I take a stroll in the Botanic Gardens and if you think of winter as a time of little colour or shutting down, well, you are in for a surprise. In Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens the colours are popping on this first day of winter.

The Aloes are in full flower and the birds love them. Adjoining them near the lake are all the azaleas and the camellias. Just glorious colours and patterns.

A bit further one of my favourite colours in nature. A strident blue and this one has a great name too. Its called the Hedgehog Sage.

In Liverpool, our gardener Mike, loved Dahlias and he planted many – but they all had a firm form and even firmer, coarse petals. Not like this Dahlia Imperialis from Guatemala no less – supremely imperial and beloved by the bee inside it. So dainty and flimsy – unlike any dahlias I know.

Then the amazing Euphorbias which come from South Africa or Zim intricate in their shapes and sizes and bursting with buds.

The air is getting chilly and we are back to wearing our best Qantas socks with our thongs-on the first day of winter !

A sure sign that winter is upon us but these are winter warmers of the first order and ones I will return to.