Now and then I get a hankering for blooms. Especially now as I sit and see the advent of real Winter outside, I am already hurting for my apparently-constant need to see blooms on flowers, trees and shrubs. One of my greatest pleasures in landscaping has always been watching plants develop successfully, especially in some of the more insane climates I have had to deal with, rife as they have been with either sun problems (both too much and too little) or soil dilemma’s the size of – well – Nevada.
The Rhododendron was the plant that launched my career, to be truthful. Seeing it gave me the electric sense of what was possible in moving Nature around just a little for optimal Eye Candy.
(click on images to enlarge. Twice for some for the real close look)
Let’s face it. It doe not take a rocket surgeon to know what is drop dead gorgeous.
Blooms are that rarest element of all our endeavors in landscaping – we feature them for sheer pleasure for us humans. Say what you want about cement patios and ponds, waterfalls and fire pits – a person can feel more than successful with a few plants and maybe some hanging baskets as long as they bloom and do so for long enough to wake up and know they’ll be faithfully and resplendently waiting for another sniff and picture. All we as landscapers and gardeners do is enable them.
No matter how plain weird they may be:
My personal tastes have moved with me within those climates. In Nevada, I happened into Natives which utterly blew my mind. Penstemons became a passion.
Evening Primrose satisfied like few other plants, bursting out at night as they do, then disappearing by lunch
I got to where I would mass them together, just to produce a semi-riot of color
Just because I could.
No one complained. Not a one.
I miss blooms. I miss the roses of Summer already.
I miss the shrub roses I have planted like they were as common as grass
We use blooms to surprise us and please us. Sometimes it works like nobody’s business.
Anyway, thanks for listening to my whine. 🙂
Was it good for you too?
Steve, I definitely feel your pain. Time to get into flowering potted plants, maybe? Is it too cold for rhodies to survive in Kentucky?
So many of our plants took the summer off, so we’re actually looking forward to the winter carnival that’s about to take place. Not to gloat. It’s just the San Diego rhythm of things. You’ll have roses when we’re in our long brown season!
.-= lostlandscape(James)´s last blog ..house project update =-.
So that’s why you have a thing for rhododendrons…and as long as you share it photographically, that’s fine for me. Enjoyed your ideas in flowering landscapes. I guess my way of dealing with flowering paucity is to have plants that flower into November and bulbs that come up in February, easier to do in zone 8. Lately I’ve been learning more about mushrooms and moss, which really get going about the time the flowers die. Fungi and bryophytes as flower substitutes? Probably not.
.-= Pomona Belvedere´s last blog ..Timing =-.
LOL, Pomona, I got thousands of pictures of ’em. They are definitely profuse in my photographic neck of the woods.
Very much too cold for rhodies. They’ll show up in about 4 months, lol, maybe 5.
I absolutely love blooms. That second to last picture of the hanging yellow blooms is beautiful. What type of tree is that? Evening Primrose grow really well here in AZ too.
Jennifer, that is a picture of a young Laburnum (Golden Chain) Tree. I love blooms as well but it is below freezing here and is likely to stay that way – well, on and off – for about 4 months. I miss Santa Cruz!! Wahhhhhhhh.
Hey Steve! Thanks… I am going to go see if I can get one of those for my yard… Laburnum… amazing! The coldest we get in phoenix is low 50s… and we think that is freezing!
Enjoyed your blooms and commentary. My favorite line from this post is: “I miss the shrub roses I have planted like they were as common as grass”! Great!
.-= Tatyana´s last blog ..Where The Green Thumb Lives =-.
Gorgeous! Yes, Steve, I miss blooms right along with you. Here in Ohio it will be a long time before we have them again. I’m using the down time to mull over ideas for next year’s garden. Your designs are stunning and inspiring. Thanks for sharing!
.-= JulenaJo´s last blog ..Hunting Season =-.
Tatyana, I was serious. When I discovered the Shrub Roses, I went on a minor frenzy. I always had a few trademark plants I used but, once I got used to the shrub roses and how easy they are to maintain and essentially ever-blooming, I coated Reno and Portland both with them, lol.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Blooms =-.
Thanks for visiting again, JulenaJo. I always enjoy your blog as well. Since the recent one seems to be about hunting, I hope you survive the season! 😉
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Blooms =-.
Steve,
That second to last shot with the snow capped mountains in the backround is absolutely amazing… If only I could design a property with this as its backdrop…
Breathtaking !!!
Yeah, on the mountains. One of them is called Slide Mountain. Why? Because it “slid”, in I think, 1962. The debris spilled out for miles. The back side of those mountains are the Lake Tahoe, by the way, with skiing up there.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Machines and Innovations in Landscaping =-.
Steve, my dear friend,
I simply want to wish you a happy holiday,
and let you know that it’s always a pleasure to drop by to follow your musings and enjoy the photos.
Rhodies, I must admit, have never been a favorite.
Gracious, is it all right to admit that?
Is that a golden dangling laburnum ..or wisteria of some kind? More my ‘cup of tea,’ along with the desert blooms, of course ;~)
Alice
.-= Alice Joyce´s last blog ..Elegant Symmetry – Lush Greenery … Getty Villa =-.
Why thanks so much, Alice! I know I draw you in here by musing – it’s why I do it! And, yes, I won’t stalk you for saying rhodies are not your favorite bloom. I may pray that you starve to death or get beaten by starving baby elephants! 😉 Obviously, I am nutso over them. Yeah, that is actually what was a freshly-planted Laburnum at this 10 acre residential project I did for a Reno builder. It has developed nicely, although a major main branch broke in snowfall one year – a problem with many of the softer woods. But it recovered nicely. Thanks for visiting. I love pulling yer leg.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Machines and Innovations in Landscaping =-.
This is amazing show