Spring wisteria
it’s great when wisterias start blooming, they show such perfection, and the most fantastic scent …
Bees can’t resist them…
great colour…
and the shadows …
rain, rain …
After such a long time without raining, it’s wonderful when we look at the garden and see how everything looks so fantastic …
Like this:
Dry Winter with a spell of early Spring
The first three months of 2012 are being particularly dry in Portugal, which has a bad impact on gardening and agriculture. Because my garden is on the coast we benefit from the humidity of the night and some early morning fog, which is not enough when temperatures rise to 18ºC in the afternoon. Lavender looks happy.
tulips, daisies, lilies … look happy, and developing slowly.
… and we have the most beautiful sunsets.
Secrets of Lisbon
A magic little spot on the back of a building in a busy quarter. This is also the access to a veterinary surgeon’s.
Praying mantis: murder in the garden
Mantis are extraordinary creatures which choose early autumn to breed. Some females do eat the males just after they fertilize the eggs. They start by eating the male’s head … and I think that what happened in this photo sequence shot today. They are real experts in camouflage, and it may be difficult to sort out what’s happening here.
Autumn cosmos
I fell in love again with cosmos bipinnatus this summer, and it’s wonderful to see them in early autumn looking so stunningly tall and defiant in spite of early rain storms. The weather has softened now and my cosmos keep on growing … they are really beautiful and a treat for bees.
prepare for winter
Garden storage becomes rather chaotic once summer is gone. Now is time to paint, clean, and prepare for rainy days when access to you garden storage will be limited.
Once you have put this behind you is time to much more serious work around the garden, and I mean some heavy work too.
grey grasshoppers
The beautiful green leaves of my orange tree just fell prey to a family of grasshoppers, and they really had a ball while at it.
do grapes grow on trees?
The answer is yes, if you have a somewhat neglected vine that climbs up a quince tree to get full sun exposure. The bunches look absolutely stunning, but they turn out too high and therefore too difficult to pick …
the brown grasshopper
I have found this beautiful grasshopper in my orange tree. It did not seem to mind my presence or the camera’s so close by. They are wonderful creatures, specially in small numbers.
Bougainvillea spectabilis
a native of South America, namely Brasil, the Bougainvillea spectabilis grows wild in my garden, and is turning into a tree.
