[Fermi]

Well done! We have no hope of growing those in our garden, Charithea! Too dry in summer and too cold in winter I think.
It's mid-winter here but there are already bulbs coming into flower:
1) white hoop-petticoat Narcissus
2) deep yellow hoops
3) Acis tingitana, the Moroccan Snowflake
4) Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' (the badly named "Summer Snowflake"!)
5)  Galanthus elwesii
6 & 7)  four-petalled Galanthus elwesii
cheers
fermi

[Charithea]

Fermi, you definitely bring back cooler days with your flowers. We forgot what it is to have cool weather. Regarding the Clerodedrum. It took a long time to acquire the Clerodendrum chinense.  The Nurseries did not stock it any more. It was in gardens in Cyprus in the late fifties. I knew I would be able to grow it here because I remember visiting a garden in my childhood and what impressed me the most was its perfume.  Lucky for us the Forum was around and when I lamented about it Mike Hardman brought us two sticks in a pot. They apparently were available in his area. The sticks prospered but always suffered badly in the summer with the flowers browning quickly. We replanted the original in different areas in the garden until we found the right spot.  Under our trees which have matured and provide more shade. The two  Clerodendrum x speciosum were given to me by a friendly  Nursery owner a few years ago as a pacifier. He promised to find me a Clerodendrum ugandense now called Rotheca myricoides but was unsuccessful. Once more the Forum played its role. David Dickinson got me one from Italy. It takes a lot of my time keeping it alive but I am happy to report that it will soon re-flower. Thank you Mike and David.

[Fermi]

Thanks, Charithea,
cold and wet here today so we are missing the warm weather!
It's good to know that the Forum helps in finding and sourcing plants, something that seems to be becoming harder rather than easier.
Here are a few more flowers in our garden:
1) The very common Narcissus tazetta hybrid known locally as "Straws"
2) This is a seedling Grevillea which appeared a few years ago. It is similar to G. rosmarinifolia but not as prickly
3 & 4) A yellow Bidens which is flowering even better in the winter
5) a more colourful hybrid Bidens
cheers
fermi

[Fermi]

A few more from our winter garden:
1) Muscari inconstrictum
2) Lonicera fragrantissima
3) Jasminum nudiflorum
4) "Double Roman" Narcissus, another old tazetta hybrid
cheers
fermi

[Umbrian]

Hope you are enjoying the wonderful perfume from the Lonicera.
In his latest blog ( The Gardenist) Michael McCoy thinks the shrub is 'ugly as sin' but 'Heavenly scented' and whilst I must agree it is not perhaps the most beautiful of subjects during the summer months I can forgive it once the flowers appear and make winter work in the garden a pleasure. It is very tolerant of pruning and so can be kept to a pleasing shape without loss of flowers I have found. In a big garden just let it grow and be rewarded with even more scent

[Charithea]

I decided to post some photos of our yellow and orange flowers that keep the garden looking alive this time of the year. They are Sulphur cosmos   original seeds from Rome, and another hybrid given to me by nephew and the Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifolia 'torch' , thank you David for the seeds and of course Cassia fistula . They keep up my spirits as I have lost most of my young plants to the heat and also 4 two year old Salvias. 

[Fermi]

Hope you are enjoying the wonderful perfume from the Lonicera.
In his latest blog ( The Gardenist) Michael McCoy thinks the shrub is 'ugly as sin' but 'Heavenly scented' and whilst I must agree it is not perhaps the most beautiful of subjects during the summer months I can forgive it once the flowers appear and make winter work in the garden a pleasure. It is very tolerant of pruning and so can be kept to a pleasing shape without loss of flowers I have found. In a big garden just let it grow and be rewarded with even more scent

Yes, the scent is the main reason to grow this shrub!
Here are a few of the bulbs coming into flower:
1) Romulea tetragona
2) a yellow trumpet daffodil whose label is hidden somewhere!
3) the brilliant Romulea sabulosa
4) Anemone coronaria cerise - from "Seeds of Peace" a few years ago
5) Gagea fibrosa
cheers
fermi

[Fermi]

1) Gladiolus gracilis
2) Geissorhiza inequalis
3) Narcissus KB-M-20-03 - a "micro-mini" daff from Keira Bulbs in Canberra
4) Hesperantha latifolia
5) Anemone heldreichii - being photo-bombed by a Babiana odorata seedling
cheers
fermi

[Hilary]

Lovely spring flowers

[Fermi]

Hope you are enjoying the wonderful perfume from the Lonicera.
In his latest blog ( The Gardenist) Michael McCoy thinks the shrub is 'ugly as sin' but 'Heavenly scented' and whilst I must agree it is not perhaps the most beautiful of subjects during the summer months I can forgive it once the flowers appear and make winter work in the garden a pleasure. It is very tolerant of pruning and so can be kept to a pleasing shape without loss of flowers I have found. In a big garden just let it grow and be rewarded with even more scent

Yes, Carole,
this shrub is nondescript for the rest of the year but from late autumn to early spring it delights with its perfume. It's now at full throttle and quite glorious.
It also offers a bit of protection to a winter flowering Kniphofia which is usually ruined by frost,
cheers
fermi

[Umbrian]

Gosh - which Kniphofia is that Fermi? I love them and think they are very underrated- never heard of a winter flowering one.... perhaps just in your half of the world?

[Fermi]

I think it's one that is called 'Winter Cheer' - which it is unless it gets frosted off! We got it from a friend in the Dandenongs which doesn't get as hard a frost as we do (down to -7^oC, but even -5 will damage it)
Another winter flowering one is Kniphofia sarmentosa which is a bit smaller. It's grown a lot in Kyneton (25 km south of us) even in central road roundabouts! But I haven't tried it here yet.
cheers
fermi

[Umbrian]

Thanks Fermi - don't suppose it will be readily available here 🙄but always interesting to learn about different plants😊

[Fermi]

It's spring! Here are some blooms from our garden:
1) Babiana cedarbergensis
2) Oxalis obtusa 'Peaches & Cream'
3) Narcissus nivalis - which has had flowers from May!
4) Lewisia cotyledon - from a friend back in February and it has survived the winter!
5) Trillium chloropetalum - not the easiest in our conditions but it has survived for over 12 years - but took 10 years for it's first flower!
cheers
fermi

[Hilary]

Beautiful