november blooms

12 years ago

I have been enjoying our continued mild and sunny weather here in the East Bay, and wanted to share my enjoyment of some of the best performing plants, in case you're searching for some color in the late fall/winter garden. Of course the tree dahlias and tree daisies are looking good now(Montanoa grandiflora), and the perennial Marigold, Tagetes lemmonii is a blaze of yellow right now. The first of the Aloes are doing their thing, with the red or yellow Aloe arborescens, Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe thraskii, Aloe africana, Aloe humilis all in full bloom right now. I've also got several Poker plants,Kniphofias uvaria 'Winter Cheer' and K. thompsonii looking great. Abutilons in all colors look stunning, and Leucadendrons such as Safari Sunset, Summer Red , Winter Red, and Blush,(all L. salignum cultivars or hybrids), are looking good. Some shrubs with vivid orange color might include Abutilon Victor Reiterate, Tecoma x smithii or T. Jubilee, and Streptosolen jamesonii. The genus Plectranthus is always good for color this season; with pink or purple P. ecklonii, Soft lavender P. zuluensis, P. Mona Lavender, and P. neochilus. I've also been enjoying the luscious pink/lavenders of some of my species Epidendrum orchids, such as E. porphyreum and E. capricornu, both so much snowier than the more common hybrids,and more easily grown here in Berkeley without full sun and summer heat. I've also got several Heliconias coming into winter bloom, such as H. matthiasae and H. schiedeana. Not to forget the grasses and grassy foliage plants, Pink Muhly,Muhlenbergia capillaries and the Burgundy foliage of Cordyline Design a line Burgundy are looking gorgeous right now.

What are some of your favorites for an end of the year color pick me up? More orange blooms from Deppea splendens or Bomarea are my last suggestions.

Comments (7)

hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
12 years ago
Yes Tagetes lemoniii is a blaze of color here, too.

{{gwi:495738}}
hosenemesis
12 years ago
YOWZA! That looks like it gets pretty big. What a cascade of color. To heck with forsythia- we don't need no dang forsythia!

Thanks for the list, Bahia. My main flowering plants right now are reblooming irises, some roses, ivy geranium, viola, flax lily, brugmansia, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Echeverria, and daylilies. The pyracanthas are gorgeous right now. I couldn't decide on singulars or plurals in that sentence.

Renee
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bahia
Original Author
12 years ago
Has the Diamond Frost Euphorbia acted more as a reliable perennial or an annual for you? I can't quite figure out which it is here in Berkeley. I'm surprised the Tagetes lemmonii isn't already familiar to you, as we see it a lot here in the East Bay Area. There are some newer dwarfed cultivars, but it still gets at least 4feeet across. It can keep that much color for up to 9 months locally. As do the Tecoma x smithii and T. Orange Jubilee.
jakkom
12 years ago
Wow, that tagetes was at least three times the size my biggest one ever got. What a show!

Here in the lower Oakland hills I've got the ever-reliable (somewhat boring) euryops, along with limonium, plectranthus ciliatus, tons of roses, (even more boring) lantana, pelargoniums, evergreen iberis, passiflora, eryismum, and another almost perpetual bloomer, pink cestrum.

The cool weather and intermittent rains have even brought the nasturtiums into bloom again.
dicot
12 years ago
My favorite flowers right now are on the Gold Nugget tangerine tree, so sweet smelling at moments! The T. lemonii is great for winter color & pollinators, but not my favorite smell. The Salvia elegans and microphylla bring the hummers and the tea trees are just opening their blooms now.
hosenemesis
12 years ago
Diamond Frost Euphorbia is an unreliable perennial for me, Bahia. I have it in a few spots where it has flourished for three years now, but some have disappeared. It blooms best in fall.

I am loathe to sacrifice more than a few feet to each plant, so I have never grown tagetes lemmonii. I am stingy with space. That will change as I mature as a gardener, I imagine.
bahia
Original Author
12 years ago
I'd call your plant choices a case of being pragmatic! No point trying to cram large plants into too small a space. Thanks for the feedback on the euphorbia, I bought two a year ago, and still have one surviving, which I hadn't expected to go a second season.