Daphne or other mid winter perfume plants

 Why focus on Daphne in Sydney? Daphne likes cold weather. Sydney is hot for 8 months. 

Sydney can get really hot.

So they try to breed Daphne that takes the heat. 

Good idea, but maybe look for a native plant with terrific heat adaptations and perfume. 

Lets start with Native Daphne

Marguerite daisies

I have developed an insatiable urge to find out all about Marguerite daisies. The key that turned on my interest was a chance remark at the Friday garden club 'that these little daisies have disappeared from Sydney.
Apparently they like the cool so maybe they died out in some hot summers.
So far i have learnt they are Argyranthemum fructescens, Argyr meaning silver or coin, so I suppose they are referring to the little round flower heads. They are Compositae, made up of many tiny flowers and the petals we see are bracts around the edge.

They seem come in white, pink and yellow.
There are some bred for the heat of Australia, called Federation daisies and some called Madeira.
So far I have a white, a smaller white called Madeira, a pink and mottled colour wet small one, a pale yellow one that was half dead at a big tool shop. It revived easily in a bucket of water. Also a cutting of a pink one the I found in an old garden.

Our garden in Autumn 2015

This has been a wonderful growing season. The key to the garden growth was new rich soil in the front garden. The second key was being able to keep the soil moist and keeping the bacteria alive.
This was a lovely sunny day and it finally looks like a cottage garden.
 Now we have gale force winds and unrelenting rain. Gardens are so ephemeral.

Giant Strelitzia, has white and blue flowers occasionally,
 and Tallowwood trees 

Arty red colour Canna

Salvias, red and blue, and cosmos

Little dog, big steps

Agaves bloom in Autumn

It is the week after the autumn equinox and the Yuccas have shot up their magnificent flowers, and the Draceana variegated has a spike.
After a whole season of photosynthesising I guess they have enough energy to flower.
Red is the predominant colour of flowers and there are many birds about.

The Salvia are in flower and geraniums and Canna.
The basil, (maybe native to Aust maybe Holy Basil) is in bloom again. It is a great bee attractant.
Day temp 24°C  night 12 °C

Presly was a wonderful village. The people there are absolutely marvellous. Our thanks are huge.
May 2014