SkyWatch Friday; Caught....

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Red and Green;

Red and green....interspersed with a little yellow, blue, purple and silver gray.

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This gorgeous, little creature was found in the garden of my friend Silvia in Portugal.

Red Epiphyllums, cherished in spring.

I do appreciate this lacquer red Neoregelia, a Bromeliad species.

The rather brilliant Nasturtium flowers liven up any salad!

The dark red bottlebrushes are a beautiful feature of this Australian native tree.

Basil grows abundantly in the garden and makes the best ever pesto sauce.

The Genoese housewives would prepare this sauce for their husbands when they returned from their fishing trips.The men starved of greens, welcomed this delicacy with gusto.

Home made Basil Pesto. Recipes are found in any good Italian cookbook. Mine comes from the Book "Olive Oil; from Tree to Table;"

I do like the self seeding red Salvia rutilans, also called Pineapple sage, as the leaves have a pineapple scent.

A rose called "Ilona"!

Ardisia;
Luscious watermelon;

Hippeastrums, the prominent, red colour in my garden.

Believe it or not:

In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams

SkyWatch Friday; The big wet...

Christmas was greeted with a wet, grey sky; optimistic me says it keeps the garden green!

Please say hello to the many SWF friends around the world....click here

A Happy Christmas to all SW, especially to the never tiring SWF team members.

Photo TS in my garden.

Christmas Wishes;

Oh to be a child when magic sparkles on the tree, and secrets hover in the air, and waiting seems too much to bear!

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!

SkyWatch Friday; A painted sunset;

Happy SWF click here

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Photos TS

frou...frou...

Hemerocallis Spider Daylily "Christmas tidings" sets the scene for Xmas in the garden.

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Hibiscus, the huge red flowers are the epitome of rustling silk.

Brugmansia hybrid

Angels' trumpets

Brugmansia is named after Sebald Justin Brugmans 1763-1819. The genus Brugmansia belongs to the nightshade,Solanaceae family which includes tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, many kinds of peppers, eggplant, and also includes Datura, petunia, nicotiana, solanum, physalis (Chinese lantern) and other ornamentals. Brugmansia is native to South America, particularly the Andes, where they grow on sloping terrain under damp conditions.

These striking plants produce flowers that perfume the night air with their exotic fragrance. All parts of Brugmansia are toxic when ingested.

Hemerocallis, "Old Tangiers", lets you dream of times gone by.....

Pristine white Gardenia perfuming the whole garden, free of charge.

Hemerocallis, "Night Embers" dark and capricious...

Alpinia zerumbet, dwarf, variegated Shell ginger.

Want to know more please click here

Tea rose "Bewitched" looks and scent, a beauty;

Dance with the wind in your rustling silk...

Believe it or not:

A life without love is like a year without summer. ~Swedish Proverb

Photos from my garden TS

SkyWatch Friday; Stripes;

Sunrise, Friday, 10/Dec/2010, 4.30 AM

Photos TS please click

Please visit SkyWatch Friday and enjoy the colours of the sky;

A Rose is not a Rose....

this is Apricot Nectar;

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Apricot Nectar does very well in my garden zone 11. It is an easy rose to grow, wonderful to pick for a vase. Flowers nearly all year round. Cuttings take well in winter.

It is a pleasure to grow this rose.

'Apricot Nectar' is a floribunda rose with fully-doubled, fragrant, apricot to apricot-pink flowers borne in tight clusters with mid-green leaves.

Average rating :excellent

Apricot or apricot blend Floribunda.

Registration name: Apricot Nectar

Bred by Eugene S. "Gene" Boerner (United States, before 1964).

Strong, fruity fragrance. Double (17-25 petals) bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the year in my climate.

Height (60 to 120 cm). Width of (60 to 90 cm). Spring Pruning: Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood and cut back canes that cross. In warmer climates, cut back the remaining canes by about one-third

Believe it or not:

He who wants a rose must respect the thorn. -Persian Proverb

SkyWatch Friday; bruised....

Towards evening this black bruise was hanging around;

In the morning the sun came up, the bruise was still hanging in there....waiting;

We have a wet spring, the garden flourishes and it is warm anyway;

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Photos TS; late afternoon and early morning. Please click the pictures.

Across the garden from spring to summer....

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This is the entrance of the garden facing south and shaded by big trees.

Here I grow sky blue and pink, tall tropical Salvias and a dark pink Bougainvillea;

In the middle of spring the climber Baumontia grandiflora shows off spectacular bell flowers.

The pond attracts daily visitors, feathered friends come to drink and have a bath. I also have seen a whipsnake, not to be missed with its iridescent colours, to come and have a drink.

Gardenia grandiflora is in full flower now. In front the big leaves of a young tree fern. They seed freely when it is rainy and the soil is moist. A beautiful triangle palm is growing in between the plants and providing some shade.

Daylilies, Agapanthus and many other treasured plants are growing in this terraced area which faces North, and is hot in summer.

The chooks are an inquisitive lot...

Wild, simple china roses are my favourites. This one is growing in my court yard garden near the entrance.

Part of the terraced garden;

I like to grow many different grasses. This one is a very tall one in a deep red colour. The leaves are much broader then the blood grass. The flowers are pink with long soft hair swaying to and fro.

Different blue Salvias are still in full flower;

Two very big Gardenia shrubs are scenting the whole garden.

Believe it or not:

The seed is hope; the flower is joy.

Photos TS