Photos from Around the Magic Garden

This is a "not so common" plant that originally came from my Mum's sister in Whakatane. It is one of those plants that flower first and then gets its leaves later. I don't always get flowers every year. The red one is the original. Behind it is a white version (in another pot) but it is not as spectacular as the red. I thought these flowered in Spring but maybe they are as confused as we are about the season we have been having: high Summer in Nov-Dec, wet and humid through Jan-Feb and now cool and wet. Our hottest, driest months are usually Feb. Maybe the plants think it is Spring again

There is a definite change of feeling to the air so I think Our Summer is coming to an end. The impatients however are still making a grand show all round the shady areas of the garden. This pot by the old bench is a good example. The yellow in the middle is a tuberous begonia but it hasn't done so well this year

They might not be as spectacular as some lilies but the old tiger lilies always bloom beautifully and make a bright splash of colour - and they are pretty much trouble free. The shape of them is interesting too - maybe something I could develop in thread?

Because the garden is mature and quite shady I use impatients to bring in splashes of colour. Here a group bloom beautifully in an old wheelbarrow under a totara tree just inside the gate. They make a cheerful goodbye as we leave the property

I am not good with roses. I don't like all the spraying involved to keep them nice but the carpet roses are a delight. They seem to just keep on giving. Cut back the dead heads and soon they are blooming again. This one was given to me as a thank you by a group that visited the garden a couple of years ago. It is the most amazing tangerine colour