Lantana & cacti

Makes a nice combination - would be very striking against that white wall.

Thanks Bernieh - tis a nice combination. Totally off the subject - what is the plant that you use as your "photo"? I really like it.

Hi Sorbus - it's the flower of the Planchonia Careya or what we call the 'Cocky Apple' tree. This little flower opens in the late afternoon and has dropped off by the next morning - the tree is native to northern Queensland and is the most common tree in the bush around the city I live in.

Bernieh You don't have such extreme climates as me - do you? But I'd love to grow this. What does it like soilwise; climatewise etc? Shows how a common plant somewhere is a much to be desired one elsewhere!

Hi Sorbus - yes I would say we get extremes of weather conditions here. The summers are hot, humid and long with temps. reaching over 35 deg C. Until this past summer, we have had a long spell of drought. This past summer we had a record wet season with monsoonal rains for two months. Our autumns and winters are quite mild with temps sometimes dropping to around 16 deg C during the day - but usually it's more like 20. Of course there's no rain during autumn, winter and spring. This particular tree, being native to our area of Australia, is obviously very hardy - it is also not a great looking tree being rather scraggly. I'm not sure I've ever heard of it being grown anywhere else as a cultivated plant.