Flowering in Australia *October 2009*

G'Day All, I found DG about a year ago while searching for info on IDing and grafting cacti. I subscribed on Nov.7 and I've more than been repaid my membership fee for info received and just the fun of "talking" to people with like interests and of course the fun of being associated with Villains who want to pinch a poor fellows table and chairs.
That was a bit long winded, but here is what I was getting at.
This "Peanut" cactus is grafted on the top of an Echinopsis spachiana and if it can hang on should form a weeping version of the little "Peanut" now Echinopsis chamaecereus.
Brian

Awe brian what a nice thing to say ...likewise! nothing like shared experiences is there?
Don't you love purple judy? love it :)
beautiful cactus!
Congo parrot with tango supreme boge backdrop ...

Brian, I do hope you weren't referring to a couple of we ingenious ladies who only wanted to give the poor orphan furniture a good home. Ha ha.
How's this for bright color. My tulips have been in the groung for a couple of years and decided to be beautiful this year and flower. This is the last one to open.
Jean.

Ha, no wonder they didn't flower before, being in the groung. This time I will put them in the ground.
Love this rose. It is an oldie and I never remember it's name. Very large flower and a bit of a climber as long as it's not too high. I guess it gets vertigo too far from the ground. The perfume is heavenly.

Sorry Jean I didn't realise that it was orphaned.
Brian

Is that Sutter's Gold? the rose I mean.

At last a picture showing the dark red next to the tomato red/orange
dark red left and tomato red/orange to the right.

Brian, I don't think Steve knows they are orphans needing a new home. ha ha.
Chrissy, that rose isn't Sutters Gold. It opens much bigger than the pic shows too. look at what is going on inmy garden. I have 2 Dyckias with these large bud looking thingys that I assume are going to be flowers. I have never seen one flower before. I can't wait.

Solanum wendlandii!

Thank you Judy.

A beautiful plant. Sr. Anne gave me a piece to grow some years back. It came with a cutting from that indigo coloured Iochroma we have...

What a great climber that Solanum is!

:) ):

Beautiful mauve flowers.

How do you manage it Judy?

How big does it grow for you?

Asclepius...
Great butterfly food!

Mackaya bella.

David Austin's 'Heritage'.

More poppies

Brugmansia 'Equador Pink'

Drimiopsis.

Your garden must be an absolute' picture' Wayne...such beautiful images!!

Surprise! And hello everyone! I just stumbled onto this gorgeous thread and to my happy surprise, so many of my Australian friends are here posting beautiful shots of their lovely flowers! What a treat to see so many of your blooms!
Wayne - I have Apple Blossom here in Florida and it is a real favorite of mine too! It has been buried under weeds for the last 6 months, so I hope it will bloom this winter. I also have a bright red hippie that I will have to move into more sunlight. Brian - that furry eucalyptus flower is amazing! I didn't even know that eucalyptus flower!
Mya - that Black Fire desert rose is also spectacular. I have a pink/white one and I love them! My neighbor has successfully grown some from seed pods on another of her plants, and I'm excited to go see her babies.
Oh, I wish I could keep going with comments about everyone's plants that are so pretty, but I have to sign off now. I'll be back.......I'm so excited to see that you all grow so many of the plants we have in Florida, and also so many I've never heard of! Bye for now!
Louise

I think it must be a show piece ...you should make your own garden calender.

When I was first here at daves garden I mostly spoke to our American friends at first and was astounded to find that in California, LA and Texas the gardens are filled with our Australian plants and gum trees, never stopped to think that our gardens are filled with International blooms too!

Yep, similar climate thus similar growing conditions therefore similar plants!

That's a pretty oleander, Judy. Surely not scented?? Any chance of a pic of the whole plant, so see how it looks overall?

Yes cestrum it is SCENTED lol! Is still only a small potted plant,but judging by it's growth rate and multiple flowering heads coming on, I would think it could grow into a very similar bush to the old Double white...the scent appears to be the same too...strong vanilla. I just may attempt to grow this as a standard...

Glad you finally tracked down or grew a yellow one, I remember how much you wanted it, lovely! ...you mentioned thrips earlier, always a problem with pale colours, white and yellow being their favourite, here we have no thrips unless it is hot and dry ...I am seeing some in the last couple of days but we are experiencing some decent rain right now whew! they reckon we will have an "event" today/tonight ...a new word for storm?
Ok I look at everyone's beautiful ordered gardens and here is my own private enclosed jungle from the second balcony upstairs ...my "tropical area" enclosed by a fence and near the home.The giant white strelizia has taken a beating from the winds and frosts and needs to be trimmed but on the whole it does the job of protecting the inner garden from the Southerlies (winds). So this is wild and wonderful!

What is its name, Judy? I remember your saying that there are scented oleanders but I swear I have yet to come across one, and the mind boggles at a vanilla-scented one LOL

nothing ordered about it but I can pretend it really is a jungle and in the high heat of summer and providing I have mozzy protectant on I can be "lost" under a cool green canopy of boges and roses.I can walk along under that shower of blooms ...it's lovely.

My double white has a Johnson's baby talc fragrance cestrum ...not strong but pretty.Mine is called Madonna.
I hope you get some rain there too everyone.

Double white, Chrissy? I swear that's purple ... and single LOL
I love both types of gardens--the ordered and the joyously exuberant!

Your 'jungle' is looking beautiful chrissy.

cestrum, A lot aren't fragrant but some are and these are the ones I have found to be :The old Dle white 'Grandiflora',Dle Rosey pink 'Splendens' and the Sgl Rosey pink''...

This new one ...for me anyway... has the same fragrance as the others mentioned above.

I have noticed the fragrance more so at different times of the day or season... afternoon heat/sun being the most evident but it may also be noticeable at night ...have not checked this out yet but will.

no I just threw that in because it was the other picture ...I took them just now under cover of the verandah because of the rain ...my dw oleander is out front ...I will post a pic of it for you later or tomorrow,do you have one?if not I will send you some cuttings if you want some. I grow mine as sort of a standard ...not lolly pop more a dome shape ...no suckers allowed. I love purple and corals together.
Being in a jungle makes me feel like a little child again ...everything dwarfs you and it all seems awesome as it did in childhood.

That's very kind of you Chrissy, but I don't want to grow it, only to smell it. I must remember whenever I see one in flower to smell it, because it's just not something I would think to do with oleanders.

Don't sniff too closely keep your nose and fingers away from the pollen ...I ended up having an operation as a five year old on my lower eyelid because some if it got into my tear duct ...it almost closed my eye the swelling was so bad, they had to lance and stitch it back up again ...the docter said I must have rubbed my eye while pollen was present.
Just gentle warning on that, it didn't stop me from sniffing other oleanders or blooms but not close enough to get the pollens in my eyes.
I still love oleanders.

OK, good to know ... I know that, like brugs, oleanders are poisonous; never thought of the pollen, though. Probably a bad idea to rub any sap/pollen into the eye!

Here's my Albizia julibrissin. Spent several years in a pot and it's taken a few more years to get established. Pink powderpuff flowers resembles those of the pink Calliandra but the foliage is much more feathery. And this will grow to be a proper tree, not a tall shrub. Not scented but I like it ...

Double Zonal Pelargonium aka Geranium

I am ashamed to say that the Chartreuse foliage is not how it should look lol! I had put it aside and forgotten to water it...hope it's forgiving!!

I am enjoying visiting all your gardens so thought I'd invite you all for a cuppa to my garden . Always at it's best now before the heat gets to things.
Bright calendulas and friends.
Jean.

Love the orange Californian poppies but I can never get any other color to grow here.

A real statement of pigface.

This purple alogyne (native hibiscus ) never stops flowering all year. Pink pigface on the fence in front.

My brolgas are lost in the jungle of hellebores, roses and geraniums.

Geranium in front is a species geranium that likes to scramble around. The larger ferny leaves behind are geranium maderense. They both self seed prolifically and look really beautiful.