Friday Flower Flaunt .... Mid-Summer 2025

Mid-Summer Garden Update:  Hot Days and Resilient Plants In Bloom.

As we settle into the heart of summer here in north Queensland, the weather has been as predictable as ever:  hot and humid.  It's the kind of heat that makes gardening a race against the clock - anything after 10.00 a.m. become a challenge.  Despite the discomfort, there's still joy to be found in brief, early morning strolls through the garden.  

This wet season has been underwhelming.  After an exceptional December with the highest rainfall totals in over a century, the new year has brought little relief.  The soil is parched, and the plants are yearning for more consistent rain.  Yet, even in these challenging conditions, the garden continues to offer small surprises and delights.

Blooms Spotted In The Garden  

While wandering through the various garden spaces, I've noticed several resilient plants resplendent in their blooms of many colours.

In the outdoor garden beds ...

Cassia fistula  (a summer bloomer)

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis  (all year round bloomer)

Lagerstroemia indica  (summer bloomer)

Mussaenda philippica x flava 'Calcutta Sunset'  (a summer bloomer)

Combretum constrictum  (a spring & summer bloomer)

In the sheltered courtyard garden ...

Coleus

Justicia carnea  (a spring / summer bloomer)

Various Impatiens  (all year round bloomers)

Various Torenias  (all year round bloomers)

In the shade house garden ...

Costus productus  (all year round bloomer)

Evolvulus  (all year round bloomer)

Dianthus  (spring & summer bloomers, and one of my all-time favourite perennials for this dry tropics garden)      

Calibrachoas (spring & summer bloomers).

I'm joining this week's Floral Friday Fotos.

Friday Flower Flaunt ... early Spring.

Wow!  It's been almost 10 years since I last posted on this blog and it's good to be back.  So much happened in between then and now, and my garden deteriorated markedly over that time.  I'm now retired though and eager to create something better that brings back the joy I used to feel when wandering around my place.

Here's to a new chapter in the story of my place!

September is our first month of Spring and here in the dry tropics it's also approaching the end of our long dry season.  I've been out and about searching high and low for some beauties to share, so here we go ...

In the driveway garden beds:

The first of the Calliandra haematocephala blooms (commonly known as Powder Puff)

The very last of the Tabebuia flowers.  

Thunbergia erecta 'Tru Blu'

Russelia equisetiformis 

Crotons

In the courtyard garden:

Petrea volubilis (also known as the Purple Wreath, the Queen's Wreath and the Sandpaper Vine)

Turnera subulata  (also known as White Buttercup or the Sulphur Alder)

Torenias (also known as the Wishbone Flower)

Elsewhere:

Adenium obesums (also known as Desert Roses)

I'm joining Floral Friday Fotos

What's On Show This Weekend ... November 28-29, 2015 ... end of Spring.

November is our last Spring month and our Summer officially begins in two days.  The conditions have already been quite summery for weeks now with daytime highs around 32 deg C and humidity levels rising to 60% in the middle of the day.

Our dry season continues on unabated and, despite a rather decent but very short-lived downpour of rain about two weeks ago, the surrounding bushland is very parched and rather brown. 

There are some lovely spots of colour around the garden, as usual.  That's the benefit in having quite a few plants that can withstand the dry conditions and the heat and humidity. 

The usual Spring bloomers are doing their usual thing!

Plumeria obtusa or Frangipani

Plumeria rubra or Frangipani

Lagerstroemia speciosa or Queen's Myrtle

Nerium oleander

Delonix regia or Poinciana

Delonix regia or Poinciana

They will all continue to bloom through most of the approaching Summer as well.

Blooms out in the courtyard garden at the moment include ...

Osteospermum

Petunias

Portulaca

Salvia splendens

Salvia farinacea

Salvia hybrids 'Love and Wishes' and 'Wendy's Wish'

Salvia farinacea

These too will continue to bloom through the early part of the Summer.

Elsewhere ...

Dietes grandiflora

Adenium obesum

double Gerbera

Justicia brandegeeana

Ixora 'Twilight Glow'

Thunbergia erecta 'Tru Blu'

Galphimia glauca

Ixora 'Golden Ball'

Turnera subulata

Tabernaemontana antidysenterica 'Arctic Snow'

So, Summer is on its way and we're waiting to see if there's a wet season coming along as well.

For a more detailed look at what's been going on around my place over the month of November, check out the Garden Journal entry I posted today on my other blog:  The End Of Spring Is Nigh ...