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Wednesday 7 August 2013

FLOWERS FROM THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS

Good Morning to you,


I was tidying the kitchen yesterday evening and I looked out of my kitchen window and I could see a red glow in my garden. 



I went outside and look what I saw.  I  called George to come and take a look at this wonderful sight of nature.  



I dashed upstairs to get my camera, to record this beautiful sky and I thought you would love to see it.  I have not done anything to these photographs apart from placing a border around them..... isn't nature the most wonderful thing. What is the saying "Red sky at night, shepherds delight".

..... and talking of nature, I thought I would show you some of the beautiful flowers which I grew in my garden in Cyprus. I really do not have many photographs, as I never thought to take photographs of my garden, well that is until I started this blog, I just used to enjoy the experience of gardening.



Look at the colour of the sky, I have to tell you, it really was that beautiful shade of blue. Now go back and take a second look at the sky which I photographed last night..... so totally different in colour.


The first year we planted sunflowers, we were amazed at how tall they grew and we could not believe the size of the flower heads, they were the size of dinner plates. We always left the flowers to dry on the plant as the birds loved eating the seeds.



I'm not exaggerating when I say the sunflowers were about seven feet tall.  You can see they were tall because of the angle of the photograph, it was taken from below. 




This beautiful flower is a Caesalpinia from Argentina, but is commonly known as the Yellow Bird of Paradise.



The flowers are so very beautiful with long red stamens protruding from each flower.




Do you remember, I spoke about this plant when I visited the Amethyst Gardens in India, it has a  fascinating way of seeding itself. If you would like to know how this Yellow Bird of Paradise seeds itself, you can read about it here.



I had never seen a Lantana bush until I lived in Cyprus, then the second time was when I visited Natasha in Atlanta, they were everywhere and in a range of beautiful colours.  Can you see the little ant which is paying the Lantana a visit. In November, I would cut it right down and by the Spring it had trebled in size. I even turned one of the bushes into a standard Lantana, and I was so pleased with the results as it meant I could under plant the Lantana with smaller flowers.



This beautiful Hibiscus is rose-sinensis which thrived in Cyprus. The common name for this Hibiscus is Rose of China. I planted four Hibiscus plants in the front garden and with a little trimming they provided us with the most beautiful, colourful hedge which was full of these beautiful red flowers.



To the left you can see a beautiful purple climber which is full of flowers which look like miniature Buddleia flowers.  I never found out what this plant was called, a friend gave me a cutting, who also did not know the name, I rooted it, then planted it and it romped away, covering the fence. 

The climate in Cyprus was perfect for growing  Geraniums, well I can only say they were a triumph.  We never experienced frost or snow, in Larnaca, so the Geraniums just grew and grew.  I think the tallest was about 3 feet and they grew into bushes.  I had to prune them in the Autumn to keep them in some sort of order, well not too much order, as I love to see plants mingle, where you don't see where one plant begins and another ends.



In England, George loves growing bonsai trees, but when we left England he had to give them all away, as the climate in Cyprus was not conducive to growing bonsai trees..... far too hot in the summer. So George discovered another plant which he had a talent for growing..... Cacti.  



Look at this beautiful Cactus flower. Have you ever seen anything prettier.  George had a huge variety of Cacti which he enjoyed growing, but I think my favourite was this Golden Barrel Cacti. The cacti would produce buds, the bud would open, but not  during the day, they would open during the evening.  



Then within 24 hours they would fade away. We had many of these lovely Cacti, so we had a succession of flowers to enjoy. They really are the most delicate flower.

I have loved showing you these photographs, and they have been a lovely reminder of our garden, but I cannot take any credit for them, as they were taken by our friend Nick, who came to the Island of Cyprus to stay with us for a week.

Thank you Nick, for taking these lovely photographs and for bringing back memories of our beautiful garden...... we both loved looking at them again.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining,


and





13 comments:

  1. What amazing photos !!!!!!!!!!!And what fantastic flowers !!!!!It was a great idea to take some photos of the sky yesterday !!!!
    It was very thoughtful of you to leave the
    flowers to dry on the plant so as to provide the birds with some seeds !!
    Have a nice day !!!!!!
    Niki

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  2. What a beautiful sky. I love a good sunset.
    Your garden in Cyprus had some beautiful specimens. Lantana grew very well in Western Australia where I am from, as well as Caesalpinia and Hibiscus. The summers were very hot there too! x

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  4. your flowers are pictures perfect

    I am a cloud watcher also

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  5. Dearest Daphne,
    Lovely posting, starting out with that incredible sky!
    When you lived in Cyprus, you had a Wisteria Frutescens "Amethyst Falls' one of the less invasive, mini-forms of otherwise invasive Chinese varieties. Here you see a clear picture and I bet it does resemble your Cyprus variety: http://bit.ly/17ygWyb
    By its leaves I did recognize it as a wisteria but just not the ordinary variety that turn into untamable monsters.
    Hugs to you,
    Mariette

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  6. Your flowers are amazing! You are such a wonderful gardener, I have really enjoyed your photo's..very nice.

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  7. Fabulous pictures. Enjoyed my visit to Cyprus.

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  8. These flowers are so beautiful. The red I have never seen
    before, must be an exotic sensation... Thank you for sharing.

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  9. What an amazing sky my friend and your potos are stunning!!! The flowers are gorgeous and your Green thumb has no competition my friend! I bet they reminds you of your life in Cyprus too! Thanks for your sweet and kind visit my friend...you made me laugh! Big hugs,
    FABBY

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  10. Amazing Cactus flowers !
    So delicate and fragile compared to the actual plant itself !
    The picture of the evening sky is stunning.
    So much beauty around us for free, we just need to slow down and take it all in. ;)
    Rose

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  11. Such beautiful pictures of the evening sky, the glow it cast must have been so pretty.
    Great pictures and I know what you mean about the sunflowers, they almost touch the sun they are so tall.
    betsy

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  12. Hello,
    lindas suas flores, tens muitas flores ai que também temos por aqui. os girassóis são belíssimos, Antigamente eu plantava, vou ver se este ano planto novamente. Amei seu céu vermelhos, aqui quando fica assim é sinal que vem o vento minuano.
    Bjos e tenha um ótimo domingo.

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  13. Hi Daphne,

    What a striking sky where you are now! Every place has its particular brand of beauty. Your flowers (and sky!) in Cyprus are, of course, EXACTLY what we grow here in Greece! Yes, I can be your witness, the sky is THAT blue! And the flowers are THAT bright! Do you miss living there? I wonder, if I ever moved back to Canada permanently, what I would miss the most about Crete...and one thing for sure is the bold and brilliant blue sky!

    Thanks for sharing all the loveliness!

    Poppy

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Dear Friends,

It is so wonderful to know you enjoy reading Ivy, Phyllis and Me! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment. I really do appreciate it.

Best wishes to you.

Daphne

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