My Back Garden – Part 3

Living in the Southern Hemisphere means that spring is about to end and summer is just around the corner. We have received far more rain this year and our totals till the end of October were well ahead of the totals received during each of the last few years. This means that the earth has soaked up most of the extra moisture and the plants have benefited from all that extra moisture. My part of the world is usually relatively dry in comparison to many places – my part of Queensland’s annual rainfall averages some 30 inches, or 750mm. The average for the whole of Australia is only about 20 inches, or 500mm per annum.

Further to my earlier posts showing photos of my garden over the last couple of months, I attach the following for your enjoyment.

The Australian Native Hibiscus is quite common in Eastern areas with higher than usual rainfall, and it can grow to about 15ft, or 5m tall. The flowers themselves, at least in these photographs, are over 4in, or 100mm across. The unusual aspect of these flowers is their extreme short lifespan. These flowers do not come into full bloom until about 10am on a bright sunny day, and by about 3pm they are starting to wilt, and before nightfall they are dead. The dead flowers are found all over the ground by morning and the whole process starts all over again. These Hibiscus have been flowering like this for a few weeks now and we are wondering for how long they can keep this life and death struggle going.

An example of nature at its best!