The Crepe Myrtle ‘Sioux’ Finally Bloomed

The pink ‘Indian Summer’ Crepe Myrtle (lagerstroemia indica) ‘Sioux’ was the very first thing we planted when we moved into our forever home three years ago. Crepe Myrtles are amongst my very favourite trees, and I wanted it to be one of the first things I saw whenever I turned into the driveway.

Plumeria ‘Darwin Sunset’

Just a ‘happy snap’ of the lovely Frangipani (Plumeria) ‘Darwin Sunset’, which is in bloom now after failing to produce any flowers during last year’s cooler summer. This is the first bloom on the plant to open this year, with just 2 weeks of summer left! The red-flowering varieties are notoriously hard to grow this far south (don’t be drawn in by them at the nursery), but I do enjoy a gardening challenge!

Rainbow Shower Tree

The beautiful flowering Rainbow Shower Tree

Just one of the gorgeous flowering trees I admired whilst in Hawaii- this one is a Rainbow Shower Tree (Cassia fistula x javanica). If only it would grow in Sydney!

The cascading flowers

It’s Summer- So Where Are All The Frangipani Flowers?

We’ve had some interesting weather in Sydney this Summer, with some particularly mild days and relatively cool temperatures overnight. And the plants have noticed. For some, the reprieve from soaring temperatures and humidity has seen them thrive. But for the more tropical specimens, the weather has been, well, confusing.

The Crepe Myrtle Colour Mystery Solved At Last

Long-time readers may recall my discovery of a neglected crepe myrtle growing in the front garden (if not, you can read about it here). It has been a long wait, but the crepe has FINALLY bloomed for the first time, revealing the colour of its flowers!

Welcome To The World, Little Rose

This post has certainly been a long time coming! As regular readers will be aware, I was expecting my second child in December- and she has arrived, albeit a little earlier than planned. My beautiful daughter was born on November 16th, and we have named her Rose.

The very first rose to bloom in my garden this Spring- rosa “Iceberg”

Growing Camellias From Seed

Three years ago I decided to try propogating a gorgeous camellia from the abundant seed pods it produced. Here is the tree in late Winter at my previous house:

The lovely mother camellia

And here is a close-up of the large mid-pink, informal semi-double blooms:

Abundant pink blooms

The tree (i.e. the mother plant) bloomed heavily from late-Winter to late-Spring and was never bothered by pests or diseases.

Hardy Agapanthus

I am now back from an unplanned 3 week hiatus from my blog. I certainly have a backlog of things I’d like to post about now! First up, the Agapanthus…

The Agapanthus are well and truly out in Sydney at the moment. Just as the Jacarandas finished flowering, more striking purple (and white, blue, pink and ‘black’) blooms were ready to take their place.

The National Rose Trial Garden of Australia – Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my visit to the National Rose Trial Garden in Adelaide, South Australia. You can view Part 1 here.

I actually didn’t take note of the names of many of the roses I photographed, but I don’t think they’d be very hard to track down if any caught your eye in particular. And of course many were just numbered, as they were the 2013 entrants in the trial.

The National Rose Trial Garden of Australia – Part 1

It’s no secret that I’m a lover of roses, and I have long wanted to visit the National Rose Trial Garden in Adelaide, South Australia. This garden is where new-release roses to the Australian market are voluntarily and anonymously tested in our unique conditions for one year, and the top performers are awarded medals, trophies and certificates.