9/15/08

Bloom Day

I woke up groggy and I'm off to a slow start this fine Bloom Day morning. Composing a blog post feels almost beyond my reach. Let's see if I can pull this off.

We'll start on the deck where a potted tuberose is blooming.

San Francisco's white sky sure doesn't offer much contrast.

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Sometimes I forget to include Cobaea scandens in my Bloom Day posts, which is crazy because it dominates the garden by sheer mass and it's had flowers since February.

Cobaea scandens

Believe it or not, hummers visit these flowers poking their little bills under the sex parts and finding some nectar there I guess.

The Fuchsia could very well bloom all year too.

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I'm growing some of the all-red form from seed. I have a few, so if you want one, let me know. If you live in a frosty place, you'd have to keep it indoors during the winter. In a sunroom, perhaps. It should do well in a pot.

I have a blurry orange dahlia.

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I have big squash flowers on tiny little plants. Sheesh!

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I would have more princess flowers, but I cut this shrub back really hard last night. And I've decided to start watering it.

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I forgot the name of this plant.

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It's from Annie's Annuals, and I seem to recall it starts with an I. It's a tall spike with reddish flowers that bloom up its length. (I seem to have a thing for plants like that.)

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I can't remember the new name of Aster chilensis, either. I could do a Google search, but I'm too groggy.

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This passionflower vine isn't very flowery. It never has more than one or two flowers at any given time.

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How long does it take sunflowers to go from dead head to seed?

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I'd like to let them ripen, but...

One of my two cupheas is exploding with blooms, the other one not so much. Here's the bloomy one.

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I'm going to move this Epilobium this winter, but I'm not sure where too. It dies back at the base this time of year and that part needs to be obscured.

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Okay. That should do it. I'm going to stop now. I need to do other things. Happy Bloom Day.

Link Bloom Day Central at May Dreams Gardens.

Link to last year's September Bloom Day, a lot of which I don't even have any more.

10 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Hi Chuck, I'm happy to see you found enough energy for a bloom day post! I compared my bloom list from last year to this year, too, and found I have several flowers last year that are gone this year, most by my choice.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Tira said...

Lovely flowers, esp the passion flower. I need to get tuberose, dahlias and fuchsias sometime.The only way I could, since they don't have them her, is to grow by seed. BTW I ordered some seed from JL Hudson and they germinated in a week (difficult stuff, like agave and yucca!) Will do another order,and try some veggies too, as their prices are quite reasonable.

Christopher C. NC said...

I noticed I may have a thing for tall spiky plants with blue flowers.

I don't even know what I am going to do this winter with the box of tropical EE's I got this year. They are huge already. I may need to store them as bulbs in the basement.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chuck, I think the tall red thing is Ipomopsis rubra 'Skyrocket'. I got some Ipomopsis aggregata (also Annies Annuals) for the garden in Woodside and so far the deer and gophers haven't munched it. I like the look of California Fuchsia, hence I bought some of the ipomopsis. What a goofy name. Emma

CA fuchsia blooming in the wild on Russian Ridge right now.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know about the aster name change. I wish they wouldn't do that, especially making it something much harder to remember or say! Like Symphyotrichum.
Emma

Anonymous said...

Hi Chuck, like Carol, glad you pulled yourself out with the camera and then in to the computer to give us this show. My passionvine does the same thing, one at a time, hardly worth the space it takes up, but that flower is so darn cool. I am in love with your cobeas, I see the seed for sale and never pick it, next time it gets tried. I have grown that red spiky thing before, annual here and it does start with I, but cannot remember, is it ipomopsis, or something like that?
Frances
new url
http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I don't think I'd ever forget a flower as marvelous as the Cobaea. The Fuschia reminds me of homemade candle tapers, except for the red flares at the bottom. That's a great specimen.

lisa said...

Your fuschia is just amazing! I have a couple outside, think I'll try wintering one over in the house and see how it goes. My mom used to grow that ipomopsis and gave me seed, it came up once but didn't re-seed. Thanks for the reminder, I need to try it out again.

Anonymous said...

I had a tuberose that grew happily for years in a pot outside in SF. The smell always reminds of Hawaii, because I once received a tuberose lei as a gift when I was visiting there. Unfortunately a few years ago, my potted plant was attacked by scale, and there was no saving it. Maybe next spring it's time to buy a new one.

Anonymous said...

Your Cobaea scandens and tree fuchsias are enough to make this East Coast gardener give up and move West. Soooooo beautiful.