Hot, dry and hopefully rain;
14/01/2014 Sunrise 05:06 AM
Over night rain, early morning woolly, grey clouds were still hanging around soon infused by the morning sun. It looked beautiful.
Intriguing flower of cicorino rosso;
Salvia Coral Nymph is long blooming and reliable. Plant multiples of this sage where you can appreciate the cool pastel flowers up close.
In my garden it reseeds regularly, but I do not regard it as invasive, as it is easily eradicated.
It is wonderful in a mixed cottage flower border.
If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me.
William Shakespeare
Moonlight; 07/01/2014 20:18 PM
A new Year lets your old worries slip into limbo of no return. Titania
Lemongrass; Cymbopogon is a genus of about 45 species of grasses, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World and Oceania. It is a tall perennial grass.
Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus) has magenta colored base stems. These species are used for the production of citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as an insect repellent especially mosquitoesin insect sprays and candles, and in aromatherapy, which is famous in Bintan Island, Indonesia and the Philippines. Therefore, its origin is assumed to be Indonesia. The principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household disinfectants and soaps. Besides oil production, citronella grass is also used for culinary purposes, in tea and as a flavoring.
Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus) has magenta colored base stems. These species are used for the production of citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as an insect repellent especially mosquitoesin insect sprays and candles, and in aromatherapy, which is famous in Bintan Island, Indonesia and the Philippines. Therefore, its origin is assumed to be Indonesia. The principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household disinfectants and soaps. Besides oil production, citronella grass is also used for culinary purposes, in tea and as a flavoring.
A new planting project to hide the chicken fence. I plant a mixed border with three grevillias in between to add some height.
I planted dwarf cannas in red and various pinks, blue Agapanthus, many different tall Salvias,
Catharanthus roseus, commonly also called Vinca
Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar rosy periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Other English names occasionally used include Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid".
It is an evergreen herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The flowers are
white to dark pink with a darker red centre, or with variations with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes.
In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine and as an ornamental plant.
A conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.
As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange.
Such as we are made of, such we be.
William Shakespeare
I like to watch the morning awaken between the trees.
The new year has many empty pages, use them wisely. Titania
Sunset 06/01/2014 19:06 PM
Believe it or not:
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow”
Albert Einstein.
© Photos my garden; some text Ts/ Lavender &Vanilla
A lovely day in your yard. I admire you still gardening. I find it hard to get motivated and so much needs doing.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I go early in the morning. It is good soil, clay with compost matter, at the moment very dry and the addition of many small stones from building the road 25 years ago! It is not easy to get it growing, as I do many plants from cuttings, I know I should wait until it rains but my impatiens and I like this project. It is in full sun and will be full of flowers one day, a feast for bees, butterflies and other insects, Grevillias I planted for the birds.
DeleteYour sky shots are sensational. It's been hot and dry here too, although we've had a few short, light showers over the past few weeks. Hopefully it's a precursor to the arrival of the real wet season.
ReplyDeleteThat Cicorino flower is exquisite. So lovely. I also adore your Coral Nymph Salvia. Your new planting project seems to be coming along very nicely, given the hot, dry conditions. I can't wait to see it take off after some decent rain.
Wishing you a great new year ahead.
Bernie, thank you. I plant mainly hardy perennials, once they are established; they won't be pampered. I water them in very hot and dry conditions and pruning at certain time. Luckily we have a bore and the water is beautiful, we also use it as drink water. I will be very colourful, a little heaven for butterflies I hope! The chicken fence does not look great so it is good to hide it behind plants.
Delete"The new year has many empty pages, use them wisely" - I like this quote.
ReplyDeleteAs for the finger lime, I decided to put it off for now as it sounds like its pretty temperate. I am refocusing on regional tropical plants for now. I am starting to grow some Neps from seeds - but only have 4 species so far.
Hort Log; It is great to have a challenging project.Those Neps look so intriguing, just wonderful, but one must have the right conditions to grow them. Have fun and good luck.
DeleteHoping the weather is not causing much harm in your garden. In Puerto Rico, after the summer with most rain we got another ninety days of on/off rain in 'winter', a pain in the arse if you ask moi. Good luck in your projects during 2014.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Trudi, ich muss bloss in dein Blog mit dem aktuellen Post schauen und schon sehe ich den Namen der Pflanze die ich öfters in Myanmar gesehen habe und nicht wusste. Ein Madagaskar Immergrün. Mir kam die Pflanze irgendwie bekannt vor, aber ich konnte sie nirgends einordnen. Für mich sind Vincas ja eher Schattenpflanzen. Schön deine Bilder wie immer! Und spektakulär sind deine Abend- und Morgenstimmungen, einfach toll. Bin gespannt, wie dein Border beim Hühnerstall in einem Jahr aussieht.
ReplyDeleteHerzliche Grüsse aus dem Winter zu dir,
Barbara
Beautiful post and photos! Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.
ReplyDelete