The usual rain expected at this time of year has made an appearance during the last two or three weeks. In the subtropics, this is our wettest time of the year – it is also when the combination of the heat of summer approaching and regular rainfall creates high humidity.

And what annoying little insect loves the humidity? Mosquitoes!

My garden is fully responsible for my recent absence from blogging. Every day, I hear the collective murmurings of the leaves, the flowers, the trees, and of course, the weeds, beckoning me to join them. And why argue with them? It’s exactly where I want to be.

So now the summer rain is here – and the mosquitoes – I have been unwillingly forced indoors, several times, although I don’t mind staying outdoors if the rain isn’t too heavy.

From the windows inside my home, I have been admiring all of the plants I have been tending during the cooler months of winter now bursting into bloom. My roses are simply stunning, and clearly appreciate the extra care I have been giving them since completing my online university degree and abandoning my computer. I find that roses grow well in the subtropics. They are hardy plants, with the worst problems being aphids, which are easily removed by hand, and sometimes black spots on the leaves caused by too much rain. New leaves grow fast once the affected leaves have been removed.

Today, however, I am sharing what I believe is a stunning combination of flowers and colours when together in a vase – agapanthus, hydrangeas, and New South Wales Christmas bush.

The trio is a sentimental favourite of mine. Many moons ago when I lived in Sydney’s temperate climate zone, I grew all three in my garden, and with the climate south of here being slightly cooler than where I now live, they were all blooming beautifully at Christmas time. So every year on Christmas Eve, I would bring cuttings and flowers of all the plants indoors, enough to fill several large vases, to decorate the house for Christmas.
Here in the subtropics, the hydrangeas are in flower for many months. By Christmas time, however, the agapanthus looks bedraggled and the red stars of the Christmas bush have faded. My lovely trio simply always arrives one month too early for me to decorate the house for Christmas with them here in the subtropics, so I have to enjoy their indoor display prior to Christmas.

With being an Australian native plant, the New South Wales Christmas bush may be unfamiliar to people from other countries. New South Wales is the state where I live, so I must admit to having a soft spot for this beautiful small tree. In fact, during winter, I purchased a second tree. It has grown to around a metre tall since becoming a new resident in my garden and I expect its full height will be around four metres tall. I have taken the cuttings today from my older tree.

I chose my oldest crystal vase to arrange the display in an upright position. The centre of the vase can be removed, but I prefer to leave it in place when displaying tall flowers, such as the agapanthus, to give them stability. This vase is a particular favourite, inherited from my mother. It is about as old as me and a vase that I treasure.

Given the wet weather today, which is preventing me from spending the day outdoors, I decided to bring some of my garden indoors. And being Monday, it seems appropriate to add my early Christmas stunners as a contribution to “In a Vase on Monday”, hosted weekly by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Thank you, Cathy, for the inspiration to share some of my garden, indoors, on a wet, almost summer’s day. 🙂