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Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 12:03 pm

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Bumble Bee Petunias ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Early Spring ... and the garden is dry, dry, dry! Typical of our dry season, there's been no rain for over four months during our Winter and early Spring, and my passion for gardening has waned a little. In addition to the lack of rain, the wind has also whipped up considerably in the last few weeks and the potted plants that provide much of the colour here at this time of year, are drying out faster than usual.


Potted Plants in the Courtyard Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Not only am I spending a fair amount of time trying to water the poor thirsty plants, but the hungry, hungry wallabies have managed to get into my bad books this year by decimating so many plants they've never touched before. I'm almost afraid to get up in the morning and wander around the place as I inevitably find something else that's been nibbled down to a tiny stump.


Potted plants in the Courtyard Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Luckily there are still some plants they haven't yet acquired a taste for, so some colour remains in a few corners.


Potted plants in the Courtyard Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

One of my favourite combinations at the moment is this gorgeous Vanilla Marigold and the Bumble Bee Petunia. They do make a great looking pair.


Vanilla Marigolds and Bumble Bee Petunias ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's always fabulous foliage plants to appreciate, like this colourful Croton 'Zanzibar'.


Croton 'Zanzibar' ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

I also love the splashes of white that just seem to lift various corners of the garden. There's the little round ball shaped flowers of the native Ozothamnus diosmifolius,


Ozothamnus diosmifolius ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the striking white flowers of the unknown variety of Begonia,


unknown variety of Begonia ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

and the happy faces of the white Gazanias.


Gazanias ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

One thing that really does lift the spirits of this dry season gardener is the presence of so many beautiful birds with their amazing songs. They surround me every day as I wander through the garden and simply make my day.


Figbird ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Scaly Breasted Lorikeet ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Oh ... and then at the end of another day of being disheartened by the discovery of yet another nibbled plant or seeing plants in obvious distress because they're craving a decent drink, I get to see stunning sunset skies like this ....


Sunset in Springtime ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

... and this.


Springtime Sunset ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )



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Cayuga Morning wrote on Sat Sep 17, 2011 12:29 pm:

Bernie--Your potted plants are so pretty, maybe a lot to water, but nevertheless, so pretty.
I had no idea that parts of Australia were so dry.

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Bernieh wrote on Sat Sep 17, 2011 12:48 pm:

Hi Cayuga. My particular corner of north-eastern Oz is a dry tropics area. Our 'dry' season usually lasts around nine months every year. That's nine months without rain ... and I do mean no rain at all. My city of Townsville is lovingly referred to as 'Brownsville' for most of the year because the landscape around here is so dry, parched and brown for most of the year.

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Frank wrote on Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:07 pm:

I'm a sucker for nice bird photos :) Thanks Bernie.

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glendann wrote on Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:07 pm:

you have so much color in your garden.The blooms are so pretty.

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Bernieh wrote on Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:14 pm:

Frank, we're so lucky to be able to see lots of different varieties of birdlife here. I will attempt to add as many bird photos as possible in my blog entries, just for you!

Glendann, the colour has been dwindling considerably as our dry season rolls on.

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kathyd wrote on Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:02 pm:

Hi Bernieh, I grew those Bumblebee Petunias, and yes, I fell in love with them because I am partial to bees and other bugs. I am happy to tell you that they did WONDERFUL all year and are still going strong in the later half of September. I hope yours will do the same.

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Bernieh wrote on Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:35 pm:

Kathyd, so far so good. They're performing beautifully. I haven't seen any evidence that they're setting seed though. I would love to collect seed from them.

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