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Thursday, June 16, 2011

It's a Winter's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ... June 2011

Our Winter has begun and the dry weather has definitely arrived.  From mid-Autumn to now, our rainfall total has really dropped away ... 88mm or 3.5ins in April (mid-Autumn) to 15mm or 0.6 of an inch so far this month (early Winter). 


The conditions haven't varied much from cooler bright blue, sunny sky days and quite cool nights.  The days are getting shorter ... the sun is barely visible by 5.00 pm and rises around 6.30 am.  Our daytime temperatures usually remain somewhere between 23 and 26 degrees C (73-78 F) and the nightime temps are dipping down to between 15 and 10 degrees C (59-50 F).  Last night it got down to 9!

It's wonderful winter weather here in the Aussie tropics.


Out in the garden, not much has changed around the place since my last Garden Journal entry Our Dry Season Has Begun.  The cyclone damaged plants mentioned in that post are still in tortoise-paced recovery mode as they're not getting any watering at this time of year.  But there are the usual things in bloom right now.

Some of the purple container plants:


Starting top left:  Spathoglottis or Ground Orchid, Barleria obtusa, Gomphrena globosa or Bachelor Buttons, Petunia ShockWave 'Pink Ice' ... and in the centre, Lavendula dentata.

Some of the pinks:


Top row:  Antirrhinum 'Velveteen' or Snapdragon, Pentas lanceolata, Schlumbergera or Zygocactus.
Second row:  Azalea, my pink dwarf Euphorbia pulcherrima or Poinsettia, Salvia splendens.
Bottom row:  Impatiens hawkerii 'Celebrette Orchid Star' or New Guinea Impatiens, Antirrhinum 'Strawberry Crush' and Verbena.


In the courtyard garden, all my container plants are powering on, but need watering every second day.  The pots dry out quite quickly in these dry season conditions, especially during the many blustery windy days we experience at this time of year.  Unfortunately, due to the busyness of work and the occasional week away from home lately, I still haven't finished potting up my annuals for their winter-spring display.  There are a couple of pots of Petunias, Pansies, Osteospurmum and Verbena on the go, but that's nowhere near as many as I had this time last year. 

My Cleome spinosas both had to be cut back severely after becoming infested with what seemed like white mould.  It's a real pity that they're not showing off their brilliant lavender-purple flowers right now, as they are usually a feature out in the courtyard garden during our winter.



The Euphorbia leucocephala or Snowflake Bush has begun its' winter blooming and it always adds a great splash of brilliant white beside the courtyard garden steps.


The Jasminum officinale or Poet's Jasmine continues to bloom out-of-season.  As I've mentioned before, this climber didn't enjoy the past Summer/Wet Season at all and showed no blooms whatsoever during it's usual Summer flowering period.  The flowers started appearing sporadically around mid-Autumn and have continued ever since, although the perfume is nowhere near as heady as usual.  Still, it's great to see those little white blooms.



I have re-vamped small area under one of the Cycas revolutas out in the courtyard.  During the post-cyclone clean-up, I finally got in and trimmed back all the dead and dying fronds on the Cycad near the courtyard steps.  It's something I had put off for ages, mainly because of the deadly sharp spines on the fronds that make such a job a bit of a nightmare.  But it's done now and I added some lovely New Guinea Impatiens and Bromeliads underneath.


One of the Broms has bloomed, but I'm still waiting on the New Guineas to show their gorgeous flowers.


In the outdoor tiered garden bed, there's quite a bit of cutting back to be done.  Unfortunately, that job has been put on the back burner for now.  The Salvia madrensis sure does need to be trimmed as the golden spires are looking more like weird hairy caterpillars!


The Iresine herbstii 'Blazin Rose' is flowering, but will need pruning very soon.


I do rather like the combination of dwarf Angelonia angustifolia, Salvia leucantha, Scutellaria suffrutescens and Scaevola in this patch in the tiered bed.  It all happened quite be accident, but I don't mind it!


This plant has just popped up beside the patch shown above, and while it certainly does look attractive, I'm not sure what it is or whether I should keep it!!  Can anyone help with an ID?

Elsewhere in my garden there are some lovely whites, oranges and yellows:


From top left:  Pelargonium peltatum 'Blanche Roche', Mandevilla 'White Fantasy' and Pentas.


Top row:  Bracteantha bracteata, Portulaca grandiflora, Neomarica longifolia and Ixora 'Twilight Glow'.
Main shot:  Cosmos sulphureus which popped up down the driveway after our long, long wet season.  It's now blooming and showing its' lovely yellow and orange flowers.


For loads more wonderful GBBD posts, please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens

37 comments:

  1. My goodness, what a wonderful collection of blooming plants you have! I know what's it's like to keep those pots watered. Today I watered my pots twice -- morning And evening! Your mystery plant looks like a sedge (Carex sp.) of some sort. Happy GBBD!

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  2. Caroline ... thank you for your hint about that unknown plant. After a bit of goggling, I think it might be Umbrella Sedge ... Cyperus involucratus ... sometimes known as mini Papyrus. I'll have to do some more research now to see if it's suitable for my garden. Thanks!

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  3. Wow, you certainly have quite a plethora of blooms! I love your pinks, didn't know those could grow in the dry tropics like my garden-will have to try some of those.

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  4. An absolutely gorgeous garden with such a lovely variety of plants, so wonderfully photographed. Winter in your part of the world is certainly kind.

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  5. You sure do have a lot to keep you busy, and it is all quite beautiful.

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  6. I love how your winters are nothing like ours, you have such a terrific array of colours! Your whites are especially lovely. :)

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  7. Hi Bernie, I love your comment about the Salvia madrensis...I had wondered what family that plant was from. You have so many beautiful blooms gracing your gardens right now! I hope work slows down a bit for you to enjoy them. :)

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  8. Hi Bernie, That green plant is Cyperus scariosus. The ancient Egyptians used it to make papyrus, a paper like substance. In India, the stalks are used to make fine mats. The roots are used in folk medicine to grow hair. It is invasive, as its tiny seeds scatter all over the garden.
    Your other flowers are beautiful, and I learn the names of many plants from your blog.

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  9. Wow Bernie, your clouds are so beautiful, i remember seeing that texture during sunset so very red but cant shoot because i am inside a fast going bus! Can you visualize it? And your collage are so beautiful, now i am envious!

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  10. What a profusion of clour and blooms in your garden! I LOVE the Euphorbia leucocephala! What a gorgeous plant.
    Happy GBBD!

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  11. So many lush, tropical plants in your garden! And a totally different world. The array of color is amazing, but I love the Snowflake Bush and Poet's jasmine.

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  12. I always love your beautiful blooms, but this time it is the white ones that captured my eye. The clear white snowflake bush and jasmine... mmmm. And simple white pelargoniums and pentas and mandevilla are delightful.

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  13. Bernie, firstly I do apologise, but only today I saw all your lovely comments on my nature blog and I do want to thank you for that. Secondly I want to say a big WOW for the heading here at the top of the page, it surely is lovely and of course especially the Planchonia careya, which brings back my memories of the hot tropics as I had many of those trees in our garden.
    This blog is super as well, you certainly make it into an array of colours and variety, plants, trees and flowers. I love them all, your pics and presentations are great. Have a nice weekend.

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  14. Bernie, I wish I was able to grow such colorful flowers in the winter months. Everything goes dormant during our long winter months. I like the way you've group your images by color in collages.

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  15. Such a rich color palette all across your garden. Must be an amazing site in person. Happy GBBD!

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  16. Hi Bernie, I love your cotton ball clouds. It is a very pretty sky. Your photos and collages of flowers are gorgeous. I must say again your gardens must look lovely.

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  17. I would give anything if our winters were like yours!


    Your gardens are so beautiful and the white Cleome Spinosas petals appear to be floating in the air around the center of the flower!

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  18. Wow! You've got some spectacular blooms! I'm envious. Love the euphorbia and the jasmine. What is that flower at the very top of your post that looks like a bunch of snakes exploding out of a cup? Love it!

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  19. What perfect weather. No wonder your blooms are so happy. They are as near to perfect as you could get. I love the way you showcase your blooms. Those euphorbias are so crisp and clean. Happy BD to you and your garden.

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  20. Whenever I see your posts on various parts of your garden in your collages, I tell myself that I should try doing that too. Everything looks so organized.Beautiful presentation and a lovely June garden.
    Rosie

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  21. The artistic display of your photos is breathtaking. I've always wanted to visit Australia and now I know I must save my money to view all of that beauty. It's almost summer in upstate New York, United States-viewing your blog when it is our winter will be balm to my frozen gardening soul.

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  22. Beautiful post, and so many fantastic photos to see. I like the information also, very educational.

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  23. Your gardens are beautiful Bernie. I can certainly sympathize with having to water the containers regularly. We're in the middle of a serious drought here and, being summer too, the temps are hovering around 100 degrees every day. I love your mosaic photos. I may try that with some of mine.

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  24. You have so many lovely flowers...such a huge variety! I keep going back to look at those clouds...so different from what we usually see here! WOW! ♥

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  25. Your winter garden is amazing! I love all your collages. The plant that stands out to me among all the gorgeous blooms is the snowflake bush, appropriately named for winter.

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  26. What a lovely garden you have! I really enjoyed seeing the flowers in their particular color palette...the blues, the pinks, the whites...beautiful!

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  27. I love all the photos but especially the one of the clouds. It must be a relief not to have so much water?

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  28. Bernie...It is so good to hear from you. From the looks of this post, I think your garden survived all of that catastrophic weather and is doing beautifully. As always your mosaics are drop dead gorgeous. You create the most interesting ones. School is out for me now, and I have my job again next year. The board is going to close our school probably for the start of the 13-14 year so that means I may get to work till I am 75...pretty amazing. I started teaching at 20...that is a LONG time. Hugs from VA......Genie

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  29. Hi Bernie, It is lovely to see a winter so full of bloom. Beautiful array of forms, textures and colors in your gardens. I hope your dry season is not too dry.

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  30. Your photos are generous and beautiful. Thanks for this post.

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  31. Beautiful flowers. Your garden looks so lush.

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  32. Cool blog, I wish my garden looked even the slightest bit like yours in Winter!

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  33. Hi Bernie,
    This is my third attampt to leave a comment on this amazing post! Blogger seems not to want me to tell you how stunning I think your garden and your mosaics are.
    What a talented lady you are.
    Many thanks for your kind comments on my pink hydrangeas.

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  34. You have such beautiful outdoor spaces! I'm impressed with the results of your efforts in your gardens...

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  35. Hi Bernie; an awesome fireworks of colourful plants. Great to see the garden recover well. It is just like the plants put their best foot forward to make up for lost time! I am back, but have adopted a more relaxed attitude to my blogging. You are in full swing, great!

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  36. Your blog is great, such a breath of fresh air for a homesick southern hemisphere person (from Zimbabwe) living in London! I have been trying to find the real name of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow for years and you supply it - thank you. Now I want to know the name of the waxy white and pink flowers you feature in your header? We had them in Zimbabwe as well.

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