Our Flowers on Gabriola - 2015

Considering how dry the summer has been we have had a lot of nice flowers.  First the camellia bloomed early in February.


Followed by the rhodos.

Our hydrangea flowers were nice, too.

Even the clematis had a lot of blooms on it.  The flower color has changed from a purple to a pink this year.

Oceanspray

I never really noticed this Oceanspray shrub growing in our yard before this summer.  It always just looked like a plain shrub, but this year it is full of beautiful clusters of wisps of cream colored blooms. Ocean Spray is a beautiful west coast native, deciduous shrub that can grow up to 20' tall.  It prefers full sun and is found on dry, rocky slopes.  It is remarkably tolerant of both drought and poor soil conditions.  We actually have never watered this shrub.

It is beautiful this year with it's airy, lacy masses of delicate fragrant flowers, much like a bridal wedding veil.  The blooms lasted from June through to August.

I am now noticing Oceanspray growing wild on the hillsides, on the rocky slopes and along the roads now. Now that they have flowered I am noticing them everywhere.