General Subjects > Flowers and Foliage Now
October 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere
Véronique Macrelle:
I'm glad to see that Ipomoea alba is surviving in your garden!
I planted 1 plant in the ground, and the others in large pots. sowing was not so easy.
how long has the other species lived in your garden?
I wanted some Cobaea too, but the plants didn't flower this year; let's hope they overwinter well ...
Robert:
Hi Mariette,
What a challenging garden year you have had! Hopefully you can find a silver lining to this season and conditions for your plants and garden will improve.
This season has been brutally hot in our part of Northern California. The recent October record-breaking heat wave is finally ending. I hope this is the end of it for this year. I will have some graphics to post in the future that will give readers an idea how extreme this past summer-autumn season has been and how temperatures have warmed dramatically over the last 35, or so, years in our part of California.
Jasmin and I have to completely rethink our garden design and the plants we use. Many species that once thrived do poorly now. Some species will not even survive the new high temperature regime.
The foliage of some Lilium hybrids and species now burn each summer. Other species will not even survive the current climatic conditions.
The extended high temperatures are impacting many other plant species in our garden. This deciduous azalea might look good in the spring when it is blooming, however it looks terrible all summer. We want attractive plants in our garden. Plants that once thrived in our garden, but now perform poorly in the extreme heat will be recycled in the compost pile.
All is not lost. Many species perform well despite the extreme heat. Salvia guaranitica is one example.
Salvia sinaloensis is another species that grows well for us despite the heat.
Salvia leucantha thrives in the heat and is very drought tolerant. This is the all purple form. There is also a purple and white form.
Robert:
Cyclamen of all sorts thrive in our garden, both in containers and in the ground.
It will be an interesting adventure to find ornamental species that thrive in our garden and fit into our garden design plans. Summer and early autumn is an especially difficult time in our garden. Few plants are blooming at this time and we have the need to attract pollinators to our garden. What discoveries will we find? Even our gardening-environmental disaster can be turned into something enjoyable and beneficial.
ashley:
Robert, do those beautiful salvias attract hummingbirds?
It sounds as though your changing conditions should suit some cyclamen species. Is that hederifolium you showed, and do you also grow C. graecum?
Robert:
Hello Ashley,
Yes, the Cyclamen pictured is C. graecum, or at least something close to it. The tuber has the characteristic morphology. The foliage of this specimen is especially nice. We have a number of Cyclamen species that do well in our garden, providing flowers all year, except the summer months.
There are many Hummingbird species native to the Mesoamerican region. Not surprising, the Mesoamerican Salvia species attract Hummingbirds. We have some resident Anna’s Hummingbirds that visit our garden throughout the year. In our garden Salvia guaranitica blooms all summer into the autumn. Salvia leucantha blooms autumn into the winter. Salvia gesneriiflorum and Salvia semiatrata bloom late autumn into the winter months. Salvia sinaloensis and S. chiapensis can bloom during any season and for very long periods of time.
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