[Caroline]

While all you northerners have been revelling in June weather, down here in the southern oceans we have experienced record floods, hail and snow.  Fortunately very little of the bad weather hit Waiheke Island - although it has been abnormally cold at night.  Here are a couple of photos showing winter flowers doing their bit.  The first one shows paperwhites flowering at the top of the olive grove, while in the second, Algerian irises are flowering their hearts out after I remembered the slug bait in time to prevent the usual carnage. 

[Hilary]

Caroline,
Lovely photos
What else have you got flowering just now?

[Caroline]

Not as much as I would like, Hilary.  The Pyrostegia venusta has been very slow off the mark and the Aloe plicatilis only has a couple of flower buds to date.  I do have yellow jonquils in a rough area beside the drive, polyanthus and pansies in pots, and this little prostrate manuka cultivar Leptospermum scoparium at the top of a retaining wall.  Although it is minute at present, I expect it to cascade down the wall in due course.  I am planting up an area with shrubs this winter and I hope to include some winter-flowering ones, including tibouchina which does well here in the mild climate.

There are however a few summer "leftovers" - hibiscus, dianthus, some day-lilies which gained a new lease of life when the rain came, and some unstoppable shocking pink ivy-leafed pelargoniums.  So it's not all wintry gloom!

[Hilary]

Caroline,
I have just been looking at photos of the plants you mention.
What fun! they are all so bright and cheerful.
I can't say I have ever 'met ' any of the ones with Latin names which you mention.

The weather is still not settled here but I did have my 'first' swim this morning
Everyone counts their 'swims' here in Corinth

[Caroline]

Summer heat may be the issue in the northern hemisphere, but down here it is wet and windy.  Pruning has got off to a slow start; the photo shows the little vineyard near my house after pruning got underway - a wintry scene.

[Fermi]

Winter in Central Victoria:
Pomaderris obcordata 'Mallee Princess'
Narcissus 'Viristar'
Galanthus elwesii
Seedling "Hybrid Hoop"
Crocus flavus
Correa cv
cheers
fermi

[Caroline]

Interested to see the photo of the Pomaderris obcordata, Fermi.  Is it an Australian native, and what kind of conditions does it like?  I ask because there are several Pomaderris species which are native to NZ, but the ones I know have yellow flowers.  Pomaderris kumeraho, which is the most handsome for gardens is found north of Auckland, in poor clay soil.  As far as I know there has been no selection of cultivars, which I assume "Mallee Princess" is.

Cheers

[Fermi]

Hi Caroline,
yes, Pomaderris is one of "our" shared genera
According to a quick look through Prof Google it appears to be considered a synonym for P. paniculosa, but I'm not convinced
That species seems to grow much taller and is more open.
The cultivar name suggests that it is derived from populations between Victoria and South Australia.
Our plant was significantly pruned a few years ago by the parrots! Which may be why it has stayed so compact, but we grow it in a raised sand bed which is possibly also keeping it stunted,
cheers
fermi

[Fermi]

Some South African bulbs in flower at our place:
Moraea macronyx
Lapeirousia montana
Lapeirousia oreogena
Moraea polystachya

And some from elsewhere:
Tropaeolum tricolor
Retic Iris 'Alida'
Gagea fibrosa
cheers
fermi

[Alisdair]

Wow, what lovely things!

[Fermi]

Yes, Alisdair,
Winter is not dull around here!
Of course, some people believe we should abandon the traditional 4 equal seasons and replace them with 5 unequal ones:
http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/7221.htm
So in "Sprinter" we should expect a lot of these flowers!
cheers
fermi

[Fermi]

Some general pics of parts of the garden full of daffodils heralding the end of winter,
cheers
fermi