This unusual bloom showed up on a bush in the alley behind my garden. I've never seen one quite like it. Can you identify it?
Mahonia 'Soft Caress' just starting to bloom much to the delight of the Anna's Hummingbirds which spend are permanent residents here. Actually, I've not noticed as much hummingbird activity this fall as in previous years. How about you?
I know it's not technically a flower but this clematis is covered with these cool seed heads.
Rosa Rugosa 'Yankee Lady'
Pink Knockout rose
Grevillea victoriae 'Marshall Olbricht'
Impatiens glandulifera
Feverfew. It's got a fancy latin name but I'm too lazy to look it up.
Stachys hidalgo. I love this plant. the silver furry leaves smell like 7-Up when bruised and it produces these sweet little flowers for a long period of time.
Euonymus europaeus 'Red Ace'
The abutilons and fuchsias are still covered with color.
Brugmansia posing just before it got torn out of the ground, chopped back and thrown in the basement for the winter. Poor thing was just too tall and wide to winter in the glass room for another year.
Lovely evergreen Arbutus unedo blooms and fruits almost continually.
Salvia microphylla 'Hot lips' keeps on blooming.
Carol at May Dreams Gardnes hosts Bloom Day each month! Make sure to click on over there to see beautiful blooms from all over the planet!
You have some wonderful things blooming this month...love the Stachys...and it looks like you got some rain, too. Happy GBBD!
ReplyDeleteHappy GBBD to you too! We'll have rain until after July 4 and would be happy to send some your way!
DeleteYour first bloom might be "Taggus discardis". Couldn't verify it though, perhaps other ideas will help shed some light on the mystery.
ReplyDeleteNice blooms, especially those abutilons and fuschia which are winter annuals here because they can't take the summer heat.
Happy GBBD!
Oh, you are the best at identifying these unusual plants. Although pretty sure it was in a Taggus but I sometimes confuse them with the Labelei family. Thanks for setting me straight.
DeleteSummer heat, sigh. The abutilons take a while to get going some years if it doesn't get warm enough in the spring.
Happy GBBD to you too!
Your Abutilon is gorgeous! And I think all your hummingbirds must have came south to Portland, I've never seen as many in the garden as there are right now (not this minute of course...but you know, lately).
ReplyDeleteThey probably seem less numerous because they aren't flying around so much when it's dark out. There are lots of plants that hummers love outside & I've been filling the H.B. feeder regularly.
DeleteBeautiful!!! I'm suuuuper jealous of your epic abutilon! What variety is that?!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louis. It's plain old abutilon megapotamicum. Humming birds love it, it's fairly hardy in the ground and I've had big pots of it elevated above ground that have made it through many years without protection. The first phormium killing winter we had did all of mine in. The following winter was pretty brutal too, but the replacements made it through.
DeleteNovember is being very kind to you. What have I done to displease it so?
ReplyDeleteWell, I live fairly close to Puget Sound so temps. are a little milder. I also live in an old house with no insulation so I think that all the heat rolls out of the house and warms the plants nearby. I can't think of a single thing that someone as talented and kind as yourself could have done to displease November. It's a fickle month anyway!
DeleteI like the Arbutus. My mother used to grow that shrub but she called it "andromeda", not sure if that is common name or obsolete botanical.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful evergreen shrub! I've heard of Pieris being called Andromeda. It has similar flowers but very different fruit.
DeleteOh so beautiful. Love the Megatapodium! I have one I trained to a standard six or seven years ago now and it's really looking nice these days. (It's in my friend's greenhouse for the winter.) Also especially love Euonymus europaeus 'Red Ace'. Fabulous looking berries
ReplyDeleteYour pictures of abutilons in your garden are always so nice. I sometimes wonder if I'd work as hard as you to grow them if they weren't hardy here.
DeleteLove, love, love the Clematis seed heads...I'm sort of obsessed with them ;-)
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that. I bought that clematis one fall when I saw one in full and glorious seed at Dig on Vashon Island. I had no idea what the flowers would look like but those seed heads were outrageous!
DeleteWow, your mahonia is fabulous--I'm envious! The fuchsia provides such a great boost of color--it's gorgeous. I'm also a fan of seed heads--I think they can be even more interesting than the flower, and your clematis photo is great. Happy GBBD to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie. Does mahonia grow for you in S.C? It's very easy for us here so I can't take any credit for how beautiful it is. Thanks for stopping by @ happy GBBD to you too!
DeleteI love those seed heads of the clematis, they remind me of a sea anemone, beautiful photos too of all your plants. I think squirrels are too smart to eat poison. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteBest Wishes
Karen.
The seed heads are some of my favorites, too. Thanks for the compliment but I mostly just hold the camera and push the button. These new fangled gadgets take all the work out of it. Silly smart squirrels!
DeleteSo many flowers still in bloom in your garden, such a treat for my eyes that have gotten used to browns and greys. Love the pale softness of the Arbutus unedo, in such contrast to the electric Hot Lips!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosemary. Your camera finds so much beauty in browns and greys! I remember how much of a contrast I'd notice when I lived in the north and we'd visit this area. It seemed so colorful here in comparison.
DeleteSo many gorgeous flowers. Lovely to see a grevillea amongst them.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad that you stopped by.
Deletewonderful macro photography, love all the flowers, except first one that is a bit scary. Especially pleased you included the grevillea to remind me of home!
ReplyDeleteAustralian plants are quite popular here! A couple of nurseries that I frequent have sections dedicated to plants from down under. Don't be frightened by the first plant - In the fourteen years we've lived here it has only produced this one bloom.
DeleteSo much in bloom. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Layanee!
DeleteBe careful not to prune that alley bloom by mistake. Those last all winter :).
ReplyDeleteYou still have quite a bit of color. I love how Bloom Day forces us out to take a hard look at the garden.
Thanks for the tip! This bloom is the first one of its kind that I've seen so I'll be extra careful with it.
DeleteBloom day is a good exercise. I often think of how lucky I am to live in a place where there's something in bloom all year long. It may not be the lush tropics and the flowers may take some looking to find but there's something. Blogging and Bloom Day will make me actually go out and look for those winter treasures.