start trailing soon, I hope.



Out front, I used to think this was heuchera, but know I don't know what it is. I love it.



Eriogonum giganteum, hating life in a container on my front steps. I feel bad about it. I'll give this plant to my guru. I have to find something to replace it with first.



Love the flower on this succulent once it gets going.



On the roof, one of my favorite flowers and one of my favorite plants: Cotyledon orbiculatum var. longifolium. This is something of a family heirloom, from my granddad's garden.



And a geranium.



Thanks for coming by!



Bye!

Link to last month's Garden Blogger Bloom Day.