Summer notes

Sadly, this was not to be a hot summer. We have had cool days, followed by really cold ones. Where is the summer, I ask you?

Setting all that aside, the plants are still providing cheer by flowering. The prettiest flowers are from the Kangaroo Paw. They literally look like pink kangaroo paws that open up to reveal a yellow interior. This is what attracts the birds (or so I read, cannot verify as all birds are driven away by the two doggies)

Kangaroo Paw

We have a native ground cover on the edges of the beds. Since our beds are raised, they form very pretty evergreen cascades. They have tiny star shaped flowers in the spring and summer. We have two colours of the ground cover - bright green and mauve. The flowers are white and in abundance in summer, which attract a lot of bees.

Myoporum Parvifolium

Myoporum Parvifolium

Our other flowers were also doing well. The Tibouchina flowers literally throughout the year, except from January to April. They are a bright purple coloured flower with delicate petals. These fall off after three days, but the tree has enough to keep the cheer alive.

Tibouchina

The African daisies also love the sun and keep flowering. This time I decided to prune the plant a bit as it was taking over everything around it. The plant sent out shoots really quickly and did not sulk at all :) From the cast-offs, I made a bouquet for the house. The flowers last us for over a week.

Purple African daisy

Out of the two Dahlias that we had bought a couple of months ago, the yellow one decided to first settle in and then produce flowers. Whereas, the red one continued flowering and only grew more leaves after it stopped. The flowers are really very good looking.

Dahlia

And finally, the Virginian stock was nicely flowering as well. They are really small and could have benefited with some more seeds in each pot. I have seeds left over for the next season.

Virginian stock

After writing this entry, I realised that most of the flowers that do flower for long in our garden are purple in colour! The Lupins and Hebe flowers are also purple! While I do have orange and pink versions of the African diasies, they do not do as well as the deeper purple. The winter bulbs and dahlias are different colours but last only for a short time. Hence, the next time I plan a garden with permanent features, I will pick more colours.

Too much purple!