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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2013

If you visit our Bloom Day hostess, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, you will find gardens featured that boast many blooms this month. But, as for my garden in mid-December, blooms are sparse indeed this year.

Although we haven't yet had that true "killing" frost and no snow and ice as in many parts of the country, we have had several lighter frosts and many nights when temperatures have dipped into the the low 30s F. That has put all the tender perennials to sleep and has bitten back others and put a real damper on any hopes of blooms for the rest of the year.

Still, a few hardy plants persevere.

There's the Turk's cap, of course. It never really stops blooming, although it slows down in winter.

The various lantanas still send out a few blooms which are nourishment for our winter visiting butterflies.



The 'Dallas Red' lantana has been a particular winner this year.

 The shrimp plant seems unbothered by the cold and continues to be covered in its weird blossoms.


 Several of the roses can still be depended upon to send a few blooms out until that killing frost finally arrives. Here is one of the double 'Radazz' blossoms.


'Belinda's Dream' is always a prolific bloomer. 


 The only "winter color" I've added so far is a few baskets of pansies like this one that hangs near the front door.


 The "faces" of pansies and violas always make me smile.


 In the garden in the backyard, the Copper Canyon daisies continue to spill their profuse blooms over the path.

But that's about it. The garden really does need some more color for the season and maybe I will bestir myself to visit the garden center to obtain some this week. Meantime, thank you for visiting my late autumn garden and happy Bloom Day!

12 comments:

  1. Looks like our summers. If you visit a garden center around here right now you'll find a few leftover Christmas trees, a sleeping cat, and not much else. Thanks for sharing your blooms with us for bloom day.

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  2. You've got way more flowers than we do, Dorothy. All we have are a couple of Dallas red lantana blooms under the wax myrtle. Everything else got frost bitten at Thanksgiving. I may have to hit the garden center for some pansies to see me through spring.

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    1. Well, it's a big yard so these paltry blooms get lost in it. But I'm just glad to have ANY color at this gray time of year.

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  3. You have 100% more outdoor flowers than we have in upstate New York. All we have is snow. I so enjoyed seeing the bright colors of your lantanas. GBBD will have to hold me until our first spring bulbs start to bloom.

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    1. Snow has its advantages and its beauty, too. I'll bet your garden is having a nice, sound sleep under it.

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  4. So nice to see all your colorful blooms, Dorothy! My garden has a monochromatic color scheme right now--all white:) Still, I won't complain because we haven't been as cold or as snowy as other areas. Chuckled at Carol's comment--there aren't many live plants in our garden centers this time of year.

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    1. Mine is mostly monochromatic, too - brown. But it just means the garden is resting and that's a good thing.

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  5. Your blooms are so welcome at this time of year, I'm glad you can enjoy your garden now after such a long hot summer. My garden doesn't have anything blooming either, but I have some indoor flowers. I went to a gardening center today and they had quite a selection of Hellebores, already starting to bloom. I bought about 11 last year so am fairly content except I also would like a double one or two. Mine won't be blooming for a month or two though.

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    1. Those hellebores will be wonderful when they do bloom. I envy you them. They are not really something I can grow here.

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  6. I love Bloom Day posts. I get to enjoy flower gardens while my own is buried under deep snow.

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    1. It is always fun to see what is blooming in gardens right around the world. It is one of my favorite memes.

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