Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - January 2016

It's the first Bloom Day of 2016, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. I seem to have a lot of things in bud this month, but very little blooming, so this will be a relatively short bloom day post for me. I'll start off with the houseplants.

Vanda (formerly Ascofinetia) Moonlight Firefly is winding down after a fairly brief showing this time round. Sometimes the flower spikes on these plants can be finicky and decide to produce little or no bloom if you change the conditions at the wrong time. It still has two more spikes low down in the leaves that should produce more blooms at some point.

This dwarf form of Billbergia nutans is sending up three inflorescences (2 shown here). The foliage is a mere 6 or 7 inches tall, compared to the typical form which can reach nearly two feet tall.

Sorry for the poor lighting. This was taken under my grow lights, but it does show how fuzzy the bud is on Columnea 'Janella'. The flower will nearly double in size when open.

Four of my mottled-leaf Phalaenopsis are in spike right now. I grow them mainly for the foliage, but I can't wait to see the blooms, especially since this is the first time these young plants will bloom for me.

Echeveria purpusorum surprised me with a bloom spike.

There are a couple other plants in bud, another moth orchid and Hoya multiflora, and a couple bromeliads that still have colorful bracts, though the flowers themselves are gone. Rounding out the houseplants this time is Paphiopedilum Hsinying Alien.

Out in the greenhouse, Lapageria rosea continues to bloom. I haven't spotted any more buds, so these may finally be the last blooms for a while.

Daphne x transatlantica 'Blafra' (Eternal Fragrance) didn't have any blooms open today, but there are plenty of buds that could open at any time.

The hellebores are still a ways off. I need to get some of the Helleborus niger hybrids that are blooming now in other gardens.

Erysimum buds continue to swell ever so slowly.

Cyclamen coum was slowed down by the cold and snow the first week of January, as no doubt most things were.

While the rain, frost, and slugs have taken a toll on my few other Primula vulgaris hybrids, this one is looking great sheltered under the dead foliage of Japanese forest grass.

Nothing new here. Hutchinsia alpina continues to eek out a few flowers even in the coldest weather.

The seed capsules of some of my Calluna vulgaris have brightened to such a silvery white as to be just as showy as the flowers were at the end of summer.

And finally, the biggest show of flowers in my garden this month is made by the heaths (Erica cultivars). I have mostly white-flowered cultivars, as shown below, but I do have several plants with pink flowers that I keep for their chartreuse foliage that takes on coral and orange shades in winter.


Comments

  1. I went back to check, and indeed Daphne x transatlantica 'Blafra' was blooming in your November's GBBD. It's really astonishing. Doesn't it ever take a break?
    Do you ever sheer the heather after they bloom? I'm always conflicted as the seeds are quite lovely too, not to mention I try to avoid the extra work for me...

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    1. The marketing name for that Daphne, Eternal Fragrance, really seems appropriate. It seems never to be without at least buds, if not open flowers. I think if it had gotten a little colder this winter it might have lost its buds, though. I used to sheer the heathers after bloom, but then I decided I liked the seed heads too much. Now they're sheered in late winter/early spring. It keeps them compact and looking good without interfering with the blooms or seed capsules.

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  2. I love it when the heathers and heaths color up in winter. And I agree, the spent blooms are just like continuous flowers. One of mine is in a bed with xeric plants and has a hard go of it, but retains its shining silver bloom remains in perfect harmony.

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    1. Heathers are surprisingly drought-tolerantt. I learned recently that the native range of Calluna vulgaris includes oak woodlands in the Mediterranean. I wonder if any of the cultivars on the market were selected from drier regions or if they are mostly from the UK.

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  3. I've been tempted by a few of lovely looking Erysimum at a couple of nurseries, so far I'm not taking the plunge. Your Billbergia nutans brings back happy memories of my plant, which I sadly tossed because it just got to big and out of control. It was beautiful for awhile...

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    1. I'm hoping my Erysimum regain some of the grey color they had when I bought them. Keeping them watered this summer to establish made them rather lush. The purple buds, dark orange to apricot flowers, and grey foliage were too beautiful to resist!

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  4. That tawny toned orchid is fantastic. Is it in a hangiong pot or is that an optical illusion?

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    1. You mean the first one? Must be an illusion, as it's sitting on the windowsill.

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  5. Those buds hold a lot of promise!

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    1. Yes, the next few months should bring a lot of flowers.

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  6. Although they are not as plentiful this time of year, the flowers you have are especially nice. aren't we lucky to live in a climate that allows for winter blooming plants? I'm growing Calluna for the first time this year. Still in it's pot, it's been impressing me with how it hangs on to the spent flowers that make it look almost as if it's still blooming. Happy belated GBBD!

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