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 ...

What's On Show This Weekend ... October 3-4, 2015 ... mid-Spring.

Here we are in our mid-Spring month and about six months into our dry season.  If you've read the latest post in my other blog (see the sidebar), you'll know that this year's dry has been harsh.  I don't want to repeat myself but let's just say that a failed wet, long dry and starving wallabies have left my garden in tatters.

Thankfully there's still a few lovely things left to me to enjoy as I wander around. Otherwise I would be in the deepest of doldrums.  Out in the garden beds ...

This Kalanchoe has a few tall flowering heads.  I really adore these little bells.

The dwarf variegated Bougainvillea has it fabulous crimson pink bracts and tiny white flowers on show.

The Hippies have started popping up.

This Alpinia is always flowering and providing a little colour even during these every so dry conditions.

In the courtyard garden ...

I really love the effect of the setting sun on this fabulous Alocasia in the late afternoon.  It's a delight.

Well it seems the Cycas revoluta will be doing its thing in the springtime no matter what the conditions are like.  Spring is always the time for the 'breaks' to appear and it's happening on one of the Cycas right now.  It's always such fun watching these whorls pop up and then watch how quickly they get taller and taller.

Sitting atop the table in the courtyard, away from the marauding wallabies,

double Osteospermum and

double Petunias.

Elsewhere around the courtyard,

the Clerodendrum ugandense has recovered from it rather severe hair cut following the mauling by the wallabies,

while the pot of Impatiens and

the potted Azalea have escaped the great devouring.

There have been quite a few birds to be seen lately too, looking for food in and around the dry bushland.  I think this one is a Wedge-tailed Eagle.  It soared around for ages in the thermals, hanging on to the catch in its beak.  Maybe it was just enjoying the gliding so much it decided to wait for the snack.

I'm not entirely sure what bird this is, but it was certainly enjoying the fruits from the native Olive tree.  It was guzzling them down almost whole.

This gorgeous Forest Kingfisher was just sitting atop a branch looking out eagerly for something to snack on.  It didn't have much luck though and eventually flew off.

Out in the shadehouse ...

my old Impatiens walleriana have all been re-potted and are blooming nicely,

as are the baskets of Dragonwing Begonias.

That's all for this weekend.  I'm joining Today's Flowers

What's On Show This Weekend ... August 29-30, 2015 ... end of Winter.

Our wintertime is well and truly ended.  It's been one of the warmest winters I can recall for quite some time, and given that tropical winters are usually very, very mild anyway, you could be forgiven for thinking we hadn't had a winter at all.  Officially the last day of winter is tomorrow, August 31st, but the high-20C temps. over the last few weeks has meant it was over ages ago.

The long period of very warm winter temps., added to the failure of the wet season at the beginning of the year, has meant a seemingly intensified dry season.  My place is quite simply bone dry!  I've been working hard at keeping the new garden beds going and I've had to resort to using the sprinkler at least every second day.  Right now there are watering restrictions in place across our city council zone, so I will only be able to use the sprinkler twice a week from now on. 

There are little bursts of colour here and there around our place that provide a break from the dryness as you wander around.   Thankfully, many of the potted plants sitting out in the courtyard are in bloom right now.

Crossandra, Plectranthus and Spathoglottis.

Spathiphyllum, Azalea and Impatiens.


Gazanias.

Salvia splendens.

Begonia semperflorens.

Double Petunias.

 Eucharis

Down the driveway, my Tabebuia impetignosa has been covered in blooms and the cheery purple flowers greet me as I arrive home after work every day.  It's a delight to spot them as I get closer to home.

Tabebuia impetiginosa.

There's also white and purple Bauhinia flowers to be spotted as I travel down the long driveway in the afternoons.

The few blooms, seeds and berries around the place have been attracting quite a bit of birdlife as they seize upon any available source of food.

Male sunbird feasting on Hibiscus nectar.

Female Sunbird drinking the nectar from the Duranta flowers.

Male Sunbird enjoying the nectar of Russelia.

Spring officially begins tomorrow