Thursday, January 12, 2012

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


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45 comments:

  1. These are gorgeous blooms. Unexpected to see these grown in this part of the country. Obviously, I grow up coastal.
    Now I have a name for my duranta erecta photo.

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  2. Your flowers are beautiful. I hope this year's dry season will be less severe than last year's and that you will still have some beautiful plants and flowers to enjoy.

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  3. Gorgeous, Andrea... I love seeing beautiful flowers especially this time of year. We have SNOW coming to us tomorrow....
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  4. Some really beautiful blooms there. How nice to see those right now.
    Cher

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  5. Andrea what a stunning display..I love the flowers and how some present only during wet season...these are so beautiful and exotic...makes me feel warm and that the wind roaring outside is warm instead f bone chilling cold...

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  6. Beautiful! Beautiful! These beautiful flowers sure brighten up a grey day!

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  7. Hi Andrea, It is wonderful to have the excuse of a return blog visit to see bright colorful flowers. It is cold and everything is brown here. Snow is forcast for tomorrow. I hope that your dry season is not too severe.

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  8. Hello Andrea,

    Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope you get some needed rain before the dry season sets in. We are starting to dry out here as well. My water bill is $200.00 USD more than it was last month :-( and I am hoping we get frequent showers during the dry season that is coming.

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  9. I learn so much from your posts. You are my botany guru.

    I remember that impatient you showed. WE used to have that back home as well. That flower made me nostalgic

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  10. U nas jest szaro i z radością patrzyłam na ślicznie kwitnące kwiaty. Z ciekawością przyglądałam się hibiskusowi, bo takiego jeszcze nie widziałam. Pozdrawiam.

    Here is a gray and joyfully watched the beautifully blooming flowers. With curiosity hibiskusowi watched, because I have not seen this yet. Yours.

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  11. Such refreshing blooms to start off the year.

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  12. That's a beautiful sequence of varied plants and flowers.

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  13. Each part of the world is special in its own way. You are fortunate to have such lovely flowers throughout the year. It is dreary and cold here. Thanks for providing me with bright blooms and some warm sunshine!

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  14. Hello Everyone, I really intend to brighten and warm your cold days in these cold and gray days in the temperate climes. You wish for warmer days, and we wish to lengthen our colder temps at the moment! Even if we have cold surroundings, at least we remain warm in our hearts. Thanks for coming over and have a peaceful, contented and blessed weekend.

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  15. Like everyone I love visiting your warm and friendly blog Andrea. I hope your orchids do better this year and that the dry season is not so dry. Thanks for the comment about the aroids on my blog. I answered over there and was wondering if you could ask a Botanist at the university why they are not producing fruit. I would love to know too.

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  16. You have a pretty showing of blooms in this post. My Duranta suffered a hard freeze this year, and I doubt it will be alive this spring. I am going to miss it. Is it a 'weed' in your country?

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  17. Beautiful flowers, most of them are blooming here in Florida as well this time of year.
    Thank you for visiting my blog :-)

    Happy Gardening,
    Evelyn

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  18. Hello Andrea,

    I am envious of your colours. In Scotland, there are no colours at all.

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  19. Gorgeous flowers, Andrea! I love learning about your world there, also. It does seem a lot like our spring for you there now.

    Yes, my latest post was of the Tucson area, but more specifically a place that has been a movie set town for about the past 60 years, and is a tourist attraction. I don't know if you noticed the first "old Tucson" post that showed the first pictures I took the day we took our grandson there for his birthday. The shootout show is representative of the old west, and is something that is so much a part of our culture, and is pretty mild by today's standards. You see such shootouts in movies from an early age, and the old west is an important part of our history. Something like this is lots of fun for kids and parents alike, since we all have dreamed of being a cowboy, cowgirl or Indian at some time in our young lives. I know it must look violent to an outsider, but it's really just loads of fun for the tourists who want to relive those early western days of America. I hope that makes sense. Thanks for being honest about your concerns, though. All my best--

    Marie

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  20. beautiful collection of flowers. thanks for brightening up my day with these gorgeous blooms.

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  21. Wonderful to visit your colourful landscape again. While I am struggling with the grey skies it is fantastic to visit your country via your blog and I can almost smell those fabulous blooms, thank you:~)

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  22. Beautiful blooms! So nice to see color during the winter months... Thanks for sharing :)

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  23. It is good to be able to visit you and see all of this color. You have so many pretty flowers. I love your Duranta erecta. Just gorgeous! Have a wonderful weekend.

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  24. How happy I was to see the photo of Seemania Sylvatica... this one is growing and growing in my yard and although I love it I've never known it's name.. it's like a weed here! You spoke of the Orchids continued growth outside.. I'm in Florida and I only cover my Orchids maybe two nights during the cold winters (here it might see 42' during the night).. they love the great outdoors!
    Thanks again for your visit to my blog and enjoy your Sunday.
    Sandy

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  25. Such beautiful blooms! I miss my blooms now in winter, but your photos give me something to look forward to.

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  26. Such beautiful blooms Andrea! The winter flowers here are marigolds, mums, petunia, phlox...gardens are coming alive now. Our daytime temps varies between 20-23* but early mornings and night temps are between 8-9*

    The duranta erecta is not common around here. I must check out our nurseries!

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  27. How interesting that you knew all their names!

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  28. What a lovely blog you have. New follower. Nice to meet you!

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  29. Your temps right now are our usual overnight winter temps. Sounds lovely and cool.

    Great photos of all the fabulous blooms you have in your garden right now.

    The Seemania is a new plant for me. It has such lovely flowers. I've lost all my Impatiens balsamina. I'll have to get some more seeds as I do so love them in the garden.

    Your Coleus is gorgeous too. I need more Coleus!

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  30. Andrea, your pics are beautiful. I don't have any blooms here at all. Everything is sleeping:( Enjoy the cooler days....I know I would:)

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  31. What beautiful flowers! Thankyou for visiting my blog and I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Australia.

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  32. They are gorgeous! Most can be found in my tropical country too.

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  33. Thank you for sharing these fabulous flowers.

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  34. Beautiful flowers!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  35. You are a very rich person. :) At least when it comes to the floral beauty. :)

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  36. a lovely assortment of beautiful flowers

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  37. Lovely warm climate selection of plants.

    Eucalyptus is a genus of mainly trees of varying sizes with just a few shrubs among them. If you were referring to my second shot, that is a Melaleuca, another genus with scented leaves that ranges from shrubs through to massive trees. If you google them, there are hundreds of photos to compare.

    Thanks for the interest.

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  38. That red hibiscus snapshot is stunning! What beautiful and exotic looking blooms. Reminds me of sunnier days and warmer weather.

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  39. Andrea, my matchstick plant isn't doing too well so the 'sticks' are only about one and half an inch long and the ends look like pinheads. Think of a small nail's head. Google images show that these are longer but the blue tips which open up have miniature blooms. mine hasn't opened up as yet.

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  40. Is the orange Heliconia related to the familiar 'Bird of Paradise' seen in USA? As you can tell I am a lover of flowers but not a botanical expert.

    Love that you identify the flowers. Best to you. So enjoy dropping by and viewing your posts.

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  41. I knew I could count on some real blooms from you, Andrea--they're gorgeous! Interesting to see your 'special plants' that only thrive during certain seasons--these are ones that I can also grow during our gardening season. And thank you for the explanation of the different geographical areas of your country, something I knew little about. I hope that your dry season includes a little rainfall. Happy Bloom Day!

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  42. Oh they are goreous Andrea and the blue from the Duranta is so intense. I love the vibrancy of the Coleus leaves aswell. Great macro shots aswell!

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  43. Hi Andrea,
    I like your garden blog a lot. We write about the same things and believe it or not, grow some of the same plants even though I am in Houston, Texas.
    You have some beautiful flowers.
    Hope you get more rain soon.
    David/:0)
    P.S. I found you on Blotanical.
    My blog is also tropical and called Tropical Texana.

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Your comments inspire me to post more, and our conversations make life and gardening more meaningful.

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