Finding the Sparkle

As we are now into Spring, it is that time of year when the cold still bites and the Summer seems to be teasingly evasive, and elusive.
We have flashes of warm balmy days, when Summer seems to be almost upon us, caressing us with sun, and light zephyrs of harmless,  mild air.
We are lulled into false feelings of warmth, and the bite of further cold air comes as a shock, to remind us that the Seasons are fickle, with Spring perhaps the most fickle of all.

The almost irredescant greens,  of the new bursting leaves on the deciduous trees, remind us that Summer will soon arrive.

The Jacarandas are curious, as their leaves turn yellow, and begin to fall, at this time of year, in seeming contradiction to the seasons. They are making way for the glorious display of blossom in the beginning of Summer, which here, in Oz, is in reality, November.

We do seem to be blessed with many purple/blue flowers at the start of Summer.

A rain sprinkled Agapanthus, from another Spring.

No raindrops this time.

Since our Jacaranda almost never rarely flowers, I don't have any pictures of the blossom.

I do, however have pics of our wonderful Orange Clivea.

The best ones grow clustered about the trunk of our Maple tree. They slumber peacefully during the Summer months, resting, and preparing for their magnificent bursts of colour during the early Spring.

We have several clumps of Clivea, but the best ones grow close to the trunk of our Maple, and the fallen leaves of the Maple, which cover them with the shed leaves of the Autumn fall. They keep them snug and warm under the blanket of red and brown leaves.

When we first redesigned our garden bank, I divided some of the Clivea clumps, and transplanted them a little further away from the trunk of the Maple.

They were slow to flower, and seemed to sulk a little, though they did still receive the blanket of comforting leaves, that the Maple provided.

They produce lovely red berries, which are quite beautiful in their own right. They glow, a scarlet red, and I have no idea if they are fertile or not.

At present we have some very happy succulents, which are in a neglected pot. They are flowering prolifically, and are quite lovely upon close inspection.
My favourite is the fern which has regenerated from the log banks of the garden. I know they don't flower, but I have a very soft spot for ferns.

The log wall which encloses the embankment is beginning to looks quite aged. It seems so recent since we redid this garden, but I guess time passes very quickly. It is, in fact, over 7 years since it was done, so it is little wonder that age has appeared.

Our back yard had become heavy with perfume, from the neighbour Jasmine, which is heavlily flowering. We also have  a Port Wine Magnolia, which is flowering and perfuming the air, along with another shrub with a small white flower, which I have forgotten the name of, but the perfume is very sweet.

They do "Sparkle".
However, I fear I have developed an allergy to something, since I seem to be sneezing rather a lot!
Even the dogs, and the cat, are snorting and sniffing!

Leo Sayer, Orchard Road.