new flowers

I am enjoying seeing the flowers blooming right now.  The white ixias (with a slight tinge of green have replaced the creamy ixias and they stand in tall spikes alongside the baby blue bearded iris.  Here's a close up picture.

The roses are showing their beauty and a pity that they suffer so much when the rain descends.  The rain has been downpours rather than showers and the roses have little defence.  I enjoy them when they are in bud, waiting to unfurl.  From early September the roses have opened up in different parts of the garden, sometimes pushing their way through the leaves of spent flowering bulbs.  My garden is over planted as this picture will show you.  The pink (Lorraine Lee) and yellow roses are amongst the earliest to appear. I may have to clear the lower planting -hydrangeas and parsley, to give the roses room to breathe.

changing

The heavy rain of the last few days have changed the look of the garden.  The cream and yellow ixias have lost most of their petals and looking quite bedraggle now.  The rain is wonderful for the garden but not so kind to the flowers.  The lavender survived the bad weather but the azaleas did not fare so well so I have pruned the bushes, taking what was left of the blooms indoor.  They look beautiful in a vase and last a while.  The jasmine is on the way out as well but in the early morning I can get a hint of the fragrance when I step outside in search for the morning paper.  Very soon the greenish ixias will open and change the look of the garden once again.  In the meantime I have to let nature takes its course and allow the various flowers fade away.