Friday, February 8, 2013

Flower Flaunt Friday ... On This Late Summer's Day.

The end of our summer is in sight now, and that brings a smile to my dial.  After the atrocious heat and humidity we experienced last week and some of the week before, this week has felt a little bit cooler.  The daytime temperatures only dropped back around the 30-31 deg C mark, but there has been a huge drop in humidity levels, and this has made the summer conditions far more comfortable.

Out in the garden blooms are a bit hard to find at the moment, especially in the courtyard and shadehouse gardens.  


One lovely Orchid has bloomed out in the shadehouse, but I'm still on the hunt for an I.D.  I think it may be
Brassocattleya (Bc.) Maikai 'Louise', which is a Brassavola (B.) nodosa X Cattleya (C.) bowringiana hybrid.  The jury is still out on this one though.

Most of the blooms can be found in the outdoor garden beds at this time of the year.  In the tiered garden beds in front of the shadehouse,


the Iris domestica,


the Hemerocallis 'Rue Madelaine',


the Mussaenda 'Calcutta Sunset',



and the pink and purple Lagerstroemia indica are blooming.

In the front-of-house garden bed,


there's a Mussaenda philippica 'Bangkok Rose' and Russelia making a nice colour combination.

In the driveway rock garden areas,


the Turnera ulmifolia


and Turnera subulata are on show.


So is the Thunbergia erecta 'Tru Blu'


and the pretty Polygala.


I'm joining Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers


Nix for Floral Friday Fotos


and Weekend Flowers


26 comments:

  1. I am glad your weather is drying out Bernie. I have enjoyed looking at your flowers over the year posts, a welcome sight to a gardener in winter conditions. Take care.

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    1. So glad you're enjoying the new series, Jen.

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  2. We have that Lagerstroemia indica too, but it doesn't flower well as not in direct sun. I think i love that Russelia, it is beautiful in this photo, but i am not sure if it will perform nicely in my hot garden. Also we already have the messy habit of the red indica, and the two of them will compete with messiness, haha!

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    1. The Lagerstroemia indicas do like full sun, Kalantiakn. They're a commonly planted shrub in the gardens here as they're also so drought tolerant. I'm sure Russelia would perform well for you. It's often planted by our Town Council as a filler in the public gardens and street gardens. All my clumps are in full sun, except for one.

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  3. Wonderful Orchids! Love the Iris too...Everything looks lush & green!

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    1. LT Expanded, the wet season rains haven't really arrived yet. We had a couple of days of torrential rain a couple of weeks ago, which really helped turn things green. We're waiting on the proper arrival of the wet now. Then everything really will be lush.

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  4. Most of the flowers here grown well in my tropical Singapore and they bloom all year long.

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    1. You're so lucky to see so many of these lovely plants blooming all year long, Jama. My Mussaendas, Lagerstroemias and Hemerocallis only bloom in certain seasons of the year. The others have blooming cycles throughout the entire year.

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  5. I don't know much about flower names. Maybe I'm too busy admiring the beauty and feeling happy to remember, particularly scientific names. Your orchids are just gorgeous!

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    1. Hazel, it's taken me ages to learn the botanic names of the plants in my garden. It saves a lot of confusion though, because common names are not the same across the globe.

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  6. Flower paradise to a garden girl who has just one snowdrop in her garden. Sorry I just can’t choose which one makes me smile the most.
    Have a great weekend.

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  7. It seem sthat you still have lots of wonderful flowers:)
    Here is still winter:)

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    Replies
    1. Joy, I'm lucky to have all year round blooms here in my part of the world.

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  8. Wow, what a stunningly beautiful series of flowers in different shapes and colours. Brought the summer closer on a cold winters day here in Norway!

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    1. I'm happy I could brighten your winter's day a little, Jannibele.

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  9. Always intrigued by the range of flowers in your world! Especially love the colour and the macro detail of the flower in the 3rd photo!

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    1. Thanks for visiting Gemma, and I'm glad you enjoyed the colour this week.

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  10. The iris domestica looks like what we call a "blackberry seed lily." It gets pods after blooming and the seeds look like a blackberry. Beautiful photos, Bernie!

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    1. Yes Beth, it's the same plant. It used to be called Belamcanda. We also commonly call it Blackberry Lily or Tiger Lily.

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  11. Only too pleased to join in your party, Tootsie.

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  12. Wonderful flowers all of them, but I'm partial to orchids and lilies. It's nice to see your sunny garden photos. We're supposed to get 20 cm snow during the weekend.

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  13. gorgeous flowers! the purple orchid is exquisite. first time to see this polygala--very pretty.

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  14. You have some gorgeous flowers in your garden!! Love the look of that bangkok rose.

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