Flowers today

Beautiful pics everyone,all looking good!!Chrissy,you must feel like you're living in Darwin in the wet season what with all these storms.. I feel sorry for you the ground there must be like a quogmire completely saturated ...it wouldn't be so bad if the soil were sandy,do you keep a record of your rainfall totals? sorry I asked lol!!
Anyway heres a few pics from my garden taken a few days ago and today.We have had about 100ml rainfall( or for those of you who like me still use the imperial measures)4inches in the last week or so...what a difference the rain makes..

2#

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9#

10#LAST ONE I PROMISE!!

sorry I forgot one more LOL!!!the scent from this mock orange fills the yard and the house..mmmm

Ha ha ha I finally found something you don't have in your garden ...

Yes the humidity is 97% at 7.15 in the morning,greyness almost every day due to the humidity. B your flowers are just stunning ...oh I am going to sing to my little bits of pink angels ...yours are so beautiful (sighing with a smile).
Every Christmas we get the big Air Balloons coming in (tourists usually) the balloons look so graceful as they float gently over the house, they are coming back from the Blue Mountains.
That no.,8 picture ...they call that the "Qeen of Sheba" in the US ,
and yes while I don't know what Darwin feels like ...the air is that thick with moisture it is hard to breath. You don't want to walk anywhere on the red clay as you get about 5 inches of it clinging to the undersides of your foot wear. What really annoys me is the fact that all of this water is being wasted instead of "saved" ...are you still at only 30 ish % in your dams up there? ...what sort of restrictions do you have?
The Warragamba dam has improved a great deal and if we keep going this way we may even yet get to use the emergency spillway.
I hope with all my heart that all of you who are suffering the dry times get some really good rain very soon, I wish I could share.
Have a wonderful gardening day.
chrissy

we are on stage 4 restricions here chrissy which means that we cannot water outside the house at all. we can only do stock troughs and bird baths. buckets, buckets and more buckets here but it does mean i am getting fitter and trimmer.

some of your cuttings looked a little sad last night when i watered them. i so hope that they are ok. i erected a shade cloth over the top as well to help with shade as it was extremely hot yesterday. i have my fingers crossed that yours and 77 are ok.

i went to the local market yesterday - the only place i really buy plants and got 7 more newies. cuphea starfire red $3.00, cuphea starfire pink $3.00, bright pink fruschia $4.50, yellow daisy $2.00, tiny white flowering daisy $2.00, three dianthus for $5.50. i was very happy with that.

chat soon,

shelly xx

Hi all, lovely pics Brical, I think i spied some spider lilies amongst that lot, and Chrissy is right, your pink brugmansia is to die for!!!
Hey again Chrissy, I remember the baloons when we lived in penrith. Have you heard them release the hot air when they lower altitude? It comes out with a great "Whooooosh" and scares the pants off you if you don't know they are there! I always wanted to go up in one and have a champagne breakfast, but I recently saw footage of an accident where no one survived, and i changed my mind!
Hi Shelly, fun shopping at markets isn't it? I propagate alot of stuff and have heaps of plants, but can't help myself from buying something new or just really nice at the markets! Especially if it's a bargain. I haven't seen Cuphea Starfire red before. Post us a pic if you are able!
Sue

Hi Sue,No not spider lillies as such,but crinum lily...There are plenty of babies if anyone wants, also cuttings of the pink brug.
Chrissy,you would be proud of me lol!!I finally did the pollen cross with my brugs,single white x with what you call grand marnier& pinkx g.m...see how I go...just have to wait now for the yellow to flower and will try it.
Yes,the markets are the best place to buy plants...I've picked up a lot of bargains not to mention unusual plants from there...but I usually have to travel an hour or two to get to them.
Chrissy...your pics are just great...I would so love to go up in one of those balloons...we often see them when travelling to Brisbane.

Your thread was on the newest postings list and I clicked...WOW! Such gorgeous blooms you are enjoying! Thanks for brightening up my day!

Here's what we awakened to, this morning:

weed woman and brical1 have you ever gone to or ordered iris from Tempo two there in Australia?

That looks pretty but slippery m :) nice to have visiters ...please pop over often.This is what we had around the outskirts of sydney yesterday ...lots of hailstones! luckily only marble size here but some folks about twenty minutes from here copped these ...and lots of damage!
ww those hot pink spider lillies I sent you are nerines, I hope you like them,I think in coff's they would like a little afternoon shelter,

good on you re the brugs ...I have so many pods from just a few minutes work that I can't believe it and yes I am proud of you ...I went off into town today to post some stuff off, this included a money order for some very special few fancy, new brugs bred here in Australia, I am soooo excited ...more details on that later!
Yes Tempo Two are fantastic!
Bye for now

Hello all on. I have just been planting a few new dahlias. It is getting to be a bit of a squeeze in the dahlia bed now. No more buying. Ha Ha. Who am I kidding. I couldn't stop buying plants. Could any of us ?
I have the catalogue from Tempo Two but the prices are a bit beyond me even though the iris are beautiful. I have been dealing with Yarrabee who are more in my price range and have similar. I just love the picture of Tempo Two's American iris fields. Wouldn't I go mad there ?
I put off doing the washing as it was forecast to rain. I should have known better. It doesn't rain here. chrissy is getting all our rain.
I have potted up my new pieces sent by lovely people and made sure the Brugmansia is well looked after.
If it does well, I will have to try more.
We saw the hailstorm on the news, chrissy . It must have been scary. I have been in one and it sure ain't funny. I had to leave my car out in it and had to watch and hope the windows weren't broken. I was lucky but a few other cars were not.
Your poor plants must have pulled up their skirts and run.
Hello minmama. I saw snow when I used to live in the north of our state here and it is pretty. I would not want to live with a whole winter of it feet deep. It's hard for us here to imagine having to bring plants in for Winter.
Shelly, when you go to any of the larger shops like Target and K mart, have a look for their orphans. There is usually a stand of half dead poor things that can be rescued. I have picked up some poor things for .50c or a dollar or two that were originally very expensive.
I want half of bricals plants but I'm afraid they would not like the cold much.
I am off to take photos of the latest epi. Posting a pic of one that came out yesterday. Have a great day all and happy gardening.

Hey 77 before I moved here I would buy Tempo Two stuff in the off season ...I can't remember what time of the year, but they have one or two big clearance thingos and you can buy bulk mystery lots pretty cheap or most of their more prize types at least 50% off.
Yes I can't resist orphan plants ...but the trick is to know what can be revived and what cannot. I had to go and do some posting today
and while I was in Woolies I "fell off the wagon"and bought a frangipani called"Bali Whirl" anyone familiar with that?
It is described as" the World's first double,yellow petals edged in white ...and the beautiful flowers are wonderfully fragrant" ...on the daves garden thingy it is described as having a citrus smell ....ooooh yummmy!
I will post a pic of the other stuff in a min ...no rain at the moment.
I bought three common things and can't remember their name,
pretty little leaves ...I just love this forum saves hours looking up the garden bible :)

Here they are and the Bali Whirl ...

Anyone remember the name?
these are nice too came through everything ok just a little battered

and these cute bits ...ww

I love how those v plectranthus stems match the rhoeo, all safely tucked away in a basket ...very cute!
next some rescued bits and pieces get to know a little new bit :)

Very nice Chrissy,is that a variegated creeping charlie ...I have the other variegated plectranthus but not it. The three coloured foliage plants in your first picture are hypoestes.. aka polka dot plant...I have had all three colours for years...they die back here in the winter only to return with the warmer weather..and they do reseed and grow easily from cuttings

Finally for anyone interested,brical1 this is mainly for you ...a pic of a brug pod different from the Grande Marnier, this one was only done about 4/5 days ago and if you compare it to the little thing next to it you see a fairly quick result, it will start to grow instead of just staying a tiny green point.In this case the pod is getting fatter and has almost a velvet look to it ...early days yet but we can already see a different pod shape ...in this case the pollinater was the Grande marnier and mummy the white. Remember when mummy is Grand Marnier the pod is long and pointy and remains the same sort of shiny green.
All we have to do now is wait ...and hope no big fat grubs eat them and the hail stays away.I have gently peeled away the green covering due to fear of rotting (as recommended) what with all the rain,good luck brical1 ...I hope you feel the same excitment I did upon discovering the seed pods ...I warn you though I am as clucky over them as the old brown chook over her eggs :)

So how long until the pods reach maturity....I'll be watching mine very closely now too...you won't be the only clucky chook!!lol

I got that lovely one from ww ...I just love the pretty stems, what colour is your type?
Are you excited about your brugs?
thanks for the id of course it is ...they like shade right?
I can see little new leaves on the pink ones you sent me already ...
as soon as my new ones get big enough I will share.
I have
orange,creamy apricot,pretty pink and a cream, on the way :)

#This is it...just went and took a quick pic

Well they vary I have been told, but the pointy ones should be about 6 inches and the stem should turn brown ,the rounder ones about 4 inches ditto the stem. I really am just playing it by ear ...our climate, rain, heat may all play a part in it, so I will just keep clucking away (and running out after every storm to see if they are still there), the funny thing is ... there seems to be dozens on mine now, I have fertilized three times over the last two weeks and some even seem to have been done by nature (the high up ones).The white was only around the front until I shoved a cutting in near the other at the back of the house maybe nature has helped them, are you sure you don't have some already, look for the stigma to have turned brown at the tip more or less in the next day or two.

That is nice ...gotta feed hubby :)

Man! I had to read heaps to catch up!
Brical, I have a crinum lily (or 2) I dug one up that had gone slimey and threw it up the back, and blow me down if it didn't start shooting out of the gooey mush and now there is a nice clump growing! No flowers yet though! I would love some cuttings of the pink Brug, and don't you chuckle Chrissy!
Hi Mtnmama, how nice does your house look? The snow is so clean I could eat it! I wish we could get a cool breeze from your place right now!
Makj, I have not heard of Tempo two, but I am not very experienced with mail order plants. I've read Chrissy and Sunsets views on them and might google them later for a "look see"
Hi Jean, Our Big W has a cheapie rack, but I like to call it "The rip-off, dead thing rack"! They'll sell you a dead Wollemi pine for $20. I guess you could use it as a small brown xmas tree! LOL
We used to call the polka dot plant "painted lady"? Don't know why! I pull them out of gardens up here as weeds, but I do like them myself! I haven't got any though, as I have to build up my canopy a bit more before I put in anymore understorey things, as its too hot and sunny here.
I have to go get a handful of tissues, but I'll be back later.
Sue

dmail me your address and will post you some,cheers

Applauding re the brugs ... by the time I get through with you, you will all be crazy about them! it is so exciting ...after I get my plants I will let you know where to get them too, I want to make sure they are as wonderful as they sound and when I have, I will be able to check it out and recommend them and the suppliers to you ...how wonderful is that!
Now ww Weeds!!!!! noooo those sweet little things? tell me more are they ugly after a bit or what?,what conditions do they like shade or sun? I can't remember.
77 I feel terrible ... I found some hybrid winter rose seeds that I thought were in your parcel ...still here I am sorry ...I will get them off ...they came from beautiful parents.
Well I think I have driven everyone mad by now so off I go,
sweet Angel dreams everyone!
chrissy :)

Ok folks we can stop knitting the bootees for the baby brug seeds ..they reckon that it could take 4 to 6 months before the pods are ripe ...my legs sure will get tired of running backwards and forwards by then ...so looks like Easter babies.having said that, we seem to be into a good growing season ...ours may not take that long. If they grow as quick as mine seem to be growing they will look like watermelons by then!

ww, you asked to see the red cuphea starfire... so here is a picture of my new plant. they are both very small still so had to get pretty close to the plant to take the photo.

red one

and here is the pink cuphea starfire.

Oh, they are quite nice Shelly! I think we used to have one similar to the red one when I was a kid. We called it the cigarette bush and used to pick off the flowers and run around with them in our mouths! (idiots)
Chrissy, the polka dots grow tallish (30-50cm) and get seed heads, but they don't look ugly, they just spread a bit. They can be tough to remove if your soil is hard, but otherwise you can pull them out easy. Part shade is needed as they wilt in the sun.
I'm having a plant sale this weekend. See you all there. 1 free plant for every customer!
Sue

WOW!! what fantastic plants you have here. Thankyou for the peep into your part of the world!!