I love our Brisbane summers: sultry days and fragrant nights, with a wild late afternoon storm often marking the divide. The colours of our summer are red, white, and blazing blue skies as on my driveway with the poinciana, frangipani, and spider lilies in bloom. As the poinciana blooms fall, my visitors walk a red flower carpet to the house in the sunshine and negotiate a treacherously slippery slope after rain.
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| A fierce afternoon hailstorm that punched holes through the polycarbonate panels in my veranda roof. |
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| Poinciana |
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| Frangipani/plumeria |
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| Spider lily Hymenocallis littoralis |
There are more daylilies in bloom. Each morning after greeting the puppies, I walk down to see if there are any new blooms and make an mental note to write an identifying tag for it. I know I have lost a couple over the past twelve months, and many tags were missing at the beginning of the season, so I am anxiously waiting for each and every favourite to make its appearance. Identification can be challenging. Sometimes the colours vary with the weather, and many of the photos in an old catalogue I have bear little resemblance to their real selves.
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| 'Douglas Lycett' |
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| 'Spacecoast Whiteout' |
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| 'Spacecoast Seashells' |
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| 'Jordan Verhaert' |
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| Magnolia 'Little Gem' with the petals full of stamens shaken loose by the bees. |
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| Gardenia |
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| I have let the murraya hedge go shaggy, so I can enjoy the fragrant blooms that follow the rain. |
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| A visitor to the frangipani |
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| I popped a mass of caladiums into my wheel barrow so I could sweep the garage floor. I put a river pebble in each pot so I remember something precious is sleeping when they are dormant and don't throw it out as 'empty'. |
Finally, another daylily. This one is 'Frank Teele', a gorgeous cherry red for the festive season.
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| The deep purple salvia to the left is a new addition 'Love and Wishes' |
Seasons Greetings to all and a very happy Bloom Day. To see more of what is blooming in gardens around the world on Bloom Day - the fifteenth of each month - visit our host, Carol, at
May Dreams Gardens.
You've had some hail recently down there, and some lovely rain. We're still waiting on decent rain up here in the north. Of course, the Poincianas are in full bloom up here as well. You know it's summertime when you see those red/orange blooms. I just adore your Caladium collection. You have some real beauties there. Loved the Daylilies and your Magnolia as well. Simply beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHope you got some rain out of the latest band of storms, Bernie. Although there has been storm damage down here, thank heavens we got rain when we did. I was bracing myself for a return to water restrictions in the new year if we had another wet season 'fail'.
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DeleteYour stone in the pot to remind you that a plant is sleeping is brilliant! I just love poinciana - your entrance looks very welcoming - great curb appeal!
ReplyDeleteIt does make it easy to give directions to visitors at this time of year. They just have to look out for the tree.
DeleteLovely to see so many beautiful flowers blooming at this time of year. Here in the UK we are definitely in deepest, darkest winter but your photos reminded me of summertime. Merry Christmas. Helen
ReplyDeleteI love our summers but the thought of a deep dark winter - with snow- sounds kind of wonderful too. Merry Christmas to you too, Helen.
DeleteSo sorry to hear about the hailstorm damage to your roof, is it okay again?
ReplyDeleteLoved all your white flowers, and that gorgeous butterfly.
I liked your simple yet elegant walkway....thinking of revamping my driveway with that look...is it just small river stones that are embedded in the concrete? Lovely.
Hi Virginia, the driveway surface is done in 'pebblecrete'. At least that's the tradename here in Australia. It's been quite a popular finish for quite a long time. I think they just pour the mix onto an existing concrete driveway and smooth it out. If you google 'Pebblecrete Australia' you might be able to get some idea so that you can seek out a local equivalent. Hail damage was minor for me luckily and covered by insurance.
DeleteThanks for the info Marisa, I will check it out.
DeleteWe do have a similar surface product here but it's quite pricey, so I'm thinking or recreating the look...wish me luck!
Your summer plants is a sight for sore winter eyes, I love daylilies and can’t wait for mine to start flowering again. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI keep looking for spaces in the garden to squeeze in new daylilies, Helene. There are so many fabulous colour combinations out there. Seasons greetings from all at Casa Bella.
DeleteI just got back from Florida where the Poinciana trees were in their resting phase, just a few spent pods lying around on the ground here and there. Last time we were there it was summer, and I had never encountered, nor heard of the tree. They amazed me.
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous, aren't they? Such a beautifully shaped tree as well, generally low and spreading rather than tall. We need all the shade we can get in our summers - today being a case in point with temperature in the mid 30'sC and very high humidity.
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