Bloom Day - October, 2018

What is blooming in my garden right now?  Well, quite a bit, actually.  

First off is my new love and most recent acquisition this year: gaura.  I love its volume, color and airiness.  Plus, although it looks delicate, it can withstand our brutal sun and wind, while still flowering from spring to fall.  And, as it is planted right behind my teenager's basketball hoop, it can also take quite a few shots without flinching.

Gaura

Abelia is another of my favorites for the fall.  It flowers constantly and brings some red foliage into the garden, which is hard to come by in Spain.

Speaking of red, this naturalized chrysanthemum has been in my garden for several years, and this year it has brought a bit of a suprise.   If you look closely, you'll see that one of the petals themelves are bi-colored, sporting the colors of the Spanish flag.

The oleander continue to flower after their second summer in the garden.  Last year, we planted 7 large specimens for instant privacy.  Instead of making 7 individual holes in our hard-packed soil, my friend at the garden center recommended we dig a trench and space them throughout, to avoid restricted root growth.  They have done quite well this year and have been flowering since June.

Oleander, with the remnants of Hurrican Leslie, which came through Spain and Portugal Sunday.

Podranea ricasoliana is very underwhelming in a large enamel pot on the porch.  Nothing I have planted here has ever done especially well, though.

 As always, the roses start to recover in the fall and produce more flowers in October.

Golden Celebration

Heritage

La Sevillana

Lady Emma Hamilton

Meanwhile, the salvias and perovskia continue to bloom as well.

Today, I am linking with Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Today's sunset after the storm

Bloom Day, October 2014

I haven't participated in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for ages, but since we had some sunny weather last week, I was able to take some photos.

Abraham Darby, one of my all-time favorites

Winchester Cathedral always gets a bit of powdery mildew this time of year

Golden Celebration, my favorite yellow rose

Jude the Obscure is doing surprisingly well in the shade.

Jayne Austin

Crown Princess Margareta

 Madame Alfred Carrière is also doing very well in the shade.

Pierre de Ronsard - I wish it smelled as lovely as it looks..

??? One of the first roses I ever bought at a garden center, unlabelled.

Ah, but the scent...

 The Pilgrim is the most vigorous rose in my garden.

Benjamin Britten

Lady Emma Hamilton

Buddleia davidii

 What's blooming in your garden today?

Those bloomin' almond trees!

With all the rain and wind we had in February, our almond trees in LaMancha are blooming much later this year than usual.  I am particularly fond of almond blossoms because they remind me of the apple blossoms of my native New England (which I haven't seen in more than 20 years!).  Our area of LaMancha is famous for making marzipan, and almond trees grow wild everywhere. 

    This quaint dirt road is on our way to school.

 Down by the reservoir

Up near the center of town

  When you get close enough, their scent is incredible.

Some are even pink enough to look like cherry trees. 

These ones are giving the olive trees a run for their money.

 Baby almond trees in my garden

Bloom Day, January 2014

This Bloom Day, I am cheating and adding some photos of colorful foliage and hips, too (otherwise this would be a very short entry!).

Tiny red hips on La Sevillana

I love  Nandina domestica, but it really does not do well here.  The color is great, but it never grows.  I keep trying in different locations, but it is a definite no-go.

This strawberry variety came from my father-in-law's garden.  Love the red!

  

Why won't Blogger let me publish vertical photos?  It always turns them horizontally, like this photo of La Sevillana (and the first fly of the year - UGH!).  

And here's a horizontal Jude the Obscure

The almond trees are getting ready to bloom!  

And you know what that means: time to prune those rose bushes...

Bloom Day, April 2013

Apparently, on the 15th of each month, many gardening bloggers publish photos of what plants are in bloom in their gardens on that specific day, known as Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  While I do not consider myself strictly a garden blogger (more like a garden don't-I-wisher), I find it interesting to compare what's blooming here in La Mancha compared to, say, Texas or Sweden.

Here's what's happening in my garden today:

Lavandula stoechas   

Lavender is one of my favorite spring-time flowers because of it's color, shape, disease-resistance and scented leaves.  Today, however, the wild Spanish lavender is still not in bloom, but this garden-center variety is really spectacular.  I love the transparency of the upper crown of petals.

 

Daffodils

 

The daffodils are doing very well this year since we've had so much rain.  I have no idea what varieties these are, but the ones in the bottom photo are minis.  You can see they are smaller than a salvia bud.

 

   My pear tree.  I planted this 7 years ago and we've only gotten 3 pears out of it.  Our hot summer winds seem to dry the fruit up, but I don't have the heart to cut it down... yet.   

Durillo

 

Remember the raspberry-pink buds on the Tinus?  Well, now they've open to tiny white flowers.

 

 





       

On the kitchen porch, there's a mixed pot with snapdragons and purple freesia in bloom.

 

 

 Brassica napus and Anchusa

... and the rest of my garden is run amuck with, um, wildflowers.