Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July 2014


Hello there and welcome! Mid-July feels even hotter than mid-June and blooms don't last very long in my Algarve garden, but here are some of my best.
red hibiscus
The red hibiscus has suddenly burst into colour. The blooms are a darker red than they appear in the photos and they are larger than last year. The yellow shrub is only starting to bloom now but should go on well into autumn.
yellow hibiscus bloom


My favourite lavender is enormous! A friend fell in love with it during a recent visit and will be getting one of its babies soon.
my favourite lavender

Below is the view from the other side. On the right you can see a little bit of that lavender, The two rose bushes that I had to move because they were getting overcrowded by the lavenders seem to have tolerated the move very well. There is still a bit of soil that I am watching closely. Will the gardener be right? Will the grass grow back? Did my smothering method of killing grass turn out to be successful? Time will tell...
where there was grass...

As you open the gate, it brushes against the overgrown lavender and you are greeted with its scent - lovely! If you look right, this is the view you get: lavenders, rosemary, the oleander, and against the wall the hibiscus, mock orange foliage, some white roses and the neighbour's creeper.
garden long view

I didn't think my lilies would open in time for this post, but they did.

Some of my roses are blooming again, others will be some time soon and this one is the best-looking one right now.
In this heat, my hardest job is giving the plants the amount of water they need to stay happy. 

Now I'm off to link to May Dreams Gardens, where Bloom Day began. How is your garden doing?

5 comments:

  1. What beautiful hibiscus. It must be wonderful to grow hibiscus and oleander as great bushes outside rather than pot plants like we have here. And then with lavender, roses and lilies for perfume it must be paradise.

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    1. Hi, thank you for visiting. It may be hard to believe but that red hibiscus spent a few years in a pot in my garden in northern Portugal looking stunted and miserable. It seems to like the clay soil and heat here. I'm delighted. Regarding paradise, lol, got a long way to go.

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  2. Lovely flowers. I bought an hibiscus plant recently, but it's still in the pot while I decide where to plant it. My lavender doesn't seem to flower that much, don't know if it's missing something... We also have an oleander plant, but because it's toxic I worry the cats will nibble on it and so I would like my husband to pull it out.

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    1. Hi Sami, when I realised oleanders were toxic I was worried about my dogs but they only seem interested in eating grass and they spend more time in the back yard. I had one oleander removed because it was too near the water pipes and the roots would eventually cause damage. My neighbours' cats visit frequently and seem fine.

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  3. The Hibiscus is gorgeous, is it hardy with you through the winter?

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