Mid-December flowers

You have some beauties there Wylie lovely to see such colours while we are covered in snow

Seems chilly to me, Wylie! :D
Interesting differences in climate between us, though. The daylilies here aren't even trying, my neighbor's Gladioli are just sending up the first spikes, Acidanthera are about three weeks from sending up their spikes, and cool-season annual blooms are too numerous to count. Pomegranates are also long done, and the loquats bloomed two months ago.

Nice to see something in flower Wylie. Everything hiding from the cold here.

Oh, so envious Wylie. It's the damp, which usually accompanies the cold in the UK, which is so awful. Gets into old bones!

That Dahlia is a stunning colour and us sitting here in the UK with frost and snow can only imagine Bird of Paradise flowers! Best of luck with the seeds.

Thanks! It finally stopped raining every day and the fields around me are really green. It feels like winter is still a long ways off. A red leaf hibiscus that I started from seed back in the spring has put out buds. This is also the time of year the bamboo grows. I have only the clumping type, and it is putting up shoots that are 4" across. How tall it gets depends on the wind, which keeps breaking off the tops of the new growth.

Every time I see Loquat trees I think of Nerja in Spain where I first saw them. Wonderful! But oh dear...low 60s is our mid-summer! It makes me wonder how I manage to have flowers at all! But then each plant has its right environment. :)

Yep! Pansies cook in the summer, here, but love the winter chill. There's a whole other group of flowers that revel in our 44º C + summers.

It very rarely gets over 80°F here in the summer. I live on the north side of the Serra de Santa Barbara which is 3300 feet tall and occasionally gets some snow, yet it rarely gets below 50°F at the lower levels where I am. People don't plant cabbage or collard greens until the end of summer. It's the dry 2-3 months in the summer that let me grow a lot of the South African bulbs.

Yes nice to see some flowers ... the weather is pants here

Gg

What beautiful blooms - I especially like your Bird of Paradise - I saw one in bloom in Crete just outside Chania close to the coast - last year - highlight of my holiday a long with the Swallow Tail butterflies

I need to get out and mow the lawn, again. Nettles are also starting to come up. A warmer climate isn't all flowers, but I would rather mow the grass now than in the summer, Fortunately, the grass stalls in July & August because of the lack of rain.
The Bird of Paradise is one of those common plants everyone has around here, along with Agapanthus and Hydrangeas.

Will you be making nettle tea Wylie

Fantastic photos Wylie... thanks for sharing.

I will be trying to pull the nettles out before they set seed for next year.
I also had the first jonquil blooms!

Butterflys love nettles Wylie they lay their eggs on them shame you could nt have an off set piece to have the nettles for butterflys. Great I shall await you picture of your Jonquil in bloom.

How do exotics like Crotons or Plumeria do? Mango trees I know must thrive in the Azores. How about banana's? Mine fruited..but eh,not all that sweet last year. They skipped this year.

Bananas do well, but they tend to be smaller. Plumeria do grow here, but they need super sheltered spots or the wind will kill them. I haven't seen any Crotons or mangos. Loquats do really well.