And then the sky turned pink

After the storm we were rewarded with a hazy sunset which turned everything softly pink.

The mist steamed off the hilltop trees as the evening turned muggy and hot.

All is well in our little part of Auckland.

Tomorrow, if the rain holds off, I will take a closer look at my wildflower garden to see if it can be revived.

Red sky at night shepherds delight!

See you again soon

Hugs

Rose x

Friday flower blues

Last night the forecasted storm hit Auckland with a deluge of rain that filled up our water tank. The rain was much needed as our water tank level was running quite low and there is a 3 to 6 week wait for water to be delivered! The wind was so strong it shook the house and then the power went off.

It was quite comforting to be tucked up inside with my cats. No damage was done to the house, but my wildflower bed is flattened and there are no petals left on the coreopsis flowers. All is a mass of tangled stems. I will have to wait until the rain stops before I can have a closer look.

I cheered myself up by looking through some flower photos that I took midweek. The lovely cobalt blue hydrangeas are still intact, as are the agapanthus flowers.

It is surprising that none of our trees got damaged by the storm. We had most of the old and dying pine trees removed over a year ago because they were falling over by themselves and causing a lot of problems. We now have a lot of pine and gum tree saplings growing happily in their place.

I hope that the weather has been kinder to you!

With love

from Rose x

Wildflower garden success, it's looking totally wild!

I started this wildflower garden just over a year ago, in November 2016, and it's still in full flower. The coreopsis flowers have survived the rabbits, lack of rainfall and no watering whatsoever by me.

I trimmed the coreopsis plants down to one foot when they first finished dropping their seed. These same plants came up again, together with the seedlings grown from the dropped seed. I plan to do the same again once the flower seeds have set and dropped.

The main flowers showing at the moment are coreopsis tinctoria. They reach over 6 feet tall, so are quite a bit taller than me!

I enjoy going for a walk around this flower bed very much, especially in the mornings and evenings when it's a little cooler. My cat Oscar usually follows me and meows very loudly if I go too fast.

There are some scabious plants dotted around amongst the yellow coreopsis, in shades of mauve, pink, white and a deep, dark, almost blackish maroon, the petals of which look like rich velvet. The butterflies and bees love it.

The following photos show the view across the wildflower garden and down onto to our neighbours horse paddocks and arena. The hill in the background is a nature reserve filled with native New Zealand bush (woodland).

The weather forecast for the end of the week is for strong wind and heavy rain. I am keeping my fingers crossed that not too much damage will be done to my flowers. However looking at it optimistically, the coreopsis will grow back again if trimmed down.

Time now for a cup of hot chocolate and back to reading my book.

See you again soon,

Hugs Rose x