Summer Flowers

I love annuals, but can't usually be bothered with all the care and weeding that goes with them. So, solution: put them in containers! The weeds are not going to get out of control, and I can see them easily from my kitchen window.

Spring Flowering

Spring has sprung! Almost. Things are starting to flower in readiness.

The kowhai is in full swing, tuis and a flock of little birds feast on the nectar of this one.

Spring bulbs

Rosemary, been in flower for a while now.

And the bay tree has started flowering.

What NZ native plants flower in winter?

This tecomanthe speciosa is a NZ native climber, and in winter it has the most luscious huge flowers, hanging down under the leaves and hiding. They look like they ought to have a rich heavenly scent, but have no smell at all. These photos are from underneath, definitely worth the effort to bend down and peer up though.

More Autumn Flowers

 

 

I've started noticing what is actually flowering in my garden - all those plants (and there aren't many plants at all in my garden) that I must just be taking for granted, that have been there for so long I no longer appreciate them.

 

One of my favourites is rosemary.  A lovely winter cooking herb, with a nice lamb roast, or especially on roast veges, kumara and pumpkin.  But also lovely and fragrant in its own right, and those beautiful blue flowers!

 

 

I've picked some to put on my desk while I work.  I know the outside is not far away, but every little reminder of 'outside' helps, when your bottom feels like it has been glued to the chair for too long!

 

More autumn 'weeds'

 

 

 

 

Most plants flower in spring and summer, so in autumn there isn't all that much with colour.  Lots of dead seed heads and dying foliage but no actual flowers. 

 

But I have got 2 indestructible flowering plants on the go right now.  The red one is pineapple sage.  I first grew this from a cutting from a friend 25 years ago, and it has been transplanted all over the garden.  It does tend to get very bushy and quite large.  When my kids were little they liked to pick the flowers and suck the nectar at the base of the flower.  Can't say I have tried it though.  Its a herb, so can be used for a pineapple-y taste too.

 

 

And this one is a Japanese anemone.  Completely indestructible, even if you want to remove it, so needs to be introduced with care.  Very sweet and lovely flowers though (no, no scent), and makes a really good ground cover - in a tall kind of way.