Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2014

Welcome again to my Algarve garden!

This year the autumn rain came early and temperatures dropped but not enough to stop the grass growing. As a result, my garden looks a bit out of control. 

The roses are straggly but in this end of the bed the colour combination pleases me. It wasn't something that I planned but I like it.

At least one lavender needs cutting back.

My bougainvillea is looking quite sad.

You can still find a rose bloom here...

... and here.

There are also some iceberg roses by the side wall over there.

I took the photos on the 16th because work and rain got in the way on Bloom Day. Today I cut the grass so now the garden looks a bit tidier. Next, I need to plant bulbs!

For more October blooms, visit May Dreams Gardens. You won't be disappointed!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June 2014

Boy was it hot today (or should I say yesterday)!

It's past midnight and there is a heady scent in my cooler moonlit garden.

Welcome! 

It's quite pleasant now but during the day there was a lot of wilting going on.

This is the most colourful part of the garden at the moment, but the red roses on the left can't take this heat, even though I put up an umbrella over them. And my feathery lavender has died (it's a good thing I took some cuttings before its demise!).

I love petunias, so I potted up 6 yesterday. Here you can see 2 of them. The problem is I have to keep moving them into the shade or this heat will destroy all my hard work!

I think the only flowers that are quite happy are the agapanthus. This is the first time I have some blue blooms from plants that I brought down from my parents' garden. The oleanders are starting to bloom, too, but some blooms look small and withered already.

One of these lavenders doesn't look too happy.

The other one was having a bee and butterfly love-in this morning.

And behind this lavender is the new bed, almost ready for planting. I smothered the grass in autumn and waited, and waited, and grew impatient, and frustrated when the gardener said it wouldn't work. Finally, I removed the black plastic and some remaining cardboard this week. It didn't look too bad. Now I'm just waiting to see if grass will start growing again - I hope not. Only when I'm sure it's OK will I start planting here.

They say temperatures will drop 10 degrees Celsius in the coming week. I can't wait!

Soon I'll visit May Dreams Gardens, where Carole hosts Bloom Day and look around mainly cooler gardens in other regions. Why don't you join me?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2014

Welcome again to my Algarve garden (hardiness zone 10a). I was hoping it would be looking better by now and that some projects I started in autumn would be completed but it's been a funny few months weather wise. 

We've had a windy winter and an unstable spring with heavy downpours recently. This kind of weather makes me ill, so gardening is out of the question. The bit of grass I smothered with cardboard (behind the lavender in the picture above) in autumn has hopefully rotted but it will be a lot of work before it becomes an interesting border. The lavender has grown more than I had anticipated so I also need to move some plants asap but I can't until the grass is gone!

 The roses are starting to flower. However, my gardener friend had to start spraying the bushes because the ones by the front wall are being attacked by small orange bugs that would eventually destroy them, apparently.We can't let that  happen!

The other day I realised the veranda was looking very colourful. It's a pity I haven't had much time to sit there and appreciate the view.

The reddish pink cymbidium has now been joined by the paler pink cymbidium behind it.

Next month I hope to have large white lilies and lots of roses. See you then.

Thank you again to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this blog hop.

A Place to Relax

The resort town of Vilamoura has a long garden in the middle of the main avenue. This is the shady part by a fast food restaurant that shall remain nameless.

It is a lovely place to jog, cycle, walk the dog (on a lead) or just stroll and relax.

You can hear the cars going by but there is also birdsong and the chatter of people enjoying themselves.

This post is part of Jake's Sunday post challenge. I hope you had a relaxing weekend.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2014

 

Welcome to my garden again. I took these photos yesterday. The jasmine has finally opened its flowers and its scent is overpowering, specially in the evening. It usually blooms around my birthday in February but this time it was late.

The weather was really wet, cold and windy until a few days ago and the garden looked terrible. My lawn looked like this.

 Now it looks like this.

The green bit is where the dogs kept the weeds under control by walking over to the fence. I just wish that they had decided to walk over the rest of my grass!

My star lavender is looking like this, which means I have to move two small rose bushes that are now completely overshadowed.

Around other rose bushes the lotus is beginning to flower. I planted the lotus for ground cover although I am not yet sure it was the best choice.

These succulents have never looked so good. Unfortunately the snails also adore them.

The red hibiscus already has blooms but they are smaller than usual.

Here are the last of the yellow orchids. I'm surprised the flowers have lasted so long. Now it's the turn of the red ones.

The pink orchid may bloom for next month's post.

And now for the new additions - The freesias I bought last year have presented me with white, yellow, red and wine-coloured blooms but I need more bulbs for more effect.

I love these daffodils. They were on sale (having finished blooming) by the check-out at a garden centre and I couldn't resist. When the time came I potted the bulbs and a few days later my new dog decided to unpot them. When I rescued them (I shudder to think what would have happened to Pandora if she had decided to chew them), I wasn't sure they would take kindly to so much commotion, but here they are. And they are scented! I'm so glad I bought them.

Just last month I bought this.

Now that spring has arrived, I must find time to finish some of my garden projects.

Now I'm off to link to May Dreams Gardens and to see what is happening in other gardens around the world.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2013

It's lovely to welcome you back again to my Algarve garden. 

I know it's almost the end of the month but I was too busy and sad to take photos on the 15th. I finally took these shots on the 20th. The nights and mornings are cooler and it has rained quite a lot. You can see the earth is a darker brown where I have been removing grass to make my beds wider. 

In the photo above the iceberg roses are thriving next to the yellow hibiscus. We put Mimosa's grave in front of the hibiscus. That dog loved this garden!

Moving along the same wall, here we have the red oleander (the only one with blooms at the moment) and the red hibiscus.

Here is another shot that shows how much grass is coming out for wider beds, by the front gate. It's still very much a work in progress. I try to work on this project after rainy days because digging dry Algarve soil is a very unsuitable job for a woman. In this area I have been trying the smothering method but it is taking sooo long! I might have to move that lavender...

The rain has done wonders for the roses. This one bloomed again after a few months' pause.

There are some red blooms near the gate.

Here is a bloom from my other white rose and you can see the orange tree in the background, heavy with fruit.

These roses are from cuttings a neighbour gave me a couple of years ago. The wetter weather brought some undesirable pests to the roses, unfortunately. Ecological solutions didn't get rid of them. In the end I had to resort to chemicals.

Finally, this shrub, called "Dama da Noite" in Portuguese, bloomed again, releasing it's sweet scent into the cooler nights. Does anyone know its English or Latin name?

Looking back over my blog I've just realized that I joined Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in September last year. How time flies!

I'm off now to link to Carol's May Dreams Gardens. Do visit my garden again soon!

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Brown and Sepia

Updated to fix the link to Cee's new blog url.

Bark from around my rose bushes:

 A beautiful door in a nearby town:

 

 One of the many horses at the Santa Maria da Feira medieval fair last year:

Enjoy other takes on brown and sepia at Cee's.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - September 2013

Welcome back to my Algarve garden. We had rain yesterday morning for the first time in over two months, which means the grass is back to green and must be mowed soon. It's late summer and the days are shorter but the midday sun is still very hot. 

The end of August/beginning of September usually brings out the bella dona lilies and here they are:

Roses are still blooming.

The rose bed is looking a bit forlorn, which might have something to do with the fact that I removed the invasive chocolate mint and had to get a bit violent. (That'll teach me to keep mint in pots!)

This lavender is still attracting the wildlife.

 

More lavender!

The oleander and hibiscus are doing well.

Under this bush I keep the potted cuttings of whatever I'm trying to propagate at any given time. There's a lot going on there at the moment. You can just catch a glimpse of my new compost bin, too.

And last, but not least, my potato vine, yip, still in bloom.

Thank you to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day on the 15th of every month.