February 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

This is what our garden looks like at present in the heat!
Actually we've had to take down a few trees and prepare the area for some building work - we don't usually water this area so it looks pretty desolate in high summer,
cheers
fermi

[ashley]

Blue sky!  I remember that
Very interesting to see Fermi, I suppose taken before the recent fire nearby.
Conditions seem ideal for the various Mediterranean and South African plants you show us. 
In your second picture are the shade house and rockery area leftward from and/or behind the house? 

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Ashley,
pics were taken this afternoon; the fire was "behind us" so this side of the valley was unaffected. (see here http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11308.30 reply #33)
The little shade-house and the Rock gardens are to the far right of the house in the second pic, i.e. such out of shot.
In the third pic you can just see one of the Raised Beds - the "Pinnacle Bed" - you can just see the "pinnacle", a small standing stone, between the two small green trees in the middle of the pic,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Just so you can see that we do have some things in flower, I snapped these pics this morning of a Seseli sp I was given a few years ago after giving a talk on my visit to Sweden (in 2007). I'm sure there was a connection between the plant and the talk but they were a few years ago.
The plant has been steadily growing for a number of years except when it got attacked by the cockatoos for some reason! they shredded it but it survived and has now come into flower. I'm hoping Tim ingarm may be able to identify it,
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

The blue sky is beautiful all right but on our TV news here in NZ, we've seen terryfying pictures this summer when the skies over Victoria and NSW have been scarlet and blood red with flames. I hope Fermi that you and Will and all the others I know will be spared these shocking events this year.

[Tim Ingram]

Hi Fermi - I think it must be Seseli gummiferum; very distinctive for its almost succulent blue-grey leaves and thick stem (the unkind might liken it to a cabbage!). I should think a good plant for your hotter and drier climate. It is monocarpic - will be nice to see if it might self-seed and take over the garden! It doesn't do that here.

[Lesley Cox]

Hi Fermi - I think it must be Seseli gummiferum; very distinctive for its almost succulent blue-grey leaves and thick stem (the unkind might liken it to a cabbage!).

Hey! don't knock cabbage Tim, a jolly good vegetable raw or cooked. It's just that so many people murder it. Try gently stir-fried, with a dash of salt and pepper, butter and honey. (I'd better trot off to the Cooks' Corner. )

[Rogan]

We have been enjoying the exotic blooms of Agapanthus 'Graskop' for weeks on end now - and so have the sunbirds, who check each and every bloom for nectar daily.

In contrast to Fermi's pictures of his home in Victoria, we are in the midst of the rainy season here and enveloped in a 'rainforest' of our own making - the lawnmower is in action almost constantly!

[Hillview croconut]

Cabbages and cockies - what a combination. You'll be over-run Fermi!

After what seemed like weeks of no rain and constant sun we have had a bit of a sprinkle and temps have dipped sharply.

 Went out with the camera this morning but only managed two decent pics. All the rest were out of focus - don't know whether to blame my aging eyes or the camera??

Allium flavum is a sweet little thing and seems to survive everything and anything.
Campanula x stansfieldii is a long ago gift from Otto The Bulb King. He tells me his plants, after ripping it up for years, have all died, so I promise one in the mail soon. Is this grown in the UK still?

Cheers, Marcus

[meanie]

I really like the colour of that Agapanthus Rogan! Makes these closed flower forms (which I prefer) even better.

Hey! don't knock cabbage Tim, a jolly good vegetable raw or cooked. It's just that so many people murder it. Try gently stir-fried, with a dash of salt and pepper, butter and honey. (I'd better trot off to the Cooks' Corner. )

Or gently stir-fried with either fennel or onion seeds. Or simply steamed and splashed with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (accept no substitutes!).
Where's the Cooks Corner?

[Anthony Darby]

That Agapanthus would make a change from the ubiquitous weeds we have here.

[Maggi Young]

Or gently stir-fried with either fennel or onion seeds. Or simply steamed and splashed with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (accept no substitutes!).
Where's the Cooks Corner?

    Here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0

[meanie]

    Here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0

That's me off then!

[fermi de Sousa]

The blue sky is beautiful all right but on our TV news here in NZ, we've seen terryfying pictures this summer when the skies over Victoria and NSW have been scarlet and blood red with flames. I hope Fermi that you and Will and all the others I know will be spared these shocking events this year.

Hi Lesley,
I was going to refer you to the "I'm so happy" thread, but we've spent most of the evening watching the fire reestablish itself on the hillside behind us! Very anxious times as we kept hoping that the CFA volunteer fire-fighters would get it under control before it descended into the valley - especially if the wind changed! Once again we've been spared but only feel save to go to bed now - and hope the situation stays safe. Twice in a week is very worrying,
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Crikey,  it's still going then? I suppose with Gum Trees  there to act as long lasting "wicks" this is an ever-present danger after any fire incident for you folks.

 Hope all goes well.