January is our mid-Summer month here. The wet season has not arrived yet, and the conditions have been quite dry and very, very hot and humid so far. While there has been some rain here this month just in the last couple of days, it's been rather patchy and light.
Yesterday morning there were grey clouds hovering and lovely soft raindrops falling on the corrugated tin roof,
but this morning, the sky is endlessly blue and bright. Our daily temps are usually hovering around 32-36 deg C and humidity levels have reached 'sticky and steamy'. It's not really pleasant being outside at the moment.
That means it's gardening downtime, apart from some early morning or evening watering. There isn't a lot in bloom in my garden right now, and I had to look hard to find something to share today.
Obligingly though, my little Brassocattleya hybrid has just started another blooming cycle, and the first blooms opened today. That was a lovely find on my walk this morning.
I didn't find much else apart from ...
my Aeschynanthus growing in a hanging pot in the shadehouse,
my Indian Rope Hoya, also growing in a hanging pot out in the shadehouse garden.
The Gloriosa Lily that's winding its way up the young Crepe Myrtle shrubs is blooming.
Strangely though, the young Lagerstroemia indicas, or Crepe Myrtles, are still only showing a few small clusters of flowers here and there. That's not usual by midway through Summer. They're usually in full bloom by now.
My Hibiscus schizopetalus is really starting to get back to its former glory now, finally. Both shrubs are getting bulkier and throwing out more and more arching stems and dangling blooms. It's great to see the comeback.
There's not much in the way of flowers out in my courtyard garden space either. There's certainly lots of lovely foliage plants, but the blooms are very sparse. At the moment,
the double white Impatiens walleriana,
the white Justicia carnea,
and the blazing orange Crossandra infundibuliformis, are throwing out a few blooms. That's about it though.
I'm joining Floral Friday Fotos
Oh wow, i always remember the rain falling on your styled roof eaves! And your flowers and plants are the same with mine, just that yours are more cared for. Ours are just planted and left on their own, except my hoyas now that receive watering. It is one of the very few plants i bought. I have your crossandra and i also have the red. However, no matter how many times i get that white Impatiens, i always end up without germination, i wonder why. This time i was successful in getting some purple seeds, now already flowering. And that hibiscus, i already found one in a far town going to our place, but haven't asked yet the jeepney driver to stop so i can get some cuttings. I hope to remember next time.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, the sound of rain falling on a corrugated iron/tin roof is quite distinctive, and a recognisable northern tropics sound. It can be quite loud, but it's soul-settling. Your Hoyas seem to be doing very well. Mine only receive watering and are left to dry out in between waterings. I have only fertilised my Indian Rope Hoya once last year. It seems to be thriving where it is, without much help from me. That white Impatiens has self-seeded in another pot! It was most unexpected, but a very delightful surprise.
DeleteFor a garden that hasn't many blooms you certainly found more than I can at the moment. It has been so dry down here in Brissy except for one or two storms, where the water tends to run off. I like the drizzle all day rain better. We have a metal roof too and I enjoy the sound except when it is so noisy that it drowns out the TV. We went to Victoria for three weeks and didn't have anyone to water the garden. Luckily the garden is mostly natives and they all survived. Oh how I loved it when I had a computer operated automatic sprinkler but the drought put an end to using that.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very dry start to our 2013/2014 wet season up here so far, Diane. The rain we do get barely penetrates the rock-hard, sun-baked soil. We really need some heavy downpours. I was in Brissie just last week and it looked pretty dry. My son's yard was very dry and he has lost a few little shrubs this year.
DeleteYou're so right about the noise on the roof when it's pouring down. I give up trying to listen to the TV then. It's just impossible. Hopefully we'll hear the drumming of heavy, heavy rain soon!
I turned off our automatic sprinkler system about three years ago now. Our water restrictions haven't been too bad, but the cost of the water needed to make the place look lush was just far too much.
Very nice Bernie. Wish it was all in my garden! The little hoya blooms look like little jewels with a pearl at the center. Nature is so amazing. We had so much rain this year things didn't bloom very well. Just too many clouds and not enough sun which is very strange for here. Good night Bernie!
ReplyDeleteLovely description of the Hoya blooms, Jean. They do look like they've got little pearls in the centre. We've had the opposite conditions here. Last year was quite a dry year compared to previous ones, and the 2013/2014 wet season so far has proven to be very dismal.
DeleteAmazing flowers! I love your hoyas and the hibiscus. Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gunilla. Hopefully we'll get a few more showers this weekend, just to freshen things up a little.
DeleteOh Bernie ~ in spite of you having dry, summer conditions, you have some beautiful blooms. We've had a LOT of rain this week and I am thankful for it.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend ~ FlowerLady
It's great to hear you got some very decent rain, Lorraine. I bet the garden looks refreshed. Over here there's a monsoonal low forming in the north, so maybe some good rain is on the way.
DeleteBeautiful pictures! But love the first picture. You have lots of flowers compared to the gardens around here in Omaha, Nebraska, here everything looks brown or white.
ReplyDeleteYou can see just how brown the bushland is in the top photo. Our yard is bone dry and the garden beds are not much better. So we both have brown in common at the moment. There's no white here though, apart from the fluffy white clouds in the blue skies we're still seeing. We need more grey in the sky!!
Deletereally nice Bernie!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. I'm glad you enjoyed the few blooms I had to share.
DeleteYou seem to have endless gorgeous blooms Bernie ! Everything looks in tip top condition too. Silly question , but is it too hot for many flowers to flourish/ too dry/ a mixture of both ? Here in the uk it is nearly always the cold I am battling against, trying to grow the things you grow with such ease ! It has been a mild winter here so far, unlike the poor old USA where temperatures have been crazily low.
ReplyDeleteJane, it is a mixture of both. Early to mid-Summer is a hard time for the garden because it's had a long dry season to get through and then the temps suddenly escalate and the intensity of the sunshine increases. It's also a hard time on the gardener! She doesn't spend as much time out in the garden at this time of the year.
DeleteFantastic blooms Bernie ! Stupid question, but is it the heat/ lack of rain/mixture of both which slows down the flowering ? Here in th uk it is mainly the cold I battle with, trying to grow the stuff you grow with such seeming ease !!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the rise in heat that occurs at the end of a long dry season that makes life difficult for blooming plants here. The best time of the gardening year here stretches from the end of Autumn through to mid to late Spring. That's when I have many more blooms in the garden.
DeleteWonderful collection of gorgeous flowers.
ReplyDeleteThanking you kindly, Carver.
DeleteYou flowers still look gorgeous even with the heat. I am assuming you have not had a problem with mildew on the impatiens. I will not be growing them this year because they all died in the middle of the summer.
ReplyDeleteEileen
Its soo tropical indeed.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't know if you are in Australia or the beachside around the equator..
They are just so hot and bright especially the red blooms!
Hi Bernie, thank you so much for sharing with Today's Flowers. I loved that rainy photo and it looks like it brought out a lot of beautiful blooms, which you very kindly shared with us. Wishing you a great weekend :)
ReplyDelete