In a Vase: Unstoppable

With the temperatures above 110 F/43 C till a few days ago, I didn't know what would still be available for cutting this week.  And in fact, the sweet peas are finally gone, as are most of the other annuals.  My recent plantings of Catharanthus roseus are blooming as profusely as their still-small size permits, but their short stems hardly allow cutting, though who knows what I may try eventually...

But there are a few roses.  These continue to flower sporadically though they are supposed to be resting during the heat sink of June; I am not hard-hearted or heavy-handed enough to cut off buds unless it is absolutely necessary, which I don't think it is.  However, culling blooms for today's vase is another matter.

They are hardly in top form, but still beautiful.  Stems of St. Swithun...

...The Generous Gardener...

...and Daniela...

...provide color against a backdrop of Artemesia "Powis Castle", accented by a sprig of Salvia (noID, probably a type of Clary Sage).   And I had the fun of using a newly completed vase, handbuilt in stoneware and finished with a dark glaze.

Linking quite late (though I made the vase on Monday, I simply could not get this post up, aargh!) with the Monday Vase meme at Rambling in the Garden... with a big thank you to Cathy for hosting it!

Weather Diary: Sunny and hot; High: 106 F (41 C)/Low: 81 F (27 C); Humidity 9%-38%

In a Vase: Interlude in Light and Dark

Yesterday's vase was a fun afterthought to my Bloom Day post.  Going around, snipping for the vase, I discovered tidbits I didn't know were still flowering.  In fact, this vase is very much a collection of tidbits.

It began with pairing my dark-glazed pot with the very dark blooms of ivy-leaf pelargonium "Precision".  I slipped in a bloom from Jasminum sambac, the Arabian jasmine which is scenting the air from the White and Silver garden -- with only a few blooms so far!

The heart of the vase is no surprise: a couple of roses, "St. Swithun"...

...and "The Generous Gardener", one of my favorites for fragrance now.

But then there was the stem of Nigella, with one small flower discovered among the big pods.

A spray of white lantana...

...combined with a couple of smaller sprigs from Ozothamnus diosmifolius, whose flowers seem to be more or less everlastings, a useful trait that I was not aware of when I purchased it.  Two stems still had unopened buds, the stage at which these are normally cut for arrangements.

I was also able to take a few stems of Salvia farinacea.

And there were long stems of Lavender "Goodwin's Creek Gray" and shorter stems of lemon thyme.

So there was actually quite a bit of material, even with just a stem here and two or three stems there.

The jasmine flower had dropped by this morning, but I really liked having the bright white accent while it lasted.

Hurrying over to Rambling in the Garden, where other vases and much inspiration can be found!

Weather Diary: Sunny; High: 90 F (32 C)/Low: 67 F (19 C)

Garden Bloom in April

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

In a Vase: Easter Roses

And the roses have come into bloom, just in time for Easter...

For an Easter Sunday bouquet I used mostly roses and penstemon.  I snipped a few blooms here and there from most of the shrub roses.  From the Central Bed came Wollerton Old Hall...

...and the Alnwick Rose.

The Rose Border yielded a couple of buds from the Generous Gardener, as well as a frilly bloom from James Galway...

...and two blossoms from St. Swithun; these had a bit of windburn.  It is the westernmost bush in the bed, and winds have been strong lately.  The Rose Border could do with a little additional protection at both ends -- wind from the west and sun from the east -- but I don't have any brilliant ideas for it at the moment.

And of course, there was a bloom of Sterling Silver.

Two types of Penstemon went in: P. parryi (centre)...

...and P. pseudospectabilis.

It is very interesting combining them in the vase as the flowers are surprisingly similar.  They are trumpets in slightly different hues of pink, with P. parryi being bluer and softer than P. pseudospectabilis with its brash magenta.  In the garden they are considerably different plants in terms of foliage and, to a lessert extent, growth habit.

Both are known by the common name "Desert Penstemon".  Both are native to Arizona, but P. pseudospectabilis has a much wider range, shown on the USDA map to include New Mexico, Utah, and California as well, whereas P. parryi seems to be found only in Arizona.

Then there were a couple of sprigs of an unknown and, as yet, unplanted, Salvia.  I found it at one of the local box stores the other day.  Its delicate pink and white was irresistable, to me at any rate!

It was simply labelled "Salvia," grrrr...!  Some of us prefer to know just what it is we are growing.  Assistance with an ID on this one would be appreciated, but I'm afraid my photo doesn't give enough detail.  The blooms are elongated Salvia types, and the leaves are rounded with scalloped edges.  It may be something fairly common, for all I know!  Maybe I'll post separately on it later.  It's such a pretty little thing.  I suspect it will get a good deal larger despite the delicacy of the flowers.

The vase also contains a lone stalk of lavender.  Bought at the same time as the Salvia, it also was scantily labeled.  "Lavender", said the pot sticker.  Yes, lavender it is; and I believe it is L. dentata.  At any rate, I love the paler, silvery tones of the flowers.

I used more sprigs of Ozothamnus diosmifolius in this vase too.  It is nice to have something that works so well as filler.

The completed vase, using an unglazed stoneware jar that I made a year or two ago...

The pictures were taken outside at sunset, which is why the colours look the way they do!

Thanks to Cathy for hosting the Monday Vase meme at Rambling in the Garden!

Weather Diary: Partly cloudy and windy; High: 81 F (27 C)/Low: 55 F (13 C)