It is March in the small, sunny garden now. Several plants that went into the ground last autumn are only now coming into bloom, while others continue along at full speed. A few, such as the two Eremophilas, "Valentine" and "Outback Sunrise", are slowing down.
At the moment, the plants with the most flowers are surely Chrysactinia mexicana and Salvia greggii "Autumn Moon". Chrysactinia mexicana, or Damianita as it is called, is just coming into full bloom at the top end of the garden.
It is still a small plant, but noticeably larger than when I put it in the ground last October. As you can see, it is covered in open daisies and buds. The flowers are small, but their colour is brilliant! I wrote a
more complete post on it just over a week ago when it first began to flower.
Salvia greggii "Autumn Moon" has bloomed - with one brief respite - since planting last fall. A couple of small Armerias are tucked in next to it, creating this little tableau... At this stage the Armeria is proving much less xeric than the Salvia, though the Salvia did require frequent watering for a month or two after planting. Not so now!
Walking on down toward the east end of the garden, I come to Penstemon parryi. This Arizona native is perhaps the most elegant plant in the garden at present.
Nearby are a few more daisies from some Helipterum roseum seeds that I started during the winter. They actually sprouted and grew on in the front patio, where temperatures, though cold, did not drop low enough to kill anything but my basil. These paper daisies (from the old standby "Best Mix" courtesy of Park Seeds) have so far given me pale pink and medium pink flowers. Now some whites are beginning to bloom as well. At this point they are taking the sun and warmth well and not requiring too much water to put out their flowers, which are papery and fluffy at the same time. These are classic everlastings, so I need to start cutting some for those flower-sparse times later in the year!
Then around to the Dry Corner and Tetraneuris aucalis. Like the Damianita, it is covered with flowers and buds - just not quite so many, and the flowers are, of course, larger...
They grow on long stems so the blooms are displayed well above the low mat of foliage.
Returning toward the patio, here is another plant which has been in full bloom for perhaps the last two months: Russelia equisetiformis. "Coral Fountain" is one of its common names, and it is living up to it!
And just beside it is the first flower on Dietes iridioides, the sturdy, dry-climate iris relative that cycles frequently in and out of bloom, earning it the name "Fortnight Lily".
There are a number of other blossoms scattered around the garden - violas, lavender, osteospermum, rosemary, lemon thyme. And Berlandiera lyrata is still sending up flowers though I forgot to catch any pictures! It is a rich time for flowers just now.
Linking with
Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day meme for this month, where it is possible to see many other lovely plants as spring finally comes into its own...
One more picture of Dietes iridioides...
Happy March!
