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).

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Friday Flower Flaunt ... Early Spring 2024

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)

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Friday Flower and Foliage Flaunt ... on this late Summer Friday.

It's been a hot and humid week.  Temps have stayed pretty much around the 33 - 34 deg C mark all week, although thankfully the night time temps are a much more comfortable 24-25 deg C.  We've had a few showers of rain again during the week, but we still haven't seen the monsoonal rains arrive yet.

Out in the garden, it's the usual stuff that's on show.

Clerodendrum ugandense

Jasminum officinale

Hibiscus schizopetalus

Lagerstroemia speciosa

Tabernaemontana corymbosa 'Sweet Love'

Justicia brandegeana

Lagerstroemia indica

Mussaenda 'Calcutta Sunset'

Rain Lilies and Caladium

Mandevilla 'White Fantasy' and Pentas lanceolata

Pentas lanceolata

Galphimia glauca

Mussaenda philippica 'Bangkok Rose' and Russelia

Allamanda cathartica 'Sunee' and Russelia

Pentas lanceolata

Wrightia antidysenterica 'Arctic Snow'

Hymenocallis

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

Ixora

Thunbergia erecta 'Tru Blu'

Now for some fabulous foliage ...

Croton

Dracena godseffiana

Croton 'Zanzibar'


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