March in my garden;

Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. 

 ~Hans Christian Andersen

One of the most beautiful quotes; so simple so true; not only for butterflies!

Tibouchina semidecandra flowers on and off, prune from time to time if it is getting lanky.

Tillandsia is a genus of around 540 species in the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae), found in the forests, mountains, and deserts, of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America.

The thinner-leafed varieties grow in rainy areas and the thick-leafed varieties in areas more subject to drought. Moisture and nutrients are gathered from the air (dust, decaying leaves and insect matter) through structures on the leaves called trichomes.

Tillandsia species are epiphytes (also called aerophytes or air plants) – i.e. they normally grow without soil while attached to other plants. Epiphytes are not parasitic, depending on the host only for support.

The genus Tillandsia was named by Carolus Linnaeus after the Swedish physician and botanist Dr. Elias Tillandz (originally Tillander) (1640-1693). Common names for Tillandsia include air plant, Ball moss (T. recurvata) and Spanish moss, the latter referring to T. usneoides in particular.

Although not normally cultivated for their flowers, some Tillandsia will bloom on a regular basis. In addition, it is quite common for some species to take on a different leaf colour (usually changing from green to red) when about to flower. This is an indication that the plant is monocarpic (flowers once before dying) but offsets around the flowering plant will continue to thrive.

Golden Penda;  Xanthostemon chrysanthus

  has a splendid year, first dry then wet, one can see these splendid native trees or shrubs flowering  everywhere.

Xanthostemon chrysanthus grows as a tree to 10–15 metres high and 5–8 metres  wide in the wild. It is generally much more compact in gardens. The bark is rough and the habit bushy. The shiny green elliptic leaves measuring 7–22 cm long by 2–9.5 cm wide. They are arranged in whorls along the stems.

The flowerheads, or racemes, are terminal or axillary and measure up to 15 cm in diameter. They are made up of numerous small (1–2 cm diameter) individual golden flowers. Flowering is followed by small (1-1,5 cm) green or brown woody capsules which are ripe between August and February. Flowers can appear at any time of year.

The range is from Cardwell northwards into Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland. It grows in open forest or rainforest, often along the banks or creeks and rivers

Tibouchina gigantea.

A garden teaches you to look and see; patience to wait  for those elusive seedlings to appear, but mostly  happiness when a flower slowly unfurls its petals to reveal its beauty. Titania

Mini Daylily, has a comeback after a very dry spring.

Favourites, lace fungi on a old log.

Mandarines are getting ready for winter, these will be early.

Always a pleasure to see the return of these simple Miltonia orchids, I say simple because they do not ask for attention or pampering.

A lot of rain in March;

Philodendron, shine!

The very pleasing and beautiful native Cats whiskers, I like this name I won't bother with the Latin one.

I like to grow many plants for many reasons but the best reason is in the joy of growing them. Titania

Flower, Vriesia species.

 

Tropical Salvia,  Salvia guaranitica Costa Rica, after the rain it went into over drive!

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler

Bromeliad society had an Exhibition at the shopping centre,  how could I get passed those without taking a few home?

This one jumped into my trolley on its own.

A new Bromeliad, the pleasure of waiting to see its  flower.

♥

I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation.  It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse

February in my garden;

I don’t mind  how any day starts as long as I can be in the garden. Titania

...an early morning...

Murrayas  scenting the garden...

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

- Ralph waldo Emerson

Costus barbatus;

Nature our erudite friend teaches us freely how to live but mankind dismisses it freely and makes its own mistakes. Titania

Canna; anything more beautiful?

Musaenda frondosa...

..a friendly neighbour hanging over the fence;

The earth is not ours it is on loan only. Titania

Pomegranates  are ripening and..

..make a Mango sorbet.

Possum was here;

♥

Who can match

The sky

The wind

The rain

The sun

The stars

The moon

And  infinity? Titania

Adiantum aethiopicum

Maidenhair Fern

It looks fragile but is as tough as old boots!

Adiantum aethiopicum, also known as the common maidenhair fern, is a small fern of widespread distribution. Occurring in Africa, Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. Known as the Common Maidenhair Fern in Australia.

Adiantum aethiopicum was one of the many species first described by Linnaeus, in this case in his Systema naturae in 1759. 

Adiantum aethiopicum grows in spreading clumps of fronds from 10 to 45 cm (4-18 in) in height. The rhizomes are wiry and branched. The fronds are horizontal and layered, or upright. They are divided into two or three and have many small wedge-shaped segments, each of which has sori along its margins underneath.

A common plant, often seen growing in moist areas. In Australia it is found near by creeks or in open forest, where it may form a large colony.

Adiantum aethiopicum is a popular and well known ornamental plant. Propagation is from plant division or by spores.  Ensure the Maidenhair is well watered, drying out will easily stress the plant. Despite being an under-storey plant, it must have good light if placed inside the house. Though try to avoid too much direct sunlight or draughts. Plants that have dried out and lost all foliage may not be dead. They may send out new growth up to 18 months later. Outdoors it tolerates a heavy clay soil.

5 finger Jack;

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

- Albert Einstein

Roses have appreciated the rain and are set to grow new flowers again;

That beautiful roses have thorns does not matter. We still like to pick them. Titania

..a necklace of bells,  gently, gently..

Small, blue papery petals, received from my daughter; Lilli received it from a friend, so plants are handed from friends to friends, that's gardening...

the garden has so many more fine and worthy plants to grow and show. This post  is just a tiny "look at me" from the garden in February.

Believe it or not:

Only when the last river has been polluted, and the last tree been cut down, and the last fish been caught, will we realise we cannot eat money.

- cree native saying

©Photos/text Ts

January...in my garden

Would you like to grow some  flowers

Daisies or nasturtiums

Pink and red or other colours? Titania

Aptly named Pride of India, Lagerstroemia speciosa; bunches of beautiful, pinkish flowers adorn this tree. 

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerstroemia_speciosa

A flowering cutting I made last winter from a  French Delbard Rose.

A pot full of flowering Thyme; crushed, the scent of La Garrigue brings back memories...in the herb garden;

Tiny flowers of scented Geraniums in the herb garden;

Troilus and Cressida: III, iii

These should be hours for necessities, Not for delights; times to repair our nature…

High up in the sky the beautiful, black cockatoos, their mournful cry alerts me of their presence..

.http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Calyptorhynchus-funereus

Cuban Hibiscus in warm summer colours grows tall, complimenting the flowers of the Alexandra palm.

♥

The exuberance of Cassia fistula;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula

Generally people can identify types of berries, trees, flowers, or bugs. Most of the planets life remains unnamed and unseen.

Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish  naturalist tried to remedy that with his book "Systema Naturae," first published in 1735. He  proposed a hierarchical system for classifying plants, animals and minerals; minerals went later into the domain of geology. His aim was to identify and inventory all the world's living things.

Discovered are only as few as 10 percent of the species now living on Earth.

Little is known of the living world of planet earth.

 "Encyclopedia of Life," an online reference source and database for the 1.8 million species known on Earth, as well as all those later discovered and described.

Linnaeus' initial groupings were reorganized in the later 11 editions of "Systema Naturae" that expanded to more than 2,300 pages.

But the hierarchical system of classifying all known plants and animals was a defining moment in scientific history.

A genus and species name specific to each living thing, called binomial nomenclature, endures.

Food from the summer garden;

...different chillies for chilli jam. 

These small, longish tomatoes have a wonderful flavour for eating fresh or cooking. They are very prolific even in the humid summer heat.

♥

One for the rock, one for the crow,

One to die, and one to grow.

-  English saying

Dill  seeding in the herb garden.

One for  the blackbird, one for the crow,

One for the cutworm, and one to grow.

  American saying

Peaceful evening in the Currumbin valley;

Believe it or not:

We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, The Tempest

©Photos from my garden/ text Ts.

This is my garden; end of year;

Hoya carnosa scrambling up a tree, This one is indeginous to this area.

Bromeliad/Vriesia species;

Nature speaks  to anyone but most people do not have the patience to listen. Titania

I love to cook with Aubergines; here called Eggplants; once a week I make Moussaka; it is delicious.

Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs.

If you want a long speech ask a man, if you want action ask a woman. Titania 

Confidence and courage  are gained by experience; Titania

Lagerstroemia in different pinks are great for summer colour. The trunk and branches sport a beautiful colourful bark which comes into its own in winter when the tree is bare from leaves and flowers.

We can not change our memories, but we can accept them as they are. Titania

Dypsis decaryi is a palm tree commonly known as the Triangle palm native to the Madagascan rainforest.

Mangoes;

Age is something that doesn't matter,

 unless you are a cheese.

Bromeliad; Aechmea fasciata; a beautiful addition to any garden; easy and reliable.

Nothing is as fast as time. Titania

View from my garden to the Ecovillage; early morning.

Scots bonnet chillis in the herb garden.They  are used for chilli jam.

Believe it or not: 

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

My favourite Pericles

©Photos/text Ts