October, our mid-Spring month, has been hot and humid so far, and feels more like summertime. Considering how warm our tropical winter was this year, it does seem like there's a trend towards more warmer conditions all year round.
We're in the depths of our dry season, with not a drop of rain falling since mid-May. Everything in the garden is pretty much in 'slow-go mode', as is usual for this time of the year. Many of the trees and shrubs are looking a little bare as they've dropped much of their leaf load to cope with the dry conditions.
The flashes of colour that you would notice at the moment would include the gorgeous purple flowers of my Petrea volubilis, or Sandpaper Vine.
It's climbed up through the native Sterculia quadrifida tree out in my courtyard, and has spread out across the canopy. It's wonderful to see the bare-branched Sterculia brightened up by the gorgeous purple Petrea flowers. It's difficult to get close-up shots of the flowers though.
Each Petrea flower has 5 petals and 5 sepals. The petals drop to the ground after a day or two. They float down like a whirling propeller, thus one common name for the blooms is Propeller Flowers. The sepals remain on the vine for a couple of weeks.
At the moment, the steps down under the pergola are covered in little purple stars.
The entrance to the pergola sits under the shady branches of two rather large Corymbia torellianas or Cadaghi Gum Trees. Both are covered in creamy-white blooms at the moment and there's a delicate honey-like perfume in the air, emanating from the clusters of flowers.
There are flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets coming in every morning and evening to feast on the blooms, and the concrete driveway under the two trees is always scattered with little pieces of tree branch and clusters of flowers as these birds gorge themselves and make a complete mess.
Under the Cadaghis, in amongst the Giant Sword Fern, this poor half-strangled Brunfelsia has just begun blooming.
The flowers start off as this dark purple, but then change to mauve and white as they age. That's always a pretty sight.
One of my pass-along Hippeastrums is flowering for the first time. I've never grown these before and I'm looking forward to adding them to a section of my new garden beds.
I purchased a new Salvia from Tesselaar earlier this year, and it's now begun its springtime flowering display. This is Salvia azurea or Blue Pitcher Sage. I'm loving the delicate sky blue flowers of this Salvia. I can see this would pair well with the Black and Blue Salvia. Hmm, another planting choice for a corner of one of the new garden beds!
Elsewhere, the old, old, double red Gerbera plant is blooming,
and so is the scrambling old red Bougainvillea.
The dwarf pink Euphorbia pulcherrima is finishing its blooming cycle,
whilst the pot of mixed Asiatic and Oriental Liliums are just beginning to show off their fabulous flowers. I only have one pot of Lilies this year, but I know they will satisfy my Lily cravings for the spring.
Potted Nasturtiums are flowering in the courtyard,
as are the potted Violas.
Out in the shadehouse garden, the first ever blooms are appearing on my Indian Rope Hoya. I can't wait for the flowers to finally open. They're almost there!
The flower sprays have started appearing on the Stromanthe in the shadehouse garden as well. I adore the colour of these blooms.
I'm joining Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday / Flaunt Your Flowers
