HAPPY OCTOBER GBBD!

Hey Everone,
Gosh it was a close one this month.  I nearly missed my beloved GBBD, all because I got caught up with school and completely forgot just how important the 15th of the month has now become for me.  Something has been bugging me all day but I couldn't remember what so when I logged on tonight to do a quick post and to have a look at what everyone has been up to so when I saw the GBBD posts I let out a yell of shock and sprinted out of my room to fetch the camera... I wouldn't want to miss out now would I? hehehe.

This glorious month I believe that it is more orchids than anything else in flower, but undoubtedly there will be plenty in the garden that I just haven't noticed. I was flat out on the weekend so I sadly didn't get the chance to do the gardening that I had planned for... oh well, at least now I have plenty of money to spend on the garden now :).

this time of year here in Oz is the time for all the glorious Hippeastrums to come into flower.  I have several varieties in the garden but i keep forgetting where they are so it's not until they flower that I find them all :).  Of the two varieties in bloom at the moment the predominantly white is my personal favourite.

I bought this glorious Pansy at the Toowoomba Carnival of flowers and it has been in riotous bloom for the past couple of weeks however i think that the pot it is planted in it drying out too quickly so I'm planning a re-design of several bath tubs that i have as garden beds and this will be one of the ones going into the beds :).  this beauty just has the most mesmerising flowers, when it is in full bloom it is just a sight to behold.

Here are some of the other plants that I bought in Toowoomba, last night when I took the photos I was wondering what on earth was happening to the Sweet Williams (Dianthus) because the flowers were all crinkly and weird but when I went out this morning they were back to normal so I believe that they just "close up", or at least their version of it, at night.  I have these beauties planted in 2 large pots outside Mum's shop but I'm starting to regret planting them there because I don't see them as often as I would if they were elsewhere and I just ADORE them.

Does anyone know what this one is? It didn't come with a name and I would love to get some more next year

From the wonderful powers of the internet I believe this one is Senecio cineraria... what do you think?

gotta love a good cabbage

The succulents are still going strong.  They have been in flower for ages and I just love them for that, most of the year they are relatively boring but the flowers are so interesting.

Haworthia attenuata

Haworthia attenuata with a stolen flower ;)

This is one of my weird mystery plants.  I keep it in a pot because otherwise it goes rampant and I don't think the flowers are quite pretty enough to allow that, but still interesting none the less.

:O OMG, I JUST SAW ALL THOSE SNAILS! I can see 3 of the little blighters.... oh they are gonna get it when I get home

More snapdragons... I JUST LOVE 'EM! Honestly, I have gotten a hardcore addiction to them and I just hope they have self seeded relatively well and if not then I have collected plenty of seeds :).  I'd just watered them last night hence the shiny water droplets.

The wonderful Marigolds, or "Stinking Rogers" as a friend calls them, are coming into flower again, they really dress up a salad and look wonderful... as well as confusing the hell out of your mother at dinner time or teachers at school at lunch when they see you eating flowers :).  They are also a really good plant for companion planting as well.

now that is what I call a flower head, it is on one of my miniature roses and it just looks spectacular, that bunch is about the size of a dinner plate.

This glorious plant is still in bloom, you're probably all getting very sick of seeing it... but too bad, I like it :)

my nemesia that i saved from the hardware store, it's really difficult to get a nice photo of it, i'll have to give it another try.

I believe these next two are close relatives to the Gerbera.  I started off with a yellow, a red and a white when I first got them.  Over the past few years I've been doing a little bit of cross pollinating with them and I've gotten this beautiful pink one.

An Iris

On with the Orchids

WOOOOOHOOOOOO the Restepia elegans that I bought in Toowoomba is in flower, aint it GAWJUS?! The flower is smaller than my thumb nail hence the not so good photos.

My wonderful Anthurium rothschildianum that I won at my orchid societies christmas party last year, it has 3 open flowers and another bud still coming.

Phalaenopsis Tying Shin Cupid x Phalaenopsis Carribean Sunset

Paph hirsutissimum

Den. jenkinsii

Den. jenkinsii

Mormolyca rigens

Oeoniella polystachys

Oeoniella polystachys

Unknown

Unknown

Tolumnia Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

Tolumnia Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

Tolumnia Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

Dendrobium Ellen

Dendrobium Hybrid

Dendrobium keithii

Dendrobium keithii

Dendrobium keithii

Dendrobium keithii

Dendrobium nobile var. virginale 

Dendrobium gracillicaule

Dendrobium gracillicaule

Paph hirsutissimum in the morning light

Hoya carnosa

the "Doorbell"... my baby Bert :)

Teddy's face is in that photo..... somewhere ;)

As much as I would love to keep going with the post I can barely keep my eyes open... good night everyone and happy GBBD and in case you missed the link hidden at the beginning for more Garden Bloggers Bloom Day posts visit Carol at May Dreams Garden.

Happy Gardening

Michael