Lots of colour in the garden despite the lack of rain.

Last night we had a little rain, and it was lovely to walk around this morning and see how the garden had drunk it all up.  We have stage two water restrictions at the moment - unheard of at this time of year here in the wet tropics......  The grass is brown and dry and crunchy underfoot.  The wet season is taking its time arriving, it is muggy and hot as we wait.
The kookaburra like to sit on the fence post surveying where their next meal will be coming from.
 With this dry weather my poor dear hubby is on a conintual quest to mulch up all the leaves.  All my bins are full, and yet they continue to drop.
 The evodia tree is in bloom - so pretty as the flowers from along the branches.  This tree hosts the ulysses butterfly and lots of other nectar feeding birds.
 Look at the flowers close-up - arent they awesome?  They start out like little pink origami boxes, and then the white loops arrive and pop!  they open up!

The lady slipper orchid vine also loves this time of year.....


There is a beehive ginger playing peek - a -boo!  


You can see how the fluted fan palm has suffered during this dry spell.  I have cut back a lot of the dried out heleconia stalks and laid them down as mulch, along with the leaves.  When the rains start that will all start to rot down and form lovely new soil.  

Comments

  1. RoslynMon Nov 24, 10:06:00 AM

    I sympathise. We are the same at the moment. No rain and really hot conditions. Keeping things alive is a challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. africanaussieMon Nov 24, 10:35:00 AM

      Roz, yes you hit the nail on the head, all I am doing is keeping things alive.

      Delete
  2. AlisonMon Nov 24, 10:25:00 AM

    So sorry you're having such dry weather. Great shot of the kookaburra. I know I can always depend on a nice dose of tropical flowers when I come to your blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. africanaussieMon Nov 24, 10:40:00 AM

      I am lucky that there is always something in flower. One of these days the heavens will open, the thing is that it is so hot and muggy while we wait...

      Delete
  3. KarenMon Nov 24, 11:46:00 AM

    Waiting has to be torture, but look at the color in your garden! Stunning as always even with a drought. I can sympathize, lack of rain is rare where I live, but when it does happen, it's nerve-wracking. I hope the weather cooperates soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. africanaussieTue Nov 25, 08:13:00 AM

      Karen,
      Yes I have no right to complain do I? I guess it is just so unusual here in this climate that we dont know how to deal with it. We have had a few little overnight sprinkles, which does keep the dust down.

      Delete
  4. Joan ElizabethMon Nov 24, 07:07:00 PM

    What a lovely flower. I have not seen it before. We got some rain this afternoon to damp down the heat wave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. africanaussieTue Nov 25, 08:19:00 AM

      I had no idea what would happen with this tree, first of all I bought it as a small bush that would host the ulysses butterflies. Now I have a small tree with pink flowers on the branches. Once it has hosted ulysses butterflies...

      Delete
  5. VirginiaCMon Nov 24, 08:58:00 PM

    Love the evodia tree and its blooms.....they're beautiful and quite interesting.....does it have seeds?
    What tree is that with the pretty curly bark that the lady slipper orchid is hanging from?
    I'm wishing you rain on the horizon soon.....I know what it's like to have a dry garden...let's hope the rain doesn't treat you like it did us, and come in one big torrential mess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. africanaussieTue Nov 25, 08:21:00 AM

      I imagine it might have seeds Virginia - I have never really noticed. The tree in question is the weeping tea tree, one of my favourites. I love the peeling bark, and the fine needle like foliage, and it attracts lots of birds. Oh, it will come in torrents, that is the nature of living in the tropics..

      Delete
  6. KateTue Nov 25, 08:17:00 PM

    I had never heard of the evodia tree before. I do so love the origami flowers with strings!

    ReplyDelete
  7. e / dig in hobartTue Dec 02, 09:48:00 AM

    it is so beautiful to see your tropical flowers. the evodia is magical.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mobile App DevelopmentWed Dec 03, 08:07:00 PM

    I have been browsing internet for more than three hours today since morning, yet I didn’t found any interesting article like this which provides knowledge.

    ReplyDelete

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