Garden bloggers' bloom day, December 2014

I had blooms to show you in November, like this beautiful Crocus speciosus.

Or my Salvia 'Amistad' that was improbably pushing out blooms, despite a freeze.

Or my Helenium 'Mardis Gras'.

But I couldn't pull my shit together last month (a recurring problem) and now those things have finally succumbed to weather. I'm left with Mahonia x media 'Arthur Menzies' outside.

Indoors I have a few blooms to cheer me up.

Cuttings of Echeveria diffractens I brought inside are blooming in a sunny window

An unknown succulent blooms despite a tenacious mealy bug problem.

Happy bloom day to you and yours! Thank you Carol for hosting us. I for one am looking forward to spring crocuses, hellebores, and a new year.

Garden bloggers' bloom day January 2014

"Thank goodness for Mahonia" edition.

I don't have a lot blooming right now but my Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies' is putting in overtime, making sure that every hummingbird in the neighborhood has a food source to fight over. I love this shrub and it's been blooming for over a month now.

My Mahonia 'Charity' hasn't bloomed and doesn't look inclined to, but a recently acquired Mahonia 'Underway' is just starting to bloom.

Just one hellebore has started blooming . . . the others are almost there.

Helleborus x ballardiae 'Cinnamon Snow'

While I don't have a ton blooming right now, I couldn't be more delighted. Every day that goes by means more sunlight and every month will bring more and more blooms! How lucky are we?

Happy bloom day and thank you Carol of May Dream Gardens for hosting!

When tans go bad

I returned from Kauai a little (not a lot) tanner and found that some of my plants were tanner as well.

Even though temperatures were dipping into the thirties, my cannas were still blooming.

Then the temperature dropped below freezing and my poor cannas and Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' turned my front garden into a swath of brown.

Luckily my Mahonia x media 'Arthur Menzies' has recently erupted in blooms.

And my Geranium 'Rozanne' is completely unfazed by the temperatures.

And my Clematis jackmanii just put out a new bloom! Thank you Laurrie, for suggesting this one.

And my Fatsia japonica is doing its wonderful Sputniky thing.

Thank goodness for these late season blooms. I'm itching to get back in the garden but this cold dry weather is making it hard (I feel like a mummy!). Better to enjoy the blooms from inside the house.

Have a happy thanksgiving, all you turkeys!

Garden bloggers' bloom day January 2013

It finally got really cold here in Portland. As a result, I finished all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls (spoiler alert: everything turned out okay) but I'm still working on my knitting project. I find my mind wandering to the garden and I'm starting to obsess over problem spots in the yard again. I missed that.

And things are blooming! Aren't winter blooming plants the best?

Helleborus x ballardiae 'HGC Cinnamon Rose'

NOID Penstemon

Mahonia x media 'Arthur Menzies'

Salvia 'Black and Blue'

My daphne is budding and my crocuses are poking out of the ground, so I'm hoping the next bloom day should be a good one. Check out May Dreams Gardens to see what else people have blooming this month.

It's still growing.

Last week was windy. All that wind really fluffed up my castor bean plant, causing it to lose some height but gain some width. 

No joke, it's as wide as my Honda is long.

But I'm more excited because my Mahonia media 'Arthur Menzies' put on about 8 inches of growth overnight.

Grow, baby, grow! That castor bean is going to die soon and I'll have a big gaping hole that you need to fill.