Category: subtropical weather

Australia · birds · in my garden · photography · seasons · subtropical weather · summer

A Rare Visit From A Pheasant Coucal

Joanne22 Comments

We share our garden every summer with these stunning birds, yet rarely see them near the house.

This week, however, a Coucal paid a visit. In great excitement, I (quietly) grabbed my camera to (hopefully) get a shot before he flew away. They can be pretty skittish birds!

When he went to fly away, I thought that was the end of the visit, but he flew to my clothesline. Meanwhile, I stood quietly taking photos as the Coucal posed this way and that.

It may have even seen me, just inside the glass door, clicking away with my camera, but clearly, it didn’t believe I was a threat. As you can see it was cautious, as he fluffed his feathers and spread his wings, probably in preparation to take flight.

When the Coucal settled and turned, I took a photo of its back view.

When he checked me out again, his feathers were unfluffed – he had apparently calmed down.

For me, this was an incredible opportunity to zoom in on this beauty. When I hear them call, it is often when rain is about. Many people call them Storm Birds, due to hearing their call when storms are about. Their call echoes… and I found a webpage where a recording of their whooping call can be heard. Click on this link and on the right side of the page, under the heading ‘Calls’ is a short recording to listen to … then imagine heat and humidity in the air, lush green growth in the garden which is the Coucal’s preferred habitat, and the sloping terrain heading down into a valley at the back of my house, which adds to the echoing quality of the call in my garden.

The Coucal’s tail feathers are quite long,

… and on its back, it has soft downy feathers.

I was not about to let the opportunity of this Coucal’s visit pass me by without zooming in on every detail. Look at that fine, white-flecked detail in his feathers.

And when he turned again, I took the opportunity to capture a closeup of his face.

When he scratched, I took a photo …

… then with one last look my way, he flew to the ground and disappeared from sight. ❤

I have a busy couple of days ahead now. My mother-in-law turns 91 today and we have all the family visiting for a barbeque tomorrow. I have salads to prepare, etc., but I will return on Sunday to catch up with everyone.

Enjoy your weekend! ❤

Australia · garden flowers · gardening · herbs · Ixora · subtropical weather · summer · window

In a Vase on Monday ~ Heat Survivors

Joanne21 Comments

Late last year, when reading an ‘In a Vase on Monday’ post, I noticed that Cathy at Rambling in the Garden said she had collected her flowers on Sunday to take indoors. Given the heat of summer, and knowing how much water I need to add to the vase the day after bringing my flowers indoors, I decided to pick my vase choice this week on Sunday instead of on Monday morning. The first photo, taken this morning, shows a more upright collection of stems than yesterday when the flowers were first picked. It’s amazing how much more sprightly my flowers look after a few hours out of the heat.

While having a wander along the garden near the pool, which is hit by the main heat of the day during the afternoon, I noticed the salvias looking quite happy, even though there was a warm breeze blowing.

This is a purple salvia, Salvia verticillata ‘Purple Rain’, and is growing well. I need to plant more. The buds are not all open yet, so I hope now they are indoors, they open fully. There’s a bit of “trial-and-error” happening here!

In another garden nearby, which is slightly shaded, I saw several, perfectly formed Ixora ‘Prince of Orange’ flowers blooming. My other two shrubs of the same plant, growing in a more exposed area of the garden are long past blooming now, so these were a lovely surprise. I wouldn’t usually put vivid orange and purple flowers together in a vase, but these seem to work.

The Verbenas – Verbena rigida f. lilacina ‘Polaris’ – are coping well in the heat too. I love these flowers, both in the garden and in the vase – it’s getting them into the vase that is a challenge. The leaves and stems are so coarse! I adore their dainty flowers though, which belies the texture of the greenery.

When I had almost reached the house I stopped off to check out my struggling veggie patch. The silverbeet plants have been munched on by insects and frazzled by the heat, so out they came. I also need to go back out into the garden today to pick a few rhubarb stems before I lose any more, but the rosemary is flourishing. I snipped a couple of stems, just to add a touch more greenery to the vase.

Some of my parsley has gone to seed. I was about to cut the seeding umbrel stems when I thought perhaps they would look pretty in my vase. I have never considered adding herb cuttings to a vase of flowers before, but why not? They are interesting foliage, and they smell beautiful. 🙂

Once I had arranged the flowers on my kitchen bench into a new vase – a gift to myself just before Christmas – and I had taken basic photos of my chosen flowers, I began to notice the light outside changing. I clicked away a few more times, and about half an hour later I had taken far more photos than I intended!

Nearly every photo I took was a play on darkness and light.

And when I looked at the upper section of the vase, the leggy stems, flopping this way and that, reminded me of a wildflower meadow.

The green of the parsley umbrels, which I had considered removing from the vase, began to glow in the changed light.

In other shots, the background glowed while the vase contents remained darker.

The deep green Rosemary stems against a reflection of light added a new layer of interest to the photos.

When the room is in focus, evidence of the playful light dancing through the windows can be seen.

Many thanks, once again, to Cathy for hosting the weekly In a Vase on Monday meme. ❤

from my garden · garden flowers · seasons · subtropical weather

Gazania, in all its glory.

Joanne11 Comments

It’s time for Wordless Wednesday; however, my photo today requires a few words.

You may recall my Tiny Treasures post on Monday. I added a few Gazanias to a small vase, along with a few other flowers picked from my garden. The Gazania petals looked rather bedraggled, having just been brought indoors after a shower of summer rain. I wasn’t sure how the flowers would cope indoors.

As you can see, the Gazanias are very happy! Now the petals have dried, they have a new lease on life. ❤

In other news, my desktop computer is having a hissy-fit! My son-in-law will be here tomorrow to pull apart the computer and give it a good clean. Meanwhile, I have spent the morning saving all my photos and files to my external hard drive. But I may disappear briefly. If the clean-out doesn’t rectify the problems, I will need a new computer. Fun. :/

from my garden · garden flowers · native Australian plants · rain · roses · subtropical weather

In A Vase On Monday ~ Tiny Treasures

Joanne26 Comments

When I went outside to collect flowers between showers of rain, I had not expected to return laden with a large collection of miniatures. My only explanation is that this is the collection of flowers that “chose” to be stars of the vase for my In A Vase On Monday contribution this week, hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

Is that a thing, I wonder – can flowers make their own choices? In my garden, surprisingly, they often seem to!

The native Australian Lilly Pilly buds had already caught my eye today. When I saw them through the kitchen window this morning, the colour of the bud seemed to be a deeper shade of pinkish-brown, compared to two days ago when I took photos of them for my native plants post. I imagined tiny sprigs of the buds looking very pretty in a vase.

In a pot close to the Lilly Pilly bush, I noticed that some of my ‘Chameleon’ roses needed dead-heading. Chameleon – also known as ‘Pur Caprice’ – is a miniature rose, with the blooms changing colour from red to yellow, then pink and white as the flowers age, hence the name Chameleon. Some Chameleon blooms would look lovely in a vase with the Lilly Pilly buds … and so the miniature vase began to take shape.

In yet another pot nearby, the Osteospermum Serenity Pink Magic Cape daisy also needed some attention, so while snipping spent flowers, I chose two healthy blooms to add to the miniature mix. I adore the colour of this daisy! It is not the shade of pink I expected when I first planted the tube stock plant, it’s even more beautiful than I had imagined it would be.

In the front garden, I knew I had some very pretty Gazania flowers in bloom. The colour matches the various pink tones I had already picked, although the delicate petals may have suffered a bit due to being damp from the recent rain. In the garden, Gazania close their petals when night falls, so I will watch carefully as the day turns into night, to see if they do the same when indoors.

When together in the vase, I am quite happy with the selection of tiny treasures I heard calling out to be chosen for my Monday vase!

When deciding on a vase, I chose a tiny jug which is actually a miniature of an old-style wash basin. The design on the side colour-coordinates very well with my flowers as well – perfect!

And my collection of miniature “pets” – the Labrador with four kittens stands guard over the vase …

… with the finishing touch – the tiny bowl under the tiny jug. 🙂

Australia · garden flowers · in my garden · native Australian birds · native Australian plants · rain · subtropical weather · summer

Australian and New Zealand Native Plants

Joanne23 Comments
First ‘Little Ewan’ flower

In previous posts, I have mentioned that during the past year, I have focused on revamping my garden, by removing plants that I wasn’t happy with and trying new plants in their place.

A new plant to me was ‘Metrosideros Little Ewan’, otherwise known as a dwarf New Zealand Christmas bush. I thought I’d give it a go, so bought three tube stock plants. Much to my delight, I noticed this week that I have my first Little Ewan flower.

‘Little Ewan’, looking down into the centre of the flower

The clusters of red spires look to be growing from a yellow base; also, there is the tiniest hint of yellow at the end of the soft spires. The plant is still tiny but grows to one metre in both width and height. It will be lovely to see the plant in flower when it reaches its full maturity.

First finger limes

Finger limes are native to Australia. Referred to as “bush tucker” by aboriginal people, the fruit, when cut open, has the appearance of caviar! My tree is young, and this is the first summer it has fruited. I have been lucky enough to try finger limes previously when my neighbour brought some off their tree for us to try. When I cut open my first lime, I will take photos to share here. 🙂

Finger lime tree in bud

I am still learning the intricacies of finger lime tree growth, but I predict we may have a few more limes appearing before summer is over.

Lilly pilly buds

Also in bud is my native Australian Lilly Pilly shrub. This shrub is growing in a pot currently, but I have plans for it to become a feature plant in one of my newly renovated gardens.

Wet, wet, wet!

A post of Australian natives wouldn’t be complete without a photo of kookaburras. As you can see, we have summer rain here which I am thankful for – it is keeping the temperatures lower each day, even if the humidity is a tad high! During the mid-month of summer, I am grateful for any reprieve I can get from the heat. 🙂