Tuesday 1 September 2009

Winter "adieu";

Lagerstroemia speciosa (Giant Crape-myrtle, Queen's Crape-myrtle, Banabá Plant, or Pride of India[1]) is a species of Lagerstroemia native to tropical southern Asia.

End of winter this tree puts on a brilliant show with its colourful leaves before they fall to make place for the spectacular flowers that follow.



Poinsettias have sparkled all winter long and are slowly on their way out;

We are eating lots of lettuce; when the days turn hot they will turn to towers;


The sun is already warm enough to dry more herbs and Celery leaves which have grown over winter.
Bougainvilleas are starting to flower;


The seed of a birds nest fern has found lodgings in a orchid pot. These seeds are borne by the wind to the most awkward places.

The seed of a Begonia has used the same orchid pot;


Some of the Bromeliads are flowering at the end of winter;


Ardisia is still holding on to its scarlet berries;


Jacarandas turn to gold end of winter before loosing their leaves. To be crowned in October with the most delightful purple bells.



Believe it or not: Louis the XIV (1638-1715) was very fixated on a good nights sleep. He furnished his palace of Versailles with as many as 400 beds. Each one was lavishly carved and gilded and hung with beautiful tapestries.

17 comments:

Angie said...

It must be warmer than it is in the west for all those beut flowers & lettuce, WOW!

Sunita Mohan said...

I'm beginning to feel a little cheated! My Pride of India tree doesn't turn all red and fiery like that. I wonder why?
That Ardisia looks really pretty.

murgelchen said...

Hallo Titania,
da bin ich schon. Die Poinsettias
gibt es bei uns nur im Topf und zu Weihnachten.
Deine Pflanzen sind sehr imponierend.
Liebe Grüße,
Helga

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Oh, how beautiful! And how funny: you are saying adieu to the winter, and we will say hello to it pretty soon!

sweetbay said...

Your Pride of India Tree looks magnificent! As do your poinsettias.

Barbara said...

Du kannst dem Winter adieu sagen und wir heissen jetzt den Herbst willkommen. Letzteres trifft für mich wirklich zu, denn dann kommt hoffentlich bald die Zeit mit etwas weniger intensiven Gartenarbeit ;-) !! Heute haben wir aber noch 30°C und es ist ein wunderbarer Tag.
Einen solchen wünsche ich dir auch und grüsse herzlich,
Barbara

Pia K said...

and here it's sigh and goodbye to summer... it has been a very pleasant, mild first day of autumn though, i hope for many more still!

your garden is of course much more than splendid as usual, titania!

Prospero said...

Hi Titania, your Poinsettias are gorgeous. DO you have them in pots or out in the gardens?

Mine are in the gardens, but they get a beating from our winter gales (your winter ends - mine begins).

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Angie; it probably depends on the area. We already had some hot days but now it has cooled down again; I am glad about that, still got lots of work in the garden!

Sunita; it might be that we get colder winters than you do. This year it is really beautifully glowing but it does not last long.

Danke; Murgelchen.

Tatyana; it is all about getting used to.

Thank you sweetbay.

Barbara; wenn das so weitergeht kannst du bald Bananen pflanzen . Ich weiss was du meinst, ein bisschen ausspannen ist gut. Hier gibt der Garten einfach nie Ruh' manchmal muss man die Augen zumachen, nichts hoeren und nichts sehen!

Thank you Pia and I wish you a mellow, beautiful autumn.

Prospero, the Poinsettias grow in the garden not in pots. I usually cut them back before summer. We are well protected, living in the hills, and do not get lots of wind or gales. I know what you mean have
experienced cold gales.

Alice said...

It's so interesting to see all the flowers you have at the moment and how differently plants behave from the tropics to the colder areas of Australia.

Lovely photos, Titania.

Fuchsienrot said...

Hallo Titania,
du kannst den Winter nun verabschieden und hier steht er uns bald bevor. Aber vorher freuen wir uns auf einen hoffentlich milden, goldenen Herbst. Die heißen Sommertemperaturen sind wohl vorbei, gestern abend hat der herbeigesehnte Regen auch kühlere Temperaturen mitgebracht.
Ich bin immer wieder erstaunt, was bei euch für tolle Pflanzen wachsen, die wir hier allenfalls als Zimmerpflanzen kennen - wunderschön sind sie.
Kürzlich las ich in der Zeitung, dass euer diesjähriger Winter einer der wärmsten seit Beginn der Aufzeichnungen sei.
LG
Angelika

Stephanie said...

Oh those poinsettias are beautiful! We can get those here but it will never last in my garden. Maybe it is too hot here for the plant to grow nicely. I love the bougainvillea you have here. The colour is unusual for me. Happy gardening Tatania! Enjoy your wonderful and gorgeous garden!

Janie said...

You live in a great place to have so many flowers blooming in winter.
Great photos of leaf and flower color that you're enjoying even before the spring!

Katarina said...

So Spring is approaching in your part of the world - lucky you! And lucky us in the north - we too can enjoy your spring throuhg the internet!
Katarina

MedaM said...

Thanks for this beautiful and colourful post. Poinsettias flowers are really gorgeous as well as its color. I also love those scarlet barriers. They look so beautiful and decorative. And, what a beautiful lettuce you have! I love it too. I use to say that I don’t eat it but graze it.:-))

Lillebeth said...

How different from my place in Sweden. Here is fall/autumn and soon winther with lots of snow. Have a nice summer!

easygardener said...

Your Poinsettia puts our Christmas house plant versions in their place. Nice to see them growing as they do in nature.
As always your blog fascinates me - viewing the seasons via a six month time shift (if you see what I mean!)