FFF682 - GLADIOLUS 'PURPLE FLORA'

Gladiolus 'Purple Flora' is a hybrid variety featuring deep purple/violet florets that crowd the tall, strong stems. They make sensational cut flowers and are perfect for a big floral show. The elegant spires of ruffled blooms provide an indulgent explosion of fantastic summer colour.

Gladiolus are economical, easy to grow bulbs that love the Australian sun. They are hardy and reliable flowers and can be easily timed for a succession of vibrant, towering summer colour. A trick of the trade is to plant your Gladioli bulbs in batches over a few weeks. This will extend the flowering show. When planting in warm weather allow 90 days to flower and cooler weather 120 days.

It is a good idea to ensure you plant your gladioli bulbs deeply enough (around 10cm), this will reduce the need for staking. Gladioli like a sunny position and you need to ensure you keep them moist when they are in flower for best results. Hold off planting until after the threat of frost has passed.

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FFF681 - MARVEL OF PERU

Mirabilis jalapa (the four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru) is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis, and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a town in Mexico. Mirabilis jalapa is said to have been exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540. The flowers usually open from late afternoon onwards, then producing a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, hence the first of its common names.

A curious aspect of this plant is that flowers of different colours can be found simultaneously on the same plant. Additionally, an individual flower can be splashed with different colours. Another interesting point is a colour-changing phenomenon. For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink colour. Similarly white flowers can change to light violet.

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FFF680 - ARTICHOKE FLOWERS

The artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus), also known by the names French artichoke, globe artichoke, and green artichoke in the United States, is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as food. The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom.

The budding artichoke flower-head is a cluster of many budding small flowers (an inflorescence), together with many bracts, on an edible base. Once the buds bloom, the structure changes to a coarse, barely edible form. Another variety of the same species is the cardoon, a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Both wild forms and cultivated varieties (cultivars) exist.

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FFF679 - AT THE FLORIST SHOP

It's Summer and the florist shop is full of fresh flowers delivered daily. The price of fresh flowers is still reasonable, despite our rising inflation and rising costs of production.

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FFF678 - ASIATIC LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Asiatic Lilies are a very popular garden and florist flower and they offer a brilliantly colourful range of blooms to choose from. The bulbs of Asiatic lilies are tough and resilient, providing a bounty of colourful blooms for vases, very easily grown and wonderfully tolerant of searing Australia's hot Summers. Asiatic Lilies come in a wide range of brilliant colours from bright red to soft and pretty pink which means they can be used to create pockets of colour or gentle waves of soft and pretty cottage colours. 

Asiatic Lilies have more advantages in that they are great in pots and the bulbs can be planted anytime between May and October (in the Southern Hemisphere).

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FFF677 - CEREUS

Cereus is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae) including around 33 species of large columnar cacti from South America. The name is derived from Greek (κηρός) and Latin words meaning "wax" or "torch". The genus Cereus was one of the first cactus genera to be described; the circumscription varies depending on the authority. The term "cereus" is also sometimes used for a ceroid cactus, any cactus with a very elongated body, including columnar growth cacti and epiphytic cacti.

Cereus are shrubby or treelike, often attaining great heights (C. hexagonus, C. lamprospermus, C. trigonodendron up to 15 m). Most stems are angled or distinctly ribbed, ribs 3–14, usually well developed and have large areoles, usually bearing spines. Flowers are large, funnelform, 9–30 cm long, usually white, sometimes pink, purple, rarely cream, yellow, greenish, and open at night. Fruits are globose to ovoid to oblong, 3–13 cm long, fleshy, naked, usually red but sometimes yellow, pulp white, pink or red. Seeds large, curved ovoid, glossy black.

The specimen illustrated here is Cereus paraguyanus, and it is presently in full bloom. This plant is from my neighbourhood in inner suburban Melbourne, just to prove how well suited our climate is to the growth of this cactus in our city. 

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FFF676 - PHLOX

Phlox 'Popstar Blue' produces masses of lovely bi-colour, star-shaped flowers in various shades of blue. It has a naturally dwarf habit and is perfect for adding colour to your garden, looks fantastic mass-planted and is ideal for containers.

This is a hybrid cultivar of Phlox drummondii cuspidata, which is a flowering plant with bright purple, magenta, and pink flowers, a white centre star, and a white edging. The petals have elongated, feathery points that create a magical effect.

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FFF675 - STRAWFLOWER

Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia. Described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803, it was known as Helichrysum bracteatum for many years before being transferred to a new genus Xerochrysum in 1990.

It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub up to a metre tall with green or grey leafy foliage. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas.

The golden everlasting has proven very adaptable to cultivation. It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple flowers became available. Many of these are still sold in mixed seed packs. In Australia, many cultivars are perennial shrubs, which have become popular garden plants. Sturdier, long-stemmed forms are used commercially in the cut flower industry.

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FFF674 - ASIATIC LILY

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Asiatic Lilies are a very popular garden and florist flower and they offer a brilliantly colourful range of blooms to choose from. The bulbs of Asiatic lilies are tough and resilient, providing a bounty of colourful blooms for vases, very easily grown and wonderfully tolerant of searing Australia's hot Summers.

Asiatic Lilies come in a wide range of brilliant colours from bright red to soft and pretty pink which means they can be used to create pockets of colour or gentle waves of soft and pretty cottage colours. Asiatic Lilies have more advantages in that they are great in pots and the bulbs can be planted anytime between May and October (in the Southern Hemisphere).

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FFF673 - GAZANIA

Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Southern Africa. They produce large, daisy-like composite flowers in brilliant shades of pink, maroon, yellow, orange and cream, over a long period in summer. They are often planted as drought-tolerant groundcover.

Most Gazania species and cultivars are low-growing, near-evergreen, clump-forming or carpeting plants. They quickly develop into small clumps of narrow lance-shaped leaves that can be downy and lobed near the base, often with lighter coloured undersides. Their showy flowers, which appear throughout the warmer months, are large, brightly coloured, often interestingly marked, and the ray florets tend to be darker at the base, with a contrastingly coloured central disc.

The type species usually have yellow or orange flowers, but the garden hybrid forms are available in a wide colour range. Most gazanias tolerate very little frost and dislike wet winters, but they are otherwise easily grown in any sunny position with light, gritty, well-drained soil. They thrive in coastal gardens. Plants should be deadheaded frequently to encourage flower production. Annuals are propagated from seed; the perennials may also be divided or can be grown from basal cuttings.

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