The Twelve Days Of Christmas ... The Second Day.

Continuing my 'Twelve Days Of Christmas' series showing some of the sights around my place this year ...

 

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me

two Dragonflies ...

The Twelve Days Of Christmas ... The First Day.

I thought of a great way to use many of the photos I've been taking of the sights around my place throughout this year  ... a 'Twelve Days Of Christmas'  photo series.  Now I know that the twelve days don't really begin until Christmas Day, but I'll be away from from computer and the internet for the period between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day ... so I thought I would begin this series today and then post a photo per day until Christmas.

So here's the very first photo for my north-east Australian version of  'The Twelve Days Of Christmas'.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me ....

a Coucal in a Gum Tree.

Feel free to join in and post some of your own photos!

I'm joining Our World Tuesday with this post today.

Mosaic Monday ... The Colours Of Christmas.

Now I know for some the idea of Christmas during Summer seems quite wrong.  I'm thinking, of course, of our fellow northern hemispherian gardeners.  Here in the tropics though, we know no different.  No snow, no chilly weather and no fires crackling.  There's most certianly none of that.  Instead, we're making mince pies while we bake in 36 deg C heat, and wrapping presents while the scorching sun blazes in the sky outside.  There's definitely no white Christmas here.

Those differences aside, we do however share common Christmas colours.  The red, the green and the gold.  Of course, we don't just see those colours inside our houses.  They are not only present on the Christmas decorations, these colours are present in our gardens and surround through our Summer and Christmas.

While red might evoke visions of blazing flames and Santa's suit for most ... for us the sight of the red Poinciana blooms means Christmas as well!!!

While green is the colour of the mistletoe that hangs from the door frame in many homes, we see green in the Caladium leaves that have risen from their dormancy.

While gold is the colour of the Christmas star, we see golden yellow flowers on the Cassia fistula trees that are blooming in almost every yard and on almost every sidewalk at this time of year..

While red might evoke visions of red holly berries, we are greeted with the sight of the red flower spikes on the Callistemon shrubs that are still in bloom during summer.

While green is the colour of the Christmas trees brought into houses all over the world, we see green all around us as we gaze upon the leaves of the many Gum trees growing in the bushland that surrounds us.

 While gold is the colour of Christmas tinsel,  there's bright golden yellow blooms on the Allamanda vines growing in our garden beds or climbing over our fences.

Now I don't want to leave out my favourite colour ... white!  Of course, while the ground here is not covered in layers of white snow and there are no pretty white snowflakes falling from the heavens, there's lots of white flowers on show all throughout the festive season.

So enjoy your Christmas wherever you may be in the world.  Whether you're rugged up and snoozing in front of a fire ... or sitting around in shorts and t-shirt under a shady tree on a beach ... Here's to a happy festive season!

For loads of fantastic Mosaic Monday posts, go and visit Mary at  Mosaic Monday.

Flower Flaunt On This Early Summer's Friday.

December is early Summer here and there's blue sky as far as the eye can see.   Nothing surprising there!

But what a lovely surprise I found this morning when I ventured out to trim back the rather unruly Salvia madrensis.

Yes, out I went, braving the scorching heat and sultry conditions on this early summer's morning, in order to do some much needed trimming back and this is what I found after beating the Salvia into submission.

Isn't it beautiful?  I vaguely remember planting a couple of things around the Salvia last year, but had promptly forgotten all about them.  The Salvia has really been a tour-de-force in this little area of the tiered garden bed and I just hadn't taken much notice of the other plants around it.

Now I'm not sure, but I think it's a Hemerocalis.  What do you think?  Whatever it is, I just adore the double blooms of this beauty.

Another surprise waiting for me this morning as I strolled around the place, was the sight of the first racemes on the Cassia fistula or Golden Shower Tree growing beside the hill driveway.  I was despairing of seeing it bloom at all this year, as all the other Cassias in the neighbourhood have been in full bloom for weeks now, but my poor specimen was still in dry season mode with almost no leaves and definitely no flowers.

But, here they are at last ... and there are more buds to open in the coming weeks.

The white Mussaenda, Mussaenda philippica 'Aurore', also growing beside the hill driveway, has recovered from its trim back and has thrown out the first white bracts and orange star-shaped flowers.

The Duranta repens growing in the garden bed at the back of the courtyard garden is blooming for the first time.

The potted Duranta repens 'Geisha Girl' out in the courtyard garden is also blooming.

I have several Murraya paniculatas growing around the place.  There's a huge one growing beside the hill driveway, one in a pot out on the courtyard and two growing in the downstairs Pentas garden bed.  All are flowering at the moment and they have the most heavenly sweet fragrance.

The potted Cleome spinosa 'Senorita Rosalita' out in the courtyard also has a fragrance, but it's not so sweet.   It's quite hard to describe really ... more like uumm ... insect repellent!  Well, fragrance aside, this plant has been flowering non-stop for months now and the sight of those spider flowers always cheers me up.  I just love the lilac purple.

I also love white flowers in the garden and out in the courtyard there are blooms on both the

Tabernaemontana corymbosa 'Sweet Love'

and the Wrightia antidysenterica 'Arctic Snow'.

"Arctic Snow?  Where?" said the Pheasant Coucal to the human.

"What snow?' asked the Kookaburra, intrigued!

"Oh, she's just plain nuts1" replied the Sunbird.

"Yeah, nutty as that fruit cake in the pantry!"  agreed the Pale-headed Rosella.


OK, it may be December, but the snow is a long, long way away from here.  Today we're sweltering in 36 deg C (96 F) heat and the humidity is nothing short of awesome ... up over 70% today!  There's been no sign of any more rain after the delightful falls we received over the past weekend. 

I'm dreaming of jetting off to some far off spot where my extremities might become as blue as the sky outside.  I swear I can see a big jumbo jet in that cloud formation out there ... enticing me with thoughts of frost on the grass and icicles on the windows!

"Come on, snap out of it woman!  Let's get back to flaunting some flowers, OK?"

Whoops ... let's see ...

... oh yes, the Gomphrenas are putting on a fabulous display.

There's another gorgeous Dahlia showing its face ...

... and the Zinnia 'Mambo Pinks' are strutting their stuff.

The wonderfully perfumed Plumeria rubra flowers are a welcome sight ...

... and Hemerocallis 'Shocking' can't be ignored!

I'm joining Skywatch Friday today.

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

Floral Friday Fotos,

Tina's Weekend Flowers On Friday

and Ewa's Flowers On Saturday

and Today's Flowers.