May 2025

[Wylie]

Neomarica northiana is also in bloom. It is surprising how uniform in height most of the flowers are.

[Arnold]

Ledebouria socialis

Ledebouria ovalifolia

[Emanuele Mura]

Last day of May with some lilies. 'Must See' is so short it's difficult to take a nice pic. The same can't be said about the Madonna, which as tall as me. 

[Martin Bohnet]

"Must See" is definitely some crazy thing. Love the lighting on the Madonna!

So, what's happening at my garden to wrap up May? Lets start with something I try to multiply for an exchange, but it is really difficult as the root crown of Weldenia candida

is quite dense, no eager splitting like in other Comeliaceae. On the other end of multiplying spectrum is Moraea huttonii

, which clumps up nicely - I hope I find a way to split it without hurting it too much.

No splitting possible for Kniphofia northii, it's just a huge tangle and maybe all one stem anyway. Here's also a Iris sibirica

-group cultivar and the weedy but beautiful Allium cristophii

in the background. Another group picture, though there's only one geophyte here: Phlomoides tuberosa - the none-geophytic one being Buddleja globosa. I guess we should put more Lamiaceae on the wiki. Next image is Ixiolirion tartaricum - a genus that will stay alone on it's familiy page as a monogeneric family  

I started my month on orchids so let's end there as well - This year actually the open garden Bletillas started before the potted ones. The clump of Bletilla striata

Height:	10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple, blue, white
Life form:	deciduous rhizome
Climate:	USDA Zone 7-9

albostriata unfortunately pulls aphids in the garden just like in the pots.  Last one is a Calanthe hybrid with the unceremonial description of "yellow Green" in trade. Lokks like sieboldi x tricarinata to me, which could explain its hardiness

[Ron]

Here are a few photos from Griffith Park (eastern end of the Santa Monica mountains) in Los Angeles taken May 26th.  This is the first time I have seen Calochortus here - there were only a few.  In previous years I have seen Dipterostemon capitatus and something, possibly a lily with ruffled leaves, but it has never made it to flowering.  The Calochortus are more common in the San Gabriel mountains, a higher range.