Friday, May 6, 2011

Flower Flaunt on Friday ... our end-of-Autumn month.


May is the last month of our Autumn and the Acacias have started their dry season blooming.  Already there's a further little drop in our daytime temps (expected high of only 27 deg C / 80 deg F today) and the nights are certainly getting cooler.  Last night was a lovely 17 deg C / 62 F.

On the garden front, not much has changed from my last Flower Flaunt post.  Pretty much the same things are flowering.  Unfortunately my back and neck had a little disagreement with the job I tried, and seized up!  So that's resulted in a further delay in potting up the annual seedlings.  So the courtyard remains bare of that potted colour.

Never mind, there have been just a couple of new blooms.  My one and only surviving Ivy-Leaved Pelargonium is showing some lovely flowers.  All the others succumbed to the unrelenting wet season and withered away to nothing.  So this particular Pellie is obviously made of hardy stock.
Ivy-leaved Pelargonium

The Calliandra that only had to be trimmed back a little after the cyclone has also started flowering.  So we're beginning to see these lovely fluffy red Powder Puff blooms again.  We won't be seeing the pink Calliandra blooms for quite a while as that shrub is still pretty much a stump at the moment.
Calliandra haematocephala

Here's a few other things blooming right now.
Duranta 'Geisha Girl' ... this Duranta, which is a potted plant on my courtyard, is the only Duranta flowering as all the others in the outdoor garden beds are still just stumps with bits of new growth sticking out here and there.

The Bachelor Buttons self-seeded in this container, so I'm very pleased with them.  These brand new plants have just begun their flowering.
Gomphrena globosa

My dwarf white Salvia is putting on a pretty display and showing more and more spires every day.
Salvia farinacea 'Victoria White'

I have a few Spathiphyllums scattered in little corners of the garden, and one of the potted Peace Lilies has just thrown out its first spathe.  It will, of course, unfold soon to reveal the flower inside.

I've spotted the first ever flower spray on my Palm Lily, which is a native of the north of Australia.  I'm eager to see the flowers and I have to congratulate this poor plant on its' effort.  After being munched on by hordes of grasshoppers and then whipped mercilessly by cyclonic winds, the last thing I expected it to do was flower!!!
Cordyline cannifolia

I've always very pleased to see these intricate beauties.  This is the inflorescence and tiny flowers of the red Shrimp Plant.
Justicia brandegeana

For lots more terrific Flaunt Your Flowers / Fertiliser Friday posts, go on over to visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time

I'm also joining Today's Flowers

21 comments:

  1. Calling by to visit another participant from Flaunt your Flowers. Only 27C, I wish cannot wait for it to warm up here as you head for your cooler winter. Our Palm Lily also bloomed recently for Easter in fact, perfect. I love the selection of blooms you shared today many of which are unfamiliar to me.

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  2. Oh my what exquisite colors! Have a wonderful weekend! Cathy

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  3. Very nice selection today!!

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  4. Loved your pics! The Calliandra haematocephala
    is my favorite. I have never seen this before. I am wanting to learn more names of flowers. I will have to look this one up.

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  5. Beautiful flowers today, so tropical. Take care of the back and have a great weekend.

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  6. Some real beauties today Bernie. Girl I really like your Pelargonium. So pretty.The red Powder puff blooms are so pretty.I like them because they look like Mimosa blooms only red.I hope you are enjoying your Fall weather. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  7. The flowers in your garden never fail to amaze me, such variety and such beauty. The duranta looks almost fake; who would think such a pattern could possibly exist in a live flower? Nature is amazing...and such a color!

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  8. Beautiful colors and textures! Thank you for sharing and take care

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  9. Beautiful photos Bernie and some really unusual flowers. Usually I can recognize a few but this time only the Gompera which is an annual here. Happy Mothers Day! (Don't know if you celebrate it at the same time in Australia)

    Eileen

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  10. Your blooms took my breath away. The duranta is such a stunning plant with beautiful color and texture.

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  11. Wow Bernie, i love that acacia, so floriferous. The others i am familiar with but that white salvia i still haven't seen here, maybe i just dont frequent nurseries. I envy your temperature which lowers below 20C, we dont get that temp here anytime of the year. We only have them in a few highlands.

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  12. I just love visiting your blog, I can never make up my mind which ones I like most. Today I have to like ALL of them.

    The Calliandra reminds me of the Mimosas that grow in the woods around our house. All are very beautiful as usual.

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  13. I always love your flowers and gardens. Just Beautiful! Happy Mother's Day!

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  14. Lovely shots as usual Bernie. Particularly like your opening one and the delicate little duranta.

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  15. Fabulous flower flaunt, Bernie. As a salvia fan, especially like 'Victoria White. That's a new species on me - earmarked for my wishlist.
    Laura

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  16. Bernie,
    It is so good to see how your plants are coming back and flourishing again. I too have noticed an increase in the number of those little green grasshoppers - they sure can eat!

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  17. I visited Australia once and saw all these amazing flowers--but your pics are much better;) congrats!

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  18. Your flowers are so beautiful and so very different from ours here. I enjoyed seeing them all.

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  19. You have an amazing array of flowers. Some plants flower when they are stressed because if they think they are going to die they send out seeds to reproduce before they die to keep the family going......

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  20. Here you are having the start of your fall/winter seasons, and we are having the start of summer already, and hurricane season starts soon.

    I always enjoy visiting your gardens Bernie.

    FlowerLady

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  21. Greetings fellow gardener. I haven't seen that colorway in a justica here yet. It is striking!

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