cherry blossoms

This is one of my two cherry trees.  I noticed the blossoms opening on Saturday and they are ready for the bees to do their job.  I hope to get a few cherries this year.  The peaches hardly had any blossoms so  the fruits will be missed.

ranunculus

My garden has been quite neglected so I am pleased to see these pink ranunculus making an appearance.  When the plant died down last autumn I did not dig out the bulbs, and fortunately for me make a comeback.

The white variety survived the neglect and I noticed a couple more of the white ones in other parts of the garden.

Globe Artichoke

This is one of three globe artichoke plants I have in my garden.  The severe frost we had last week did not affect the plants.  With spring not too far away I am looking to a few artichokes coming my way.  I pick them while they are still young and would leave one to mature into a beautiful purple flower.

Daphne

In the past I have tried to grow the beautifully scented daphne with no success.  The plant, usually purchased from a nursery, would grow for a season, showed no sign of flowering and then withered.
In the past couple of years I have bought a couple of pots of daphne from my garden club sales table.  They did not cost very much, so I decided to give the plant another try.  As is seen in the picture, one of the little plants, planted in a sheltered spot with morning sun, is flowering.  Some of the leaves are yellowing, so I might have to look at adding some minerals to the soil.  I hope this plant will grow to a large bush to provide scented flowers for the house in winter.  

Sugar cane

This is my pot of sugar cane.  In September 2012, I think, I planted a couple of sugar cane segments and by December shoots appeared.  There are more canes growing now and I have cut down one cane which was about 35 cm long.  It was not the juiciest of cane but I can say that I was able to share the experience of chewing on the sweet cane with my son and granddaughter.

This is the cut cane, with the leaves stripped off, and below the segments which we peeled and chewed for the juice.

autumn garden

Part of my garden in autumn.  The cherry tree leaves are just starting to colour but the ornamental pear is now bare.  The azaleas and chrysanthemum are adding colours to the garden and in the pot one snow pea seedling has appeared out of five seeds planted.

Another view of my autumn garden with the apricot in the background, with autumnal hues.
Below, a glorious maple.

crab apple and tree dahlia

This king parrot is feasting on the few crab apples left on the tree.  I was looking at the mauve tree dahlia flowers which manage to bloom beneath the crab apple tree when a couple of the parrots swoop down on to the tree.  I was fast enough to run inside for my camera.

The mauve tree dahlia.  I am now waiting for the white tree dahlia to bloom.