Wedding bouquet

My beautiful niece married her handsome Mexican last weekend the flowers were gorgeous

all lillies & frangipanis.

The cake was also lovely & after cutting it they each took a bite as is Mexican tradition without using their hands, very well done especially by the bride as she managed a very clean job, no damage whatsoever to makeup!

It was a beautiful day, the only fine day we have had in amongst the storms for the last two weeks.

It was as if Mother Nature decided to go easy especially for their special day!

39.8C

What a stinker today was, & looks like another one tomorrow as well, have to get up early to water & hope nothing gets too badly burnt.

My spathyphyllum is flowering really well this year, it gets about an hour of sun at 6am & then is in full shade, which seems to agree with it.

  

Begonia
This begonia runs rampant & I have to keep cutting it back which means I miss out on the flowers.  The flowers are so pretty, a very delicate pink.  It is in full shade, but it doesnt seem to mind the morning sun & I need to turn it frequently as it strains towards the light.  I think it should be in a much bigger pot or the ground.

Heaven scent

Spring is nearly over, but these shrubs are just begining.

This hot pink carpet rose was a gift to my mum for mothers day many years ago, she had it in a hanging basket on her front patio & it rewarded her with a continuous display.  Mum & Dad have since moved to a "Lifestyle village" where only native plants are allowed.  I score the carpet rose & a gardenia, which I have repotted & I think they are all very happy.  I just love hot pink flowers!

These 3 gardenias are so happy this year & I know why!  WATER!

Im very very stingy with my watering, liking mostly drought tolerant plants, which these are definitely not.  They have always struggled, wilting, dropping their buds, and one year they lost all their leaves, I thought they had died, but no, it rained & little green shoots pushed through.  so end of spring 2010 I repotted all three into self watering pots & have made a (very) concerted effort to keep the water up and although its paid off I cannot believe how much they guzzle. They only get the morning sun, but already Im watering them every second day, wondering if its worth it, then I go out the back door & am knocked over by their intoxicating scent.  Some people arent that keen on the smell, but I sure am, so will keep with the spoiling & hope all my other plants arent feeling too neglected when the gardenia decides to showoff & force its scent upon us! 

adding to succulent collection

 Four new succulents to add to my collection, which is fast becoming an obsession.  Im a little nervous that if we dont hurry up and get to our rural property my backyard is going to become choc a block with little pots of these things.

If anyone with succulent knowledge is looking at this post, I would love some feedback as to what they are.  The place I bought them only had succulent written on the label, thought I would be satisfied with that, but unfortunately I am finding myself trawling the internet with my little "succulent" on my lap searching for answers.

Echeveria?

 Aeonium domestica variagata

 Echeveria?

 Aloe dorian black?

Dad's orchid - was repotted last year, this year very dissapointing, only produced one miserly flower and I had to get under the plant to take the shot, hence the roof in the background.  When it eventually does decide to flower it will be beautiful as its such a pretty colour.

Spring 2011

My garden in spring, as I write this Im feeling rather down, we felt sure we had a buyer for our house, after 3 viewings, which leaves me exhausted as I have cleaned my self silly (or rather the house) and I absolutely hate, hate, hate housework I am dejected so thought Id take some photo's of my flowers.  I have been looking at so many wonderful gardening blogs & the spring flowers are amazing & even the "fall" ones on the other side of the world look marvellous too, so this is me in the spring of 2011, not a whole lot flowering just yet, whether WA is behind or its just my garden (too shady perhaps) Im not sure.

Convolvulus cneorum (bush morning glory), this hardy little shrub gets by on minimal water.

Well that was weird, was half way through my post last night when the internet went down, so thought I would finish this morning, didnt even realise it had been published until I read Jackie's comment on my email (thanks Jackie).  I do have a few more flowers other than the above, which I will now put   below!

Russelia equisetiformis (coral plant)

I have a love/hate relationship with this plant, I hate it for most of the year & then it flowers & I love it.  It is extremely hardy, but it tends to spread & self seed & then is extremely hard to get rid of, but the flowers on mass are gorgeous, must remind myself I do not want to plant this in my new garden!

Erigeron (seaside daisy)

This one also self seeds everywhere, but is easy to pull out & is a real little stalwart in the garden.

Genista (broom)

These plants have struggled on Perths sandy soils, they are hardy, but seem to need quite a bit to drink in the summer.

This one I call my Meckering geranium as my Dad originally struck it back in 1979 when we lived in Meckering, its a trailing geranium & I just love the hot pink blooms, hopefully I can get a piece to strike as its planted on my limestone wall & I would like to take it with me.