28-Mar-2019
Our gravel driveway
When we have a family do our driveway is more like a parking lot! I am so glad
that Dick's shed door was closed when I took this photo...
Behind the bins is Dick's vegetable garden where he is still picking fresh tomatoes.
Alongside the cedar tree is a trellis with a climbing rose that only flowers in
the spring and is surrounded by daisies. Nothing in flower right now.
21-Mar-2019
Pathway from the round yard.
Four casuarinas line the fenceline by the road and this is the view as I walked back
from the little gate to the roundyard that is no longer in use, we have no horses
of our own now. I love the sound of the wind in the casuarinas, quite an eerie sound.
21-Mar-2019
Ancient tree
One of only two original trees that were already growing in our house yard before
we added dozens more.
This tree is host to a variety of bird and animal life (including koalas and a bee hive),
the parrots like the broken limbs and gaps left for nesting in, and include a pair
of ducks who nest here every year. Unfortunately it often drops a limb and has
become a little unsightly, we won't be moving it in our lifetime, it could be
well over 300 years old.
21-Mar-2019
A few of my 500+ rose bushes
No flowers yet, but there are some buds beginning on some of the bushes, give them
a few mild weeks and we'll have some opening for an autumn display.
18-Mar-2019
Roses and Eucalyptus Trees
My rose garden is surrounded by eucalyptus (gum) trees as seen here. No matter from
which angle one looks you can see these trees. They often have a koala or two calling out
to each other, though it can be difficult to work out which tree they are in.
We don't expect to see any rose blooms before a decent rain arrives to energise the bushes into
flowering. We don't force them into flowering as the blooms aren't particularly good
during our summer weather, it is far too hot for them, they scorch in the heat,
or are forced to open too early. Best to wait for the cool autumnal weather in April/May.
18-Mar-2019
Belladonna Lily
Amaryllis. We have both the white and pink varieties. Unfortunately our pink
lilies opened during a heatwave where the temperatures hovered in the high 30's low 40's
and they barely lasted one day. Luckily the creamy white lilies waiting for a cooler
day to open and I managed to get a few photos, though this year's crop is quite
inferior to those from other years, we need some RAIN! Sorry Chris, I did have a play
around with this image.. :)
13-Mar-2019
Windbreak trees and shrubs
We planted these to break the winds and give some shelter for birds and other wildlife
alongside the rose garden and house yard. Some have colonised since we planted them
nearly 40 years ago. This is apart from the natural selection that grow in the
horse holding yards and within the house yard.
Apologies for only sharing photos taken in and around our property at the moment,
as I am still recovering from major surgery.
13-Mar-2019
Oasis under the Elm Tree
A lovely cool shady place in late summer early autumn.
17-Aug-2018
Diascia
We have several hanging baskets with this growing, and although I took this
photo back in 2018, it hasn't really stopped flowering during all that time.
I have a group of 5 hanging baskets with it in, they make quite a statement.
I did originally try growing diascia as a garden plant, but although it spread well,
it wasn't very noticeable as a garden plant, but in a basket at eye level it is
a show stopper in our climate.
16-Feb-2019
Tiny Fuchsia flowers
Although the blooms are tiny, the bush is quite tall - in fact waist high and wide.
This is the third try at downloading this image, I hope it works as I will be
away for a few days.
16-Feb-2019
Under the Lillypilly tree
In the house garden area we have many trees that we planted ourselves including
3 huge lemon scented gums of which you can see the trunk of one in this image.
They cast a welcome shade and break the wind that comes from the north-west, north & north-east.
They also frame our distant view.
Sometimes a koala will have a sleep in the lillypilly tree, it is shady and leafy.
Red Ironbark
Eucalyptus sideroxylon growing in our mini arboretum as a collection of trees and shrubs
of native origin especially for the birds.
We chose sideroxylon to line the fenceline with 5 of these trees, and this is one we
added in amongst other trees & shrubs alongside a small horse-yard with horse shelters.
A small tree in our climate with very pretty gum blossom that have the colours of
apple blossom, pink & cream. This tree doesn't shed bark like the indigenous group
of gum trees in our area.
Added comments from Wikipedia.
The wood is relatively hard and dense, and is often used for firewood.
It has very high resistance to rotting and can be used for fence posts, piers, sleepers.
Heartwood dark red, sapwood pale yellow. Very dense, hard, fine grained timber, difficult to work, but polishes to a high sheen.
Has been used for furniture, turnery, boat-building, benchtops.
Popular as a craft furniture timber during the 1990s and early 2000s,
also used ironbark that had been submerged as a wharf pier for 80 years in a range of tables.
At about 1130 kg/m3 it is one of the few timbers that will not float.