Flowering in April

They should thrive for you Mya in your climate...please post more pics as they flower!I have a little one in a pot but have to shelter it from frost over winter.It hasn't exactly been very fast growing for me either...I guess it would be a lot faster if it had the humidity which I don't have much of here(I am inland from Bris)

Judy at present I'm sweating like a fat chick at a disco cause the humidity is soooo high....no wonder my babies have fat bottums, with all this heat/humidity.

he he Mya!
The lipstick plant was very easy to strike. I only took one cutting, probly about 6-8" long and dibbled into sand. Most likely I did it in Summer, but in your area I dare say you could do it anytime?
I love that huge Adenium! Mine, like Chrissies, lose their leaves in winter, and i keep them under the eaves, in full sun on the northfacing veranda, which keeps them hot and dry in winter. I have 2 in large terracotta pots and 3 seedlings in bonsai pots. I use my bromeliad mix, as it is well drained. Unless i can find a dry place to plant one, it wouldn't survive the winter here, in the ground.
Dalfyre, that robinia is stunning. Does it have thorns? That golden light is weird, but I think i have experienced days like that too.
Judy, lots of flowers as usual! I bet your stoked about the water restrictions? Being on tank water, and in stormy Coffs Harbour, we've never had to deal with ristrictions thank goodness!
The rain stopped today, so heres hoping we'll get to dry out for Easter!
Sue
This is Pickeral rush, a pond plant.

hhh hhh hhh whewww....
I've been out digging the start of that trench to carry all the water from Kin Kin & Coffs to Melb & other places that don't get enough water.
I'm head to toe in mud, but the water seems to running away a bit!
Just a quick hello before I get back to it! Here's my lovely desert rose from Mya all planted up!

Here's my pink Caesalpinia pulcherrima. It began flowering only last month--I thought perhaps it mightn't flower at all this season--unlike the yellow one, which has been flowering since November. It's not scented and is thorny (or prickly; there's a difference but I can't remember what it is) but, so long as it's not placed in a spot where you have to brush up against it, is very pretty. The light-green ferny looking foliage contrasts beautifully with the flowers. And it's tough--no watering once established.

Here's a closeup ...

That's lovely Cestrum.

The Robinia frisia has thorns but not nearly as nasty as the green one by the gate.
It may be a sucker from the rootstock as I have them popping up every so often.
I normally round up them as two is plenty...
the green one has nice flowers in spring.
Don't think the golden one flowers.

Hi Cestrum, that is a spectacular flower - both is shape & colour! Is Caesalpinia pulcherrima sometimes an orange/red flower?
This pic was taken at my grandparent's place back in the '50s - do you think the bush in the back is the same kind of plant - I've often wondered what it is?
Leisa.

Hi Leisa,I'm sure cestrum will agree yes that is the more common Caesalpinia pulcherrima...very lovely photo btw.
I have seeds of the 3 colours too just got to get around to planting them...your pink is beautiful cestrum...has your plant been through a winter yet.?

Really beautiful cestrum ...don't you just love the long whiskers,
leisa that is a lovely shot there too ...believe it or not I have seen one growing in a Punchbowl home down here ...it was surrounded by a white concreted walled courtyard and close to a whitewashed brick home and footpath ...it did the trick ...I guess it was all the reflected heat and all day sun.
The Datura pod ...I have 2 ...gosh that was quick!

Leisa, that does look like a Caesalpinia, possibly the red C. pulcherrima which often looks orange-ish (or perhaps has hybridised and comes in shades of reddish-orange like poincianas). See http://www.banana-tree.com/Product_Detail~category~20.0~Product_ID~353.cfm which is where I bought the original seed (although they're not offering pink at the moment). I bought pink, red and yellow. Typically (for me), they got mixed up so I didn't know what colours they were until they flowered. Turned out there were no reds and only about a third were pink; the rest were yellow.

Ebay now has pink seed too, and they germinate readily so long as you soak or nick them before sowing (I think both).

My pink ones have been thru either one or two winters in the ground. They lose their leaves in the frost and there's a bit of dieback at the branch tips too. Sometimes an entire branch will die, but they regrow in spring. I've yet to get seed on these pink ones, perhaps because they flower so late. The yellow ones in contrast have--throughout summer--had their seedpods bursting open with an audible crack that I can hear from inside the house. Here's a pic of the yellow.

Hello everyone. Love all the gorgeous plants I cant grow here. I had to pop in and put my Toad Lily flower on. I bought 2 of these early last year and this is my first flower. Very pretty.
Jean.

I bougth one of those at our local markets Jean, then promptly killed it through neglect.:(

My red stemmed water canna. I love the way the flowers come out on little zig-zaggy stems that float in the breeze.

Thats different Pam!
Jean, I love your taod lily. It reminds me of the crucifix orchid in a way.
Judy, Leisa and Cestrum, I love the pics of the Caesalpinia, but hate trying to spell it! he he.
I've sprinkled some fertiliser around, and am hoping to wow you all with magnificent flowers very soon. I thought, the flood water will have leeched out all the nutrients, so felt I should replace them.
No pics today, but the sun was shining, which, if it continues, means i will get outside!
Sue

Ladies, thanks for all the info on Caesalpinia! I always remember these plants (& zinnias) in my grandparent's garden at Noosaville as a kid & the old pic above only surfaced a couple of years ago. My uncle had a whole bunch of slides from the 50's & it was so strange to see pics of people & places in such vibrant colour from years ago. It's funny how the brain registers stuff that you're not really aware of until something causes the memory to come back with clarity. Seeing centrum's lovely pics did just that! And now the mystery is solved!
Pam & Jean they're unusual flowers! I thought it'd be an orchid too from the thumbnail pic alone!
Here's my 3rd crucifix to come back into flower, it's called "Bountiful Hybrid" (the common orange & purple crucifix are already flowering - actually they hardly stop)
Leisa.

Nice orchid Leisa, I noticed mine are looking the best now too. Heres a ginger, sold to me as Thai ginger. The leaves are dark green and the underside is burgundy

The Tibouchina and Allamanda are looking great too. I don't think the Nitraphoska has worked this quickly!

Cestrum I love your yellow caesalpinia,that would have to be one of the best pics I have even seen of it.Chrissy,What colour is your datura? I am not sure if mine is the yellow or purple as I had seeds of both.Interesting flowers Jean and gardengal! Leisa and Sue your flowers are beautiful!
These are my ornamental sweet potatoes today, as you can see the grasshoppers have left them alone so I am pleased.I have taken cuttings and they seem to be growing well.

Goes on for months and months

So does this Justicia

sue taht's the nicest Allamanda I've seen,love that cherry colour.

I think that one is called cherry ripe (sue's allamanda) ...drops dead in the frost sadly.
beautiful pictures everyone ...here is a cute little bloom on my sweet potato ...the kind you eat.

Chrissy are you still looking for cuttings of ornamental sweet potato?

Gee thanks judy ...next Spring if that is ok because they don't like the cool weather that we may get over winter ...are you pleased with them ? I know you wanted them for ages. I have grown sweet potatoes before but they must have been different ones because I haven't seen this nice bloom before ...i know they are related to the morning glory vines and that is just what it looks like ...really cute and they stay open all day too, it was an orange sweet potato from memory. I have read that they make nice indoor plants?

Hi Chrissy, I had flowers on my sweet potatoes too. I think because they live with the bananas and I just gave them a pottasium fertilise! Judy, do the ornamental ones grow tubers at all? Are they edible? This years vines haven't seen any grass hopper damage, so I think I shall have to try the ornamental varieties, because they come in the same colours that will complimant the lime and burgundy coleus, and the various burgundy foliage plants like cordylines and iresine. That will take care of the understorey in most sunny places, wouldn't it?
Thanks Mya, and yes chrissy, I think it is 'Cherry Ripe'. I can't remember if I bought that one or started it from a sucker, as they get them every year (snip, snip) I got the idea of growing it that way from a neighbour, as its tied to a star picket in the middle to keep it from laying all over the ground.
Judy, what is the second flower, goes on for months and months? Pandorea?
Still raining here. We've had rain every day this month! I'm sick of sloggin around in the mud! Still, I got some seedlings planted and some trees and shrubs too, while the ground is soft. I hope they don't drown!
This is a really old variety of daylily, but I don't know the name. The foliage dies down each year, unlike my others. The burgundy is a coleus cutting, as I've fallen in love with them this year.

Sue, check out Kwanso for an id on your daylily. It looks as though it could possibly be. I agree with you on coleus, they're such a fantastic doer in the garden. 'They' have always said you should remove the flowers to keep the plant bushy, but I've seen them in a couple of gardens in full flower, and they look quite pretty.



This message was edited Apr 12, 2009 8:38 PM

Sue I think Judy's bloom is some kind of morning glory ...not sure but the leaves look like it. I have actually had a pure white one pop up from a purple seed ...that was a surprise! guess it wasn't the wild one after all ...it has been nicely behaved.

My new Optimizer Desert Rose......

We've had such heavy rains this morning ,I was sure these buds were going to get the chop but in between the rain came this little beauty....

This message was edited Apr 12, 2009 10:01 PM

Mya, that's gorgeous.

Glasshouse angel Chrissy?Whatever it's gorgeous,so is yours Mya!Sue, yes it is a morning glory shrub: Ipomoea carnea.We're still waiting for rain here, nothing so far!I am further inland..

Hi all, We've had a very wet weekend here on the northside of Brisbane - it's way too squichy outside to do much!
Mya, your Optimizer looks lovely - those are two babies you sent me - I'll have to keep them safe!
Here's another of my crucifix that has come out - not sure of the name of this one.

I got stuck in to the garden last Tuesday as we were away for Easter.
Arrived back today and am really happy with how well it still looks.
Grass needs mowing but the roses are in full bloom & distract attention from the weeds & lawns.
Absolutely no gardening was thought about all the time we were away - it was aviation all the way!
I went for a ride in a Bristol Freighter yesterday:)
We didn't take off - she isn't air worthy but we taxied around the airfield in the only Bristol in the world that can move under it's own power.
Pretty cool I thought...
cheers - Dalfyre

Day 2 Optimize

more purple showing ...we had loads of rain yesterday,last night and I thought for sure, this little flower would be gone.

She sure is pretty Mya.
Judy yes GHA it is
Leisa ...aren't those crucifix orchards great!

Sugar Pink

This isn't a flower but still ... the extension cord runs from the garage to the shed, and was here when I moved in. I've never run power thru it but have found a better use for it. I don't pick the fruit but wait until it drops to the ground.

And here's the fruit. Typically, once the fruit starts to mature, I get a handful ripening within a few days, then nothing for a few weeks before the next handful ripens. This yellow one isn't as tart as the purple variety but still tasty. Some of the fruit has been pockmarked by insects. I thought at first it was a wasp but have been told it could also be fruitfly. Although it deforms the skin, it doesn't affect the pulp itself.

And here's the papaya. It's seen three summers and has had its largest crop this autumn, despite being in a bed that has been watered only a handful of times this growing season. In the past, only a few papayas have managed to ripen before the cold winter nights set in, but they've begun ripening with a vengeance now. The great irony is that while I love the idea of papayas--lovely orange-coloured flesh and smooth luscious fruit--I don't actually like the taste of it! (I can taste or smell that white sap.) So I've been giving them away to friends, neighbours and passers-by. I'll wait until the winter frost cuts back the foliage and then dig it out, to be replaced by a native peanut tree.