Australia · flowers · gardening · in my garden · subtropical weather

A Week of Flowers ~~ Day 7

Seven days simply is not enough time to share all the flowers that are in my Southern Hemisphere garden now the summer is here. A Week of Flowers, hosted by Cathy at Words and Herbs is an annual event where bloggers are encouraged to share photos of their gardens in all their glory. Not only does it brighten the days of people in the Northern Hemisphere, where brightly coloured flowers dancing in the sunlight are a distant memory until spring returns, but it has also encouraged me to return to my own garden with a camera in hand. All through the cooler months of the year I have dug, removed, relocated, planted and mulched in my garden. Now hotter days have returned, it is time for me to stand at my windows, cool drink in hand and enjoy the landscape I have created during the cooler months.

Frangipani trees love the subtropical weather. I have four in my garden, the largest and most mature trees strategically placed near our pool and bar-be-que area. Being deciduous, during winter, when we want to allow the sun’s warm rays into the garden, the branches of the trees are bare. As the warmer weather arrives, so do the leaves, giving us beautiful dappled shade in the area of the garden where we spend most of our time during summer. And the added bonus is that frangipanis have the most beautiful flowers. Close up, the five-petaled flowers are a work of art. From a distance, the view of the two trees together is breathtaking. 🙂

Cathy, where has the week gone? I still have more photos to share! Thank you so much for the inspiration to share flowers with other bloggers every day for a week. I have met more like-minded bloggers through your challenge this week and I am learning more about plants, and how they grow in the Northern Hemisphere. ❤

I believe I will have to blog more regularly now summer is here. 🙂

Australia · clouds · garden flowers · gardening · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · rain · seasons · summer · sunrise · Tweed Valley

Monday Morning Mist

This morning I awoke to the most beautiful sight in the valley.

After another warm day yesterday, we had an unexpected downpour of rain late last night, nothing major, but it seems the moisture combined with the heat was enough to give the valley an “other worldly” appearance this morning.

While I was outside admiring the valley mist in the early morning light, a female Pee Wee came by. I have four regular Pee Wee visitors these days – two males and two females.

Even though drizzly rain continued all morning, there was something special about the light today. I played around taking photos for a while from my front patio, and one of my favourites was of my white miniature rose. A couple of weeks ago, the plant looked a tad frazzled, but since the days have been cooler, it seems to have had a new surge in growth.

Like the miniature rose bush, the cooler and calmer summer’s days we’ve had recently have given my Tibouchina tree a new lease on life too.

This summer, I am basking in the glory of cooler-than-usual days and nights, which have allowed me to spend more time in the garden than usual this summer. If every summer could be this agreeable, I’d be a very happy all-year-round gardener. 🙂