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!

Good things come to those who wait (and wait, and wait)

This cactus was bought 25 years ago as one of those fun novelties, the ones with eyes & glasses.

it never flowered, just grew & grew.  I shoved it outside and out of the way as I felt quite disgusted with it,

 

so it grew a few more friends to keep it company.  I could never quite bring myself to leave it behind when shifting house.  Anyway whether conditions were perfect or it just needed to grow up, it has decided to honour my patience with my favourite coloured flower and a few more to come as well!

 

stormy weather threatening, but thats all it was, weak effort in the end

 

Lazy photo's taken from my chair, well it was wine oclock!

Bella the clever talking dog, but only if she has something in her mouth.

 

beautiful agaves, sad lawn, perfect evening for some good cheer!

Aloe, Aloe, my little Aloe's

Aloe juvenna

Photo's of all my Aloes now dug up & potted, ready for relocation.  A memory jogger, as I know I will forget which one is which & what it does once Im in the midst of gardening again.  The Chief keeps quietly reminding me "that we are not going to rush in & plant willy nilly are we?" but oh, it will be so so hard not to.

Aloe mountain gem

 

 

 

Aloe plicatilis - fan aloe

 Am yet to dig this one up, in one year it has grown so much as it was tiny when first planted!

Aloe spinossisima
 

Think A striata, but needs some tlc to recover from burns

Aloe striata - coral aloe

 Aloe dont know

Aloe dont know

is this even an aloe?
 

Aloe gemini

Aloe dorian black

 

Aloe mitriformis

My first Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Russelia equisetiformis (coral plant) & gazania



Well, I have to remember what to do, but have looked at all the other bloggers who post & although their flowers look better (different to mine) Im going to give it a go!

 

 

Tibouchina "Jazzy" is now looking heathy after a dose of iron chelates (thanks Dad!)

 

 

Brachyscombe, "Pacific Reef"



Another Brachyscombe "Mauve Mist"

The last of the pansies & the start of the ever invasive evening primrose.

Mandevilla "aloha red"



Ozothamnus diotophyllus - Yellow rice flower "Gold dust" (an Australian native)

Chrysocephalum is still going strong & will last all summer long.

Trailing Geranium - Meckering (my name for it)


 

"Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. Its our goal in life to find it and keep it lit."

 

(Mary Lou Retton)

 

Christmas Lillies or whatever!  These little buggers are very hard to get rid of, two bulbs were planted about 5 years ago & although they are pretty I planted them in the wrong spot.  Every year since I have pulled them out, only to have them come back in full force the next year.  They are very drought hardy & so am considering pulling some up again to take with me to new garden.  Note to self:  think long & hard about the planting position, too late once in ground to change mind - be patient when in planning stage, dont rush into the best bit too soon!

 

Am so excited about my new garden, my fire is burning me to death!

"An optimist is the human personification of spring"

(Susan J. Bissonette)

 

 

Bella enjoying a lazy spring afternoon on lovely newly mown, clean lawn.  Which wont stay clean for long as this dog poo's more than any other dog I have ever come across, I swear more comes out than goes in, and she even manages to poop a couple more times on her evening walk!  She also kills the lawn wherever she wee's too, we are trying those doggy rocks in her water from city farmers at present, which they promise me work, but I'm yet to see the evidence.  Apart from that she is a loving faithful creature, I just wish she could dig a hole somewhere, (not in my garden) & ablute into it, covering it up nicely when finished!

Another dry winter finished

My little Kalanchoe Barharensis making friends with the birds nest fern

Well we are just coming off the back of another dry winter for the farmers, with well below average rainfall, meaning a scant lot of work for us.  Hopefully all the hard yakka I put into my garden last autumn will pay off - lots of composting & mulching.
I have been quite busy getting my heavy rigid truck licence too, was quite proud of myself to pass first time. Tomorrow Im off to drive the truck & load the chief's plane, my first time on my own!
And also putting our house on the market for round 2 of  punishing home opens ( yuk) again!



 Chrysocephalum Apiculatum sunburst

This little native everlasting is so tough, doesnt need much water & flowers consistantly.

Ptilotus joey
love this native, this is its second year, they really only look good for the first season, should be treated as an annual.

& of course good old aeonium schwartzkop.

Winter

My courtyard plantings of aeoniums are in full growth mode, I have planted various sorts, but cant remember which ones are which!

This one is black rose, but isnt black as its in full shade for the winter

same garden bed in full shade, think this one is sunburst.

Sassy succulents!

Echeveria Capri with one flower spike open & another soon to follow

This is in the courtyard area - Echeveria Fred Ives & Echeveria big red, along with a two smaller unknown echeverias (front right hand corner) also some sedums.

Echeveria pink frills (I think) is going mad with flower spikes, a small variagated kalanchoe grown from a cutting so not sure of its name, same with the plant above it, not even sure which family that ones from, bottom right hand corner is sedum kam...... something! and aeonium black rose at the back.  They are all getting far too much shade, but thats the trouble with my garden in autumn/winter - too much shade & then too much sun in summer!

This is a guess also - Echeveria white rose?

Echeveria frosty in the top corner. Both give me lots of offsets.

This little Echeveria is also an unknown, but in full sun it had a lovely apricot stripe around the leaf edges.

                                       Echeveria frosty with more cute babies!

Becoming rampant, sedum gold mound.

This is an unknown sedum, which is about to flower, I took this as a cutting & has grown very well.

Dahlia's

Just off the back of a lovely 28mm of rain, freshening everything up.  My dahlia's are in full swing now, but always seem to end up leaning forward, whether its toward the sun or away from the native peppermint behind it Im not sure. Also flowering there are white vinca's & purple salvia.  I have just popped in a Euphorbia firesticks that I bought at the Perth Garden Expo, so looking forward to watching that one grow.

Broome

Spent 3 days in beautiful Broome to celebrate 25 years of marriage and to visit our eldest son who lives thereWe visited Gantheame Point, where the light house lives, it was stinking hot the whole time we were there, average temp of 36C but because of the humidity it felt like 45C.These gorgeous plants were everywhere throughout the resort where we stayed - Pintada Spa Resort.

My son flys for Broome Air Services & one late afternoon he was coming in to land in a Cessna 402 twin engine, he had to fly thru this interesting cloud formation

Made a beautiful smooth landing, well done!

There tide is huge in Broome & below is the Roebuck Bay Beach.

and the mangrove swamps where the crocodiles like to wallow!

We finished our break on Cable Beach watching a gorgeous sunset