These Will Brighten A Dull Day .

One thing about Tropicals they are certainly bright
A few flowering this morning before the rain..

Hibiscus Orange Flame:



Hibiscus :



Hibiscus Cuban Variety:



Ruellia macrantha:



Ruttya fruticosa:



This Zygo Cactus are getting ruined by the rain its almost transparent:

They're all beautiful, Mary-Anne, but I do wish I had that red hibiscus in my garden. Stunning!

Thanks Betty ..Will it grow down there.
If it will I can plant a cutting for you and post it down when its rooted.. Its more of a dark pink..

I think that's a very kind offer, Mary-Anne, thank you. I would love to have it. From memory, many years ago a friend had a lovely red one up against a brick wall, I think facing the morning sun and sheltered by the eaves, safe from frosts. She has since passed away and eventually the farm was sold,so I can't go visit to be sure of the position. I'll ring a nursery tomorrow though and see what they say. I'll let you know.

beautiful ma

the zygo flowers dont last too long in the rain do they such a shame since we wait so long for them

Lovely shots, MA. The hibiscus 'Orange Flame' and the Ruttya fruticosa are particularly stunning. I have never heard of the latter...it is most unusual.
You certainly have some beautiful plants in your garden.

No problems Betty you let me know..

Thanks Ota and five days of it as well does not help..

Thanks Fay.. Ruttya fruticosa is a small tropical shrub certainly an interesting flower and a little different..
Now that Orange Flame Hibiscus does not seem to grow at all but does throw out a few decent flowers,

Love the 1 st orange Hibiscus MA by the way did you send me a small zygocactus months ago . I think it was you ,here it is on a Livistonia palm.looks happy.

Thanks Gwen me too and its one I cannot seem to grow from cuttings.

Yes I sent you a few pieces of those kind of plants Gwen could have been more than the one colour too, the stem/leaves look like that bright pink above

A good way to brighten up a cloudy day

You are right there Gail Thanks .. We have here today

We are getting a little bit of sun every now and then and a lot of cloud with light showers... just enough to stop the washing from drying but not really enough to be useful.

Our washing is drying well as its under the back decking and getting a little bit of breeze.

Too much moisture in the air for it to dry even under cover out the back. It is getting mostly dry but needs finishing in the dryer for 15 minutes.

I'm not sure if any of you are interested in this tip for drying clothes. I bought one of those racks that look like a ladder, from a junk shop..they were originally made for kitchens, to hang your pots and pans. I hung it in the laundry, (from the ceiling, directly above the washing machine), added a few skirt hangers and plastic coat hangers and it is used frequently. Because it is front, slightly above the dryer it utilises the heat pumped out from that source also.
Even without the dryer, the clothes dry much quicker than expected. I think I like it because it doesn't take up floor space and if I have something that needs to drip dry, I open the lid of the washer and let the water drip into the bowl.

Marvelous Idea Fay..

Good idea K. I hang the big stuff from the doors and anywhere I can in the laundry when the drier is going... gets it half dry.

Good Thinking 99.

Mary-Anne wrote:

No problems Betty you let me know..

Re that hibiscus ... the girl said it's okay in a position facing east, or south(?), surely it wouldn't get much sun facing south, under the eaves of our house? That's shade for most of the day. Anyway, it's well worth a try if it's not too much trouble for you to get it going?

Sound strange to me Betty usually you would put tropicals near a North facing wall as they would get the heat for longer in the Winter when they need it most..

Not a problem I will pop a couple today and we will see what happens it may be a bit too late but you never know.

Our sun from the North, and also the scorching winds in Summer would kill it I think, Mary-Anne, in fact I think my friend, Cath, had hers facing east and also protected from the north by her house. 47C here on Black Saturday, the hottest that we've experienced, although it had been up to 45C in the past.

Betty no offence but they are a tropical plant they need warmth, too cold all year round and they will die, one summer we had nine weeks of above 35deg temp and we also get the odd 40+ days as well, not so much now since we have had rain the past two years have a read of this. http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Flowering-Plants-and-Shrubs/Hibiscus/107 ... Keep it well watered like any tropical and it should be ok. I can understand your worry about those hot winds but just keep a eye on them and never let them dry out and they should be fine.

I potted up three cuttings for you today, so if they all root ok you will be able to try them in different areas of your garden this is not the correct time to do it its usually the end of winter beginning of spring its pruning time if these dont root I will try again then...

Oh, that's a good idea, Mary-Anne, to try planting them in different spots. I just have this sneaking suspicion that my friend had one outside her front door too, which would have been facing north, but her place was like ours, no-one used the front door. Maybe she showed it to me once. Such a long time ago now.
I understand about the cuttings. My sister gave me some soft wood rose cuttings in Autumn and it's the same with them, if they don't take we'll just try again at pruning time. Thanks for trying, fingers crossed here.

Funny that about front doors Betty in all the houses I have live in quite a few only the first one we used the front door.
Anyway I will see how those cuttings go..