Thursday, December 15, 2011

Garden in December

The more frequent visitors here, most especially my blogger friends, might say that they have already seen my flowers here in the past posts. That is really true! But what can I do when most of these flowers are perennially present in our landscape! Our tropical weather permits them to be alive throughout the year. But of course, some of them also rest for a while during our dry season. They are also afraid to come out for fear of scalding or even burn-out (literally)! But this is still a part of the rainy season, so they are happier these months. By February, they will start to rest a bit and consolidate its energies to bloom profusely again like now.

But even if i have the same kind of flowers here, i don't post the same photos, no worries! When i repost the photo, i will tell you that, or i will include a previous link. So....for my friends at the onset or already in deep winter, I am showing you a panacea for the grey or white environment. Sit and relax, and watch our perennial tropical vegetation.

 Mussaenda philippica 'Doña Luz'

please help me identify this plant

 Turnera subulata

Turnera ulmifolia with a yellow sulfur butterfly

variegated amaranthus

 marigold, Tagetes erecta (2nd generation from seeds courtesy of Skeeter-In the Garden)

 periwinkle, Vinca rosea syn. Catharanthus roseus

candle flower, Pachystachys lutea


 Cat's whiskers, Orthosiphon aristatus


Pentas lanceolata

 thornless red rose

 Asystasia intrusa

Heliconia

Euphorbia millii


Impatiens balsamina

Sanchezia speciosa 

crotons, Codiaeum variegatum

My Photo  Monatlich  ff 

GBBD         Bloggers Bloom Day         Fertilizer Friday     Blooming Friday


43 comments:

  1. I just love that you ended the post with croton. I love this plant and wish it could live outside. They are in the greenhouse, so at least I get to have some close. No apologies, Andrea. You can post the flowers over and over, we have too many months until we see them in our gardens.

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  2. Lovely blooms Andrea! Your "Asystasia intrusa" looks remarkly similar to our Makhaya Bella. I wonder if they are related?
    Happy GBBD :)

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  3. I am amazed at the size of your pachystachys lutea!! I had no idea they could grow that large. They are annuals for us. Crotons are beautiful, as well.

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  4. We never tire of seeing all your wonderful flowers. You've certainly got a great selection blooming at the moment. We grow so many of the same plants, but I always enjoy seeing photos of them in your garden as well. I just love your Asystasia. That is a new plant for me. I'm afraid I don't know what the unknown plant is, so I can't help with an I.D.

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  5. Beautiful blooms Andrea! It always makes me smile whenever I see Mussaendas, so distinctively Philippine!

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  6. Andrea ~ How could anyone tire of seeing colorful flowers and foliage? Yes, you and I do have similar temperatures, just as I do with Bernie, so we all grow some of the same plants. You really have some lovely ones in bloom right now. There are quite a few that I don't have so it is a treat to see them in your gardens.

    Your Mussaenda philippica is wonderful and I love your Asystasia intrusa.

    We rarely get below freezing here in s.e. FL. If freezing temps are predicted I try to protect some things, bring some indoors, and the rest have to fend for themselves. Last year we did have a lot of cold days for us, and some plants lost leaves, a couple croaked, but the rest did fine.

    FlowerLady

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  7. Your blooms are beautiful Andrea! I love the double impatiens. I haven't ever seen that variety before. Happy Bloom Day!

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  8. All are beautiful, Andrea but I'm partial to the Cat's whiskers! Happy GBBD!

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  9. Dona Luz and candle flowers-wowser!!

    Happy Holidays to you Andrea~!

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  10. Hi Andrea, You can show us your gorgeous flowers ANYTIME you want to... This time of year, when winter is setting in here, we don't have much color. SO--we enjoy seeing your beauty!!!! Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  11. Your garden is certainly looking very bright and cheerful. Thankyou for your recent visit and comment on my photography blog, lovely to have you call by.

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  12. Thank you for brightening my day with your beautiful flower photographs! It is a dismal, gray and rainy day here in NW Pennsylvania.

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  13. you do know your flowers. i am kicking myself that i didn't pay too much attention on the flora in the phil when i was there.

    i especially missed the dona luz and dona aurora, they were plentiful in the neighborhood i grew up in.

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  14. I think it's wonderful that your flowers bloom throughout the year! I love the candle flower! I like seeing all the different plants that you grow that I've never seen in real life. A tropical paradise!

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  15. Those flowers are luscious! Gorgeous shots.

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  16. Lovely post...just love the "Cat's Whiskers"!

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  17. What wonderful blooms you have. I grow cat's whiskers here in my garden in Southeast Texas, too, but mine are gone since our recent killing frost.

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  18. In such flowers can look and look, because they are beautiful. In recognition of the flower can not help :-(. Yours

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  19. aloha andrea,

    beautiful show this morning, thanks for sharing

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  20. Wow, I am amazed by the performance of your P. lutea, so many golden candles! I use fresh leaves of the Cat Whiskers to steep and make Java Tea - it taste like chinese tea. Happy GBBD!

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  21. I am so happy to see your very kind and appreciative comments. I am glad i can perk you up a bit in your extreme coldness, which i might not be able to relate fully.

    Donna - Oh I'm sorry you cannot grow crotons outside. We have lots of it and always cut back, there are also many colors available though due to space constraints we only have two. I am sure you would love also the spindly leaves type.

    Christine@The Gardening Blog - Asystasia intrusa and Makhaya bella are in the same Family, Makhaya once belong to the Asystasia genus, but later separated when found to have distinct characteristics of its own.

    Toni-Signature Gardens - Our P. lutea serve as hedge on that area, annual trimmings help it maintain its beauty and prolific blooms.

    Berni H - we almost have the same plants, yet i still envy the lushness of yours because you have resources to take care of them, ours are just on their own. LOL

    Mark and Gaz - If you will be able to acclimatize Mussaenda in your Alternative Eden, you will be famous in UK, LOL.

    Flower Lady - your temps are better than ours as you get colder temps, our lowest is just above 20C. That's why plants get easier to take care of in your climate. Whew!

    Garden Girl - it is your first time here, i hope you come again. I love that impatiens too, when planted in more compost and partially shaded it gives more blooms at the same time.

    Cat - maybe you just remained loyal to your namesake, so you prefer cat's whiskers! LOL.

    Tina - that Mussaenda 'Dona Luz' is quite eye catching, but it is common in households so maybe nobody looks at ours. Happy Holidays as well.

    Betsy - I actually show you our bright colors to cheer most of you up, and bring some warmth to your feelings, keep warm and take care.

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  22. LindyLouMac in Italy - who is now holidaying in Hongkong, thanks for coming over too. I also miss my visit to Rome, and hope to see the rest of the ruins someday.

    Linda G - I am glad you were a bit warmed by my bright colored plants. I hope it might not be as dismal, gray and rainy anymore.

    Photo Cache - If I am like you uprooted from here and will not be able to see the plants there, i might be stressed. I remember you telling me before that you can't find the white bougainvillea there, while here they are just dumped on the wastebin during pruning time.

    Holley Garden - knowing they will always be around also have disadvantages, as we tend to forget taking care of them, or appreciating them more. I bet those who migrated to colder climes now missed our plants.

    Ladyfi - thank you for the appreciation and kind words.

    Scotweberpdx - I appreciate your coming over, as it is not often. I am always in your site because i love your photos.

    Dorothy - although we get some similar plants, we don't get frost, but we have long dry season which are really challenging for most plants.

    Giga - oh thank you so much for the kind appreciation. I will go to your site from here now.

    Noel - i know these plants are very common also in Hawaii. You seem not to post more often these days.

    Autumn Belle - yes that P.lutea is so prolific, i just cut them when they are already too tall. They are also cut by grazing goat kids who help me pruning. In fact the hedge is longer than what I've shown. Thanks for the recipe of Cat's whiskers tea, i might do it sometime as they say it is useful in cleaning the kidneys.

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  23. Whoa!!! So many amazing blooms that I've never even heard of before. I especially love the Mussaenda philippica 'Doña Luz'. Gorgeous!!!!

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  24. I'm so jealous of anyone that can grow Mussaenda outdoors! If I could grow such fun things outside I'd never have a houseplant again!

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  25. Andrea, your flowers shots are excellent!! Nice work. It's interesting. You call our "Shrimp Plant", the "Candle Plant". To be honest, I like Candle Plant better:)

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  26. To make Java tea:

    Take about 15-20 fresh leaves or dried leaves. Put in a teapot. Pour some boiling water into the teapot. Let it seep for 3 min before you sieve and drink. It is actually just like making tea. I like it plain but some may like to add some milk or honey.

    I pluck fresh leaves from my garden to make Java tea. You can also sun dry the leaves and store them in an airtight container for future use.

    Some people here use the whole branch, i.e. with leaves, stems and flowers to boil into herbal soup (Chinese style).

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  27. I'm impressed by the number of plants that you have which I don't see in my garden!
    After visiting gardens around the world through my browser, and seeing the same plants that I grow, it's refreshing to see unusual plants.

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  28. such gorgeous blooms. your wonderful flowers never fail to amaze me Andrea. i've always learned something new from you.

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  29. Same flowers, different day; it's like going to visit a friend over and over, always something a little different from the last visit. I can never get a good heliconia photo. Yours looks great.

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  30. Really strange to see all those flowers. Something that made me smile and I really enjoyed your pictures.
    Last year we had alot of snow this time, now it is frosty and one flower, a snowdrop.
    /Anette

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  31. What beautiful blooms, they all feel so full of wonderful warmth and life.

    Thank you also for your special comment on my blog. The use of these crops are of great concern to me and am so pleased to hear you are without them in your country.

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  32. I so enjoyed your warm and colourfull pictures. All I can see now are white snow all over, so your flowers really made me happy :)

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  33. Andrea, Your photos are just beautiful! I love th heliconia and the crotons. Really, everything looks so pretty, so lush, so colorful.

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  34. Megan - thanks for the appreciation. Some of them thrive in temperate climes maybe you just haven't encountered them.

    Tom - oh really, you love Mussaenda that much? We have lots of them in different colors, and they are pruned before the dry season so when they sprout there will be prolific bloom like above.

    Rohrerbot - scientific names are done for people to understand each other, common names are so plenty even in just one country. Normally, the common name shrimp plant is associated with Justicia brandegeana, this one is Pachystachys lutea. Shrimp plant droops while this is erect, so candle is a better description,LOL

    Autumn Belle - yes i got it, thanks for the recipe in making Java tea. I will do that at home.

    Gardens-in-the-sand -- actually we still have some more in our yard, but i rotate posting them in GBBD. Others i posted last time, although they are all blooming.

    Life Ramblings - thank you for letting me inform you in some ways. And your travels and photos amaze me too.

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  35. Neal Jean - that kind of Heliconia, i often uproot many rhizomes to throw away, because they multiply so fast. You should see my Heliconia rostrata, better looking than that one.

    Anette - it is amazing how we sometimes prefer to see the unusual, like me, i love your snowdrops, crocus and pansies because we dont grow them here.

    Greenearth - my appreciation for your visit, i hope you come again.

    Mia - i purposely posted them for the enjoyment of people like you in the temperate climes, with only snow, cold, and grey environment these holidays.

    Beth - these heliconia and crotons are growing so profusely that i always maltreat and abuse them buy cutting, uprooting and throwing away, LOL. thanks for your visit and kind words.

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  36. I never see a person who haven't like flowers. All must be loves them. These are some beautiful pictures of different flowers in garden. Such a decent presentation.

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  37. Hi Andrea...the mussaendas here don't look that good in the winter months. i think they lie to rest a little and wait for the rains in the early part of the year. love your photos...it's always nice to see these familiar blooms but from a different country.:)

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  38. What a treat it is to see all these colorful blooms while I look out on a frozen landscape here! I enjoyed seeing the marigolds and thinking about the long journey they made from Skeeter's Georgia garden to yours. Aren't blogging friends the best?!

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  39. Your shots make me happy! So colourful and vivid!
    Enjoy your weekend!

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  40. Wow, what lovely flowers! I love the candle flowers portrayed with that bokeh.

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  41. Thank you for the Cat's whiskers, Orthosiphon aristatus. I believe cat whiskers [the feline kind} bring good luck.

    Good luck in your adventures.

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  42. Very entertaining subject, I will bookmark your website to check out if you publish more in the future. Thanks!

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