Changes ... The Year In Photographs ... March 11, 2013

Look what I've spotted on an Oleander leaf.  I haven't seen a chrysalis for years and years.

I'm as excited as a small child!  I'm also remembering the many, many chrysalises I saw as a child in amongst the stand of Oleanders that used to grow on the footpath outside my childhood home.  They were wondrous sights to me then ... and now!

I'm so hoping that it's the chrysalis of the Common Crow or Oleander Butterfly, as I bought a couple of Oleanders for the sole purpose of attracting these butterflies.

The problem is that I understood the Common Crow chrysalis to be silver-coloured, and this doesn't look all that silver to me!

The caterpillar I saw on munching on the leaves last week sure did look like the larvae of the Common Crow Butterfly though.  So I'm waiting patiently now, hoping that I get to see the butterfly that emerges from this brilliant chrysalis.

Flower Flaunt Friday ... On This First Day of Autumn

We're greeting the first day of another month and March is officially the start of Autumn Downunder.  Here in my north-eastern corner of Oz though, the leaves don't start changing colour and there's no noticeable change in conditions.  It's still sunny, hot and humid.  We've had the occasional overcast showery day over the last couple of weeks of February, as the Summer drew to a close.

Overall though, the Summer of 2012-2013 has been rather dry.  We've had less than half of our average summertime rainfall, with the months of December and February being particularly drier than usual.  We haven't seen days and days and days of heavy monsoonal downpours this wet season.  Of course, the rain that has been falling has been greatly appreciated by the garden.

So, onto what's blooming on this first Friday and first day of our Autumn.

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum'

Turnera subulata and Russelia juncea.

Polygala.

Hibiscus schizopetalus.

Mussaenda glabra.

Duranta repens.

Mussaenda philippica 'Aurore'.

Clerodendrum ugandense.

Justicia carnea.

Phyllanthus myrtifolius.


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

 

Nix for Floral Friday Fotos 

Tina for Weekend Flowers

and Today's Flowers 

Waterfalls ... The Year In Photographs ... February 26, 2013

The wonderful Phyllanthus myrtifolius or Waterfall Plant is blooming again.

The lovely pendulous red blooms make a great display.

Friday Flower Flaunt ... As Our Summertime Starts Coming To An End.

I'm doing the countdown now, as our summer months are about to officially finish.  There's  now only one more week of summer to go ... but of course the summertime temps and humidity levels will continue for a little while yet.  Still, my favourite time of the gardening year is just around the corner and almost in sight now.   If only we could get a little more rain.  We've really only had around half of our average summer rain this summer as we haven't had much of a wet season at all.

At the moment the fabulous summer-blooming Queen's Myrtle, Lagerstroemia speciosa, is in all her glory.

The Mussaenda philippica 'Bangkok Rose' almost pale into insignificance against the backdrop of the Queen's Myrtle.

The fabulous lavender purple of the Queen Myrtle flowers really stands out in the soft glow of the early evening.

Costus productus continues its year-round show.

There are more and more pure white blooms appearing on the climbing vines of the Jasminum.  I really love the pink buds.

The Portulaca always cheers me up with their lovely colours.

The fabulous purple Water Lily is a delight.

My Brassocattleya hybrid continues to put on a very pretty display.

There are more pink blooms appearing on the dwarf Azalea shrub in the front garden bed.

There are several Ixoras in bloom around the place, including this gorgeous lemon yellow variety.

My favourite Pentas is showing off.

There are buds appearing once more on my Aeschynanthus lobbianus or Lipstick Plant,

and my pretty Callistemon 'Pink Champagne' has begun another blooming cycle.

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

 

and Nix for Floral Friday Fotos 

I'm also joining Today's Flowers