16 August, 2011

August Bloom day in Porterville


Today I choose to bring the foreign exotic commonorgarden flowers. Around the 25th will be the wildflowers growing in my garden.

What is most visible now, more so since the pecan is down, is the Japanese flowering quince. A flaming coral torch that takes my breath away, as it startles me, every time I see it.

Japanese flowering quince 


Basil and lavender seem to bloom year round. Weeding mindfully, around the roses, I found a handful of peedie lavender shrublets.

Lavender

Amongst our many daisies, these two are commonorgarden not indigenous/native. White daisy - Shasta, Leucanthemum?? Dianthus fits my Spring Promise theme, anything pink, preferably with glaucous blue foliage as well. Prunus nigra I see has today opened the first of its flowers. Never mind spring on the First of September. Why wait? Today we have a warm berg wind, promising a little rain on Thursday, while New Zealand has roads closed due to snow.

Prunus nigra, Dianthus
white and pink daisies

These are the last of the roses. 

Dainty Bess, Chaim Soutine
Sheila's Perfume, Anna's Red, Perfume Passion

Winter and the garden looks lush and subtropical. Enjoying balmy days, cool nights, and hoping for the next rain. Friday’s post will be up the mountain looking at proteas.

Pictures and words
by Diana of Elephant's Eye
- wildlife gardening in Porterville,
near Cape Town in South Africa
(If you mouse over brown text,
it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.)


14 comments:

  1. Looks gorgeous!

    I'm also seeing signs of sprig in my garden - and looking forward to planting my spring veggies :)

    Even my pomegranate tree is getting it's new leaves, and the yellow wood is sprouting its' whorls of new shoots - just love it.

    Enjoy the proteas - my favourite is the Leucospermum "Sunshine".

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  2. Quince and pinks are common here in spring as are roses. There is a garden near me that has enough quinices to make a stunning show in early spring. You have an interesting collection of flowers for bloom day at the end of your winter as we move toward fall.

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  3. So lucky you are coming into spring. It's a much more pleasant time on the blogs with the spring/fall dichotomy than the winter/summer, which seems a trifle unjust.

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  4. such a beautiful posts, I enjoy your blog is so much,, its a always a treat,,best wishes from Canada

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  5. Grüezi Diana,
    danke, dass du wieder mitgemacht hast!

    I like all your pictures but I really love your Quince! Here they will be ready to be harvested very soon, yeah! The scent is so delicious...!

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  6. I love to see the common and uncommon...the shasta and dianthus are lovely and in my garden too...and lavender is one of my favorites. I wish it was blooming and growing all year. The quince is gorgeous...I love that exotic coral flower!!

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  7. Susan - if I was in NZ, I'd be ticked off at the winter/winter dichotomy. It is warm here today!

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  8. I simply love your photographs.. They all are so good! :)

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  9. I've attempted slipper orchids outdoors but always ended up letting them go a little too dry. (Actually, I let them go much too dry.) I get used to the water needs of one group of plants and the new noncomformist always seems to have to suffer... Lovely bloomday choices--and this is the depth of winter?

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  10. Your garden must be a absolute joy in spring. All year around actually.

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  11. The quince looks very pretty... mine died in the hot summer heat...

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  12. Your slipper orchids are lovely! Our yellow one hasn't bloomed for a couple of years - sadly for us. The climate has just not been the best for them the past couple of years. But your white ones are totally fabulous!

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Photographs and Copyright

Photographs are from Diana Studer or Jurg Studer.
My Canon PowerShot A490

If I use your images or information, it will be clearly acknowledged with either a link to the website, or details of the book. If you use my images or words, I expect you to acknowledge them in turn.


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