Thursday 12 June 2008

THIS IS WINTER...in my garden



Pyrostegia venusta climbing up a tree. Its glowing orange flowers light up the winter garden. (Pyro=fire)



The lovely flowers of a scented Geranium which come into their own over winter. I love this colour, I will make cuttings of this one.



Dianthus planted into containers in spring go to sleep over the hot summer, are pruned and then flower on from autumn into winter. From time to time they are replaced with new plants. If I have time I make cuttings otherwise I buy them as seedlings in punnets.



Ice Bear


The beautiful but temperamental Hana Fuki


Drama girl is an actress of excellence, she performs well from early autumn into spring.


Some of my Camellias, they add colour to the garden through winter.





Agave attenuate is a bold looking plant, after about 10 years this plant bears a foxtail crowned with white umbels. If you never look at a flower you will turn your head for this one.


Agave attenuata is a species of agave sometimes known as the "lion's tail", "swan's neck", or "foxtail" for its development of a curved stem, unusual among agaves. Native to the plateau of central Mexico, as one of the unarmed agaves, it is popular as an ornamental plant in gardens.
The stems typically range from 50-150 cm in length, and eventually old leaves fall off, leaving them naked and visible. The leaves are ovate-accuminate, 50-70 cm long and 12-16 cm, pale in color, ranging from a light gray to a light yellowish green. There are no teeth, nor terminal spines, although the leaves taper to points that fray with age. The inflorescence is a dense raceme 2.5 to 3 meters high, with greenish-yellow flowers.



The flowers of this Begonia have finished but the leaves are attractive and provide interest through winter.

Ivy Geraniums come into their own over winter with non stop flowering and glossy leaves. In summer they struggle with the heat and humidity. This was just a cutting a few weeks ago.

A Laelia orchid has decided that winter is the time it likes best.




Schlumbergera also kown as Zygocactus are epiphytes growing on tree branches. They show their exotic flowers in winter.




Cordylines are attractive all year round winter doesn't make a difference to them.


The small Zinnias seed where ever they think it is convenient even between paving stones.



Winter is the time to plant roses.


Pink Euphorbia milii flowers well into winter.





Melaleucas flower profusely in winter providing food for birds, small mammals, bats and insects.




Anthurium grows in many forms, mostly evergreen, bushy or climbing epiphytes with roots that often hang from the canopy all the way to the floor of the rain forest. There are also many terrestrial forms as well as hemiepiphytic forms. A hemiepiphyte is a plant capable of beginning life as a seed and sending roots to the soil, or beginning as a terrestrial plant that climbs a tree and then sends roots back to the soil. They occur also as lithophytes. Some are only found in association with arboreal ant colonies or growing on rocks in midstream (such as A. amnicola).






Believe it or not:

1768-1786 were the years of enlightenment with its belief that the application of reason and good sense could solve all the problems of mankind!


Organic tip of the week:

Use egg cartons to grow seedlings, from seed. When the seedlings are ready to plant, simply cut the egg carton and plant the seedlings with the carton, without disturbing the root system. The carton eventually breaks down and creates mulch for your new plant!













Pictures T.S. from my garden.

Blog Copyright T.S. Yesterdaytodayandtomorrow in my garden.

5 comments:

Barbara said...

Also ich beneide dich, liebe Trudi! Du sprichst bzw. schreibst von Winter und was zeigst du uns? Viele wunderschöne bunte Blumen. Sogar die Dianthus blühen bei dir im Winter, wo sie bei uns jetzt im Frühsommer gerade damit begonnen haben. Ob ich mir wohl doch langsam überlegen sollte nach Australien auszuwandern?? Wir haben die Schafskälte hier, viel Regen und der Garten sieht eher etwas traurig aus im Moment. Ja Winter in Australien muss schon etwas Besonderes sein...Uebrigens, die Eierschachteln benutze ich seit Jahren auch als Aussaatschalen. Da ich die Eier bei einer Bauernfrau beziehe, kann ich die restlichen Schachteln immer wieder zurückgeben.
Herzlichen Gruss und ein erholsames Wochenende,
Barbara

Jane O' said...

It's difficult for us to imagine it can be winter in June. It doesn't fit with our mind set. Your garden is lovely with lots flowers whaich are unfamiliar to me. I enjoy learning about them.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Barbara ich danke dir fuer dein Komentar. Ja, der Winter ist "pretty good" hier.Die Jahreszeiten sind halt nicht so ausgepraegt. Der Fruehling ist sehr kurz es wird immer gleich heiss. Der Herbst ist besser es geht langsamer in den Winter. Der Nachteil ist die Tage sind sehr kurz. Der Winter dauert nur drei Monate vom 1.Juni bis am
1.September.
Ich wollte dir noch sagen der Trick mit dem clay cat litter works well for cuttings. Ich wuensche dir sonnige, warme Tage...rain, rain go away come again an other day!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Jane Marie, thank you for visiting and your message. Yes I think It must sound funny to have Winter in June. Just wait until we are decorating the christmas tree in the middle of summer!

Anonymous said...

Hi Titania. I've tagged you on my blog. I'll leave it up to you whether you wish to tag anyone else.No pressure :-)