May in the Garden 2014

The pages for the Cordyline Garden, Pool Garden, Front Garden and Lower Garden now have new photos.



Something a bit different to start with this month before photos of some of the plants in flower.

We have been very busy here since the garden was open with Open Gardens Australia in March.  These photos is how it looked under the Pavilion for many years, I have wanted a timber floor under here for a couple of years now and it is finally happening.

 

I won't have to pick up leaves and twigs from between the pebbles, I will be able to sweep them all up - so much easier and quicker.

Not long after the floor was started, I noticed how beautiful my Agalaonemas looked against the timber.  As they are only planted along the Pavilion edge in one garden, this lead me to thinking that they would look beautiful planted all around the Pavilion edge.  The soil stays drier here as the Pavilion roof overhangs the garden and this is ideal for them.  I have Aglaonemas scattered throughout the gardens and in the shade house, and as I love them, it is the perfect excuse to buy a lot more.

In the Front Garden.....

Masses of pinkish purple bell shaped flowers cover the top of Strobilanthes hamiltoniana.  They hang down from the top of the plant and as the stems are so slender they almost seem to float above the foliage.

Barleria micans just starting to flower.  The flowers are a gorgeous bright, clear yellow.

 

 



I love the shape of these flowers and the way the stamens lie along the top of the lower petal.  The flower spike lasts for quite a while as the flowers slowly open from the bottom upwards.

 



A couple of Ixoras in flower

 



Even though we have been getting night time temperatures under 10C here, Hibiscus 'Patricia Noble'

 is still flowering strongly.

Ruellia macrantha has been in flower for a few weeks now and it looks as though I have found the right spot for this plant.  It will be interesting to see how long it flowers for.  The one pavilion garden won't even think about flowering for about 2 months.

 

Galphimia gracilis is a beautiful shrub and it flowers for a long time here, for at least 8 months of the year.  I have two of these in the garden, the one in the front garden is starting to slow down with its flowering and the leaves now have a reddish colour to the leaves.  The one in the pool garden is still flowering strongly will continue to flower for a while and the leaves are still their original green colour.  The centre of the flower is even fascinating to look as the stamens and stigma are a goldish orange in colour.



 In the Lower Garden........

 Calliandras are the perfect tall shrub or small tree for the canopy, they provide protection from the sun with their light shade and protection from the colder winter nights.  They flower beautifully here in Sydney and their flowers are so soft to touch.  My grand daughter loves the feel on these flowers against her cheek.

Calliandra 'Pink Poodle'

 Clerodendron wallachii is an eye-catching shrub, even though it only flowers once a year. The flowers are simply stunning and I love the way they so gracefully hang down on their pendulous stems almost covering the shrub with flowers.

 

Mussaenda luteola flowers for most of the year here and it is still flowering now.  While it doesn't have the showier flower bracts of the other Mussaendas, it is still beautiful.  There is only one white bract on this one but the flowers are more beautiful, they have a ridge or pleat in the middle of each petal which I think is fascinating.

 

 Justicia brandegeeana 'Big Red' is the tallest growing one of the Justicia brandegeeana cultivars.  The flowers on this one are a bright pink colour and they go so beautifully with the bright red bracts.

 

 Justicia brandegeeana 'Fruit Cocktail' with its lime green bracts and red flowers is an eye stopper in the garden.  It flowers from spring to autumn here.

 

Mussaenda 'Capricorn Ice', these are the last few flowers for the season.  They are not as showy as they were a month ago but I still love looking at them.

 In the Pavilion Garden.......

Plectranthus saccatus, the two tone mauve flowers on this Plectranthus are smallish and dainty.  It is so easy to miss seeing them in the garden as the shrub is low growing.

 A couple of my Orchids in flower now

 

 

 Instead of the more singular flower stems on most of my Cordylines, this one is multi stemmed and looks so attractive that I just had to stop and take a photo.

In the Pool Garden......

I saw this combination of an Acalypha and Brugmansia 'Frosty Pink' when I was in the garden yesterday.  They looked so stunning together that I had to sit down for a while and just look at them.  The pink Acalypha leaves are highlighting the pink colour of the 'Frosty Pink', deepening the pink colouring of this Brug.






One of my Medinellas in flower.

My Vireya flower whenever they feel like it, there is not set time of the year and this lemon flowered on has decided to flower now.