A Flower Flaunt ... as our mid-Spring month draws to a close

Yes, the end of our Springtime is approaching.  Just one more month left, officially, but the conditions are remarkably summery.  The humidity levels are rising once more, and it's starting to feel a little warmer and stickier.

Whilst we have had a couple of very light showers of rain in the past week, it's been of negligible benefit to the garden.  The raindrops barely penetrated the ground here, but it was delightful listening to the drumming of raindrops on the corrugated iron roof at night-time.

The landscape around our property is still looking dry and parched, as would be expected towards the end of a long dry season,

and the Agile Wallabies are searching for signs of new green growth wherever they can find some.  In this case, they've found some new growth where the grey-water pipe has sprung a leak and has been watering a patch in the side yard.

There are a few lovely blooms around the place, so let's see what can be found.

If you look to the sky outside my husband's workshop, you will see there are still quite a few flowers hanging on the branches of a couple of very tall Tabebuia heterophyllas.

The flowers adorn most of the bare almost leafless branches of the tree,

but they're so high up in many places that it's hard to get a close look in order to appreciate their delicate beauty. 

The very first blooms are appearing on my Delonix regias.  It's interesting to note the differences between the three trees though.   On the two that grow at the front gate area, most of the seed pods have fallen to the ground, and the bare branches are covered in flower buds, but there is little leaf growth.

It's the flowers that are taking centre stage on those two trees at the moment.

In the case of my other Delonix regia which grows near our car shed area however, the branches are covered in new lacy leaf growth as well as flower buds.  Mother Nature always amazes me!

Elsewhere,

Turnera subulata and Russelia juncea make a great pair.

There are some little perfumed flowers appearing on my dwarf  Murraya.

Salvia madrensis, 

and Salvia leucantha 'White Velour' are both beginning another blooming cycle.

My favourites at the moment though are definitely the double blooms that have appeared for the first time on one of my Nerium Oleanders,

and the rich cerise blooms on two of my Adenium obesums or Desert Roses.  The two young Adeniums that are planted out in the tiered garden beds have been grown from seed sent to me by a fellow north Queenslander blogger (thanks Pitta!) and the flowers are just gorgeous.  I'm so looking forward to seeing all the other little Adenium seedlings planted up and flourishing in one section of my new garden beds.  They will make a spectacular display when they're all blooming at once.


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

Nix for Floral Friday Fotos

and Today's Flowers

It's Another Flower Flaunt Friday ... On Another Mid-Spring Friday.

It has been a quite toasty warm Springtime for us so far, so it looks like a very hot, very long summer is on the way.  Of course that means the rains should be just around the corner now, and not far off ... maybe another month or so to go.  The garden will be oh so grateful when decent rain soaks the ground.

At the moment, it's Lily time with some of my Asiatic and Oriental Lilies in bloom.

I can't list the names of these beauties as they came in a mixed pack.

One of my new Hemerocallis really caught my eye this week.  It was a bonus bulb thrown in with my order because the nursery couldn't supply one particular variety that I wanted.  I've never been interested in ordering a spider Daylily before, but I can see that this one might change my mind.

This bulb arrived without a label, but I think it's Hemerocallis 'World Class Oddity'.  Such a fabulous name!

The Brunfelsia, or Yesterday, Today, Tommorrow shrub, is putting on a great show at the moment, and the perfume is simply divine.

My Indian Rope Hoya blooms have finally opened.  You can see why one of the common names for these plants is Porcelain Flower.  They look like they're made of fine porcelain or fondant icing.

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

Today's Flowers

and Nix for Floral Friday Fotos

It's Flower Flaunt Time ... On This Mid-Spring Friday.

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.

My new Hemerocallis 'Taken By Storm' has started blooming for the first time.  It's growing in a pot out in the courtyard right now, but I'm also planning on adding this to the new garden beds as well ... when they're finally finished.

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

and Today's Flowers