A Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ... It's Our End-of-Autumn Month of May.

We've had such beautiful autumn days lately.  Vast expanses of beautiful blue sky, loads of lovely sunshine and the most pleasant temperatures.  There's really not a great deal of variation when it comes to the seasons here in the tropics, except for that drop in temperatures and humidity levels after early autumn, and the rain takes a break for three-quarters of the year.

The Dragonflies have certainly been appreciating these beautiful sunny days and are everywhere in the garden right now.

The plants are also welcoming this lovely weather.  So there are a few that are able to put their best foot forward at last for this Bloom Day post.

It's a truth that some spots in my garden show little variation in the way they look from year to year, as there's so many all-year-round bloomers here.  This means they're usually always a part of my GBBD posts ... and here they are again.

Pentas, Impatiens walleriana, Pseudomussaenda flava, Dragonwing Begonias, and red flowering Hibiscus.

The trauma inflicted by torrential rain and cyclonic winds experienced during the sumer/early autumn means there are quite a few things that are out of whack in my garden.  They should be blooming during May.  But, there are no flowers on my Spathodea campanulata or African Tulip Tree ... it's still a stump.  Nor is the pink Calliandra surinamensis or Pink Powderpuff flowering as it continues to recover from its' severe cut back.

There are however lots of other plants showing their beauty right now though including ...

Bracteantha bracteata, Angelonia angustifolia, Crossandra infundibuliformis, Viola hederaceae, Dianthera nodosa, Barleria obtusa and, in the middle, Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'.

I've had far more success getting some of my Pelargoniums through the 'wet' season/summer at the beginning of this year, and it was a doozy.  Not only was there plenty of heavy rain and almost no strong sunlight, the air is just laden with moisture as the humidity levels reach 90% some days.  Pellies hate these conditions, so I'm very pleased that I've finally managed to coddle a few through these horrors.  The survivors are now beginning to bloom once again.

This is a Pelargonium hybrid from the 'Caliente' series.  It blends the best characteristics of the zonal and the ivy pelargoniums.  I'm so impressed with its' staying power, not to mention its' stunning blooms.

Now for another of my great Pellie survivors.


It's this pretty Pelargonium peltatum.  I adore the clusters of double, white flowers with these magenta markings in the middle.  I think this is 'Blanche Roche'

The Torenia fournieri seedlings are now all potted up and starting to bloom.  They will keep on showing off for months now ... at least until the next 'wet' when they find it hard-going.  It's amazing to see that there are little ones that have self-seeded from the last flowering season and are now popping up in between the bricks on the courtyard floor ... I will have to move them so they don't get trampled underfoot.

I've managed to pot up a few other annual seedlings as well and I'm pleased to see them take off.

Sweet Alyssum, Snapdragon 'Strawberry Crush' and Shock Wave Petunia 'Pink Ice'.

Elsewhere ...

Bromeliads are blooming.

My Cordyline cannifolia or Palm Lily is showing off its' first sprays of flowers.

My red Gerberas are showing their faces and there's a few sprays of flowers on my Bougainvillea.

Flowers are popping up on the Scuttellaria  suffrutescens, the Gomphrena globosa, the Salvia leucantha, the Cleome spinosa, the dwarf Scaveola ... and those orange and yellow flowers that have just showed up in my garden all by themselves.  There are clumps of these growing in spots next to the roads up here in the hills, but this is the first time I've ever seen any of these on our property.  I think they look like Cosmos sulphureus to me.  I don't think I would mind if they stayed.

This is the time of year that I enjoy the most out in the garden.  I can wander around all day long without getting scorched or sunburnt or drenched.  I find myself pottering about, under the watchful gaze of the local birdlife, for hours and hours and it's bloomin' marvellous!

For lots of fabulous GBBD posts,
visit Carol in the U.S. at May Dreams Gardens

and pop over to see Gesine at Seahorse Garden in Germany. 

Both these sites are hosts for fantastic posts about what's blooming this May in gardens around the world.

I'm also joining in the Mosaic Monday meme

... and in the Today's Flowers meme with this post.  Go and take a look.

Our 'Dry' Season Has Begun ... My Downunder Dry Tropics Garden Journal ... Week 17, 2011.

Date:   April 30, 2011


Season: mid-Autumn and beginning of the 'dry' season


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

There's been very little rainfall for three weeks or so now which seems to be a sure sign that our 'dry' season has begun.  Typically, we will not receive much, if any, rainfall now until around mid-December ... hence the name 'dry tropics'.  Of course, 2010 was a bit of an exception to the rule around here ... it was one of the wettest 'dry' seasons we've had!  So it will be interesting to see how this year unfolds.  At the moment, though, we're experiencing those familiar clear sunny days.

So after the garden was pelted and pummelled during the last few months of the 'wet' season, it will be parched and thirsty for months and months to come.  This is the time of year when the outdoor garden beds have to tough it out ... many of the shrubs and trees are still in recovery mode after the cyclone, so without rain they will take ages to flourish once more.

Here's my beloved white Bauhinia variegata.  It's now got significant amounts of re-growth but with the 'dry', I don't think it will get all that much bigger in the coming months.

Lagerstroemia speciosa or Queen's Myrtle has continued to recover very well.  It will be interesting to see if all this new foliage growth will in fact start turning into the familiar reds and oranges for our winter.  This is my only tree that I could possibly say gets autumn colours ... except they usually appear in the winter. 

It will also be very interesting to see if my Plumerias will do their deciduous thing this coming Winter as well.  Considering Winter officially begins in June, and these Frangipanis are still trying their best to put on new growth ... will all the leaves fall?

The two Corymbia torellianas or Cadaghi Gums have come back beautifully after having most of their foliage stripped away.  It's nice having some tree canopy back once again in this spot on the property.

The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis that grows underneath the Cadaghis has come back quickly and is showing a bloom or two here and there.

The same is true for the Malvaviscus arboreus or the Sleepy Hibiscus.  It's already recovered and those wonderful flowers and buds are peeping out in between the leaves.

With Cyclone Yasi's destructive winds causing the almost total removal of the tree canopy down the driveway on our property, the driveway garden beds had became almost overrun with weeds.  Finally, with the arrival of dry weather over the last couple of weeks, I've been able to get out there and do the much needed weeding of both sides of the driveway.  It's looking far tidier now.  

I was accompanied by hordes of lovely little red dragonflies the whole time.

It was amazing just how much was removed ... we thought we had done with having to use the fire pit to burn off garden debris and rubbish.  But no, I have managed to add another little pile to the fire pit after my efforts yesterday and today.

As well as removing huge amounts of weeds, I did a bit of trimming on some plants that were not included in the post-cyclone clean-up.  Mainly a Croton, the Pseuderanthemum, the Ming Aralia and the Graptophyllum.  They were all looking decidedly leggy and scraggly.
 

I found a couple of Philodendrons that I'd thought I'd lost.  Obviously they loved the long 'wet' season and had come back in some what were once hidden spots, but not hidden now after the weeding effort.

I also finally removed most of the horrid pile of Pedilanthus tithymaloides 'variegata' - the Slipper Plant - which had taken over one section of the long driveway bed and was looking absolutely terrible.  I pulled out most of it by the root ... moved one tiny little piece back towards the fence ... and dug over the spot where it had been growing.   

I'm looking to plant more Crotons and Pseuderanthemum in that section.  However, there will be no planting happening just yet.  Along with the new section added to the driveway garden bed closest to our car shed, the spots that need planting up will have to wait until the 'dry' season is over.  It's no use trying to start plant at this time of year here in the dry tropics ... it would add extra cost to our water bill trying to keep them alive over the next nine months or so when we receive little or no rainfall! 

In the meantime though, I have quite a few Croton cuttings that have taken off and need re-potting and lots of feeding so they're ready for planting during our rainy season.  I will also be on the lookout for some groundcover for both these spots.  Perhaps some native Viola for the shaded sections ... will think about the sunny sections.

In other spots around the property, it's lovely to see the Acacias are starting to bloom once more.

This is Acacia mangium showing its' lemony-yellow rod-like flower heads ...

... and Acacia auriculiformis beginning its' wonderful display.

Wandering Time ... A Tuesday Tropical Garden Tour.

Autumn through to early Spring is the best time of the gardening year for this north Aussie gardener.  That's the time when many of the garden areas are looking pretty darn good. This year, however, is slightly different.  The prolonged 'wet' season and the unwelcome arrival of a cyclone means things have not gone exactly to plan.

My favourite spot ... the Courtyard Garden ... is usually full of terrific potted annuals by now, providing splashes of colour in almost every corner.  Potting up my annuals seedlings has been delayed this year ... thanks to the prolonged 'wet'.  Many of the existing plants have been craving sunshine which was rather rare in the early part of the year.  As a result, many of the year-round flowering plants are not exactly looking their best right now.

Out in the Shadehouse Garden, despite the recent clean-up and trim back, the ferns have starting taking over once again with the relentless rain that continued last month.  Some of the hanging plants really need a trim back once again as well.  It's not exactly as neat and tidy as I'd like.

Regardless, I've taken a quick wander around these garden spots, avoiding all the other areas that were stripped and damaged by the destructive winds, to record just how things are this mid-Autumn.

This is amateur video making, warts and all stuff.  It's just me wandering around making observations about what's happening ... there's no script ... there are noisy birds in the background and you'll probably hear the corrugated iron roof popping as it expands and contracts as the sun becomes more intense.  The zoom on my camera is also rather noisy, but that's just how it is.  This is more for my own record keeping than anything else, as I use these recordings to really sit down and pay close attention to what needs to be done.

So, starting with a front garden bed and wandering through the shadehouse ...



... then moving out onto the courtyard.



I've already made a couple of decisions immediately following these wanders ...
... the beautiful perfume emanating from that white Ginger needs to be part of my shadehouse environment
... there needs to be a drift of that hardy purple Salvia farinacea in the tiered garden bed
... the hanging plants in wire baskets out in the shadehouse all need to have the coir lining replaced and potted up with new compost and water saving crystals
... it's definitely time to pot up the annuals for the courtyard
... the Blechnum gibbums need to be moved to a more shaded spot in the courtyard
... and I need to move more of my Cordylines out next to those Golden Cane Palms in the courtyard.


Are there any other gardeners out there who've got videos to share?  I'd love to take a guided tour of others' gardens ... listening to the gardener's observations and thoughts.