Foreign flowers in our October garden

I did try for the long view, instead of the pretty flowers. When we look at A Flower, the camera and I are mostly on the same page. The long view leaves me befuddled. Why doesn't the &%$#ing camera see what I see? Overexposed, or focused on a plane the human eye doesn't notice. The wrong edge of the wrong petal, of the wrong blooming flower!

Walking down the driveway as you turn to the front door the edge of the gravel has a bunker of nasturtiums. The summer sun starts to bite, and later will shrizzle the leaves, leaving the seed to wait for March, coolth, and the first rain. But for now we have thousands of flowers.

Nasturtiums AKA Cistercians here

In the pond are frogs and tadpoles the size of my thumb.
The pink waterlily is hiding its glory behind the island. And fighting a quiet battle with the tiny duckweed. We scoop it out by the bucketload, turn away for a moment, and half the pond is covered, again.

Waterlilies

This year the plums have lots of blossom, so we should get fruit. Prunus nigra, bought for its deep purple leaves, after blooming at the beginning of September, is covered in plums the size of my thumbnail. Anyone know if they are edible? 

Left blossom on edible plum
Right thumbnail sized fruit on Prunus nigra

This year the roses were lightly groomed. October and November should be their best months, so they are back to a monthly sprinkle of Talborne certified organic. And these two legs of the grey water system try for ten litres per bush every 5 or 6 days.

Dainty Bess, Tropical Sunset
Pearl of Bedfordview

Pink-Ribbon-1-Winter-Chill The first of Dainty Bess, with striped Tropical Sunset, and Pearl of Bedfordview being generous.

Left Courvoisier
Right Sheila's Perfume

Pink-Ribbon-2-Summer-Gold Courvoisier and Sheila’s Perfume already offering flowers to pick and bunches of promising buds.

Papa Meilland, Elizabeth of Glamis
Alec's Red

Pink-Ribbon-3-Autumn-Fire Papa Meilland, Elizabeth of Glamis, and Alec’s Red. Yes, we have roses to pick again.

Top left Lavender Jade
Burning Sky

Pink-Ribbon-4-Spring-Promise Lavender Jade and Burning Sky, in life quite clearly two different roses. A delicate miniature and a vigorous tall hybrid tea, but both exactly the same colour. 

Pink lavender

Mexican feather grass Mare's Tails
Japanese maple

I bring foreign flowers today. Mexican feather grass. Even the Japanese maple has flowers!

  

Pictures by Diana (and Jurg)
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.)