Delphinium cashmerianum

I am way behind on reporting on garden developments here on Ball Rd.  I walked around last weekend to try to catch up with what has been happening (mostly what persists in growing despite the lack of rain hereabouts).  I was quite pleased and surprised to see that the first flowers have appeared on a little delphinium that I had placed in the new Alpine bed (more about that in a future post).  I grew this one from seed (obtained from the Scottish Rock Garden Club seed exchange) planted last February.  As I look at the plant I’m dubious that the name is correct.  The leaves are much more narrow than shown in the online pictures of D. cashmerianum.

Delphinium cashmerianum

There are a lot of species of Delphiniums so I’ll have to live with it for a while to see if I can hone in on the correct name.

It’s been so dry that I haven’t had a lot of new flowers for quite some time.  I did see that the Mahonia by the front door has it’s yellow flowers showing.

Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’

The big question is whether we’ve found a spot where it will successfully survive the winter.

There are many annuals still about in the vegetable garden.  I’ve shown the Tithonia many times now.  But out front the Gaillardia deserves some commendation for persistence.

Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’

And there was a solitary rose in flower next to the garage.  It was just about perfect with a wonderful fragrance.

Blush pink Rose

I know longer remember the name, but it seems to me it had something to do with ‘blush’.

There a couple of instances of Bottle Gentians having escaped in the garden behind the garage.  I’ve never been that keen on flowers that never  open, but they are beginning to win me over with stubborn endurance.

Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)

And it you look closely while walking in the back yard you can see crocus blooming in the lawn.

Crocus speciosus ‘Conqueror’

Crocus cartwrightianus alba

But even as the flowers are waning during this Indian Summer, the greenhouse is abounding with the bright green growth of many bulbs.  Daffodils, triteleia, tritonia, ferraria, moraea, freesia, lachenalia, and more are sending up new shoots.  And the oxalis are in full bloom now.  Here is a sampling. Notice how variable the leaves are from the clover-like bowieii , to the wonderfully textured melanosticta, and to the very narrow hirta.

Oxalis bowieii

Oxalis luteola glauca

Oxalis hirta ‘Gothenburg’

Oxalis melanosticta ‘Ken Aslet’

Oxalis pardalis

Oxalis bench with O. pardalis and O. luteum glauca

Oxalis flava yellow next to O. hirta ‘Gothenburg’

Lastly a Cyrtanthus hybrid that has been living in the house for two weeks now.

Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus