April has been a wonderful season for annuals and roses here in the small, sunny garden.
There are sweet peas -- a nice showing from my handful of "Old Spice" seedlings...
...and California poppies (Eschscholzia californica)...
Cerinthe major purpurea is still blooming vigorously.
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| Cerinthe major purpurea against a cluster of bright scarlet pelargoniums |
The classic pelargoniums are flowering well: a coral orange variety and (below) the even more traditional scarlet.
In addition, German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) has self-seeded from last year and is now opening a few flowers.
But the big surprise has been the early opening of my sunflowers, which I wrote about in my
last post. Sunflower "Cutting Gold" has not yet reached its stated 5 ft tall, but why complain? The bees don't! And I'm pleased with the traditional yellow and brown flowers.
Then there are the roses.
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| rose James Galway |
The first flush was abundant, but blooms in the Rose Border had quite a bit of trouble with windburn. Some failed to open while others were splotched or turned to crepe. At the same time there were thrips, which did plenty of damage as well. As the flowers recovered from the windburn, the thrip problems began to resolve. I don't know what will be seen over the next week as we have had another bout of heavy wind the last few days and yesterday in particular, with gusts around 35 to 40 mph (56 to 64 kph). Thankfully the winds have been cool, but they are still very drying to plants in their path. And the baby Palo Verde tree which begins the new sheltering lane for the roses needed a bit of protection itself! I must set to and stake it soon.
Speaking of which, the young Palo Verdes (Parkinsonia, probably the hybrid "Desert Museum") are blooming as well.
Back to the roses!
In spite of weather there was a good early showing from most of the bushes. St. Swithun...
...Crown Princess Margareta...
...The Generous Gardener...
...and James Galway.
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| James Galway. This picture shows the spotting on some of the outer petals. |
Graham Thomas continues to fall behind the other roses, simply unhappy with the moisture conditions, I believe. This most beautiful (when well grown) of the David Austin roses is apparently not a good candidate for growing in the desert.
Quite the opposite is Wollerton Old Hall, flowering luxuriantly at the top of the Central Bed. Given its location, it had minimal trouble with wind or thrips and has poured out a torrent of bloom.
Sterling Silver has also bloomed freely.
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| Hybrid tea rose Sterling Silver. Yes, the colour is indeed this blue as shadow falls across the garden. |
A real treat is William Shakespeare 2000, transplanted from the patio last autumn, and now thriving in the Central Bed. I love this variety, not only for the sumptuous, quartered blooms, but also for the equally sumptuous fragrance.
Lastly, The Alnwick Rose has been another mass of bloom at the opposite corner.
The miniatures have given a nice showing as well.
Unexpected rebloom has come from Anigozanthos flavidus, grown in a container...
...and Eremophila maculata "Valentine" -- not a lot of flowers, but a pleasant little burst of colour well after the main blooming season, which is early spring. A very deep soaking may have contributed.
First flowers are coming now on summer-blooming Gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri). This is an unidentified pink variety, whose burgundy stems and leaves add interest in their own right.
Another source of excitement has been the first blooms from my new Chrysactinia mexicana. This plant seems possibly to be a heavier bloomer than its predecessor (sadly lost in an attempt to transplant it), but that may be due to the change in location. Chrysactinia mexicana is one of the few plants I have grown here that seem to prefer more sun rather than less.
Lastly, there are a number of hummingbird plants that are blooming now, including three fairly new to the garden.
Calliandra californica, expected to grow to roughly 4 ft (1.2 m)...
...the small perennial Cuphea ignea "Vermillionaire"...
...and the potentially much larger Justicia californica, which is already proving a magnet for hummingbirds. It is said to bloom primarily in the cooler seasons, so is winding down now for the summer. Nevertheless, it has some flowers left, very much like the Cuphea above: long, slender scarlet tubes.
April is certainly a lovely month in the desert garden!
Thanks to Carol at
May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day each month!
Weather Diary: Overcast; High: 83 F (28 C)/Low: 60 F (16 C)
Fabulous show Amy, it still amazes me that you can grow so much and that it all looks so healthy.
ReplyDeleteTrying to keep it that way, Jessica! The next couple of months may tell a different tale, but in the meantime it is enheartening to see plants and plantings bulking up :)
DeleteYou have some amazingly beautiful flowers. They are really breath taken and so healthy looking and just the way you captured them in the picture. You have a talent growing beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jennifer - so glad you enjoyed them!
DeleteYour roses never cease to amaze me, Amy! I have to take a closer look at that Justicia - I haven't been very successful with J. brandegeeana but maybe J. californica would do better. We're having a lot of problem with desiccating winds here too. I hope the forecasts are right and the Santa Ana winds end with today's blast.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the winds will die down for a while now! Incredibly, here they were cool, but they still did damage enough.
DeleteJ. californica is said to be a good grower here - especially if drainage is good - otherwise a slow starter though still a good option. The plant I put in looks a bit scraggly, but that may just be its style as it is continuing to bloom healthily. It is certainly a good hummingbird magnet! Here is a link from ASU: http://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/justiciacalifornica.html
Amy all your flowers look sensational! I am always amazed at the beautiful roses you have blooming in your desert garden. They are really gorgeous ones - of course that Wollerton Old Hall will probably always be my favorite. I was interested to read that you have a problem with thrips too. We have chili thrips here in Florida and I am not sure if they are the same but they completely ruin the first crop of flowers on some of the roses, which is so sad. Other roses are not affected at all. I am frustrated with what to do about it as I don't like to use pesticides. I have heard that a product called Suffoil is quite good at getting rid of them, but I have left it too late so I might try that next winter/early spring.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kate! I've so enjoyed finding that roses grow well here. By the way, watching your antique roses did put me over the edge and I now have three... ;-)
DeleteThe thrip problem was a disappointment, and we lost roughly half of the first spring flush. It let up after that, and I still feel that wind stress made the plants more susceptible. So I suppose reducing such stresses might be a first line of defense, if possible. I've read that pale roses are much more likely to have trouble than deep-colored ones, but I've not seen references to individual varieties as being more resistant.
Having just read about chilli thrips (and I'm sure they're bound to arrive here!), they are said to be a greater threat than the usual type so maybe more vigorous measures are necessary. I see Neem products recommended in the Wikipedia article. I'll be interested in the results if you try Suffoil. Best of luck - roses do demand attention, don't they?!