HOYA PLANTS, OTHER FLOWERS, AND NEWS

 Dear fellow bloggers, some of you may have noticed my absence from blogging for several weeks now, the reason being the computer I was using which had once belonged to my late husband, stopped working. The screen suddenly went black and  could not be revived. It had served my husband,and myself well. but it was old and needed replacing, so I set about finding a new computer, which I am very happy with, but it is very different from the one I was used to. Because my old computer died, I needed professionavel help to save what was important on my old one, which took quite some time, but thankfully was acheived, but when it came back not all my photos had been saved and nothing was in the same order it had been before so it has taken hours to sort it all out, but now I'm reasonably confident that I know what I'm doing, and ready to start blogging and see all my friends again. You were all greatly missed and I hope to find you in the best of health. See you as soon as I'm able. :)  In the meantime here is a post I made on the 30th of September.

My new Hoya  plant was given to me by a friend in spring It is a pretty plant with arched branches and although I didn't expect it to flower this year, it produced six blooms at the end of the branches.It really needs to be displayed on a high shelf so it can be seen in all it's splendor, but in the absence of somewhere high up to place it, I made space for it on my outdoor coffee table near my swing sofa.

When I lay down on the swing seat I can see the flowers.

Here you can see the way the flowers hang down. They are not ready to open into the beautiful flowers you can see below.

It is called the Hoya Bella.

The Hoya Carnoso as it looks now having reached the top of the Bamboo canes 

The Hoya Carnosa is thriving and the stems have reached the top of the bamboo canes which measure 65 centimeters above soil and 35 centimeters inside the pot. I thought I was being ambitious to use such tall canes but it seems that they could have been even taller, not that I want them to grow further than I can reach, not at all, and I have started winding any new growth around the canes.It hasn't flowered since I moved it to my balcony, and I don't know the reason, but I live in hope that one day it will.

I have posted about the following flowers before  but only when they are in flower.

When you think of Agapanthus many of you will probably think of the beautiful blue ones, but the white are equally as lovely and bloom later in the summer after the blue flowers have finished. They are also known as Lily of the Nile, and African Lily. The ones shown have still to open their petals and have suffered from the constant rainfall. I love daisy looking plants and the next picture shows you some I really like

These are Ice plants

The Belladonna lily Amaryllis belladonna is another flower native to South Africa.

It blooms in the early part of September and is starting to appear all over my garden.

Superbly adapted to summer drought, and winter rainfall.

It needs no irrigation, and this beautiful pink lily thrives in the Mediterranean. I have to have these kinds of flowers as they need so little attention of which I have little to give, and apart from dead heading they take care of themselves.

Heather is another attractive plant that needs no special care.

Heather is a rich nectar source, and grows well in acidic soil. It's in flower at this time of the year and I love the colour of the small bell shaped clusters on long stems, loved by the small blue butterflies and the bees. 

Another Ice Plant

My favourite Camelia tree.

but there is an abundence of unopened buds.Wasps and bees are attracted to it's perfume.

Pruning is the only care needed with these and the following plants.

The leaves of my two Acer trees have changed from red to bronze.

The Carpenter Bee

Dead heading is needed when the flowers of the Hydrangea have finished,and they look attractive when dried in floral arrangements.These two blooms are new.

Azalia

I usually have a few azalias still in flower in September but they won't last long.

I will be linking up to Saturdays Critters.