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.
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.
13-NOV-2018
Rosegarden in Spring
Late in the season, past the peak of flowering, but still plenty to see.
Just a small section of the rose garden here.
13-NOV-2018
Rosa brunonnii - The Himalayan Musk
Although a rose, this rampant climber isn't in my rose garden, but growing
alongside and up a tall majestic cedar tree, visible from the front gate. It
acts as a shield to the working area of the house (clothes line) and gives
us privacy. A delight to see in bloom and there is a gentle fragrance with so
many flowers. A very thorny creature. This photo is just a small section.
18-DEC-2018
Pathway, side of house.
Some of my many pots. You can see that native lily that took 15 years to flower
in the distance.
Sorry that I haven't been commenting, but I am recovering from a procedure in hospital
and not 100% yet.
29-DEC-2018
Agapanthus
This is a miniature version of the common agapanthus, and has spread into quite a
nice sized clump over the years. It grows at the base of a Linden tree and flowers
in our summer.
30-DEC-2018
Canna in flower
We shifted a canna from a pot that had cracked and moved them to a new
earthenware pot... this is the first flower in the new pot. They have settled
in rather well, and I expect quite a few more flowers to follow in the next few weeks.
23-NOV-2018
Day Lilies
We have a row of these bordering one of the beds of roses, they struggle a bit
with our climate and need a lot of extra water during our dry seasons. They
didn't particularly like the last couple of days of 40 and 39 degrees Celsius
and needed an extra drink. This photo was taken a few weeks ago before the
hot weather arrived. One little plant that hadn't flowered for a few years
decided to open up on the day we had the 41 degrees and it wilted immediately.
This morning we've had a cool change come through, it is delightful, and
some fresh roses opened alongside all the fried blooms.
22-DEC-2018
Summer display
Portulacas that replace the violas in the hanging basket and flower pot on the
little table in the gazebo. They withstand the summer temperatures and dry heat
we often have in a heat wave. 41 yesterday and 39 today, that's Celsius.
Watering the garden becomes an early morning necessity, and some plants need
another soaking in the evening, especially the ferns & fuchsias.. We hold
back on watering the roses, they are hibernating though a few have some fried
blooms on display.
04-NOV-2018
One of the garden beds in Spring
The Acanthus putting on a display... the flowers are quite short lived but much appreciated
and so are the fresh new spring leaves on the overhead Linden tree. We are past our Spring
now that I'm adding this photo... and having a week or more in the mid to high 30's and low 40's Celsius, it is SUMMER down under.
18-DEC-2018
Robin Redbreast Bush
One of the first things you see as you drive in our drive right now is this
melaleuca lateritia in flower, when the sun shines on the blooms really do look
like a robin enjoying the sunshine.
18-DEC-2018
Blue violas
Self sown in pots that were next to a huge tub of these, they are flowering now
but I expect they'll only last until Christmas Eve, we have a forecast of 37, 38, 41,38 Celsius that will finish off anything as soft as a spring flowering viola.
18-DEC-2018
Colour in a hanging pot
Over an archway I have 5 hanging pots, 4 with a lavender pink diascia & trailing lobelia, and this
pot as a contrast, calibrachoa, bidens & trailing lobelia. The 4 pots of diascia are nearly
finished but this pot is really putting on a show now.
16-DEC-2018
Butterfly Bush
Buddleia davidii 'Royal Red'
A new addition in a corner of one of the rose beds where I've been developing a
cottage garden group of plants. I am lucky that this bush flowers after the main
display of the roses, though we still have a handful of rose bushes in flower, this
butterfly bush would be hardly noticeable when the whole garden is in bloom.
Photo taken late afternoon on a dark and drizzly day in early summer.
23-NOV-2018
Gazebo setting
Just after the peak flowering period, but still plenty of roses in flower.
23-NOV-2018
Various trees alongside the rose garden
The golden elm, native frangipani and 2 cedar trees laden with epiphyllums in bloom
12-NOV-2018
Pink Princess Lilies
We have quite a few of these bordering the pathways in the rose garden
this is one of the light pink alstroemerias that hug the ground alongside
pink rose bushes. So far Flossie hasn't flattened this lot hunting for
skinks in the garden! These lilies are quite brittle and break very
easily...and one forage by Flossie can flatten an entire spread of these.
12-NOV-2018
Ballerina
A tiny rose bloom that covers the bush in spring.
12-NOV-2018
Hanging baskets in an archway
Four pots of diascia and one pot of a variety of tiny plants. All putting on
quite a show right now. Two small climbing roses drape the archway, you
can see a couple of blooms of Clair Matin on the left. On the right but
out of view is Phillis Bide, see NEXT for a photo of this rose.
12-NOV-2018
Phillis Bide
A small climbing rose on one of the archways.
04-NOV-2018
The Pelargonium Patch
A small section of the patch.. just inside our front gate.
04-NOV-2018
Up the garden path
Walking past the lemon tree that is surrounded by roses the path leads
to the gazebo. In the background is a horse holding paddock full of self-sown
eucalyptus trees which gives shade to the animals in summer, each tree also
becomes a scratching post.