The Garden in February

Very late in the day, I ventured outside to photograph what is flowering at the moment. These photos were taken between 7:00 and 7:30pm, which is why some are a bit dark and some are not very sharp. I don't spend much time outside at this time of year due to biting flies, but for this walk around the garden I was accompanied by someone waving the flies away, and occasionally catching one, with a big butterfly net.

Last year at this time only one crepe myrtle had buds. In the end the others didn't even try to flower. This year two of them have buds, and each have one open flower so far:

Sedum "Red Setter":

And this jelly-bean succulent:

This xDisphyllum 'Sunburn', succulent had nearly closed up for the night:

It also looks like something has been having a bit of a chew on it in places.

This beautiful rose, "Raspberry Tiger", is looking better than most of the others. Many of the roses are between flower flushes at present.

 

I don't know if I have posted a photo of this before, and if I have I know I haven't named it:

Lovely flower, and lots of buds to come, but it is right in the middle of a garden bed and tricky to get to. Its label is somewhere underneath it. I'll look for it some time when there is no bitey flies around!

Correa flowers hiding under the leaves:

I think this is the first time I've posted a photo of the lion's ear, Leonotis leonurus:

because this might be the first time it has flowered. Hiding behind it you can see lots of red-hot pokers. And some weeds, but we will ignore those for now. And I've just discovered that leonotis itself is potentially weedy, so we will have to keep an eye on it.

Buddleja:

 

Lifting the tree-guard on a rosemary-leafed grevillea, to find it is just starting to flower:

Lots of buds, though! This is in a new garden bed which is full of plants for birds. There is a garden up the road with several of these shrubs which seem to be always full of small honeyeaters, so I'm looking forward to this bed filling out and doing the same.

Zinnia:

Fuchsia:

One of several salvias:

Osteospermum, African daisies:

 

Time for the camera flash! Phygelius aequalis "Yellow trumpet":

There are blue cornflowers, and pink cornflowers, and mauve cornflowers, but these ones are an amazing dark burgundy colour:

Cosmos:

The first of the belladonna lilies:

Pelargoniums:

 

The dahlia which was missing in December (due to snails or slugs eating it) has recovered and is now flowering:

 

Cannas:

Can there be any more? Just a few in the back garden. The parrot's beak (Lotus berthelotii):

There is one flower on the wisteria too, (the dark background plant in this photo) but up too high for me to get a good shot of it.

Hebe:

 

Would you believe apple blossom?

A couple of flowers on a crab apple, with actual apples developing behind.

Lemon doing the same thing:

Blossom and fruit. It also looks a bit like it has a nutrient deficiency.

And last of all, (congratulations if you made it to here), a hoya!

The most amazing velvety fake-looking flowers.