What's Blooming Oregon

Kenneth Hixson khixson@nu-world.com
Sun, 31 May 2009 16:47:46 PDT
Jim McKenney wrote:
> I wish more people would post more often about the things which are
> happening in their gardening lives. 
> 
> One simple thing which I wish more people would do is to post brief messages
> about what is blooming for them: 

	It's difficult to respond to something like this--what's interesting to
one person is banal to others.  Also, including common
things isn't necessarily of interest, unless you can note something you
grow and figure that in your garden that plant will flower earlier or
later, and thus get some idea of when other things discussed may flower.
This post certainly isn't short, but what is of interest to such a
diverse group?
	This garden is in what is now USDA Zone 8, though for many years I 
regarded it as Z7b.  Even that designation is a little iffy, as I've
twice seen -5F, and once -12F.  However this past winter saw a low of
only +14F (twice) so perhaps Z8 is accurate.  When I see some of the
things offered in garden centers, I still cringe.

	Agapanthus are just leaves, flowers probably a month away.  These are
from seed of "Headbourne Hybrids", in blue.  There were some
whites, but were lost in moving.  Local garden centers now carry various
Agapanthus, brought in from California in containers, at high prices.
	Allium moly (not Jeannine), another "pink" allium which came as
"mixed species seed" and may be ostrowskianum, and a small growing
native which might be A. stellatum--or something else.  I asked a
botanist once, and he was reluctant to provide an identification
--apparently the key is in the details of the netting on the bulbs.
So, "native allium" it is, although it actually came from my previous
garden.
	Alstroemeria--the first opened a day or so ago, a hybrid,
rather pale orange, and rather tall.  A. "pulcra maxima" will be open
in a week or so.   A. psittacina still hasn't made the masses it was
in the old garden, so the hummingbirds don't fight over it yet, even
if it were flowering, which is still a month away.

	Begonias--grandis is up, as is boliviana, and a number of the
wax leaf types--these have come back for three years now.  Before
moving I had the white grandis, and will eventually get another.
I haven't seen 'Heronswoods Pirouette', but may try that also.
Other hardy begonias are on the "wish list", but are not yet
a high priority.
	Bletilla striata--the blue-purple type has flowers open.
The white form isn't showing buds.  B. ochracea probably isn't coming
back.

	Camassia leichtlinii semi-plena, or double cream camas, has
been flowering for a week or so.  The local "blue" camas have been
flowering for about a month--in fact, seedlings are already starting
to die down.
	Cannas and Callas are foliage plants now, with flowers some
time later.
	Crinum bulbispermum opened a flower or two a week ago, and
right now there are three bulbs flowering with more spikes coming.
These are mostly from seed, though some were purchased selections.
These seem to flower, pause, send up more spikes, pause again, then
flower a third, sometimes a fourth time each summer.  Other Crinum
will be much later.  One clump is probably X powelii that Kathleen
mentioned, though that isn't what they were purchased as.  They'll be
dug and moved to a less prominent spot, though digging crinums resembles
excavation more than digging bulbs.  I have a wet spot where perhaps
they'll be happy.
	Crocus--have ripened their seedpods, and some have been dug,
to be replanted. C. c. Goldilocks has made multiple small corms rather
than the large flowering size corms I'd like to see.

	Gladiolus oppositiflorus salmoneus had a flower a couple days
ago, but today all I found was a single leaf.  G. carneus has a single
stem about 6" high.  G. papilio is a foot high, but flowering is still
some time to come--? July?  This is the common "gray ghost" form, I'd
like to get one of the more colorful forms some day.  This "type" is
so vigorous, I'm surprised it isn't being used more in hybridizing.
	Gladiolus tristis is borderline.  Only one truss this year,
most of the leaves burned in the +14F frost in mid-April, and completely
dormant already.

	Eucomis 'Oakhurst', and E. comosa pink, are showing burgundy leaves,
but flowers are still some time to come.  They are more foliage
plants than flowers, so I don't mind.  E. autumnalis is up, but also
a future treasure.

	Hyacinths--the "White Festival" hyacinths flowered for a long time, but 
the later spikes flopped over.  Surprisingly, they aren't setting seed, 
which more common hybrids usually do.
	Hyacinthoides--before I moved, I was unsure how much I'd be able
to move, and saved seed of the pink hyacinthoides.  These have now
flowered, and almost all were white, and the two pinks were inferior to
the parents.

	Iris--tall bearded almost past, Siberians in bloom for a week,
first spuria--a yellow--open.  Pacific coast iris mostly past, first
bud on a louisiana iris.
	Ixia "hybrids"--I once thought these borderline, and have been
growing them from seed to select the most hardy, but it apparently
isn't necessary--they do just fine, although I still have people
stop and ask what they are.  There was a nice clump of seedlings
growing on a raised bed, until in Mid-April we has a spell of 14F
frost, and all disappeared.  Yet now, there are a couple seedlings
flowering there.  Haven't dug up the spot to see if there is anything
else there or not.  Same frost burned Gladiolus tristis and Dierama.

	Lilies--in mid-April I was so careless as to brag that it seemed
like it was going to be a good year for lilies.  The +14F frost changed
that a little, the aurelian types being hard hit, though it looks like
many will still flower.  L. martagon "album" from seed is starting to
separate the buds, and should flower in a week or so--or at most two.

	Muscari are a mass of seedpods, just starting to die off.

	Tigridia hybrids seem hardy enough to winter over most years--
if I cared more, I'd probably dig and store them over winter.
	Tritelia hyacinthina opened a couple days ago.  T. "laxa"
from the garden center, has buds separated but not showing color.
T. peduncularis is about half height, not close to flowering.
Brodia congesta has three flowers open.  Seedlings from my other
garden, they should flower better in the future.  Brodia or Brevoortia
ida-maia "type" is a winey-red, but opened a single truss with more to
come, hopefully.  The hybrid, Pink Diamond, isn't open yet, and the buds
are more wine than pink.  Bloomeria has a few flowers.  Brodia
californica isn't open yet, but mine are apparently later than some.
	Tritonia crocata--perhaps it would do better in some other
spot, but it is gradually dying away, and hasn't flowered for a couple
years.
	Tulips are mostly dormant and gone, especially the species.
	
	Other plants include Magnolia virginiana flowering this week,
foxgloves (Digitalis purpureus) probably at their peak.  Many of the
foxgloves are fasciated.  Still flowers on rhododendrons and azaleas.
Penstemon grandiflorus is flowering in a soft blue--pretty, but the
seed was supposed to be pink.

	I've made more of an effort to feed the birds this past winter,
particularly the smaller birds.  One result was the Chickadee that flew
up to the bird's nestbox I'd put up.  It refused to go in, though there
were obviously several insects in its' bill.  Although I had put up
the bird's nestbox and certainly knew there was a nest in it, I took the
hint and moved on to tally blooming bulbs elsewhere.  The Chickadee,
point made, popped inside, presumably to feed its' mate on the nest.

Ken




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