It is a sign of the times - but hopefully only temporary - to see that I have only managed 9 posts so far this year, when I used to sometimes post that many in a month. But the blog is not all that has been neglected of late, so today I embarked on the a big tidy up in the garden. I don't think it's too late to get it looking prettier in time for Spring, but it was very much left to its own devices over Winter, our dry season.
Thank heavens for the bromeliads. What troopers they are, soldiering bravely on and producing their extraordinary flowers, many of which last for months, despite the neglect.
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| This is the same bromeliad as the previous photos but a little earlier, before the flowers had emerged. |
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| These snorkel-like buds emerging from the foliage belong to one of my favourites. |
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| The bloom revealed - I love this brilliant colour scheme of intense blue and red and had a great display this year. |
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| Tiny mauve, peach and pink flowers on the same bloom |
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| I secured this bromeliad with burgundy foliage to a tree branch to displaying the hanging flowers. |
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| Besides being very prickly, the leaves of this bromeliad are patterned on the underside, which is unusual. |
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| This brom is one of my brother Tony's that I am coveting - such a beautiful blue. |
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| Another of Tony's that I recently added to my collection. |
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| There is two-way traffic between Tony and me - this is a Guzmania wittmarkii that I gave him. |
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| Another beautiful, not-yet-in-flower Guzmania that has had each and every leaf shortened by mysterious creatures. |
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| Mmmm -- butter wouldn't melt in their mouths! |
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| This and the bloom below are the two most recent additions to my bromeliad collection, picked up at the markets last Sunday. This stunner is orange and charcoal (not as blue as photographed). |
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| The second of my purchases from last week - this one has variegated foliage. Both, I think, are Bilbergias. |
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Finally, not a bromeliad, but my King Orchid, Dendorobium speciosum, which always delights me with its spring flowers despite being forgotten for much of the year in the top of my Poinciana. I shared some wonderful specimens of this in my post on the Australian Native Orchid Exhibition last year. Just click orchids to visit.
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You are not the only one who has had to slow down the blog posting, I have reduced it to about 2 a month, and I think I will continue with that at least for now – I’ve got so much else I need to do! You have an impressive bromeliad collection! I only have one, as an indoor plant, they probably would not survive our winter. And your dendrobium is equally impressive, I have two Dendrobiums, again indoors.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great week-end, take care, Helene.
Time management is a real challenge, isn't it, Helene when we have so many competing priorities. I've missed preparation time for the last two Springs in the garden with my job in Indonesia in 2012 and my local travels last year when my friend visited from the UK. Now as the garden gets more interesting with the start of our Spring, I'll try to keep up the posts.
DeleteGreat to see you back. I've been a bit time poor lately as well, but trying to get back to blogging more regularly. I have to agree with you about broms. They are one of my favourite plants.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ros. I am so much more inspired once Spring is in the air. I had a mad flurry of activity in the garden on the weekend, and I hope that will translate into lots more blog posts.
DeleteLove all your various bromeliad and bilbergia species....all truly beautiful in their own way.
ReplyDeleteThe serated edges of the broms itch my skin like crazy if I touch them, so I have none of them in my garden....but hey I can enjoy yours from way over here.
The "kids" are also looking quite adorable lazing around on the couch....do they have any idea how lucky they are?????
I know what you mean about the broms edges. My arms are a real mess after I weed in and around some of the really prickly ones - and the worst have been banned from the garden. Some of the spiny ends could really hurt the dogs' eyes. As for those two canines, I think I'm pretty lucky too.
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