Mosaic Monday ... Roses, Roses, Roses.

I've been so fortunate to play a part in caring for the Roses in our school Rose garden, and this year has been a particularly great year for them.  They have been putting on the most fabulous display, and I've been bringing home beautiful big bunches of Roses to brighten up the house.

I just had to share the Rose bouquets I've enjoyed just in the last couple of weeks.

The colours and the perfumes are absolutely stunning.

I'm joining Mary for Mosaic Monday

Friday Flower Flaunt ... On This Mid-Spring Friday

There are some lovely signs of Spring in a few spots in my garden, but I haven't shared any posts about it lately.  I've been away from the blogging world for a couple of weeks now.  The end of last term was a very busy time for me.  Then I went away for the first week of our school holidays to enjoy the company of my family down south.  When I returned home though, I found that the internet connection was down and the telecom company won't be coming to look at it until next week.  BOO, HISS!!! 

Anyway, as I had to pop into school to do some preparation work for the new term that starts next week, I thought I'd make the effort to post at long last.

Fingers crossed our internet at home will be up and running early next week, as I starting to suffer serious virtual world withdrawal symptoms. 







O.K. moving on ... let's see what's blooming around my place on this first Friday of our mid-Spring month.  The Spring colour can mostly be found out in my courtyard garden.

I'm really loving this stunning L.A. Lilium 'Eye Liner' with its white petals decorated with maroon dots and edged with a thin black border.  I simply have to work out how to keep the seeds of this beauty.  I've never had a go at keeping the Lily seeds before, so I will be embarking on a new journey of discovery and learning.

This beauty is one of the Oriental Lilium 'Sumo' range, but I'm not sure of the particular varietal name.  These huge blooms have a wonderful perfume.

The scent of these Oriental Lilium blooms is filling my little courtyard garden at the moment, and I'm really enjoying my mid-morning cuppa out there each day, as my break from school is coming to an end very soon.

The Angelonia angustifolias and Torenia 'Violet Magic' are still on show.

There's a little bit of a cottage-garden look happening out in one corner of the courtyard. The combination of Salvia farinaceas, Angelonia angustifolias, Torenia and Impatiens hawkeri looks simply gorgeous at the moment.  It's a real touch of Spring in the rather dreary 'dry season'

This is why I so love my little courtyard paradise.

The showy double white Petunias have come back beautifully from their drastic cut-back.  I never tire of these big frilly blooms.

Elsewhere in the courtyard, there are flower sprays on the Pelargonium peltatum and the cheery faces of the Osteospermum are out once again.

I'm joining Tootsie for  Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers

Mosaic Monday ... The Extension Is Finished.

A pair of Nectarinia jugularis or Yellow-Breasted Sunbirds (also known as Olive-backed Sunbirds) have been busy building a nest underneath the pergola out in my courtyard.

They have chosen a spot right over the stairway leading down under the pergola to the courtyard garden.  Can you spot it hanging like a chandelier from the cross-beam of the pergola?

It's mainly been the female building the nest, but I have seen the male flying in and out as well.  I'm assuming he's helping, although perhaps he's just checking that everything is to his satisfaction.  Anyway, they have been using all sorts of materials, like feathers, pieces of paper, pieces of bark, grasses and leaves, to create the spindle-shaped nest hanging off a Petrea volubilis vine.

Sunbird nests are quite distinctive.  They're long and pendulous, with a long trail of material hanging from the bottom.  But what's more fascinating to me, is the little extension added onto the entrance.  A little hood is attached over the entry and it's rather like a little porch roof to me.

Here are the before and after shots.

Before the porch roof ...

... and after.  It seems they've also added a lovely soft, fluffy 'welcome' mat!


I'm joining Mary for Mosaic Monday

Friday Flower Flaunt ... On This First Friday of Spring.

Springtime here in Oz can mean the beginning of the Wattle Season ... but that's mostly in the southern states.  There are no Acacia or Wattle blooms to be seen in the bushland around my place at this time of year.  Here in my north-eastern corner of Oz, at the beginning of Spring, it's time for some Eucalypt blooms. 

There have been blooms on the two Corymbia torellianas or Cadaghi Gums for a few weeks now, and they will continue to flower for several more weeks yet. 

The Eucalyptus platyphyllas or Poplar Gums, out in the bush and on my property, have now joined the wonderful Eucalypt display as well.  The small clusters of white flowers are quite lovely.

I planted some Cosmos sulphureus in a patch beside our long driveway, and they have re-seeded this year.  Some of the tiny little seedlings have already started blooming.  They seem very keen to remind me just how cheery their flowers are!!!

The dwarf variegated Bougainvillea that grows next to the pergola has thrown out its first coloured bracts for the year.  It will now bloom for many months after its wintertime snooze.

There's some lovely colour at the far end of the courtyard, next to the pergola. 

I couldn't do without all my container plants out on the courtyard.  Those lovely flowers really brighten my day.

I'm still waiting patiently for my Lilies to begin their display.  Waiting ... waiting ... !!!!

Just a little diversion from blooms for the moment ... a pair of Sunbirds have been building their magnificent home out under the pergola in the courtyard.  I've spent many an hour or so watching them build their long spindle-shaped nest. 

It looks like they've used bits of bark, paper, feathers, grasses, leaves and spiders' webs.  Usually these Sunbird nests have a little roof structure that sits over the entrance, but this particular nest doesn't have one yet.  Maybe that will come soon.

To finish off today, I'm just going to add a little collage of the usuals that are seen blooming out on my courtyard at this time of year.

I'm joining Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers

and Nix for Floral Friday Fotos

I'm also joining Tina for Weekend Flowers

and Today's Flowers