Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-March, 2013: Back in the Saddle Edition

Well, officially, I missed this month's GBBD by about six days; but, then again, I also missed November (I was home (Colorado) for my nephew's birthday), December (uh...I forgot?), January (I was home for my mother-in-law's funeral), and February (I was making plans to go home for my grandmother's funeral). So, I'm gonna go ahead and take this opportunity to get back into the swing of things. Better late than never, right? Besides, I could use some light fluffiness right about now.

(For what it's worth, I did take the pictures on the 15th; I just didn't get around to posting them until now). So, in no particular order, here's what was blooming in my yard on March 15th.

Well, OK, my Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) was almost blooming, but close enough! 

My lavender looks and smells lovely.

My Hardy Ice Plant (Delosperma cooperi) is taking a nap in the cloudy afternoon, but it's never completely off the job.

Hiding way up high in my Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai) is this impressive floral display. 

I've got three stages of sweet-smelling Puakenikeni flowers and two little critters that I thought were syrphid flies (yay!). After some research though, it appears they are Oriental fruit flies (boo!).

Even though it's nearing the end of this bloom cycle, my white spider lily (Crinum asiaticum) still has a certain beauty.

My Blue Daze (Evolvus glomeratus) is reliable, as always.

I've got some volunteer tomatoes blooming in my garlic pot-when planting things in worm castings, you never know what else you're going to get. Actually, I take that back; you can almost count on the fact that you will get tomatoes along with whatever else you planted! 

I've got a young-ish red ginger tucked away where I almost walked right past it.

My sweet alyssum is tumbling out of its pots right now.

And, finally, I had to include this poor little guy. He is, unfortunately, an unwelcome intruder in our lawn and had been unceremoniously ripped out of the ground the day before. When I saw this pretty little bloom lying on the lawn the next day, soldiering on so bravely, I had to include it.

Even though Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day has passed, you can still visit Carol and May Dreams Gardens and see what else everyone else had blooming in their yards on March 15th. Thanks for visiting!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-March 2011

For once this will be a timely post, but only because I took all of my pictures yesterday in anticipation of possibly having to serve jury duty today.  Luckily, I do not have to report for jury duty today, but I will have to call back in two weeks and check on my status then.  Wish me luck.  For now, here is what I have blooming in my garden.

I have 10 or 12 pots on top of my rock wall, and the only things blooming in any of them right now are these volunteer snapdragons.  I don't know where they came from, but I'm glad they're here!

In a different set of pots, my plumeria is making a rare appearance.  I like that you can see the buds in all different stages here.

March must be the all-phases-go! month for flowers because my lily (Crinum asiaticum) has all stages of flowers too.

From bud...

to just breaking free...

to almost past their prime...

to done blooming and gone to seed.

My Golden Shrimp Plant (Pachystachys lutea) is in various phases of sticking its tongue out.

My lantana has some barely-there, pillow-shaped buds and some full-blown golden blooms that remind me of some kind of candy.

I couldn't get my Giant Bird of Paradise all in one shot.  I had to take this side...

and then go around the back for the other side. Sorry it looks a little drooly--maybe it's teething.

Behaving in a much more orderly fashion are my chives...although, now that I think about it, half of them have gone to seed as well.  Sorry, it's 2:30 in the morning--I'm not going back outside for those shots.  They're not that impressive anyway.

This really is all that's happening on my orchid, Den. Pam Tajima (atroviolaceum 'Pygmy' x eximium).

My Blue Daze (Evolvus glomeratus) has a fair amount going on as well, but that's more of an opening-and-closing-throughout-the-day type thing than a stages-of-development type thing.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my garden in all it's various stages today.  To see what else is blooming around the world, please visit our Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day host, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens.  

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-March 2010

Well, I seem to have a bunch of things that are about to bloom, but, relatively speaking, not a lot that actually is blooming.

My rose is about to bloom. I should have three new flowers any day now!

My spider lily is about to bloom. I should have bunches of new flowers any day now!

Ooh!  I found one that is just starting to bloom.  See how it has bunches of new flowers that will be bursting forth any day now?

Aside from that, I don't have much to show you that you haven't seen before.  Instead, I am going to enlist a little help from my local Safeway, where I picked up this bouquet a couple days ago.  Actually, they were two separate bouquets, but I thought all the oranges and corals of the "regular" bouquet would go nicely with the oranges in the tropical bouquet; and, I happen to think I was right!  I particularly love the fiery yellow/orange of the gerbera daisies.

I also like the little green pine-coney flower behind the daisy.  After doing a little research, I believe this might be Zingiber zerumbet or Pinecone Ginger-ha!  At least I know my descriptive skills are up to par.  This is also known as shampoo ginger because if you squeeze it, you get a milky substance out of it that you can use as shampoo.  (You might have seen "Awapuhi" on a shampoo bottle and wondered what it is.  Well, now you know!)  Maybe I'll try it next time I wash my hair and let you know how it goes.  That would mean taking it out of the bouquet though...so maybe not!

What do you think?  Should I leave it in my arrangement or use it to wash my hair?

I didn't have too much going on in my yard today, but I bet if you go visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, you can find lots of other stuff  blooming on this March Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-March

Wow, I completely forgot that today is GBBD!  Well, to check out what other people have going on in their gardens around the world, go check out May Dreams Gardens' Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post.

Here's what's blooming in my garden today.

First up, remember when I mysteriously found some orchids in my car?  Well, these were a part of that January 20th group, and they are still blooming!  It's hard to see in this picture, but the tops of the pedicels, the part where the stem meets the flower, is sort of fuzzy and bumpy, so it's almost like having a fuzzy pet of a flower!


Okay, next, remember how the birds have been germinating things for me?  Well, this is one of the sunflowers that resulted from that.  It's not exactly what I was expecting, but it was a nice surprise when I walked outside today.


Here are my miniature rose pots.  Can you tell it's been raining much?  This has been more or less the constant state of these pots since about November.  The one on the left has a small crack in it somewhere so manages to keep itself drained-I was actually surprised to find standing water in it today when I went out.  The one on the right I have to empty out on a regular basis, but it's a small price to pay.  I love my tiny roses, and they smell great too!



Speaking of things that smell great, let's move around to the front of the house and check out our pua kenikeni tree. You can see the newly-opened flowers, which are the light, creamy color, and an older orange flower.  These flowers are extremely fragrant, and every year around May/June, we have a little old lady from down the street that comes to our gate to ask if she can pick some flowers off our tree to make lei for graduation.


Continuing through the front yard, our lime tree is in flower.  I always check to see if these have any scent.  They never do.  But I always check.


Some chives that I inherited from a moving friend.  They've been blooming faithfully in their pot for a couple of years now.

And, finally, my blue plumbago, also inherited from a moving friend.  This is another one that is in pretty constant bloom.

So, there you have it, a peek at my March garden.  I hope you've enjoyed the tour!