Africanaussie

I did manage to spend a full afternoon out in the garden, weeding, cutting back and unearthing hidden treasure!  This little area is so colorful, and deep under the branches there were hippeastrums flowering!  This little one is the first to flower and I hope will soon be followed by the huge, blowsy, over the top, striped ones that were so pretty last year.  Who needs to live in a country with "seasons" when I get fall colour throughout the year? This croton is really colorful, throughout the year. I also noticed that  the ground orchids have buds peeping up - oh great - I have not had any flowers since the lychee tree was pruned. Once the sprawling tomato plants were staked up I discovered lots and lots of anthiriums just waiting to show their pretty colors.  These are the backbone of my garden, and just keep re-producing - the flowers last so long. Gingers are shooting up from...

This little area has had an assortment of different plants, and then I put in a  few different crotons which have lovely colorful leaves.  No need for flowers when you have colorful foliage.  The grass is still battling here - I think the gardener whippersnips it too close to the ground.  It could also get too much shade, or not enough water, gosh all the different options, it is just a little bit of grass why doesn't it just grow? anyway .............back to the colorful crotons, which seem to be growing just fine.  I just love the colors. and the wavy edges so glad I planted these beauties. I know it is very late but I am linking to foliage follow up for May  here

thie crotons are so happy to be released of the crowding heleconias all around them and are really strutting their stuff.  I just love how the new leaves forming are such a different colour, but you can see the shape evolving.

Last weekend I began to thin out a few of the Lady Di Heleconia.  Now these have been my favourite heleconia by far, BUT the problem I now discover is that they are very invasive.  Sooooo.... I made the huge decision to rip them out - yes all of them.  So far I have just removed them from the front section. My hubby is very nervous as he loves the privacy they give, but  just one day of digging out roots made me convinced that the sooner I get rid of them the better.  We are going to have a bald spot for  a while, sorry Hubby!   I cant afford to go out and buy some full size plants, so will have to start out with some more cuttings, but look how quickly the garden filled in before from nothing.  I like the look of the purple flowers  and yellow leaves together alongside this area and the red of the pointsettia in the winter, although I wonder if it some sort of diesease with the yellowing of its lea...

After all this rain the colour seems to stand our more vibrant and alive on the persian shield. And the croton Right on time, as Easter draws near, I see the Easter lilly is starting to bloom! This spider looks happy - I am sure he is consuming plenty of mosquitoes. I hope you are not getting tired of looking at heleconias, I know I never will. This one is my daughters favourite!