Flowering in May 2

  Flowering in May

Winter has arrived early this year.  The nights have been getting cold and the temperature has dropped down to 2C or 3C on a couple of nights.  It won't be long before we get the first frost as the dew on the windscreens of the car had almost turned into ice last Monday morning.   Even though the colder temperatures have started there are still flowers in the garden. The Brugmansias are in flower and the colour of the flowers is a lot paler; many of the plants have come to the end of their main flowering season.  The colour will soon come from my foliage plants and the odd flower on some of the plants. 

 

 

Here are some of the plants still in flower.



  

Dalechampia aristolochiaefolia

This climbing plant flowers for a many months in my garden, even though the flowers on this plant are unusual, it is only when you stop and look closely at the centre of the flower that you see just how beautiful and unusual it is.  I first saw this plant at the Nambour Garden Expo in 2010 and I just had to buy it. 

 

Clerodendrum wallachii

I found this plant in a plant wholesaler in Sydney (this wholesaler has since closed down) years ago and I just had to have it. It is a stunning plant when it is in flower during autumn; the ends of the stems bend downwards and the pendulous flowers emerge from the top of the stems flowers creating a gorgeous cascading look.  This plant grows well in light shade although I have heard that it will grow in heavier shad.
It is not hard to see how this plant got its common name of Bridal Veil.

Native: India

 Mussaenda luteola

I remember thinking after I saw this plant on the internet that I wouldn't buy it, that was until I saw this plant in full flower in a Darwin nursery.  It is simply stunning, it isn't as showy as other Mussaendas instead it has a delicate beauty to it; the flowers are fully seen on this one and they have a ridged or raised mid vein in the petals.  This one is cold hardier than the showier Mussaendas,  

 

 

Galphimia gracilis

 

Shower of Gold is a beautiful shrub growing to around 1.2m high.  The combination of light green leaves topped with yellow flowers is stunning; the flowers are a clear yellow in colour and their true beauty is seen when you look into the centre of the flower.  These terminal flower spikes are held high above the foliage and they appear during summer and continue through to late autumn in Sydney.

My plant is growing in a lightly shaded spot in summer and in winter it receives almost full day sun.  I bought this plant online around 3 years ago and the first time I saw Galphimia gracilis growing in a garden was last October at the Jingili Water Gardens in Darwin.

 

 Galphimia gracilis flowers

 

 

Plumeria pudica

I saw this plant in garden centres in the Cairns area and I was lucky enough to be given 3 of these by a plant collector up there; I kept 2 and gave one away to a friend.  My 2 have grown at different rates, one took off while the other one was slow to establish; the larger one flowered the next year and has been flowering ever since then.  I move the pot onto the front veranda during the cooler months  It does keep its leaves in winter. 

Native: Panama, Columbia and Venezuela

Angelonia angustifolia

These are a new plants in my garden, I bought them in Darwin last October and they haven't stopped flowering since I bought them.  I saw some of these in garden centres since I have been back home.  Angelonia angustifolia has been growing in Sydney since 1857. Strangely enough these plants are sold as potted colour here.







This one I did buy in Sydney after we got back.

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Pentas lanceolata

 

 Pentas have been growing in Sydney since 1851, they are tough and reliable growers and they will flower for most of the year in a lightly shaded spot in the garden.