The Aztec lilies have been blooming on and off for the last couple of weeks:
New this year red passionflower Passiflora coccinea is just as exotic as the Aztec lily above. I originally bought a lady Margaret passionflower, but the grubs got it. I found this one to replace it, then just yesterday I found another lady Margaret passionflower at the store and planted it in a different location. Hopefully by next bloom day I will have some of those blooms, but for now, just the red one:
Grandpa Otts morning glory just began to bloom. I love the rich color of this morning glory, but I dare not touch the leaves as they make me break out in a rash:
The batface cuphea surprisingly made it through this winter's deep freeze and is blooming crazy!:
Next to the cuphea grow the red Brazilian petunia Ruellia elegans:
More reds are found in the hell strip where the rock penstemon is thriving. It loves being baked to death and doesn't seem to mind the drought in the least. Best. Hellstrip. Flower. Ever:
Although the red flowers draw the hummers like moths to a flame, their favorite flower in the garden right now appears to be the Black and Blue Salvia:
Another hummer favorite blooming right now is the Desert Willow. It's always hard to get a good photo of these flowers since the wind is always blowing and the branches are, well, willowy:
Oh, and the chocolate flower is blooming in drifts right now. I walk outside in the morning and the yard smells like chocolate. Mmmmmm:
I finally figured out how to grow nasturtium down here. Plant it in the shade and pour an ENTIRE packet of seeds in a small area. These things just don't grow to Pacific-Northwest mega-gigantic proportions down here but if I plant a shit-ton of them in one place, they look like they are one big plant!:
More shade lovers, Heartleaf Skullcap is blooming:
The Coneflowers are just beginning to bloom for me. It has just been so dry that it is taking them a while to get going:
The Russion Sage has never looked quite so good, though. I guess it liked the extra-cold winter and the now dry and hot conditions:
I had to re-seed the california poppies as the first crop froze to death in February. This second crop is just now blooming:
And not to be outdone by the diurnal flowers, these Yellow Evening Primrose have been putting on a show the second night creeps in. I rescued these guys last year from a road construction site and they reseeded nicely for me and I have several this year:
And last, but not least, the Flowering Senna has been blooming for a couple weeks now. I have never had this shrub flower in the spring before. It has always flowered only in the fall. I did wrap this over the winter, though so I would not lose it since I replaced it last year after my big beautiful senna froze to death the previous extra-cold winter. Maybe wrapping it has something to do with it's early blooming episode this year? *shrugs*:
Happy Bloom day everyone!
