Red Poinsettia.

Panther:

Very pretty! They are a short-day-blooming plant...so your nights must be just slighly shorter? LOL! The reason I laugh is because you're so close to the equator.

Many of the Ponsettia plants here have lost all their leaves, however, still have their bracts and flowers...soon the flowers and bracts will drop also. Then they start growing again.

Thanks Delonix, but our nights are longer now...12.5hours...

They're just such a colourful plant during the winter months. Panther I have a pink one - they flower over here from late Autumn through winter. So the days are shorter Delonix - and the nights are longer as Panther said.

Yes I love their colours Bernieh, they are beginning to flower lately, as the weather here is getting much cooler now and possibly would last until after July.

Panther:

Wow! Those are some long, long nights! LOL! I'm just being funny.

When you say cooler...what are your temps now? I'm sorry in advance because I may have to laugh at the cooler temps also. : > )

Bernieh:

Poinsettia plants are short-day blooming plants...they usually need 12 hours or more of night to iniate blooming. Yes, the days are shorter and nights are longer in the Southern Hemisphere...as you well know.

Yes Delonix..longer nights and I really don't look forward to this time of the year as I have lesser time to spare in the garden in the afternoons, especially after work.
No need to apologize, as our coldest temp can be laughable as you thought, because some would still consider it warm...19 Degrees C is what we find cold,...whilst up in the hills it can go as low as 14Degrees C....

That's exactly the temperature range I experience here too Panther. I'm up in the hills so it can get down to 12 or 13 deg C. I think most of the site members would regard this as warm for winter temps.

You're right Bernieh, for us it's way too cold and we are in all our woolies in the evenings...LOL

Panther, Benieh:

Yes, those temps are pretty laughable...I used to laugh at my family in Hawaii all the time when they would say we're freezing and the low for the day was 68 degrees F. / 20 degrees C.

In Downtown San Diego the lowest winter average temp in January (coldest month) is 49 degrees F. / 9.4 degrees although it can be higher or slighly lower. Where I live I'm on a south slope at 460 feet/ 140 meters high which stays fairly warm...however, I will usually get about 2 mornings a year of 42 degrees F. / 5.5 degrees C. It is funny here also when the temps go below 60 degrees F / 15.5 degrees C. we are all freezing...and the parkas come out of the closet. It's too funny...however, it all relative. : > )

Brrrr...that sounds too cold what you have there in winter Delonix...

Panther:

It sounds colder than it actually is...most of the time it's very mild. Many times in winter we have the Santa Ana winds which keep the temps warm to hot. This is the reason we had such a long heat wave this past January...when the temps reached more than 90 degrees / 33 degrees.

We have a very unique complicated climate...many people don't understand our micro-climates because most of the U.S. has such defined seasons. This is what defines subtropical climates...it's the transitional climate before you reach the tropics. Well, I hope I haven't thoroughly confused you yet.
: > )

Confusing but interesting Delonix, thanks for the info...:the Santa Ana winds sounds ruthless to me :-)

Panther:

Sorry for thoroughly confusing you! It's difficult to explain when a person doesn't live here, unfortunately. It's like most things -- if you don't experience it, you never really know.

The Santa Winds are very ruthless...however, we don't get them as bad as in Northern San Diego County and the Los Angeles Area...where they get hurricane force winds, which start horrible, horrible firestorms!

Not a bother...DElonix, nothing too thoroughly confusing as you think...lol, thanks again for sharing..:-)

Panther:

Anytime.