Flower Flaunt on Friday - end-of-Winter ... and another Skywatch Friday!

Today the conditions here have reverted to the usual, familiar Winter weather.  It's a bright, clear, blue-sky day.  (Thought I'd take the photo looking from the bushland towards the house for a change!)

Clear blue sky wherever you look ...

 ... not a cloud to be seen!

Although we had a rather crisp, cool 7 deg C (44 deg F) start to the day ... which is a little unusual ... it has quickly warmed up to a lovely cool 20 deg C (68 deg F).

Focusing on the garden area in front of the house, there's a lot of red to be seen ... rather a lovely contrast to all that blue!!! ... and there's a touch of pink as well.

This is my oldest Hibiscus shrub ... it must be around 15 to 20 years old now.  It was here when we first moved in ... a lot smaller, of course ... and has weathered so many years of drought, heat, flooding rain, humidity and baking sunshine.  It is the old-fashioned red Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ... no varietal name ... and has flowered almost non-stop all that time.  Here it is ... in all it's glory in front of my house.

Behind this rather large Hibiscus are another two Hibiscus shrubs ... my Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Snowflake' and 'Roseflake'.  Right now it's the 'Snowflake' that's in bloom.

Snuggled in between all the Hibiscus shrubs is my faithful little Winter bloomer ... a dwarf Azalea.

Popping up in between the tall Hibiscus is Russelia equisetiformis, commonly known as the Firecracker Plant.  It's thrown up long arching stems that sometimes appear in between the branches of the Hibiscus.

Snuggled way back in the rear of this garden bed, where it's hard to spot, is a lovely little pink Ixora ... Ixora 'Raywards Pink'.

Moving away from this front garden bed ... over to the stairway landing at the side of the house ... there's
some wonderful little Celosia plumosa showing their plumes.

To finish off with a splash of yellow now ... on the stairway landing there's also some lovely Gazanias showing their bright cheery faces.

I'm joining in the Flaunt Your Flowers/Fertiliser Friday meme and Skywatch Friday meme ...  so please pop on on over to visit:

Flaunt Your Flowers

Skywatch Friday

What in the world is going on?

OK ... now what's wrong with this picture?  Where are the hills?

 What is that on the outdoor setting?

Why are the leaves of the Amaranthus glistening?  (Please note the pitiful excuse for a lawn in the background! ... this is our lawn during the 'dry' season!)

Do my eyes deceive me or is that a puddle on the rocky granite ground?

Look closely ...

closer ...!!!!

What is going on Ms. Weatherman?  Please explain .... I mean this is the DRY tropics isn't it?  We don't get rain for around nine months of the year from Autumn through to around mid-Summer!!!!

Sitting in the classroom this afternoon, working with some students ... when suddenly there was that heavenly PERFUME!  Anyone who lives in a dry area will know what I mean ... there's something magical about the smell of rain when you haven't had any for months on end!  It is an amazing smell!  ...

But ... this is WINTER!  When one of my students suddenly blurted out "It's raining, Mrs. H!", I rolled my eyes with an air of resignation ... I work with students who have learning disabilities/difficulties, so I thought it was yet another diversionary tactic!  No ma'am!  It was rain.

Now, I don't mean to go on ... and on ... and on!  But this is just so weird!!!  Lovely ... but weird!

Usually this is the middle of our 'dry' season ... we don't really have four seasons in my part of the world.  We really only have a very, very short 'wet' and a very, very long 'dry'.  So rain at this time of year is quite strange.

Flower Flaunt on Friday - end-of-Winter in Oz ... and Skywatch Friday!!!!

On this Flower Flaunt Friday, I woke up this Winter's morning to see a fabulous morning sky ....

... so I thought I would share the photos I took and join in the Skywatch Friday meme as well as Tootsie's Flaunt Your Flowers meme.  Just click on the links to see some amazing sky photos and fabulous flowers.

Here in my part of the world, August is our last Winter month ... and the weather remains rather warm.  Today the high was an-anything-but-chilly 28 deg C (82 F)!!!  We have a bright blue sunny sky and the plants are loving the sunshine that's finally arrived.

Out in my Shadehouse Garden my oldest Begonia is flowering.  I'm not sure what the varietal name for this one is ... it has rather furry edged leaves with tiny pink flowers that stand tall above the foliage.  Right now it's in full bloom.

Out in my Courtyard Garden some of the annuals are blooming beautifully.  I have lots of fabulous Snapdragons in all sorts of colours ... they're fast becoming one of my favourite annuals as they cause me the least amount of worry.  I'm having such trouble with Verbenas, Pansies and Sweet Peas becoming covered in some sort of white mouldy stuff which I just can't get rid of ... probably to do with the number of dreary overcast days we've had for weeks now.  But these marvellous Snapdragons just grow and bloom without any fuss!

The potted Salvias are another gorgeous bloomer that just keep on flourishing and providing such wonderful colours in the courtyard.

Another lovely little bloomer that's adding great orange and yellow to a different part of the Courtyard Garden is the Pansy called 'Oranges and Lemons'.  Such a bright cheery sight!

 In an outdoor garden bed my lovely new Iresine herbstii  'Blazin Rose' is showing its first blooms ...

 ... and the Osteospurmum are beginning to bloom once more.

Don't forget to pop over to:

Flaunt Your Flowers

Skywatch Friday

Mosaic Monday ... Hot, Loud and Proud!!

Today I'm joining in both Mary's Mosaic Monday meme and Noels' Hot, Loud and Proud meme.  Actually I'm a day early for the first and a day late for the other ... I'm blaming this horrible hot Winter weather!!!  In what realm of fantasy can a 28 deg C day be called a Winter's day????  I think this is the warmest and the most overcast and dreariest Winter on record here in my patch of Oz.

Anyway .... right now there's lots of great colour around my garden, especially out in my Courtyard Garden.   Out there are the hot colours of the Bracteantha breacteatas  ...

In an outdoor garden bed there's the loud bracts of my Euphorbia pulcherrima ....

.... and in my Shadehouse Garden there's magnificent foliage of these proud Rexs!