This morning I made my usual monthly record of what's in bloom. At last. Or as usual. (Click the Dozen for Diana tab, for earlier months) First fruits. A solitary orange on our three newly planted citrus trees at the Mediterranean Sun Circle. The berries on the Australian brush cherry - why don't the birds eat them? There is a layer of fallen, ripe berries on our gravel driveway. One of our handful of apples, from three trees! And the guavas are coming, sprouting from the roots of trees we dug up to make the driveway. Now I can see for myself why they are frowned on, as invasive aliens, which we are supposed to only grow with a permit!
Now is supposed to be the autumn flush of the roses. Jack at Sequoia Gardens in Haenertsburg up north has it. Our roses are only just shrugging off that week of temperatures hitting 40C. Couple of bushes have given up the unequal battle. Pink Perfume Passion welcomes visitors at the front door. A nibbled Germiston gold. Striped Tropical Sunset. Pale yellow Courvoisier, gives bunches of flowers, once it gets going again. And Papa Meilland against the sky, because he is growing so tall, that is the closest I can get. Without cutting him off for the vase.
In the centre is my Natal Bauhinia (plant portait coming). Then clockwise - sky blue plumbago (which we saw growing wild at Addo, with the elephants ((for Andre)) ) Purple Streptocarpus (the pink one I did in, not enough water) Dietes, wild Iris. Purple Dimorphotheca jucunda (renamed from Osteospermum) Dianthus x allwoodii. Blue blue Pontederia, invasive Pickerel weed (but it is so beautiful!) Wild blue sage. White plumbago. And Tulbaghia (which North Americans call Society Garlic. Why? Garlic I understand.)
March's showgirl is the March Lily in the centre. Clockwise we have tangerine Bulbine. A very deep red Pelargonium, where the camera has captured gold highlights reflecting the sun. Yellow bietou, a daisy bush, planted by the birds as they like the black berries (Book says - Chrysanthemoides monilifera - Common and widespread on sands along the seaboard of southern and tropical Africa). Yellow Tecomaria, Cape Honeysuckle. 3 wild Pelargoniums. Aloe ciliaris, tree aloe, which will climb up through shrubs. And you will remember Phyllis van Heerden?
Diana, I love you fruit photos and you have so many lovely blooms going now! Seems like a good idea to demand folks have permits to grow invasive aliens! ;>)) My lights will be out all day Saturday! I am away! I will be sure to unplug everything too.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a monthly bloom record. You collages are so pretty!
ReplyDeleteLast night, I saw a television announcement about the Earth Hour. I will have to remember to do that!
Wow Diana, you have such beautiful blooms today. Your lovely striped sunset looks very much like the morden sunrise rose I will be planting later this year.
ReplyDeleteDiana, you have so much in bloom! Of course, I especially appreciate the fruit!! How long have you been logging your monthly progress?
ReplyDeleteRebecca - according to Ludwig's Roses, my supplier (on my sidebar), this is the Varietal Name:
ReplyDeleteMACtaurang (P)
Kimberley - if you click the Dozen for Diana tab, I started around Christmas. Then it seemed like a good way of keeping a record going forward.
Thanks for the reminder, Diana! And ah, I envy your abundant fruits in March. Mine aren't even in bud yet!
ReplyDeleteOh you are so much more organized and responsible than I am. I always think it would be an excellent idea to keep a detailed record of bloom times but instead I just take a lot of photos. I get off easy because my camera/computer program keeps them all organized for me with date and time. If that ever fails on me, as computers are bound to do, I am right out of luck. Your discipline is a much better way to go.
ReplyDeleteDiana, all your flowers look so wonderful. I would love to smell the air there as I am sure it would just be heavenly.
LeSan - my detailed record is Exactly The Same as yours. I just pick out a few photos, and make a collage.
ReplyDeleteDiana, It's wonderful to see all your march flowers. It reminds me of what I have to look forward to as my plants start to show some signs of life.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by how much your Plumbago (a plant I'm not familiar with) looks like my Phlox paniculata; I wonder if they're related? -Jean
Diana, I enjoyed seeing your Dozen-for-Diana picks. This is a "beautiful" method of documenting what is in bloom each month. I don't have a dozen plants in bloom yet this year, so I particularly admire yours.
ReplyDeleteYou have many beautiful flowers blooming now. I like your plant collages. I was trying to decide which flower was my favorite, thinking I couldn't decide, until the last collage. My vote goes to the March Lily. I love it!
ReplyDeleteJean - your (flame coloured?) Phlox and my blue Plumbago have similar flowers, but I looked them up. Two separate families.
ReplyDeleteDeb - I did do a post, just on the March Lilies.