Garden Bloggers Bloom Day- October 2009

The blooms today are my old favorites: peony rose, begonia, passion flower, bird of paradise. We've had two days of rain-- most unexpected for us this time of year-- so the garden sparkles today. It's warm, so all the blooms that were in bud are coming out.

The peony rose ( I don't know it's botanical name, so if anyone has an idea, do let me know.)  has got three blossoms and more buds.  The other roses are busy giving me new blooms.  Their stems have all gotten so tall that I will have to prune them back this winter.  The garden is happy when the roses start to bloom again in the fall.  The stress of summer is over and here, we still have weeks of warm weather, with the possibility of another heat wave. So goes our autumn in the Los Angeles area.

These begonias are the work horses of the garden this summer. No matter the weather they keep giving blossoms.  You can see the shadows of the petals on this passion flower bloom. We have very nice clear skies today. A beautiful day.

 

And who else should show his colors today, but the bird of paradise, still unfurling more blossoms than he's ever shown in one season. Happy blooms for a lovely day.

For more Bloom Day shows go to May Dreams Garden.

Home, Sweet Home

Now that the dust has settled from the house painters, the tree trimmers and the weather is a pleasant 75 degrees, the garden has started to look like home again.  We swept, moved, rearranged and swept some more to get things back in order on the patio. 

The chairs are ready for visitors. The fire pit prepared for the fire. Each pot and shelf and plant stand back in its place.  Even the table waits expectantly for tea cups to appear.   It is sight to behold, welcome to the eyes.

The begonias in the wrought iron scallops sit beside the blue house with the white trim. Ah, yes, our freshly painted blue house with the oh-so-white trim.  And who else joins us, but

the peony rose with three opening buds by the sun dial. Our constant friend, the peony rose.

They Survived!!

I think the assaults on my garden are over for now. The tree trimmers came, destroyed two plants, but, praise heaven, they're gone.  For those of you who have been following this blog, you know my garden has lived through drought, heat, Santa Anna winds, house painters, now tree trimmers. The live oak they trimmed is just above my garden. And I've got some survivors. Can you believe it?!  I've got some beautiful survivors. As I touched up their pictures to show you, I got so excited. Doesn't matter to the garden. They ARE gonna survive. Boy, can I learn a lesson.

My pride and joy is my peony rose. I've no idea what her real name is, as she was a gift from the weekly market. But her bloom is such a knock-out, so full, so fragrant, that I call her the peony rose.

 

 

 Wait until you see the blossoms that are still singin their hearts out. I honor them here.

Dragon Wing Begonia

Bird of Paradise

 

 

Echinicea

 

Begonia

Crown of Thorns

Cranesbill Geranium

Some of my champions are leaves. I'm just busting to share them with you. They're going great guns. Who'd a thought.

 Purple Oxalis

 

 Persian Shield

 

 Forget-me-not

  

Staghorn Fern

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine

I could tell you a little story about each one. The Persian Shield lost half the plant from the tree trimmers. But this beautiful half remains. The forget-me-nots have spread to almost cover this plants. No stopping them in all this drought and heat.

The cranesbilll geranium has not stopped blooming through everything. It even has lots of buds, just as my peony rose does. That bird of paradise just keeps on giving blooms. It, too, has its beak-like buds yet to open. 

I learn so much about how to live from my garden. There will be survivors. Surviving will happen. Hurrah for the garden, one of my very best friends. Hurrah for the survivors.

Autumn Kinkitis

I don't have the best of the garden to share today, but there are signs of a transition into our kind of fall.  The garden had taken quite a beating the last few weeks between the heat waves and the painters.  And then, surprise, the painters are finished.  Nice little blue and white cottage. And it was so "chilly" outside, I had to wear my bathrobe in the garden this morning to survey the plants.

My tomato is still producing, despite the heat-damaged foliage.

My leafy begonia did not survive the heat. I hope they will produce new leaves from the bulb. I keep watering them.

The path the painters made through my bed to get at the side of the house. It will take some time for this to recover.

My rose bush suffers from heat-melted blossoms and painter sanding dust. I will have to hose off each plant in the garden to give the leaves a chance to breathe again.

One echinacea dried to a crisp by the heat, while its neighbor still blooms. Nature is mysterious. We never know which plant the strong sun will toast and which it will leave to flower.

There is some good news.  Despite the heat some plants have fourished.

Witness my peony rose. Four buds!!

Dragon-Winged Begonia

Rabbit-foot Fern

Staghorn Fern

 Jupiter's Beard

Salvia Chiapensis reblooming!!

If the cool temps remain, even for a week or two, other plants will start to recover, more blooms will appear and my fall garden will flourish.  With every loss comes new life. How happy that the garden shows me this truth in every season.

Now I've got to go to the garden center for a new hose. This one has permanent kinkitis. Who says I haven't been watering!

Love those Leaves

Passion Flower

 

Ornamental Sweet Potato

Variegated Ivy

All leaves have their own personality, especially the ones from different plants.  The above  three leaves have three or five lobes, but on closer examination are quite different.  The Passion Flower leaf reaches its veins into each of the three lobes and has parallel veins, while the Sweet Potato treats each lobe as part of the larger leaf and does not have parallel veins.  The colors of the Ivy almost obscure the veins in this leaf.

At the expense of not getting too technical in this post, I will describe some leaves and leave the others for you to notice the difference. It's only because of this post that I've started to recall some of my high school biology and look at leaves as individuals again.  It's so easy to see the flowers and forget about the leaves that engender them.

Polka-dot plant

 

Caladium

Some leaves are more spectacular than the flower, as the above two.  The Polka-dot leaf has veins that do not follow the pattern of the pink color, while the Caladium does. The Caladium looks as if its sap ran deep pink in the middle of the leaf.

Australian Tree Fern

Staghorn Fern Frond

 

 Mother Fern Leaflet

 

??

The ferns are a world all their own.  Leaflets grow off of the main stem in different shapes and sizes.  The spores on the back of the Mother Fern leaflet can form new ferns.  I love the gentle curve of this leaflet.

Yarrow Leaf

 

Boston Fern Leaf

But even ferns are similar to the leaves themselves, as in the two leaves shown above.  The Yarrow may have a more complex form, but both leaves grow out from a central stem. 

Cranesbill Geranium

 

Kalanchoe

 

Begonia

Plumbago Groundcover in Fall

These leaves show the different colors that leaves can have. The colors in the last two photos show on the leaves in different places, some year-round, some due to their exposure to the sun or the turning of leaves in fall. The succulents have no visible veins.

Mexican Heather

 

Hen and Chickens Succulent

Some leaves form a recognizable form, while others have their on creative chaos.

Forget-me-not

 

 Purple Oxalis

Two of my favorite leaves. Seen close the Forget-me-not has a wonderful contrast of colors.  The various colors and the form of the oxalis speak for themselves.