Sunday, 15 July 2012

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day July 2012

It is still winter time here in Brisbane, and we have had it both colder and wetter than usual. All is relatively quiet in the garden. Thank heavens for the aloes. Without them, Casa Bella would be virtually bloom-free for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.


Aloe 'Southern Cross' in bud


Just a week later, in full flower



Aloes 'Southern Cross' and "Gemini'


Aloe 'Gemini' - its flower

...and its foliage

Aloe 'Diana'




Last year, my succulents like the graptopetalum above were thriving as you can see here. Over the past month they have suffered from a series of misfortunes, generally canine-initiated. Bella and Onslow love playing with empty plastic flower pots, and if there is no empty pot handy, that is swiftly remedied...




At least I managed to salvage this fragment.

My desert rose bit the dust and is in 'rehab'. I am still very inspired by the wonderful specimens I saw in Indonesia, so I am lavishing it with lots of TLC.



And, no dogs involved, but somehow my strawberry pot also took a tumble. Lots of leaf and stem breakages, which I can replant. Some of its inhabitants were getting gangly anyway, so replanting will do it the world of good.


I have moved some of the blue-toned potted succulents to the pool area - off Bella and Onslow's turf. I really like their colours in combination with the blue of the pool. I was thinking of replanting the big pot at the back with more succulents, but on closer inspection, the sad and sorry 'stick' planted in it - a bougainvillea - has lots of little shoots, so it looks like it is making a remarkable come back from the dead.



Apart from that, there are a couple of spot flowers on the osteospermum.


Flowers on the cordyline,


and still some insect life.

There are lots of these in the garden. I think this is just a juvenile without properly formed wings. They don't seem to do any harm, mainly rummaging around in the compost.


A Common Crow

Finally, we have a selection of berries in a range of colours.

Nandina


Liriope


Cestrum

To see lots more blooms, including the embarrassment of riches that is the northern hemisphere's summer bounty, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of the month.



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16 comments:

  1. BernieH15 July 2012 at 11:37

    Your Aloe blooms are just magnificent! Poor old Bella and Onslow having to make do with filled pot plants just because you don't give them enough empty pots to play with!!!! What's a dog to do?

    The blue-toned succulents do look great grouped together by the pool, and I do love that Osteospermum flower. I didn't plant any up this year and now I'm missing them.

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  2. Marisa15 July 2012 at 14:00

    Thanks Bernie, but we are very flower-poor here compared to your current display. Still, all this unexpected rain should be good for the spring flowering seedlings and bulbs. Some of your photos of the mists and mountains near you reminded me more of the Dandenongs than North Queensland.

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  3. Cathy15 July 2012 at 16:31

    Thanks for sharing your garden, Marisa. I wish I had your green fingers. I had to remove some of my poinsetta flowers yesterday because all of the rain we've had this winter is making them go black - mould I guess.

    Great photography as per usual and interesting comments to go with it which I always enjoy. Can't wait for the next one now.

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    1. Marisa15 July 2012 at 17:02

      I suspect this unseasonal wet won't suit quite a few plants, Cathy; it won't just be your poinsetta flowers. Thanks for your feedback too -always good to hear from you.

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  4. Roslyn15 July 2012 at 18:48

    If it is on the ground or can be reached by a dog, then it's for dogs to play with.

    I'm lucky Missy has always been a quiet little dog and now she's older, doesn't get into my pots. I
    I'm hoping we get some sunny weather for a while.

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    1. Marisa15 July 2012 at 19:08

      I second that thought. My hot water system went last week and I have had tradies tramping mud through the house since Wednesday. Tiling is still only half done, and my washing machine is sitting in the yard under plastic. At least a kind friend let me do a few loads of washing at her place, and I was able to dry them off this afternoon.

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  5. Town Mouse16 July 2012 at 03:29

    Ah, the aloes! They really look wonderful and I wonder whether I should plant more of them myself. Interesting that they would do well where you are and pretty well here.

    Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. Marisa16 July 2012 at 20:38

      I think it's drier where you are, so I'll be interested to see how they fare if we get a few more particularly wet seasons - or after an unseasonally wet winter like we experiencing at present. I bought 5 different ones in 2009, and lost 2 fairly early on, but my 3 remaining ones are all doing well, maybe having two of them in terracotta pots helps. Happy GBBD to you too!

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  6. Noel Morata17 July 2012 at 05:03

    aloha,

    i'm such a fan of aloes especially in the wintertime when everything is quiet, its so interesting to see that its winter in your neck of the woods.

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    1. Marisa22 July 2012 at 10:59

      I agree, Noel. Without the aloes, it would be almost flower-free here some days in winter - that said, I am looking out on my brugmansia, which is a mass of blooms, but I know in a week's time it will be as if it never happened. By next winter too, I am hopeful that my young Rhondeletia amoena will be flower. There are a couple out in the surrounding streets that look great.

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  7. Lula17 July 2012 at 17:18

    Thank you Marisa for your comment in my blog. Your looks fantastic and I can leanr alot from your garden, here we have many succulents that are just like yours, our gardens have a lot in common! Lula

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    1. Marisa22 July 2012 at 11:30

      Thanks Lula. Our gardens do have a lot in common. I noticed your photo of an Illawarra Flame Tree in your previous post. They are native to the east coast of Australia, and I often see them planted near jacarandas, as you mentioned.

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  8. Cindy, MCOK17 July 2012 at 23:13

    Marisa, thanks for stopping by My Corner of Katy! I love the Aloe 'Southern Cross' ... haven't ever seen that here. I chuckled at the dogs and empty pots ... my Annie loves to play with them, too.

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    1. Marisa22 July 2012 at 11:35

      If only I could train them to keep their 'toys', which can range from pots to dead lizards to whole palm fronds, off the sofa!

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  9. Wife, Mother, Gardener18 July 2012 at 06:32

    Marisa, I love seeing your aloes in bloom! Do they die afterwards like agaves?

    Thanks for stopping at WMG. It is a bit greener where I am, but still dusty compared to a normal summer when we usually have too much rain! So I am not going to complain about the sunshine :)
    ~Julie

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    1. Marisa22 July 2012 at 11:39

      Hi Julie, the aloes don't die after flowering like the agave (and my bromeliads) do after flowering. Hope you get a bit more rain. We having the opposite conditions here. Lots of rain through wintertime, which is normally our dry season.

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