The Garden in December

Yesterday was grey and overcast, so I waited until today to take photos of what is flowering in the garden this December.

As you will see, today was bright and sunny. Perhaps a bit too bright for taking photos, but at least it's not all grey and gloomy.

Starting in the backyard with the hebes.

My photo doesn't show it, but the hebes are buzzing with bees and full of hoverflies and butterflies. 

Sweet peas smelling gorgeous:
 

Citrus (lemon? orange? lime? one of those):

 

Some little begonia flowers on my way through the house to get to another part of the garden:

Penstemon:

A gorgeous poppy:

Pretty-coloured cornflower:

 

Phygelius aequalis "Yellow trumpet":

Fuchsia:

Many daylilies have been moved to a bed across the lawn from the house, where it seems they will do quite well:

There's a bit of weeding needed there, I know.

What can we see here:

Mainly a mass of lamb's ear flower spikes, but also some echiums that have just about finished, maybe one of the roses just off to the left, and a big buddleia which has buds but no flowers open yet.

Anyone recognise this plant?

And a closer look at the flowers:

It hasn't been here in previous years, but we don't remember obtaining it, and there is no tag on it. (Thanks to Jeanette for recognising it as Isotoma axillaris!)

Time for a rose:

Just one to represent (not sure how many) rosebushes. 

We recently purchased and planted an orange leucospermum because I didn't think we had any. But this yellow one surprised me as I had forgotten we had it and I don't think it has actually flowered in previous years:

I've never photographed it before, anyway!

This eremophila was elsewhere in the garden and wasn't thriving at all:

But as you can see, it is much happier in its new position.

The next two are surprise flowers that couldn't be seen until some pruning happened recently. This is a yellow Calothamnus, which not only has these flowers and buds, but seedpods from previous year's flowering which we have never seen.

And this amazing banksia flower is not the first one, as there is a dried-up pod on the plant. But it is the first one we've seen:

 

Echevaria in a pot, in front of a shade screen on an east-facing window.  The ones across the front of the house aren't up just yet.

 

Here's a tulbaghia, in front of a nepeta:

 

And I'll finish with a chincherinchee just because I love the name:

Its scientific name is Ornithogalum thyrsoides, which is not as much fun to say.

Hope you've enjoyed this floral tour in the southern hemisphere sunshine. I haven't included everything that's flowering. I missed a few such as the geraniums, the red-hot pokers, and probably others I've forgotten. A lot of things that were flowering this time last year just haven't started yet this year. Our cold wet spring has delayed them. But summer is here now, and maybe they will all be out for my January round-up.