12 Oct 2016

Backyard Blooms

Our winter has been reluctant to depart.

September, the first month of spring, turned out to be the coldest in Perth since records started. 

In fact, the average daily minimum in September was lower that that of the three months of winter!

The abundance of rain, however, has led to not only the wildflowers having a boom year, but also the plants in our yards.
Our backyard is nothing to shout about, and I've to admit it needs quite a bit of work.

But everytime I look up from my keyboard and out the window, these yellow flowers of the broom just leap out at m.
The broom is a native plant and is nothing much to look at most of the year, but at the moment its display of these yellow flowers is quite spectacular.

To the right of the broom in the general backyard pic above is the nightshade, a plant related to potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines.
Whether ours is the "deadly" variety or not, I don't know
A lone hibiscus shows its face.
And our orange tree has buds, blossoms and tiny fruit forming all at the same time.
My favourite, though, is the nasturtium.

We had a big patch of them growing many years ago, and their seeds would appear to have blown into various parts of our yards, as we now have many patches of them growing.
Granddaughter A, now over nine years old, bemused by a nasturtium.




I love their leaves, too, as they hold these lovely beads of rain.  Both flowers and leaves are edible.


Our Indian hawthorn bush is also flowering like crazy.

And Grandma C's roses are starting to bloom.
A final word about wildflowers - when we were away a month or so ago on our wildflower trip, we did miss our favourites : the pink and white everlastings.

We only found a small patch in the little town of Three Springs, which, I'm fairly certain were not growing wild, but were sown by the town's gardeners.
The papery textured everlastings.
The yellow flowers in the background above, however, are not wildflowers.  They are the capeweed daisy from South Africa and are considered weeds. 

Currently these daisies are covering a lot of the street verges in Perth and on some front lawns.

14 comments:

  1. We cannot grow Nasturtium here, but I've eaten the flowers and leaves in London. My sister-in-law grows them in her garden and puts them in salads. Very nice nutty flavour. Besides they are also very colourful!

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    1. Yes,they do them in salads here, too, I've never eaten them, though. Maybe I should go outside now and have a nibble!

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  2. There is a collection of poems by M.T.C. Cronin (a poetess) in which the title of each poem has something to do with flowers.
    "The Flower, the Thing: A Book of Flowers and Dedications" (St Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, 2006).
    http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poems-book/the-flower-the-thing-0262000
    It contains a nice poem titled “Wildflowers” which begins with the following captivating lines
    “And it must be these, above all,
    Which are the flowers of love.”
    The rest of the poem can be read in
    http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/cronin-m-t-c/wildflowers-0262116

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Prof. It would seem you enjoy poetry almost as much as you do maths.

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  3. Arthur, you are so lucky to have these breathtaking views outside your window. What a cute lovely baby.

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    1. The baby's now nine years old and into gymnastics and cheerleading. Time flies!

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  4. When your granddaughter was little, she sure looks like your cute grandson! So many beautiful flowers, I hardly have any in my garden. :(

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    1. You are right - those two look alike. But the girl was a very good child and the boy very naughty!

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    2. Muahahahahahahaha!!!! Such a bundle of joy!

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    3. I must say that he is, though they all three are!

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  5. Luke Tan4:52 pm

    Such beauty!We aren't that fortunate
    to have a backyard in Spore let alone flowers
    to admire.

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    1. Hi Luke, sometimes a backyard is a nuisance as it can require a lot of work. Now we're getting older and the work can be quite tiring.

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  6. wow these are so bright and delightful ,can't stop myself to stare at them .yards are always great pleasure if we use them for plantation .

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  7. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Glad you enjoyed the flowers.

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