04-FEB-2019
New Zealand Flax
Phormium Tenax Variegatum. We have two of these in large pots, this particular one we've
had for 11 years, a present for a particular birthday. Mine has never flowered
so I await that pleasure!
04-FEB-2019
More Eucalyptus Trees
Or 'Gum Trees' as we Aussies call them. Looking skyward through the trees to
the blue skies above.
19-JAN-2019
Various trees
Cedar, Cordyline, Golden Elm and various Eucalyptus and the blue sky.
13-NOV-2018
Bear's Breeches - Acanthus
This clump grows under our Linden tree and seems to like it there. Each year
the clump dies down (summer time) and sprouts again with huge leaves and
eventually the spikes of flowers arrive making quite a statement in the shadows.
19-JAN-2019
Blood Lily "hedge"
A row of lilies that have formed a hedge over the years. Originally I grew these
from seed (berries) that a friend gave me, and eventually planted them in a row
where you see them here. Each lily has formed a clump and joined up with others
making a very attractive feature alongside our outdoor setting. The flowers appear
before the leaves, then eventually some flowers become the red berries that I
featured a week or so ago (go to this gallery and scroll down to see berries.)
19-JAN-2019
Banksia by the gate
Banksia speciosa, it has been by our front gate ever since we built our house and
moved in. Not much left of it now, often native trees and plants are short-lived.
This is actually an old "flower" they hang on for ages until lopped off. They are very popular
with florists who like to include them in dried arrangements as well as fresh.
Specimens of Banksia were first collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander,
naturalists on the Endeavour during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean.
Cook landed on Australian soil for the first time on 29 April 1770,
at a place that he later named Botany Bay in recognition of "the great quantity of plants Mr Banks and Dr Solander found in this place".
Over the next seven weeks, Banks and Solander collected thousands of plant specimens,
including the first specimens of a new genus that would later be named Banksia in Banks' honour.
19-JAN-2019
Outdoor setting & canna
Showing where the canna in a pot resides... alongside the outdoor setting.
Last night we were both so tired after a long extremely hot day where the
temperature climbed to almost 47 degrees Celsius and stayed hot for most
of the night.. not much sleep was had, even with a fan going. We have
survived it this time. No power outages and no fires in our vicinity, though
the fire fighters still had a very busy day in other parts of the state
where the temperature rose to almost 50 degrees Celsius. The hottest day
on record for our state!
19-JAN-2019
Canna leaves
In the summer sun. The colours suit the day, with a forecast of 45 degrees Celsius!
Apart from checking the birds baths several times today, we will be staying indoors
and hoping no bush (wild) fires break out.
19-JAN-2019
Heliotrope
A little perennial I bought to add to the "cottage garden section" of the rose garden,
but it didn't like the spot, so it got replanted in another part of the rose garden
and is now doing quite well. It is now sharing with a convolvulus, or mauve bindweed and
the colours blend rather nicely. I believe the heliotrope is poisonous so I set it back
a little from the border of the garden patch.
19-JAN-2019
Giant Spear Lily - seed pods
Doryanthes palmeri
You may remember me showing a photo of this lily during its opening phases
and how it eventually turned red (scroll down). Now it has these huge
seed pods and all the petals have shrivelled up and turned a reddish-brown. The
spear arrived last March and the lily took 15 years to produce a flowering
stalk. I'm not sure if the plant will flower again, we'll have to wait and see.
19-JAN-2019
Blood Lily berries
Scadoxus multiflorus, sub species Katherinae
We have a row of these growing like a small hedge, and each year they produce
a couple of dozen blooms and sometimes these berries form when the blooms have
finished. I actually grew mine from the berries originally and they took a
few years before we planted them in this row. I might add a photo later of
the hedge they have made. Eventually they die down for a few weeks, then
spring back into action with a new flower and greenery. All parts of the
plant are poisonous to eat, hence nothing really attacks the plants, except
the occasional snail.
12-NOV-2018
Blending near the Gazebo
Various roses on the roof and surrounding the gazebo.. main rose is Reve d'Or but there
is a few Francis E. Lester tucked in there from the other side of the little summer house.
In the left hand bottom corner may be some Safrano, very similar in appearance to Reve d'Or.
The other side also features Elmshorn (deep pink/red) and some semi-single Erfurt (similar
colouring to Francis E. Lester) at ground level.
Elmshorn is like a small tree, tall and wide with a very long flowering season.
All climbers have totally recovered from a hard prune a couple of seasons ago so
the gazebo could have some restorative work accomplished.