14-Aug-2019
Daisies beginning their spring display
Osteospermum - a massed display beginning.. not all the colours are out yet, but plenty of this one.
This will be the last photo for this gallery.. we'll be away for a couple of weeks,
packing tomorrow and leaving the day after.
We are heading for the tropics, some sunshine and warmth!!!
14-Aug-2019
Pow wow over the fenceline
Three of the four horses often get together near the fence between the 2 paddocks..
girls are the other side of the fence and the young gelding this side..
That's his Mum, the white mare and the background is the next door's small dam looking quite muddy
because we've been having lots of rain.
This is very near the end of this particular gallery.. only one or two still to come before
we head off to the tropics for a couple of weeks. The roses have had their winter spray and we've put out the fertiliser,
when we return we can just sit back and let nature take over...except for WEEDING & MOWING.!
14-Aug-2019
The original cluster of cyclamen
These are the cyclamen that the birds sowed seed of in the garden that gave me
the idea to make a patch of cyclamen, considering they grew so easily in this
part of the garden. I haven't tried adding the large cyclamen to the garden patch yet...
14-Aug-2019
Our dam is full now.
Photo taken from our fenceline showing the dam down in the valley; it is full
at last, and there has been some water forming a river between the ring of dams.
Dick fenced off our dam many years ago and planted heaps of native trees & shrubs
and left an area where the stock could drink without damaging the entire area.
14-Aug-2019
Red mini cyclamen in the garden
A patch of cyclamen I have growing in another part of the garden began from finding
self sown cyclamen growing without any help from me - most probably from birds helping
themselves to seeds in a pot of cyclamen. At this time of year they suddenly reappear
in the garden and very quickly begin flowering as you can see here. The original
patch I will feature in a day or two.
06-Aug-2019
"Devoniensis"
This rose shared the vase of pink roses that I featured about a week ago, but
it missed out in that photo, so now here it is. A delightful old tea rose with
lovely bloom and it still has a few flowers even though it is still late winter here.
Dating from 1838 there is a delightful tea fragrance with a touch of lemon, that
suits a white rose. A long flowering season in our warmer climate. I'm starting
to think we're in for an early spring here... there are quite a few roses coming
back into bloom here though many are still coming back into leaf, depending on
when the rose was pruned by me.
04-Aug-2019
Back in the horse paddock
Now with a green carpet... and waiting for the spring to arrive.
04-Aug-2019
Blowin' in the Wind
Euryops - a tough little daisy bush, needs no attention at all, and it does
have a tough exposed spot to grow in surrounded by large trees a few roses and other plants.
I grew it from a cutting of a bush in another part of the garden. Flowers for most
of the year.
09-Aug-2019
Last of the Winter Roses.
The day I featured Charles Mallerin (deep red roses) there were others in full bud
that I cut the day after for another vase.. so lucky I did because we've had some
awful weather that would have smashed the blooms. There were 5 different roses
in the vase, but this photo only features 4, the main one being the David Austin
rose "Ambridge Rose" and above it "Judy's Song" a section of "Souv. de la Mailmaison"
and up the top is "General Gallieni". The missing rose "Devoniensis".
Each day the blooms have opened up further, keeping
"Charles Mallerin" company creating a delightful fragrance throughout the room.
04-Aug-2019
The small dam from next door.
Always looks pretty in the winter, they have a larger dam alongside that I often
feature; but having the long lens on my camera thought it an opportunity to take
a photo of this dam for a change.
05-Aug-2019
"Charles Mallerin" in winter.
It is still winter where I live, and I have finished pruning the roses, but
this particular rose (& a couple of others) had nicely formed buds that I left
unpruned and yesterday I discovered they'd both opened, and here they are!
The bush itself is not an attractive one, quite tall and sparse, but very worthwhile
having it in the garden, spaced back behind nicer looking bushes. The perfume is
divine - I picked these and popped them into a vase inside for us to enjoy.
Another good point regarding this particular rose, it isn't spoiled by the weather,
including rain... whereas Souv. de la Malmaison that also has many petals and a lovely perfume will ball in the wet.
04-Aug-2019
Merlin near a dam
The young horse enjoying fresh grasses growing near one of the dams.
03-Aug-2019
Rainbow Lorikeet
Trichoglossus haematodus... fairly widespread throughout Australia,
also found in Indonesia, New Guinea the Solomon Islands Vanuatu and New Caledonia. They nest in a hole in a tree.
We have a whole family living on our property - there is a strict pecking order on who eats first at the seed dish,
and they will boss birds 3 times their size when it
comes to who eats at the dish. We also have families of galahs,
sulphur crested cockatoos, magpies, magpielark, crested pigeons, doves and sparrows sharing the dish - in turn.
I can see them all from my computer desk.. they provide daily entertainment year round.
03-Aug-2019
Burnished violas
A tub of violas - yet more of them! These seem larger than the more common varieties
and are at present putting on a very nice show.
02-Aug-2019
Meyer lemon tree
Our tree continues providing fruit throughout the year - the last of a planting of
23 fruit trees, all but the lemon were dug up and replaced by the beginning of my
rose garden back in 1990. We had absolutely no luck growing fruit trees here, beaten
every time by the birds who would just leave a stone hanging in the tree minus the flesh.
The lemon survived, though possums will eat the very ripe fruit when they fall from
the tree. It is surrounded by roses now, so I had to include some golden yellow
roses to complement this tree. Photo taken from side balcony on a drizzly wet day.
Named after the agricultural explorer Frank Nicholas Meyer.
28-Jul-2019
First signs of spring?
A few things are starting to bloom, including these osteospermum and some cyclamen, and although
I have finished pruning the roses, there are a handful of buds I left to bloom before
taking off the last canes. Bulbs have been popping up - mostly blue,
but we have another month to go of our late winter season.
28-Jul-2019
Pansies in a pot
We had two grandsons visit the same day and I got them helping me in the garden.
We managed to move some large plants in pots out into the garden, giving me the
opportunity to replant the pots. Here's what I did with one of them... plant
some pansies, the first for a very long time. I usually buy violas, the smaller
version especially for my hanging baskets.. but the extra soil needed for the
BIG pots gave me the opportunity of trying pansies again. They are circling
a larger perennial and will help keep the soil fresh while the Abuliton grows &
fills the pot. I was rather taken by the markings on the faces... one looks like
a butterfly and the other reminds me of a Scottish Terrier.
28-Jul-2019
Cheiranthus - "Winter Joy"
An old fashioned flower commonly known as the "Wallflower", and we have a handful of these
growing in different parts of the garden. This is the first bloom on this one for
the season... and the name suits it well. An easy care small shrub, to about knee height.
28-Jul-2019
A Ring of Dams
Down in the gully that threads around the hills are a series of dams that owners
have added - some were already there and others added later. Some years the dams
link up when there has been enough rain to run from the highest dam to the lowest
causing a little river. Years ago we heard frogs but they seem to have either died
out or found somewhere else to live. Here you have next doors horses with coats on
and two are in our side of the fence and one of the pair of mares the other side.
Yes, we have sunshine today after a good rain during the night. I'll be spending
most of the day pruning the roses. I'm nearing the end which is good, as we're off
to Cairns in a couple of weeks time. It is still winter here where we live.
13-Jul-2019
Lachenalia - "Soldier Boys"
These are still lasting in a vase from half way through July, and the rest of the unopened bells have opened since I took this photo - but both
the purple flowers finished after a day.
I am nearing the end of rose pruning... and a promising weather forecast tells me we're to have a
fine week without rain, good weather for pruning!
20-Jul-2019
The New Playground
Over the road from our 3rd daughter's home is a park with a newly erected playground
it replaces a simple swing and slippery dip that was there before. A popular place
for families with young children, and some arrived just after I took this photo.
There is a little creek that runs through the park, and you can see two sulphur
crested cockatoos flying through.
08-Jul-2019
"Mutabilis"
An old rose shrub that was first in line for a prune this year, and is coming back
into flower already... As the name suggests, this rose changes colour and you often
have a mixture of colours in flower at the same time - saffron-light pink-deep pink.
It makes a wonderful hedge, and
if left to grow to full potential becomes a massive size in width and height. Mine
hasn't be allowed to get to its full size and I nearly lost it with the summer heat
followed by drought and I'm so glad to see it coming back into leaf and flower.
08-Jul-2019
More violas
I have a weakness when I visit nurseries, I usually come out with more than I
intended to... and violas usually catch my eye. This is another batch growing
in a hanging basket.
13-Jul-2019
A bird's eye view
Another view from the balcony
13-Jul-2019
The sun shining through..
We've been having some dismal winter's days, so it was lovely to see some sun
shining through. Photo taken from the front balcony.
13-Jul-2019
Winter posy
Campanula, Lachenalia and the winter iris Unguicularis Cretensis from the borders of the rose garden. Have to be careful where I walk when rose pruning!
The tricolor lachenalia aren't the easiest to photograph and the campanula are so tiny.. the iris I saved from the snails,
they get nearly every bloom. We can't use snail bait in the
garden when we have Flossie. I often do a morning tour around susceptible plants looking for snails when we've had a rainy night.
08-Jul-2019
Dick's vegetable patch in winter
A quiet time and the patch is having a rest. Recently it has been cultivated and some
fertilisers and other adjustments made to the soil getting it ready to be planted up
with summer crops of tomatoes, zucchini, aubergine, chilli, basil and capsicum. When
the family lived at home there would have been a winter crop as well, but with only
two of us there is no more need. You can see some asparagus ferns that he hasn't
chopped back and up the top of the patch but not in this photo are a few herbs.
08-Jul-2019
Pink Spider Flower
Grevillea pinaster - I believe. Planted by Dick and he doesn't keep a record like I do.
We have had several different grevilleas growing here over the years.. and there are a few in flower right now growing in various parts of the garden.
08-Jul-2019
Yellow Daisies
Euryops pectinatus that grows in what was supposed to be an extension rose bed, but
was too close to a huge pine tree that the roses didn't like. Instead we've been changing
it over to perennials and small shrubs, though there is still a handful of roses surviving
there. This daisy is growing next to tall yellow iris but continues to bloom the
whole year round. The iris don't flower at this time of year, they wait for the warmer days.
08-Jul-2019
The Little Fisher Girl
Alongside one of our Viburnum tinus Laurestinus just coming back into flower.
08-Jul-2019
Young gelding enjoying the grasses
Young Merlin, who is now a gelding having time our side of the fence, though he's not to keen
to be by himself..
05-Jul-2019
"Old Blush"
This rose was brought to Europe from China, initiating the great revolution in rose breeding by introducing the repeat-flowering
factor into once-flowering old European roses. I rarely prune this rose, just remove any dead wood and that is all.
Its a small shrubby bush with an exceptionally long flowering season. It is said to
be the rose in the old song 'Last Rose of Summer'
25-Jun-2019
Late sun on the grasses..
A slight change of colour as the sun sinks in the west.
25-Jun-2019
Gateway between neighbours
Next door's horses line up near this gate at a certain time of the day when 2 pairs of
horses change paddocks. A pair of mares and a pair of geldings.
Two come our side and the other two return to their home paddock.
Dick misses having horses of his own and enjoys
having a wander to spend some time with whichever group come our side of the fence.
25-Jun-2019
View where our dam is
Surrounded by native vegetation all planted by Dick back in the days when he grew
natives for the organisation called "Trees for Life"... there were always trees left
over, although not native to our area, they still grew well. You can just work
out where our dam is hiding there though you can't see much water. One of next doors
horses is featured having a wander and an eat.
I have pruned about 100 roses, another 400 to go.
01-Jul-2019
Cape Honeysuckle
Tecoma capensis. I planted this about 40 years ago in a rather tricky and acute
corner of the mini arboretum. It is now quite a decent sized shrub which fills the corner and is quite tall as well.
It is quite safe to go and check it out during the winter when
it isn't snake season down under.
01-Jul-2019
Cootamundra time
Acacia Baileyana; always in flower during July in our winter. Declared a weed locally because it really belongs to the east coast of Oz.
A fast growing tree that has a short lifespan of about 7 years. We have a few growing here, all self-sown from seed carried by the birds.
The big splash of yellow gold is very welcome when nothing much is in flower.
The next to bloom will be the almond blossom - none growing in our garden, but plenty growing locally.
25-Jun-2019
Shining bark
The late afternoon light catching the bark on the trees
25-Jun-2019
The disappearing sunlight
As the sun starts slipping off to the west the shadows sweep over the landscape.
25-Jun-2019
Waiting to be trimmed...
Climbing over the archway is the thorny rose called "New Dawn". considering we gave
it a hard prune last year, here it is again waiting for its yearly trim.
25-Jun-2019
Long Shadows
Late afternoon in the sunshine.
25-Jun-2019
Winter Iris
Unguicularis Cretensis.. I was so surprised to find the iris had a few blooms on
my daily morning walk yesterday that I just had to take a photo. This is when I
really miss my Tamron lens for close work! Instead I had a play around with the image.
Normally the iris needs to have the fronds reduced or the little flowers get lost
among the leaves.
25-Jun-2019
Lining up along the fenceline.
These were planted by the neighbours at the time, the second family to live next door
to us. We now have a third family, this time with horses - that suits our timing rather
well. We share our paddocks with them as Dick gave up livestock about 5 years ago.
Notice the lovely green following some wonderful rains we've recently had.
29-Apr-2019
Trellis among the rose bushes.
I hang a few pots here so I can have some colour when the roses are hibernating.
It is pruning time now, but I'm still recovering from a gastric lurgy, only half going.
The next batch of roses for pruning are where we have hundreds of bluebells which will
be coming up very soon. NB the "firewheel" tree is a flower high centre right.. its a blazing red.
12-Jun-2019
Wintery View
Another from the back balcony.
01-Jun-2019
My Plant Nursery
I have two of these in a row... this one holds the cuttings that have progressed to
a stage of being found a place in the garden... the other one holds plants that are
still developing and have a shadier spot. Behind the row of plants is the pathway
to the "round yard" where Dick used to exercise his horses.
22-May-2019
An opened "Pinkie"
Good to see a climbing rose that repeats in the autumn... that's what "Pinkie" is doing right now.. and the blooms aren't
spoiled by the consistent rain we've been and still are having... day after day. The rain is making up for the 4 months without any.
27-May-2019
"Dusky Bells"
A cultivar that is a hybrid of our native Correa (wildflower) that is abundantly in bloom right now.
Many of our native flowers bloom in winter, this one starts flowering in autumn and keeps on going through winter and into spring.
We have a handful of different Correas growing, and a new one recently planted is a pale pink. I have yet to take a photo of the new plant..
it is still quite tiny. Correas can get to quite a size spreading into a rather large plant, and very easy to grow in our area.
They grow easily from cuttings, and I've managed to grow them myself.
12-Jun-2019
Mist Lifting
This photo taken yesterday... today the fog is a lot thicker, quite a "pea souper" in fact.
View from back balcony showing plenty of green grass after the lovely rains we've had this month so far.
I wish I could send some rain to Laine - it is holding up the rose pruning! :)
12-Jun-2019
Morning Mist in June
A view from our side balcony this morning after some heavy rains through the night.
A day off rose pruning for me! :)
Meyer Lemon is centre, one of the only fruit trees we have left, after originally
trying to grow 23 various fruit trees, but the birds beat us every time! We
do have a mulberry that I grew from a cutting, and that survives at the bottom
of the vegetable garden. We've had no luck with the mulberry either, but this
time it was the grand-children who beat us to the fruit! :)
01-Jun-2019
Christmas or Easter Cactus
Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with 6-9 species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil.
Plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and
can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Wikipedia
I have 3 in hanging baskets and one in a tall pot where the plant cascades down from.
21-May-2019
Ancient tree
A difficult image to get of this old tree, as it is surrounded by other trees &
bushes. Very soon ducks will take residence along with various parrots, possums
and other birds and animals... they start early in our mild winter climate.
I am at present pruning roses and have spent the last 3 days pruning just one
rose shrub, called "Sadlers Wells" - the first time I've attacked this big one
it got to a huge size, at least double my height & width, and it had a well developed sucker alongside which I had
to attack first. If you look up the rose itself, it is a very pretty semi-single
a soft cherry pink with pale centre.. they look like sweet peas as they bloom
in small clusters.
The ancient eucalyptus tree could be somewhere between 300 and 400 years old and
many limbs have fallen over the years. A bee hive resides high up in the tree, and
they've been there as long as we have been living here - over 40 years!
01-Jun-2019
Viola "Honey Bee"
Hanging in the gazebo...replacing the summer flowering Portulaca. They'll survive
our winter and make a display through the spring and possibly the early summer.
01-Jun-2019
A pair of gum trees
Including a sideroxylon with the dark bark, a popular street tree in nearby
Blackwood (South Australia). I did feature the blossom from this tree if
you scroll down, it was featured about a week ago in this gallery. Known by the
proper name Eucalyptus, but commonly called Gum trees where we live.
This pair of trees are in our mini arboretum..
01-Jun-2019
Time for the Jonquils.
These are the earliest to bloom here... we have a few clumps growing in the rose garden.
Nice to have a splash of colour when there's not much else on show.
01-Jun-2019
"Banana Shake"
A new Osteospermum waiting to be added to the edges of my rose garden..supposed to flower
from early spring through to autumn.. good for pots, garden beds and borders and can be used as a cut flower.
Will be complimentary to a beautiful & well-known golden Austin rose
01-Jun-2019
Part of the mini arboretum
Also a pet cemetery where we have buried various pets over the years. We
originally planted trees and shrubs to attract the bird life..including various
koalas, possums and insects. The low scrubby shrubs being a good place for
the smaller birds to hide in. Apart from running the mower around it, we
have never irrigated or fertilised this area.
01-Jun-2019
Ivy Pelargonium
I grew this one from a cutting that friends had growing. So glad I did, it hasn't
stopped flowering! This one is in a hanging pot that is in a eucalyptus tree, and I
can see it from my computer room window.. no need to go outside in the drizzly rain.
01-Jun-2019
Winter flowers
The official first day of Winter and a handful of flowers that were in bloom.
We don't really count it as winter until after the winter solstice on the 21st.
I'm about to start the winter rose pruning... and expect it to take me 6 weeks
allowing for rain, wind and other activities.
27-May-2019
Another tree in bloom
Unfortunately I can't remember this one's name, but it is another eucalyptus. We
can't remember it ever having this many blooms.. we can see the tree from our
lounge room window. The colour is a buffy-gold, and the blooms are too high up
the tree for a close-up shot. the tree would have been
planted by us perhaps 40 years ago.
27-May-2019
Ironbark flowers
Eucalyptus sideroxylon is a very attractive tree with brown/black bark and in flower
at this time of year. We are surprised so many bloom right now, the parrots & honeyeaters are
having a field day choosing which tree feast on. At the base of each tree there is
a carpet of fallen blooms & twigs creating quite a carpet.
27-May-2019
"Reve d'Or"
A magnificent old climbing rose, an old noisette that climbs onto the roof of the gazebo,
the only time I can get a photo is when I have the long lens on my camera.
Reve d'Or, or dream of gold is a very apt name for the rose. It flowers throughout the entire year in our garden.
You can see clusters of rose hips from the rose I featured yesterday.
When we did some maintenance on the gazebo a couple of years ago, Reve d'Or was severely cut back,
but it recovered quickly and again climbed back onto the roof in no time at all.
From the year 1869 and bred in France.
22-May-2019
Rosehips in late afternoon sunlight
These belong to 'Francis E. Lester', a vigorous climbing rose with pliable canes that
I am training around the rim of the gazebo roof. The rose only flowers in spring
but hundreds of tiny hips follow and are very attractive when nothing much else
is happening in the rose garden.
The flowers are single white flushed pink around the edges of the petals and blend in with other climbers on the gazebo.
22-May-2019
Fresh grass and shadows
Lovely to see green everywhere again after some lovely rains. This is one of the
small horse paddocks alongside the rose garden.
22-May-2019
Bidens ferulifolia
In a hanging basket... I first tried growing this in the garden but it didn't thrive
so replaced it
and instead moved it into a basket where it hasn't looked back,
blooming on and on.
22-May-2019
The falling leaves
Our Golden Elm tree is thinning out fast right now... but this little group were hanging in there for a photo.
21-May-2019
A view from the Gazebo in autumn
A little easier to get a photo now that some leaves have fallen from the climbing
rose that drapes the north side of the gazebo, and on a delightful sunny day.
22-May-2019
Shadow Play
When we planted this tree I hoped it would cast a shadow on the wall of the house, and
I noticed yesterday there was a very clear shadow.
The tree is a Hymenosporum, or Native Frangipani.
The tree blooms in November, the flowers open a creamy ivory and become a butterscotch gold,
often both colours are on the tree at the same time. The fragrance
penetrates the entire garden and house and is a delight!
21-May-2019
"Pinkie"
A climbing rose on the gazebo coming back into bloom at the end of our autumn.
11-May-2019
Viola time of the year
I replaced the portulacas from 3 pots and 1 hanging basket with violas to take us through the rest of autumn/winter/spring, and here's just one of them.
Unfortunately I came down with a dose of gastro yesterday... hopefully on the mend today.
11-May-2019
Souvenir de St. Anne's
A tall upright shrub rose with the longest flowering season of all the roses in
my garden. The blooms look delicate, but they can withstand rain and don't spoil
like the parent rose Souv de la Malmaison does. I have both next to each other
in the garden. St. Anne's was a property of Lady Ardilaun near Dublin where this
rose was discovered, a sport from the original. A lovely fragrance.. A Bourbon
rose dating from 1950.
11-May-2019
"Gruss an Aachen"
This is my favourite rose in my garden... it doesn't need pampering and flowers in
tough conditions like the drought of 3 months we've had.. the first sprinkle of rain
and buds appeared. It also has another name "Salut d'Aix la Chapelle" My little
shrub grows behind a plank seat on the edge of a pathway in the oldest part of
the rose garden, its a neat looking compact shrub and if and when we have to shift
from here I'm planning on growing a whole row of these. There is a fragrance...
This one comes fro Germany and has been around since 1909.
22-Apr-2019
Roses in Autumn
The little 5 year old picked this rose yesterday when visiting...
unfortunately the stem was far too short and needed propping up in a bud vase for this photo.
Not quite the quality of a spring rose especially as we've had no decent rain
since December! Here are some notes on the rose from our local Rose Society.
MAURICE UTRILLO
Floribunda
‘Maurice Utrillo’ was bred by the Delbard family in France and introduced in 2003.
Maurice Utrillo is from the Delbard Painters Collection – a series of brilliantly contrasted,
voluptuous striped roses named after the Great French Impressionist Painters.
Other well-known roses in the range are ‘Henri Matisse’, ‘Claude Monet’ and Edgar Degas’. Often bringing sheer delight or sometimes disdain,
the extreme difference in each flower attracts immediate attention. Maurice Utrillo is regarded as one of the best in the collection given its vigour,
double camellia like blooms, disease resistance and stunning colours of bright red, cream and white, fading to pink at the edges
31-Mar-2019
Autumn morning in the hills
I am well enough to carry the weight of the Canon, and here's one of the first
shots taken of a view from the fenceline of the large horse yard. I believe
autumn has arrived down under at last!