:: rosa xxvi ::

 the morning walk is not so very long, but there are so many lovely gardens to admire...

...this delicate apricot climbing rose, which I suspect may be the 'crepuscule' rose, has been left to ramble unrestrained on one of the still to be resolved, empty, post-quake properties - the house and outbuildings long demolished and just an incredible riot of nature taking over...

the bud - remarkably cerise

:: clematis ::

Delving into the information about the clematis, the most interesting thing is the etymology and even that isn't very interesting - the name derives from the Ancient Greek for 'climbing plant'...hmmm...

...it is pretty and at our place is sprawling languidly along the length of a weathered grey fence, so indeed is a lovely feature during Spring...

...maybe more interesting is why it caught my attention today...?

...well, I was working away, filling barrowloads of sawdust, actually as we have a giant sack ('fadge') of untreated saw dust lying across the driveway next to the clematis at the moment...why, do we have one of these?

...well, it's about worms, actually, and drainage, too, and less weeding in the vegetable gardens...

...many moons ago we had a wonderful Mandala-design vegetable garden at our previous property in the country and the paths we made were all dug by Aaron and wwoofers and then filled with sawdust, which was trampled to compact it lightly.

The paths were in effect 150mm deep drainage channels between the garden beds that over time became attractive to worms and also kept weeds to a minimum and slowly added carbon to the neighbouring soil.

When gardening permaculture-style, one of the principles is to find multi-purpose solutions to problems - and this, I believe is one of them!

:: jasminum ::

Fragrant with a sensual, stop in your tracks kind of scent and with uses that range from tea to perfume, Jasmine is an easy plant to love. 

In New Zealand it is not sold in garden centres anymore as it is considered an invasive weed, once it arrives in our native forest land or 'bush', jasmine takes hold and flourishes a wee bit too much...shame :(

...luckily, I have spied it growing in several places near here and am enjoying it as it begins flowering again...mmm...

:: thunbergia laurifolia ::

One of the stunning views I was able to pause and admire several times on a daily basis was this lush and delicate combination of a flurry of generously-proportioned and blousy blue trumpet vine flowers and bright leafy vine, languidly tumbling over the edge of an archway between buildings.

Common to Asian tropical gardens it is also a very useful plant for treating ear ailments, even deafness, by crushing the leaves and using the resulting juice in the ear canal.

:: rosa xix ::

...super bright and vivid colours - what a wonderful sunny surprise after such a stormy start to the day...

...you got to love the hope in flowers that still bud up at this time of year, with plummeting temperatures on the cards... 

...this particular rose (mutabilis) has this intense cerise red colour at bud which then softens through apricot and ends up another kind of brightish lighter pink on its last day...

...pretty darn chilly here...won't be long until the garden becomes skeletal...

:: rosa xvi ::

rosa mutabilis

:: rosa xiii ::

Back into my archives again as this 'gloire de dijon' rose is also from Possum Bend a few years back now.  

One of my favourite roses for its enchanting scent, quartered, delicately-coloured flower, generosity of flowers in phases throughout the season and its vigour.

:: allamanda ::

I really enjoy to discover the other names plants have.  This is the yellow trumpet vine or allamanda...or...cat's claw!

I spied its yellow sunshiney gorgeousness against the concrete wall of the Wintergarden at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens sometime last year.  The hanging flower in the backfround I have yet to figure out...watch this space!

:: campsis radicans ::

Although my phone camera has depicted this as a rather shocking pink, this red trumpet vine or 'cow itch vine' or 'trumpet creeper' is really much more salmon red.

I spy this one on my morning walks - it is truly incredible - the number of blooms and the huge number still to come - there are just cluster upon cluster of buds in the wings.

The thing I noticed, apart from the noise of the bees busy at every available orifice, was the star shape created by the neatly-folded petals of the buds, ready to fling open at their turn. Exquisite.

Apparently, the radicans part of the name refers to the fact that this plant is so set upon world domination, even the stalks will set roots as soon as they touch the earth.  

Seems it is a plant that needs a firm hand - a bit like the wisteria, perhaps.  On the fenceline that I see this specimen, it is testament to this fact - I could not be sure which is holding up which!

:: geranium ii ::

The deep, rich red of this velvety climbing geranium is one of my favourite colours and it feels like the perfect flower today in what is a completely full and rich day of activity.  

The weather has gone ballistic from rain and wind to warm and balmy with sunshine to now a crazy storm of heavy rain, thunder and wind, wind, wind! 

The moon is full today and in the Northern Hemisphere it is Springtime, bringing with it the celebrations of Easter...

...something I definitely can't quite get my head around - a Springtime rite in our Autumn.  While we have pumpkins, corn and a multitude of fruit and vegetables ripening and are busy harvesting, our hens moulting and not producing any eggs, somehow we are supposed to celebrate rebirth and Spring themes with bunnies and ...eggs!

So this weekend as well as remembering the Christian festival of Easter, we will also be harvesting pumpkins and corn, making a pumpkin pie (because I've never made one before!) and some raw chocolate , ahem, Easter bark!

:: rosa viii ::

another rosie beauty this morning on our walk...

:: hoya, happy valentine's day! ::

Well, it was a bit distracting yesterday after 1.13pm...that 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, NZ really shook me up, so much so that I forgot to do my daily flower blog! We are all safe and well and there was only a little bit to clean up and the cat to find - but an hour later we'd found him hiding in our corn rows.

As it was Valentine's Day as well, I'd planned on finding a beautiful red rose to feature...alas I did not! Such disappointment.

Here instead is a beautiful head of hoya, which I photographed in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens Wintergardens a few months ago - such a striking coral - and I think it is a hoya...am I right?

:: phaseolus coccineus ::

The plan is to have these vibrant perennial scarlet runner beans planted the length of our driveway fence between the espaliered apple trees, making maximum use of a narrow space by growing food vertically and...perennially!

So far 5 plants have taken and one is producing really well in its second year, covered in these cheerful sprigs of bean blossoms.

I can just imagine what it will look like when there are 7 or 8 plants all bearing just as many flowers each Summer...and how wonderful it will be to have a full freezer of beans for the Winter and extras to share with neighbours.