My Garden Starts To Dry Out ... My Dry Tropics Garden Journal ... Beginning of Winter, Week 26, June 2025

Garden Journal Entry - Week 26

This week's weather:

Seasons:  Beginning of Winter & Dry Season  (also Bushfire Season)
Daytime Temps:  24°C - 27°C            
Night Time Temps:  15°C - 19°C
Humidity Levels: around 70%     
Hours of daylight:  11 hours
Rainfall:   2 mm (0.07 inches)

June In The Northern Tropics

Here in the northern tropics of Australia, June heralds the official start of our rather mild wintertime - and what a beautiful time of year it is. Our winter months are typically dominated by glorious weather: crisp, dry air, mostly fine days, and daytime temperatures rarely falling below 21°C or climbing much above 27°C.  It's a welcome relief after the intense heat and humidity of summer.

The Shift To The Dry Season

We're also firmly stepping into the dry season, which in Townsville usually stretches from May through to October. It's been quite a year so far weather-wise. The wet season at the start of the year was record-breaking, leaving our region with an astonishing 2,532 mm (about 100 inches) of rain by the end of June - already smashing past the average annual rainfall of just 901 mm.

There is now a noticeable browning off happening in the front yard

But this month has brought a clear transition: only 25 mm of rain has fallen in June, slightly above the monthly average but a sure sign we've moved into the drier months. Around the garden and in the surrounding bushland, things are drying out fast. Grass cover is browning off, and native trees are starting to drop their leaves in preparation for the leaner months ahead.

Bushfire Season Preparations

With the dry comes another reality of life in the tropics: bushfire season. Our City Council began hazard reduction burns late in May, carefully managing fuel loads to reduce bushfire risk. At home, we've started work on creating a fire break along our bushland fence line - a yearly ritual that's essential for safety.

Garden Watering Routines Begin

While the couple of very light showers this month were welcome, it's clear that moisture has disappeared quickly from the soil. I've already resumed my dry season watering routine, especially for the younger plants that have started to look a little stressed.

Fortunately, the cooler daytime temperatures - sitting comfortably between 24 and 27°C - mean that a good hour of watering every week is enough to revive the garden beds.

The potted plants, however, are another story!  The courtyard and shade house garden areas will now demand a more intensive watering schedule as the dry season progresses.

Garden Jobs Completed

Once the driveway had dried out completely, we started filling up some holes with road base

The gardening workload has eased significantly over the past six weeks, which has been a nice change of pace. One of the biggest tasks we tackled was repairing parts of our entrance driveway. The wet season had left it riddled with erosion, so we spread fresh road base to even out some of the lumpy, bumpy surface leading into our property.

My shade house garden

The shade house garden also got some much-needed attention. The pathways and tiled area had become slippery and overgrown thanks to rampant algae and weeds. Everything was whipper-snipped and then power washed, transforming the area into a safe and inviting space once again. It's wonderful to be able to stroll through the shade house without fear of losing your footing!

Signs Of Winter In The Garden

Along with the change to milder weather, winter reveals itself subtly around the garden. On my wander today, I spotted:

- Lagerstroemia speciosa, commonly known as the Queen Crepe Myrtle: Leaves changing colour

- Lagerstroemia indica, commonly known as Crepe Myrtle: Branches covered in seed pods

- Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana, commonly known as the Golden Rain Tree: The three-sided papery capsules are browning off

- Euphorbia leucocephala, commonly known as the Snowflake Bush: In delicate bloom

- Iris domestica / Belamcanda chinensis, commonly known as the Leopard Lily or Blackberry Lily: Seed pods dotting the ends of the stems

Highlights Around The Garden:

• My Aloe vera plants have surprised me by blooming for the very first time - a lovely splash of soft orange among the greens.

• The Jasmine that rambles over one end of our pergola is still flowering, infusing the courtyard garden with its gentle, sweet fragrance both day and night.

Top left and centre:  Pentas
Top right:  Justicia carnea and Tabernaemontana corymbosa
Bottom Row:  Plectranthus and Gerbera

• I'm also thoroughly loving all the splashes of crisp white blooms scattered here and there, adding a fresh brightness to the garden's winter palette.

Potted Impatiens in the courtyard garden

• All of the potted Impatiens have recovered beautifully from their wet season drowning and are now looking healthy and vibrant once more.

Looking Ahead

Oriental Lily bulbs pushing through and sweet Viola faces on show

One of the reasons I love this time of the year so much is that it's the perfect time to start adding little pots of flowering annuals and to plant out bulbs and perennial seedlings. As winter progresses, there will be more fabulous colour appearing in both the courtyard and shade house garden spaces as a result. I'm looking forward to the bursts of blooms that will brighten these cooler months and carry a touch of springtime joy into the tropics.

A tropical wintertime sunrise

Until next time,

🌸 Happy gardening from the northern dry tropics!

It's A Beginning Of Winter Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ... June 2012

So it's time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day once more.  Here in the northern tropics of Australia we're experiencing our usual glorious winter weather, as June is officially the first month of our very mild winter time.

Not only is it now winter time, but of course we're now well into our dry season for the year.  So far this month we've had 12 mms (1/2 an inch) , of rain which fell over the very first weekend (which I note happened exactly as it did last year when I wrote my June 2011 GBBD post).



Dry season this year really began back in April, when the rainfall total fell down dramatically from March's total of 556 mms (22 ins), which fell over 20 days;  to a total of 16 mms ( less than 1 inch), which fell over 2 days.  May's total was slightly higher than April's, with 66 mms (2 1/2 ins) of rain falling over 6 days.  But with only 12 mms falling so far this month and no predictions for more over the rest of the month, I think the dry season is now well underway.

Things are still fairly green around the place right now at the beginning of the dry, but in another month or two the effects of our dry season will be very evident with extensive browning off of the grass and the bushland as a lot of the trees drops leaves and the grasses die back.

There's only a few blooms to be seen in the various far-flung corners of the property.  Most of the flowering plants right now are close to the house, such as in the front garden beds, around the courtyard and out in the shadehouse.  Comparing blooms with last year's June GBBD post, the only real difference this year is less annuals, as I haven't potted up quite as many this year.

Well, let's start searching for the blooms on this mid-June early Winter's day.  I'll begin with the courtyard garden ...

I have a real soft spot for these Salvias.  These are Salvia 'Dusky Hues' and they just keep on performing beautifully.   They're putting on a pretty display once again.

There's only one of my Pelargoniums in bloom at the moment, Pelargonium 'Vogue Scarlet'.  The others have had a hard time coming back from the trials and tribulations of the wet season earlier in the year, but I'm slowly getting better at cosseting them through that hard start to the year.  I'm sure there will be many more Pellie blooms evident as we get closer to springtime.

So, while I am missing my favourite Pellie blooms, there's still plenty of other flowers to enjoy.  Next to the Pelargonium ... starting top right ... there's my dwarf Azalea, Zygocactus or Schlumbergera, Salvia, Pentas, another Zygocactus and, in the middle, my double white Impatiens walleriana.

There's also some lovely Petunias and Pansies out in the courtyard at the moment.  This is the best time of year for them here in my north-eastern corner of Oz.

My favourite Petunias out in the courtyard right now are definitely the big frilly doubles.   They are terrific blooms.

Another brilliant annual that's starting to put on a good show out there is this unusual Antirrhinum.

The courtyard is not quite as full of colour as it will be as in the coming winter months, but it's looking quite lovely as it is right now.

Out in the shadehouse ...

The hanging pots and baskets of Dragon Wing Begonias and Impatiens walleriana are providing lots of colour in amongst all that green foliage at the moment.  I really love all the reds and pinks in amongst that varying shades of green.

Elsewhere ...

There's loads of blooms on one of the two very, very tall Cadaghi Gums growing down beside the hill driveway next to the house.   Because the flowers tend to be located at the top of the tree, it's difficult to get close-up shots.

Next to the newly re-constructed pergola down beside the hill driveway, the Euphorbia leucocephala or Snowflake Bush, and the Hibiscus schizopetalus are blooming.

There are just a few blooms out in the driveway garden beds and the front tiered garden beds.  Starting at top left and going clockwise, there's Galphimia glauca, Russelia, Gerberas, Malvaviscus arboreus, Calliandras, the very last Plumeria blooms and the unusual flower heads of the Justicia brandegeeana and Pachystachys lutea.

Finally, I'm seeing flowers on the variegated Ixora  out in the front tiered garden beds.  They've been a long time coming.

I'm also seeing more blooms appearing on my Callistemon 'Pink Champagne'.  This young shrub seems to throw out new blooms every few weeks, which is not at all what I was expecting.  However, ever since it showed off its very first beautiful pink bottlebrush flower with the gold tips, it's just kept on blooming sporadically throughout the entire year.  I just can't wait until it matures fully and is covered in these stunning flowers.


I'm joining Carol for her Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day meme

and Gesine for here Blogger Bloom Day

I'm also joining these memes, using this blog and not my usual Bush Bernie's Garden blog.

Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers

Weekend Flowers

and Floral Friday Fotos

Time To Wander Around.

It's been a while since I did my last video diary, so I thought it was about time I caught up with this aspect of my blog.  Right now it's our first Winter month and the beginning of our 'dry' season.  The potted plants out in both the courtyard and the shadehouse have had time to recover from the 'wet' and most are therefore looking a lot happier and healthier.

I took a stroll around the Courtyard Garden, and then continued on into the Shadehouse Garden today at around midday.  It was a glorious early Winter's day ... blue skies, fluffy white clouds and lots of bird song in the background.  It was the perfect opportunity to catch up and see what the state of play is out in the garden spaces located right beside my house.

So, here goes ... first of all you will need to scroll right down to the bottom of the page and stop the playlist music from playing ....  then get ready for the Aussie drawl! 

First I take a wander around my Courtyard Garden ....

... and now I wander on through my Shadehouse Garden.

So, that's it ... a warts-and-all look at what's going on in my favourite garden spaces.

Winter Garden Happenings ... My Downunder Dry Tropics Garden Journal ... Week 26, 2011

  Date:  June 29th, 2011

  Season:  beginning month of Winter and two months into our dry season.

Despite the fact that we are getting the occasional shower of rain, the effect of our drier weather is now becoming more visible around our place.

The rain we do receive barely touches the ground and the 'grass' (I use that term very lightly indeed!) around the yard now has huge brown patches everywhere, as is evident in this photo.

That's my collection of re-seeding pots and propagating pots basking in some sunshine. 

The wallabies are now digging down deep to get at the roots rather than simply grazing on the grass blades, or pulling down tree branches to nibble on the leaves or fruit.

We've even had some uncommon garden visitors using their fantastic long curved beaks to dig way down in search of grubs and other wrigglies.

Once you take your eyes off the busy burrowing bird, you will notice further evidence of just how well the grass cover dies off during our dry.





This bird, the Straw Necked Ibis, is not seen up here in the foothills very often, but is a more common sight down on the flats.   It has the most fabulous glossy blue-black back with a metallic purple, green and bronze sheen which is quite dazzling in the sunshine.

Now that the dry season is well underway, things slow down considerably around the place.  Well that's how it feels to me anyway.

Of course, regular readers know well that there are very, very few seasonal changes around here ... unless you count the changes wrought by a destructive wet/cyclone season.

The all-year round bloomers carry on business as usual.




There are some flowers and berries on some of the Palms around my place ...as usual.










 





The foliage plants, like the Crotons, always add splashes of colour around about, as usual.










Now to some of the unusual for this year.  Everything that is still in cyclone-recovery mode, protracted now thanks to the arrival of the dry season, is really not doing much other than marking time.  Fingers crossed they all make it through the dry and don't give up easily.  To be honest I expect that will be the case, as they are all such drought tolerant, tough plants.

Here's a great example.  This is what was once my 5-metre tall Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana', sometimes known as the Corn Plant.  It was knocked down during our cyclone season and then trimmed back to a stump less than 30 cms tall.

Despite the lack of watering or care of any sort since then, it has sprouted quite a bit of new growth.  I'm sure it will take quite a long time to reach its' former height, but I'm pleased to see it powering on.

That's my Tabebuia impetiginosa with its' rather stunted looking shape after a post-cyclone haircut.  It has usually started blooming by now, but that is unlikely this winter.  I'm finding that when I drive down the driveway after work, I do rather miss it's usual wintertime display.

I'm really, really missing the flowers on my other usual winter bloomer, Bauhinia variegata.  There is no fabulous show of these delightful white flowers this year.

As a mater of fact, there has been no added re-growth on the stump that was left in the last month or so now.  The poor thing is still just a stump with some skinny branches and leaves.





In the midst of these losses though, there is some pleasure from other sights in my garden.  There are some plants that are carrying on with their usual winter show and that brings a smile to my dial!   Out in the tiered garden bed the Euphorbia pulcherrimas are displaying their showy bracts and tiny yellowish flowers.

This is my dwarf pink Euphorbia pulcherrima.

Here's the dwarf red Euphorbia pulcherrima which, even though it was planted well before the pink, has not done as well. I had to move it when I found it was getting flooded by the torrential wet season rains in its' original spot.  It looked dead, but I cut it back, moved it to a drier spot and ... voila! ... it's back.

Lastly here's the white, which was only planted a little while ago now and is the baby of the family.  Not a bad looking little bub, either!

I got the answer to a question I asked in one of my previous garden journal entries.

Would the deciduous Plumerias, that had started sprouting new growth after the cyclone damage had been trimmed off, drop their new baby leaves for the winter?  Yes.  The broken branches are pretty leafless now.

Out in the Courtyard Garden, the potted plants carry on, as usual.

I haven't got around to trimming the little weeds that pop up in between the pavers ... as you can see ... but I have being catching up with the fertilising, re-potting and potting up of more annuals and perennials. 

It helps that I'm on holiday from school right now, so I can get to these jobs at last.

I had some luck striking cuttings of my Plectranthus, so I will be potting up those with some Brachyscome, more commonly known as Swan River Daisies.  Unfortunately I lost all my Gazanias and nearly all my Portulacas, both potted and in the ground, during the wet, so I'm starting again.  I'm also potting up some more of the gorgeous 'Dusky Hues' Salvias that I love so much, some white Ivy Pelargoniums and some citrus coloured Violas.  That will certainly fill in a lot of the empty corners out in the courtyard.

I've had to do a bit of trimming of all my Pentas plants, in the Courtyard Garden and in the Downstairs Bed.

Every single one of them had become infested with what looks like aphids ... this amateur gardener is no expert on garden pests.






So every shrub has been trimmed back and given a lovely warm soapy water wash down.   Here's the before and after shots.

But it did give me an excuse to have a few little vases of flowers inside the house for a change.

As the mornings have been a little cool of late ... yes well, when the mercury drops down below 15 deg C, we call that cool!! ... I've been making late starts! 

You will find me still inside with my cuppa at nine in the morning, but by ten I'm usually out wandering around the garden taking a peek at what is going on.  So come on with me as I stroll around this fine winter's morning.  There's a light drizzle, but nothing that would keep me from my wandering.

There were quite a few birds around today, incluidng the male Yellow-Bellied Sunbird (above) and the Forest Kingfisher (below).

I noticed a very busy little Blue-Banded Bee laden with full pollen sacs.

Sorry it's a little out of focus, but you can see those heavy sacs!

I found the first bloom on my 'Super Swiss Giant' Pansies ... hmmm, not so super giant to my eyes though!!!

I'm loving the form of these cute 'Velveteen' Snapdragons ...

... and the weird little form of the first white Osteospermum 'Ecklonis Passion Mix'.


Hmm, I'm not so sure that's where your petals are supposed to be little one!










There's some of my favourite whites to feast my eyes on ...

... and some brilliant reds to brighten the day.

There's that busy litle Blue-Banded Bee hard at work on the Begonia blooms again!  Great to see!
Now to end off this rather lengthy wandering around ...

... here's a colour combination that I've grown quite fond of.  Purple and blue ... who knew?

I'm joining MsGreenthumb Jean at Bloomin' Tuesday with my post today and I would encourage you to go on over to see what's blooming around about.