It's that time of the month again when I end up missing Garden Blogger's Bloom Day by at least a day or two. In this case, it was due to my '75 Kombi taking a leave of absence from its duties and showing that it too can be as stubborn as a mule with attitude. Fortunately, we're back on the road again - which is a good thing.

But, we didn't come here to discuss Kombi's and mechanical breakdowns. It's the time to take stock of what's flowering in the garden. To smell the roses, so to speak.

And it's the roses that take the limelight this month. Their end of summer flourish is probably the last we'll see before dormancy - but I'm pleading with them to work overtime and produce another dazzling encore before the end of autumn.

So, without further adoo, here's the stars of February;

Our climbing rose is finally taking some leadership in the garden with both plants heading heavenward up our arbor. They have taken their time in moving upwards as they struggle with our soil. You can see the sickly yellowing leaves in the background. But they're on the improve.

This is 'Purple Moon' - one of our favourites. It almost died 2 years ago but with some TLC and location adjustment it has begun to flower again. This is one of only two blooms we've seen this year - the other is already spent.

This little seductive 'Seduction' is everything it claims to be. It's frilly lingerie petals are insatiably enticing and it always begs for attention. A standout extrovert in our garden.

Doing what bees do best, this one is enjoying our standard white roses.

Almost two months late, our crepe myrtle has finally decided to flower. After not seeing any buds on this tree around Christmas I began noticing that others growing in the region were in the same boat. Blame it on the hole in the ozone layer or the fact Australia didn't sign the Kyoto agreement but our crepe myrtles have not been in a hurry to bloom.

You can almost feel the heat emanating from this spicy little delicacy. All our red chilies are now starting to colour and we should be able to enjoy their bounty in the ensuing weeks. The kids can have spaghetti!

Finally, our eggplants are also flowering and I'm just hoping they will set fruit and mature before autumn gives way to our winter. Fingers-crossed!

Oops, almost missed one. Just to show you that autumn isn't that far away, our Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is heralding the dawn of a new season - and hopefully less heat!