Snapshots of mid-Summer ... January 2011 ... in my garden.

(Here I am, catching up again with my Snapshot posts.  Whilst I had started this post in early February, completion was interrupted by the the mayhem following Cyclone Yasi and the aftermath of that experience.  Nevertheless I decided I really need to finish this ... mostly so I can keep a record for myself.)


Conditions during January 2011?

January is mid 'wet' season and not my favourite time of year.  The days are mostly dreary and overcast with millimetres of liquid sunshine!  Around 180mm of rain fell over the month.  Not only is January mid 'wet' season, of course it's mid-Summer as well.  The days are long, hot, humid and hard to bear.  We did have a few clear days though, when we finally got to see blue sky and bright sunshine.

Starting with the trees on the property ... what was flowering?

At this time of year it's always very difficult to find blooms on the trees here on my property.  But this year even the usually reliable summer bloomer, Delonix regia, were all conspicuously devoid of flowers.  A Poinciana completely covered in vivid red blooms is one of the most common sights in mid-summer most years, but not this January.  I suspect this has a lot to do with the unseasonably damp 'dry' season last year (from March to November) with its high rainfall totals and the large number of dreary overcast days.   Obviously too overcast and too wet for the Poincianas.  They like it hot, sunny and dry.

Without Poincianas to show off, the photos of mid-summer blooming trees is restricted to the Lagerstroemia speciosa or Queen's Myrtle.  Now, usually, she is well finished flowering this time of year, but it seems like she stepped up in the absence of any display from Delonix!!!   Mind you, both the Lagerstroemias are only showing the odd spray of purple delight, but it's a pretty sight anyway.

Again, I think this display is the result of the out-of-the-ordinary wet conditions during last year's 'dry' season ... there seems to be some confusion amongst some of our plants with the change in the usual weather pattern.

Another two commonly summer-flowering trees that were not on show this mid-summer were the Plumerias and the Cassia fistula.  Obviously more casualties of the unusual weather patterns during 2010.

Now, which shrubs and climbers around the property were flowering?

Not many!!  The gorgeous Mussaendas were strutting their stuff, thankfully. 

Here's Mussaenda philippica 'Bangkok Rose'   ....

... and here's Mussaenda philippica 'Aurore'.

The ever reliable Hibiscus shrubs are always in bloom ... no matter what!  Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Snowflake', Malvaviscus arboreus and Hibiscus schizopetalus.

Another year-round bloomer are the Pentas ... one of my favourites for adding splashes of colour in amongst all the green.

There were a few blooms on my still rather immature Mandevilla ... it's taking a long time to really develop, but it seems to be doing better in this location than the previous ones.

But  that was it!  Noticeably devoid of any blooms were the Bougainvilleas.
 

Next, out in the courtyard ... what was blooming?
At the beginning of January I took advantage of a rare couple of sunny days to really take stock of all the potted plants out in the Courtyard Garden.  After weeks of endless heavy rain and grey skies through the beginning of Summer (December) they were in a pretty bad way.  So many of these plants had rather severe trimming back which, of course, means there's not much to show in the way of blooms.   Summer out in the courtyard is NOT the best time to enjoy a brilliant display of blooms.

The reliable Dragon Wing Begonia was still flowering and really didn't need much of a trim.

The Crossandra infundibuliformis and Ixora 'Twilight Glow' were all still blooming despite being a little unkempt.

The pots of Salvia splendens looked so scraggley.  They had gotten very leggy but I couldn't bring myself to cut them back as I really wanted something out there showing flowers!

Both the Wrightia antidysenterica 'Arctic Snow' and the Tabernaemontana corymbosa 'Sweet Love' received only a little trim here and there, so they were showing just a few blooms.  Both these plants are still quite young and I'm looking forward to seeing them mature considerably and be absolutely covered in flowers. There were just a few little flowers still showing on the Argyranthemum frutescens or Federation Daisy as well ... to continue the white theme.

There were still some gorgeous flowers on the Cleome spinosa 'Senorita Rosalita' ...

... and the wonderful Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' was in show-off mode!

That was the end of the story out in the courtyard ... a very poor showing for the potted plants!  But hopefully, with the trimming and feeding there will be something to see by mid-Autumn.  There was no show from any of the annuals as none had made it through the arrival of the 'wet' ... this is actually quite normal. THE most noticeable thing missing from the courtyard though, was the blanket of flowers on the Jasmine which covers the pergola.  There has not been any sign of even one flower yet ... that is extremely unusual for this time of year.

Last of all, what was blooming out in the Greenhouse/Shadehouse Garden?

The stunning Globba winitii ...

the Curcuma australasica 'Anita' ...

Curcuma 'Voodoo Magic' ...

an unknown Bromeliad and unknown Orchid ...

the purple Anthurium ...

the Tricyrtis x Empress or Empress Toad Lily.


So, all in all, the finding for this mid-Summer 2011 was ... far less blooming than the previous year ... by far!  The 'dry' season of 2010 turned out to be almost non-existent and this definitely had an effect on quite a few plants in my garden.  

(Note:   As this was completed and posted well after mid-Summer, I have the benefit of hindsight.  What seemed at the time ... mid-Summer ... to be a pretty poor showing around the garden, has in fact turned out to be as good as it was going to get for the entire Summer.  It just went from bad to worse, as the 'wet' season intensified and we experienced the arrival of a couple of lower rated cyclones and then one quite intense tropical cyclone.)


To see what was blooming in mid-Spring ... the season before ... click on this link: Snapshots of Mid-Spring ... which is October. 

Autopsy Of A Cyclone Ravaged Garden ... My Downunder Dry Tropics Garden Jounal - Week 6, 2011.

  Date:  February 12, 2011

  Season:  end-of-Summer and 'wet' season



(Gardening Zone: 'Dry Tropics' area located within Tropical Zone/Australia ... comparable to U.S. Zone 11)


Here we are ... it's the end of Week 6 for 2011 and it's been an almighty time of change in my dry tropics garden over the last two weeks.  It's amazing how we take things for granted sometimes and I was definitely taking my garden for granted.  It was such a source of pleasure and contentment for me after my gardening sensibilities kicked up a notch or two in the last couple of years.  I was at that stage where I could sit back and just enjoy the garden areas around me with some minor effort exerted every now and then.  Well that's all changed!

Cyclone Yasi was the agent of change.  It thrashed its' way through this region on the 2nd of February with its' evil eye passing only just 160 kilometres to the north.  It was a Category 5 cyclone ... the highest rating possible ... and was perhaps the worst cyclone to hit north Queensland ever, well in recorded weather history anyway!

There have been some significant changes in my garden since that event and my garden will probably never look quite the same again.

Firstly, the most noticeable change is the devastation of almost all the tallest trees on the property, including the stripping of most of their leaves and the exposure of the smaller plants underneath to the full sun.

The section of the property at the bottom of our hillside concrete driveway is just a disaster zone.  It was an area filled with trees all around 30 feet in height and it's going to be the last spot to clear away.  It's the most difficult place to haul the debris out of ... we're still thinking about just how to solve that problem.

In this area I had two magnificent Tabebuias heterophylla ... this was how the tallest of those looked just a couple of weeks ago:

Well, this is it now!  Almost half the tree was snapped off and now lies in a huge heap in the background of this shot.  It has literally lost its' top half and most of the branches from the bottom half.  The Tab behind is even worse!

Then there was the massive Weeping Fig Tree situated at the end of the hillside driveway, just behind both the Tabebuias heterophylla.  My Ficus Benjamina was over 30 feet tall and nearly as wide.  Here's a great shot of it which gives an idea of the size of its' canopy:

This is it today.

Not far away was a terrific tall Citharexylum spinosum or Fiddlewood tree.  It had been flowering for a number of weeks during the summer and was looking so lovely.

  

 It was left looking like this:

One of the first areas that was cleared was the section down the gravel driveway.   There was so much debris down the driveway that it took two men almost three hours to cut a path through to the front gate.

My absolute favourite tree in these driveway garden beds was my beautiful white Bauhinia tree ... which was a fabulous sight when covered in its' stunning white flowers.

Here it is the morning after Yasi hit.  It had split right down the middle and had become a danger as it is right beside our driveway.

Going. going ... soon to be gone!  We've still got some trimming back to do.

There was also a gorgeous Tabebuia impetiginosa on the opposite side of the driveway and it put on a pretty display in springtime. 

Unfortunately two of our neighbours very tall trees fell right over our fence and completely knocked off the top half of my stunning Tab impetiginosa. This is what was left the morning after Yasi.

There were many stands of Duranta repens shrubs down both sides of the driveway and most of these were around 6 metres high.  Nearly all these stands either fell over completely or were ripped in half.

These tall shrubs acted as a terrific screen for the rather drab white fence behind them and they looked fabulous when covered in their purple flowers or orange berries.

These spots are now looking decidedly bare and ugly!





I'm almost positive they will all recover but in the meantime whenever I walk or drive past these spots I try to avert my eyes very very quickly!!!

We've now almost finished clearing up one side of the long gravel driveway and there are lots of these empty spots.  It will be difficult to re-plant as the ground is completely compacted now and there's large rocks everywhere.

So that's one side of the gravel driveway.  It's a very labour intensive and time consuming job clearing the mess and we haven't even started on the other side of the driveway ...

...  or anywhere else on the property!

Of course there were some survivors.  Some of the plants that came through intact were my fabulous Crotons, African Oil Palms and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.  They simply top the list in hardiness for me!!! 

Most of the tall stands of Golden Cane Palm came through well ... there were a couple of exceptions but they don't look too bad and will recover pretty quickly. 

We've still got quite a few weekends of work ahead of us, but that's the recovery report so far!!!  It's been exhausting work and that's probably a good thing.  I'm just too tired to cry after a hard day's yakka!  But I'm not the only one who's missing the lovely tall trees.  Our regular visitors, the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos have been looking a little lost ... their regular haunts are missing!

Taking Stock After Weeks of Endless Grey Skies and Rain ... My Downunder Dry Tropics Garden Journal - Week 2, 2011.

Date:  January 8th, 2011 

Season:  mid-Summer and mid-'wet' season



(Gardening Zone:  'Dry Tropics' area located within Tropical Zone/Australia ... comparable to U.S. Zone 11)

More sunshine today … and it lasted all day long! What a treat! Yes it was hot, steamy and downright horrible outside … this is Summer downunder, after all … but it was so lovely to see the sun. When you’re used to sunshine for at least 300 days of the year, and that doesn’t happen, you start to pine for that great golden orb!

Anyway, enough about the sun. It was a disgusting 32 deg C (90F) in the shade today … humidity up around 70% and the UV index was registering Extreme. NOT the ideal conditions for working outside in the garden.
But I spent time dragging out all the potted plants that are at the far end of the Courtyard Garden to assess their health after the long period of rain we’ve had this Summer. They’re not looking all that great … not enough sunlight!

One set at back edge of the courtyard  ....

... another set beside the pond and pergola area ...

and yet another set near the Fern Alley.

There are more pots out in the courtyard but I usually start this job with the potted plants in pain.

So here’s the post mortem:
•  I’ve lost some of the Torenias, need replacing … simply can’t do without them!

•  The Salvia splendens are definitely leggy and need cutting back … will plant more seedlings in the two pots.

•  The Crossandras are just too leggy now and there’s almost no sign of their striking orange flowers … they   need cutting back and feeding.

•  The New Guinea Impatiens have made it through so far, but they’ve dropped all their blooms and need a good feed.

•  The Cordyline ‘Red Wings’ and ‘Morning Sunshine’ need to be potted up together and placed in the shadier section so they don’t continue to get sunburnt.

•  The Tree Fern needs to be moved as its outer fronds are getting singed by the hot sun.

•  I need more Gomprhena globosa (Bachelor Buttons) in those big round bowls as they seem to have come through very fairly well.  Have seeds for those, so need to get them started.

•  I should move the Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ out where it can get more sunlight as it’s not floweirng as profusely anymore.

•  I should also move the Wrightia so it can be in full light.

•  The two Croton Zanzibars are doing brilliantly.

•  The Dracaena marginatas need re-potting … could perhaps pot them up with the Acalyphas as they need something else of interest in the pots.

•  Need to trim back the Duranta repens.

•  Need to move the Seaside Daisies to the stairway for more direct sunlight … they haven’t flowered out in the Courtyard.


Oh boy … I’ve got some work to do! I will need to get more potting mix and pots! But, when I’ve done this bit of work, then I will think about adding more colour to that section of the Courtyard Garden.

• Have Coleus and Celosia ready for potting up.

 One of the many flutter-bys who were watching me as I worked.

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Date:  January 10th, 2011 

Season:  mid-Summer and mid-'wet' season

Lovely sunshine again this morning ... after a thunderstorm rolled around the hills in the late afternoon yesterday and more showers of rain last night.  So I headed back out to the courtyard to continue the cleaning up the end of the Courtyard Garden.

I had already dragged all the potted plants away from their usual positions at the end of the Courtyard Garden to get a closer look at just how they had come through the early 'wet' season.  Today it was time to do some trimming!

• Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost', Salvia, Acalyphas 'Firestorm' and 'Inferno' Aralia, New Guinea Impatiens, Torenias and the Pilea all got a severe 'short back and sides'.

Then it was time to do some moving!

• The big pots of Salvia splendens and the tray of Seaside Daisies were both moved to the outside staircase where they can be in full sun.
• The Cyathea spp. 'W.A. Kalgoorlie Gold' Tree Fern  was moved to the raised section under the pergola next to the pond.  I'll leave it there along with both the Spathiphyllums and the Alocasia x amazonica.
• Both hanging baskets of Evolvulus pilosus 'Sapphire Blue' were moved to the sheltered of the lattice near the 'Lots of Pots Spot' outside the kitchen. 
• The hanging pot of Ipomea batatas was moved to the lattice out in full sun.

Then it was time for fertilising with Power Feed.  All the potted plants have gone without feeding for several weeks now because of the rain ... not only was it difficult to get out to do this job, it would have been rather futile anyway as the fertiliser would have been washed out pretty quickly with the heavy rainfall.
While I was busy feeding the collection of potted plants out in the courtyard I swear I heard a collective murmur of appreciation!  I thought the hanging and potted plants in the Shadehouse Garden would also appreciate a fine feed, so I added that to the list of things to do today.

So ... job done for today.  All trimmed, fed and ready to be re-potted where necessary and re-organised around the courtyard.  That's the next job!