Narcissus

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter who was known for his beauty. He was lured to a pool, where he saw his reflection and fell in love with it. Narcissus Jonquil is a perfumed variety with yellow or white flowers.

My attraction for this plant started from the 90s and it has been a favourite since. We saw it in on one of our trips to the Himalayan towns, where it is called ‘Nargis’. It has a lovely scent, with white petals and yellow trumpet centre. The one in my garden has yellow petals and a darker yellow trumpet centre.

Without doubt, this bulb has done well. We bought three in 2013 which flowered for a short time around September. In the next few years, more flowered for longer.

This year, there seemed to be 6 bulbs which flowered in quick succession. Here are the series of photos of once they all started flowering.

The last picture is the best one! The earliest Jonquil has lost it’s scent but not it’s looks. And the new ones are fresh and fragrant.

Frost attack!

Melbourne is susceptible to frost during the winters. In the last 7 years, our garden has survived it well. Perhaps we did not have enough frost to cause much damage. This year, however, quite a few plants suffered damage.

Princess Lily bitten by the frost

The most disappointing one was guava. We had more fruits this year compared to last. Sadly, many of them were, literally, frozen in their tracks towards development! It’s not a pretty sight, but they deserve a mention on the blog. Other guavas will be ready in a month’s time for plucking.

Poor Guava

Blackened

Another victim of the frost is Tibouchina. The original Tibouchina is located under trees, so is not affected. The new ones are out in the open and quite tall. The frost took out most of the branches and the leaves started dropping at an alarming rate. I read on forums that the plant is not dead, but may need pruning of the dead branches once the risk of frost has passed.

Dead arm of Tibouchina

I am looking forward to spring soon and putting this winter behind us!

Tibouchina

In 2015, I had mentioned that I had used Tibouchina prunings to stake peas. By December that year, some of them had struck and were showing leaf buds.

This summer, they really blossomed and created a spectacular effect! They grew tall so fast and have created a lovely screen to block off the neighbour's window across the street.

Nearly 6 ft tall

Tibouchina in bloom

Tibouchina