Flower Flaunt Friday ... As The End Of Our Glorious Winter Draws Nearer

Here in the southern hemisphere we're halfway through our last month of Winter.  Whilst that might be cause for rejoicing further south, here in the north we're a little saddened by the thought.  Springtime here is the beginning of the end of the fantastic cool, clear sunny Winter days and the beginning of the plunge into the horrid Summer temperatures and humidity levels.   Ah well, it's time to enjoy every minute of the little Wintertime that's left.

There were just a few little hot spots left burning over the past weekend after the bushfire swept through the hill opposite our property.  Now all spots are dead and gone, so the threat is completely over.

Out in the garden I've been doing quite a bit of hand-watering, as it's our dry season here, and the drying winds have whipped again.  I don't mind spending time watering though.  To me it's the most relaxing time of the day.  Here's a little of what I see while I'm out there.

Scutellaria suffrutescens

 Rhododendron simsii

 Gazania rigens

Pansies 'Super Swiss Giants'

The first double blooms on the Petunia 'Bonanza'

The first blooms on the Rudbeckia 'Tiger Eye'

Unknown variety of Cane Begonia or Tree Begonia

Nasturtium 'Alaska Mix'

The Pentas are blooming once more, after being cut back severely and treated for mealy bug infestation

The Asiatic Lilies are sprouting.

But now ... for some flowers or plants that are suddenly missing from my garden.

Just last week I had noticed there was something wrong with the lowest tier of the rock garden beds.  My patch of Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' appeared to have been eaten.

Supposedly, the branches of this plant are poisonous if ingested.  The sap is rather nasty.  Well apparently this assumption does not apply to ravenous wallabies who are finding it difficult to locate grass to eat in the dry season.  They literally ate the whole shrub, which was standing at around half a metre in height.

I then started noticing branches missing from the potted Euphorbias up on my courtyard garden.  Well, I couldn't have that, so I barricaded the courtyard.  Or so I thought.  Wallabies should never be underestimated when they hungry and they find something rather delectable to their taste buds.

The shot above shows not only the blooming Rhododendron simsii or Azalea, but you can see the Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' in its full glory to the left, filling out the pot with my Wrightia.  It was looking fantastic for months!

Well, despite my best efforts to protect this delicious plant over the last few days, this is what I found this morning.

This is what's left of my other Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' potted up with a Justicia carnea ... which apparently is not all that tasty!!

Then I found my poor Gomphrenas.

Obviously the stems are delicious, but those flowerheads ... yuk, I can keep those!   Wallabies, apparently have discerning tastes!

The Gazania flowers are not good enough either, but the leaves are to-die-for!  I now only have little stumps left of my newly planted Gazanias out in the new rock garden bed.

Yes, you horrors!  Turn away from me and hide your faces.   Don't you dare look me in the eye.  Thieves!  I've been sticking up for you for ages.  Whenever anyone asks whether you are pests in my garden ... destructive little creatures ... I have always said 'NO!'  Well that's all changed now.  Even your friend the Kookaburra is ashamed of you.

Thankfully, there is a little bit of good news from my garden and I can end on a more cheery note.  There's actually a bloom appearing for the very first time on my Callistemon ‘Pink Champagne', which has been in the ground now for almost two years and has done very, very little.   But this is the promise of things to come.

For lots more fabulous flower flaunt post, visit Tootsie's meme Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers