Bloom and Rebloom

The garden and I are adjusting to a feeling that spring is over but summer is not yet indubitable.  We continue to have daytime highs fluctuating between the low eighties and the upper nineties F (28  - 37 C), and that with occasional bursts of rain and a bit of humidity.

Two results are in evidence.  One is a last minute buying and planting spree on my part.  The other is some very pleasant rebloom from plants that had appeared to be done for the season.

Penstemon parryi (top photo) has been the most obvious.  I clipped back the blooming stems weeks ago, leaving just the leathery, silvery foliage and a few seed heads.  From the leaf axils, the Penstemon first of all sent out a burst of new foliage...

...then eventually put up a sprinkling of its luscious pink trumpets.

All this with still a few of its long-tailed seedheads...

It is not the spectacular plant it was in March, but I am delighted to say the least!

Even more recently Chrysactinia mexicana has done the same.  I sheared it back because it was clearly done blooming.  A fine burst of soft new growth followed, and now a few flowers.  Among other things, I am very happy with how the plant looks overall.  It was quite scraggly when I bought it, but it has filled out into a handsome, fairly symmetrical mound of green.  With, for now, a few more daisies...

You can see more buds in the background!  Here is a close-up showing the distinctively composite nature of the tiny flowers.

One plant that simply paused and then continued to bloom lightly is Eremophila "Outback Sunrise".  I would prefer to be able to remove the spent blooms that turn brown but stay on the branches, but I've not found a good way to deal with them yet.  In the meantime it is still supplying spots of bright yellow.  Foliage is unimpeachable.  This is an excellent plant so far.

Another feature possibly due to our unsettled weather is the blooming of spring-planted varieties not expected to flower until late summer.  This includes Agastache "Apricot Sprite" (no pictures yet) and my young Salvia reptans with its miniscule but true blue sage flowers.

I suppose all is well and it will rebloom come late summer?  I hope so as I am anxious to see this plant well-established in the garden.  It has seemed very resilient so far, not requiring much water to settle in.  It also appears to be impervious to rabbits.  The lower stems are a rich, dark hue.  Foliage is unusually fine and linear for a sage.  The scent of the leaves is more medicinal than the Salvia greggii varieties.

I wish I had measured this bloom.  I would estimate it (from memory) to be about a half inch wide.  But the colour is marvelous, and in full bloom the plant should be remarkable.

As for my own transgressions against encroaching summer, they consist of one Aloe "Walmsley's Blue" (because, after all, an aloe should be able to settle in fairly quickly here), a six-pack of Celosia (because I wanted to test it over the summer before I attempt growing it from seed next autumn), and - against my better judgement - a 1 gallon pot of Gaura lindheimeri.  Umm... the Gaura was only $4.00 and in full bloom and I couldn't resist.

It has lost its blossoms since planting but looks healthy in every respect.  It was only labelled as Gaura lindheimeri, but I suspect it is the variety "Siskiyou Pink".  At any rate, it is not the species, which has white flowers.  Stems are dark and the whole plant is quite handsome.  I hope it can settle before temperatures really spike again. 

A few other plants have since come into bloom on schedule, but I will save them for later posts!

Salvia reptans...

...and Penstemon parryi...

Weather Diary: Mostly sunny, High (yesterday) 91 F (32.8 C)/Low: 64 F (17.8 C)