Flowers as usual for Fertilizer Friday and January GBBD

January in this part of the world is most pleasant in terms of temperature, as we are still having the spillover winds from the deep winter of Siberia and Mongolia. At 19 -23C it is already very pleasant for us because this is the lowest it gets in the lowlands. We have very few highlands with lower temperatures that maybe resembling your spring. At the same time, you will be seeing in the news that we have floods and landslides and deaths in some parts of the country. That is because the La Niña phenomenon producing excessive rains is still here. However, rains are not really that excessive, it is just that it drops in some vulnerable sites predisposed by the relentless irresponsibility of the human race. In our area in the province, rain is still wanting. We are in mid-elevation of a few hundred feet above sea level, but not enough to get lower temperatures. I am already happy that we still have very fresh air there, and i can safely watch birds and butterflies, go to the beach or to the mountains without any danger of intrusions. But of course here in the big city where i work, everything is different.

By next month, the temperatures will start going up again as the dry season is approaching. I am sure some of you still remember my posts about the pathetic pictures of our landscape, plants and trees. I hope this dry season will not be as bad, as my salvaged orchids just came out from the Intensive Care Unit. I always describe my two places of residence because i don't have a garden here in the city. The following flowers are in the province, in my mother's care or neglect.

The Faithful: present all year round

 

the ever present Duranta erecta and the Seemania sylvatica  

a lily with the purple Pentas lanceolata

the omnipresent red hibiscus

 the red salvia with variegated amaranth

 the orange Crossandra infundibuliformis

Crossandra infundibuliformis with the ti plant, Cordyline terminalis

orange Heliconia 

The Special: present only during the cold months or short days

                                         

the spray chrysanthemum - short day plants

the Impatiens balsamina, only during the wet season

Petunia  - available only during the wet season    

Orthosiphon aristatus, versatile as long as there is water

Coleus blumei, versatile also as long as there is water