Friday, February 1, 2013

Friday Flower Flaunt ... As Our Last Summer Month Begins.

As February begins, officially our Summer starts to end.  Now whilst February is officially our last summer month, the summery conditions will continue on into early/mid Autumn here, but at least the end is in sight.


Parts of my home state of Queensland have really been suffering over the last two weeks.  The second cyclone of this summer has caused havoc.  Even though it deteriorated into a monsoonal low quite quickly, ex-cyclone Oswald marched down our eastern coast and caused catastrophic flooding in some parts of the state.  Four lives have been lost, and thousands were evacuated from their homes. 






Up here in my corner of the north, we escaped the terrible consequences of Oswald.  He simply bought us a couple of days of very heavy rainfall, which was most welcome.  We've been watching the news reports, and felling so very lucky that we dodged the bullet.


Here, in my garden, the plants have been suffering in the extremely hot and humid conditions we've been experiencing since the downpour from ex-cyclone Oswald.  Our days and nights have been horrid lately, and we're waiting on some thunderstorm activity and some more rain to cool things down a little.  We haven't seen a drop of rain since Oswald moved down south at the end of last week.


The Portulaca always seems to look great despite the conditions.


The trailing Pelargonium peltatum is still throwing out these gorgeous flower sprays.


The Thunbergia erecta 'Tru Blu' is literally covered in its lovely purpley-blue flowers.


I was surprised to see this bloom on Hemerocallis 'Rue Madelaine'.  I've never seen any Hemerocallis bloom in my garden this late in the summer.

 

 The flowerheads on Lagerstroemia indica are appearing rather late in the summer as well.  My shrubs are still rather young, but the older specimens around town have been blooming for a couple of months now, and are coming to the end of their blooming cycle.  My little babies seem to be out of sync with what's going on with the other Crepe Myrtles.


Salvia madrensis is starting its next blooming cycle.


There are still a few blooms on the Plumeria.


The oldest, more mature Murraya paniculata is blooming again.  It's absolutely covered in its fragrant stark-white flowers, and the perfume is wonderful.  The courtyard is filled with the perfume from these flowers, especially early in the morning and in the late afternoon/early evening.  These flowers have the most exquisite sweet fragrance.


My oldest Ixora, which was severely damaged a couple of years ago by a cyclone, is finally starting to reach its previous height of around 2 metres, and is throwing out many, many flowerheads once again.  I've missed this sight in the two years since Yasi.  It's wonderful to see the old lady draped in red once more.

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



Nix for Floral Friday Fotos,





29 comments:

  1. Your garden is still looking great. We were evacuated but thankfully just missed being flooded. I haven't been back in the garden with my camera yet.

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    1. That is good news, Pieces of Sunshine. I imagine evacuating would have been a worrying thing, but it must have been a real relief when you returned to find out everything was okay at your place. Thank goodness.

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  2. Beautiful flowers as usual Bernie. A real treat as we enter the final weeks of winter.

    It seems that when you finally get rain it's just too much. I hope everyone recovers quickly from the awful devastation of the cyclone.

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    1. Yes Shirley, it can be feast or famine here. In my corner we're really hanging out for more rain, but in so many places further south they won't want to see any more rain for a long time.

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  3. how lovely Bernie......am homesick to go again

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    1. Hi Sharon. Sorry to make you feel homesick. It's way too hot for you to visit anyway! Lol!

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  4. Don't the Murrayas love a bit of rain. I was one of those wishing for some rain because it was so dry and a couple of days later wishing it would stop.

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    1. Missy, they sure do enjoy a bit of rain. It doesn't take much, and suddenly the whole shrub is covered in flowers.

      Believe me I understand completely about the love/hate relationship with rain. Up here though we would really love some more, although of course we're not keen on torrential downpours that last for weeks. A bit picky, aren't we!!

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  5. oh I do enjoy your flowers, is the murraya paniculata the same as a mock orange? This has been a very strange year, and I wonder if the wet will continue on later than "normal".

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    1. Hi AA. I know all the predictions made at the end of last year said our wet season would be drier than usual. It does seem to coming true doesn't it? Usually during the first couple of weeks of school, we're stuck inside the classrooms because the rain just pelts down day after day. All these bright sunny days are a little out of the ordinary.

      Yes Murraya paniculata is Mock Orange. It's a real shame it's regarded as a weed here.

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  6. Wonderful flowers as always, Bernie, so sad to hear about the floods and terrible weather, I hope the worst is over soon :-)

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    1. Helene, the rain has stopped down south and the waters have started receding. The poor people affected by it all will be starting the clean up now. That won't be much fun in our summer heat.

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  7. I always enjoy seeing your summer flowers while we are in the midst of snowy winters.

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    1. Thanks Bonnie, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed popping by to visit. One of the benefits of living in the tropics is the fact that we enjoy blooms all year round.

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  8. I'm so sorry about the devastation in your country. Your plants and flowers look wonderfully healthy and pretty. It's very refreshing to see them while we're at 8 degrees F here.

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    1. That is rather cool ... 8 degrees F. I wouldn't know what that feels like. At the moment our daytime temps are up in the high 90s F. The flooding that happens during our summer here is unfortunately part of our usual weather cycle. Summer is our wet season and parts of our country really suffer badly, for various reasons, when the wet season arrives.

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  9. Despite your dry weather and ensuing bout of rain, the flowers of your garden bring welcome colour to my dreary, snowy days of late. The flooding is tragic and I hope things will be back to normal soon.
    Judith

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    1. Thanks Lavender Cottage. I think things are starting to return to normal in many of the flooded ravaged areas, although there are places where it will take quite some time. Roads need to be repaired, houses may have to be demolished, and of course there's a lot of cleaning up to do.

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  10. Just wanted you to know that it was 18F here this morning with a little coating of ice and snow. Wish I were there!!!

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    1. Wouldn't mind just a little whiff of that 18deg F air here at the moment, Jean. But a whiff would do I think.

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  11. stunning- especially enjoyed Hemerocallis Rue Magdaleine- beautiful!
    I have recently read a novel where Mary Magdalene wore red- !

    Loved these pics.
    Mary, NZ

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Mary. It was an unexpected surprise to see one of the Hemerocallis still blooming here.

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  12. Plumerias have such lovely blooms.And I love your Pelargonium.That touch of mauve on the white is so delicate looking.It is hard to believe that your summer will soon be done. Goes so fast I know. It is such a tragedy at the loss of life in the storms. And another lily in bloom. I cannot wait to see mine in bloom again. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  13. And I thought all the snow melting so fast was causing flooding in my garden...not quite compared to that first picture. Hope you get some relief.

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  14. That Daylily is lovely, even out of its regular bloom time. Last year I had some that didn't bloom at the regular time, just waited until summer's end. They seem to have some kind of triggers that I do not understand. Every blossom is beautiful at your place.

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  15. That Daylily is lovely, even out of its regular bloom time. Last year I had some that didn't bloom at the regular time, just waited until summer's end. They seem to have some kind of triggers that I do not understand. Every blossom is beautiful at your place.

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  16. Despite the weather conditions. your flowers are marvelous.
    Here in Norway, will be soon spring:)
    From FFF. My entry is from: joysnotepad.blogspot.com

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  17. Beautiful flowers in your garden! We still need to wait a few months for spring to get here.

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  18. beautiful girl...sorry summer is so short!!! awesome post! thanks for linking in!!! sorry I am so late getting around...hope you will link up again soon!
    (¯`v´¯)
    `*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
    ¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
    www.tootsietime.com

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