Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Monday, September 14, 2015
Lately
Wow, don't post for a bit and those photos really pile up!
We've been away on a brief driving holiday to Sydney and back.
Saw loads on Olearia in full bloom through those endless mallee lands. Naturally I had to pull over and have a good look.
Stayed in a funky (and very dilapidated) old pub in Ouyen both there and back. Oh, if I had a few spare million to restore it to its former glory...
If you have an opportunity to visit the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mt Annan, NSW, you really should do so. Free entry, free parking too, glorious flowers; I was in heaven.
Went to the other botanic gardens in the Blue Mountains too. We only had a spare hour, I so wish I had more time to really explore.
Came home to launch full steam ahead into spring.
Put the girls to work doing my neglected weeding (they refuse to pose nicely for a photo).
They are paying their board with so many eggs I've started selling the odd dozen when I get overwhelmed and can't bear the thought of another quiche (and I'm trying to cut down on the sweet baking).
Gave the lemon tree a pretty thorough haircut and picked a few lemons. There are so many I might need to pop them at the gate with a 'free' sign.
And the potato tower that had done so little at my last post has gone 'kaboom'. How fabulous!
How I love spring xx
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Worm farm decor
My five year old thought the worm farm looked a bit lacklustre (she could be right: it's just two styrofoam boxes and a lid stacked together), so she's added a few decorations. Isn't it amazing how much is still in bloom even in the 'depths' of winter?!
Lovely! Mud pies with floral accents.
And just behind: my prettiest invader (spawn of one single punnet of nasturtiums planted five years ago. I will never be rid of them!)
Monday, July 6, 2015
Seeds of hope
Such tiny balls of promise. I persist with seeds, follow instructions faithfully and so on, and I'm always so sure I'll have rampaging healthy seedlings and acres of flowers and fruit in no time, despite years of evidence to the contrary when all I end up with is sad, empty trays of damp seed raising mix. How could this possibly not work?!
These are yellow columbines collected over the weekend from MIL's garden. I have just the spot, should they only grow!
Saturday, June 27, 2015
June glories.
There is something very special about winter in Adelaide. The garden is quiet and damp, and completely lovely in a scruffy kind of way.
'Sophy's Rose' is my June stalwart.
Pineapple sage, birds love this one (lemon behind).
'Cramoisi superieur' putting on a surprise show.
Hidden hollyhocks under the apricot tree.
Terrible photo of Chocolate Cosmos and Pelargonium reniforme.
Pelargonium sidoides, love love love this one.
Salvia leucantha under the apricot.
Alyssum 'Snow White'
Acacia iteaphylla goes nuts at this time of year (red-flowering Japanese quince behind)
Mini gerberas and blue lobelia in a pot.
Dwarf calendula, my favourite buff yellow.
Fairy pelargonium (forget species) with a saltbush I totally forget the name of (Maireana erioclada?)
Rosa 'Crepuscule' under our bedroom window. Can hardly wait until it's bigger!
Volunteer nasturtium (one of lots, no wonder it's a weed in these parts).
Lastly, the new garden corner, most plants in except for the roses which should arrive soon. 
Friday, November 21, 2014
Spring sessions
Salvia 'Tanzarin,' perfect. Just need a few dozen more to really make an impact.
Volunteer sunflowers, glory be!
Fat 'black' poppies under the sunflowers. Not as dramatic as I'd hoped, but I grew them from tiny seeds, so I am ridiculously proud of them.
Kidlets picnicking on the new lawn; the best part.
I see it now, the shape of the garden to come. It will be all I dreamed, and then some.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Munstead Wood
Third to bloom (I missed snapping 'Black Boy's' first flowers), is Munstead Wood. An unbecoming lopsided and particularly thorny shrub adorned with roses of the most luxurious dark crimson.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Seed sowing
Friday, April 11, 2014
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Anemone de Caen
I think that dreaming about something -literally- is an indication that something is preying on your mind a bit too much. Dreaming about 450 Anemone de Caen bulbs would be an indication that you need to stop procrastinating and plant the poor buggers.
I love anemones of all kinds (oceanic varieties included), seriously love them. I bought these bulbs around 18 months ago. I had a vision of sweeps of blue and white beauties in and around the roses. And then, not long after my bulbs arrived in the post, I lost them. Like, proper lost, turned the house upside down, couldn't imagine where they could have possibly gone. I started to wonder if I'd actually accidentally thrown them out. Then, about two months ago they miraculously turned up in the study. Bingo! Now I could plant them. Except where were they to go? The rose garden vision has changed, or rather, has filled up in the intervening year with other plants (mostly native, which these anemones are not). What to do, what to do? So, the bulbs have been sitting on the kitchen bench for weeks and weeks now, getting pushed aside, while I've been trying to decide what to do (short of listing them on eBay!). In my dream, some of them had flowers already...
So, in they go, and this afternoon at the latest. It's a bit late to be planting them to be honest, but better in the ground than stashed at the back of the laundry cupboard for another year. The plan now goes: whack them in, in random clumps, wherever there happens to be a space.
*
I love anemones of all kinds (oceanic varieties included), seriously love them. I bought these bulbs around 18 months ago. I had a vision of sweeps of blue and white beauties in and around the roses. And then, not long after my bulbs arrived in the post, I lost them. Like, proper lost, turned the house upside down, couldn't imagine where they could have possibly gone. I started to wonder if I'd actually accidentally thrown them out. Then, about two months ago they miraculously turned up in the study. Bingo! Now I could plant them. Except where were they to go? The rose garden vision has changed, or rather, has filled up in the intervening year with other plants (mostly native, which these anemones are not). What to do, what to do? So, the bulbs have been sitting on the kitchen bench for weeks and weeks now, getting pushed aside, while I've been trying to decide what to do (short of listing them on eBay!). In my dream, some of them had flowers already...
So, in they go, and this afternoon at the latest. It's a bit late to be planting them to be honest, but better in the ground than stashed at the back of the laundry cupboard for another year. The plan now goes: whack them in, in random clumps, wherever there happens to be a space.
*
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Blooming beauties
Next update! This time on the flowers I've planted about the place.
Out the back, I had dreams of sunflowers and hollyhocks all the way along the west-facing fence. I sprouted loads of seedlings of the above, and planted them out. Unfortunately, the snails, slugs, and similarly minded critters thought this was a fabulous idea, said 'thanks for the supermarket,' and ate their way through nearly all of them. I had, perhaps, three or four dozen plants out there, and only half a dozen sunflowers survive (both dark red and yellow) and a miserable two, lonely hollyhocks are struggling along. The remaining sunflowers, at least, are not struggling. They are impressively tall and looking grander and more stately by the day. They are developing flowers already. This is one of the yellow varieties (I'm hoping it's an enormous Russian sunflower, but so many have gone that I can't remember what was planted where now, it may be an ordinary Sun King)
And this is one of the red sunflowers. These beauties had red stems even when they were tiny seedlings, and now that they are bigger they have a distinctive purple tinge to their veins and margins.
Most of my flowers are out in the front garden as the back is dedicated more to veggie and fruit growing. Slowly slowly the front 'rose garden' is taking shape. I never really meant to have a rose garden, but the 23 Icebergs already out the front pushed me along that path. We missed the first Spring flush, but they'll continue to bloom all Summer and Autumn.
Over Winter I added five David Austin roses to the front garden; all are apricot/yellow tones. They were Jude the Obscure (my all time favourite), Graham Thomas, Lichfield Angel, Crocus Rose, and Charlotte. Unfortunately, the Charlotte rose did not survive the winter which is a bit of a bummer, but the rest of them are thriving and have their first flowers or buds. The Graham Thomas is as lovely as I expected(but I was too slow with the camera!) and smells gorgeous. The rose pictured is Lichfield Angel. I notice, that just like the Icebergs, the rain leaves pink spots on the flowers! I am waiting eagerly for the other two roses to flower so I can see what colours they are in real life.
When we bought this house I planted a hedge along the fence of Hidcote Lavender. There is a definite 'wellness gradient' along the fence, I've found. The first two lavenders by the gate at the Eastern end of the fence did not survive, but as you go down the fence line the lavenders look better and bigger until the Western end when the look like this! So pretty, and by next year I expect they would have filled out more completely and will have more of an informal 'hedgey' look.
Then, on a whim, I planted a couple of Catmints (Nepeta spp) after reading that they are traditional in rose gardens (the pretty lavender coloured flowers are supposed to help hide the leggy stems of the rose shrubs). I have fallen in love with the Nepeta completely, and have already planted a couple more (in both lavender and white) and I'm trying to grow some from seed too, so I can have loads of it.
And then there's the borage, which I've been trying to photograph because the sunlight in those little hairs is so very pretty, and the Dodonaea viscosa purpurea, which has no flowers yet but is a lovely wine colour.
I have realised that I've unintentionally begun to create a rose garden with a white/lavender/yellow theme which should be quite nice if it all comes together as it looks in my head. Here is how it looks so far - without a rose in sight because they are all behind me! - getting there, getting there... I want to put in more silvery foliaged plants next, and more of the creeping thymes, and more Nepeta of course (and a few more roses, ones that are more yellow than apricot). That's my wish-list anyway, to begin in Autumn when we get back into a planting season. (Northern Hemisphere readers: Summer in Southern Australia is a bad time to plant most plants as it's very hot and much too dry. It's not impossible, but new plants need to be lavished with care or they will not thrive.)
That shabby brown plant in the top left is a native pelargonium (Pelargonium australe). It was looking wonderful before we went away, but has suffered in the hotter weather because it's in a bit of an exposed spot. The flowers are pretty though, typical pelargonium flowers, and I have started to collect a bit of the seed - they are fluffy and parachuted, like daisy seeds - to see if I can grow more plants from it (it can also be propagated easily from cuttings just as you could an introduced pelargonium).
Most of those plants pictured are on the western side of the front garden, the eastern side is very much a work in progress. This link shows you roughly what I have planned. The main eastern garden bed was just grass which I dug up, and then I transplanted a heap of the Icebergs into that space into a kind of wedge shape. There was a path down the side of the yard past the house here, which was dug up as we are bringing gas into the house from the street main supply. Until just a few weeks ago, this space was a giant ditch. It's finally had the gas plumbing put in and it's been filled FINALLY! I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to walk easily down there again! The roses are all totally fine and blooming - I had a picture which I accidentally deleted, oops! - but a couple of the other plants I had in here got squashed by plumbing/ditch-filling efforts. The gardener in me was horrified to lose a Lomandra (pictured!), a little Kunzea, and a chamomile (which may yet recover) but my inner-renovator is just happy that the plumbing is done.
Speaking of renovating, that's what I'll update you on next. :)
Out the back, I had dreams of sunflowers and hollyhocks all the way along the west-facing fence. I sprouted loads of seedlings of the above, and planted them out. Unfortunately, the snails, slugs, and similarly minded critters thought this was a fabulous idea, said 'thanks for the supermarket,' and ate their way through nearly all of them. I had, perhaps, three or four dozen plants out there, and only half a dozen sunflowers survive (both dark red and yellow) and a miserable two, lonely hollyhocks are struggling along. The remaining sunflowers, at least, are not struggling. They are impressively tall and looking grander and more stately by the day. They are developing flowers already. This is one of the yellow varieties (I'm hoping it's an enormous Russian sunflower, but so many have gone that I can't remember what was planted where now, it may be an ordinary Sun King)
And this is one of the red sunflowers. These beauties had red stems even when they were tiny seedlings, and now that they are bigger they have a distinctive purple tinge to their veins and margins.
Most of my flowers are out in the front garden as the back is dedicated more to veggie and fruit growing. Slowly slowly the front 'rose garden' is taking shape. I never really meant to have a rose garden, but the 23 Icebergs already out the front pushed me along that path. We missed the first Spring flush, but they'll continue to bloom all Summer and Autumn.
Over Winter I added five David Austin roses to the front garden; all are apricot/yellow tones. They were Jude the Obscure (my all time favourite), Graham Thomas, Lichfield Angel, Crocus Rose, and Charlotte. Unfortunately, the Charlotte rose did not survive the winter which is a bit of a bummer, but the rest of them are thriving and have their first flowers or buds. The Graham Thomas is as lovely as I expected(but I was too slow with the camera!) and smells gorgeous. The rose pictured is Lichfield Angel. I notice, that just like the Icebergs, the rain leaves pink spots on the flowers! I am waiting eagerly for the other two roses to flower so I can see what colours they are in real life.
When we bought this house I planted a hedge along the fence of Hidcote Lavender. There is a definite 'wellness gradient' along the fence, I've found. The first two lavenders by the gate at the Eastern end of the fence did not survive, but as you go down the fence line the lavenders look better and bigger until the Western end when the look like this! So pretty, and by next year I expect they would have filled out more completely and will have more of an informal 'hedgey' look.
Then, on a whim, I planted a couple of Catmints (Nepeta spp) after reading that they are traditional in rose gardens (the pretty lavender coloured flowers are supposed to help hide the leggy stems of the rose shrubs). I have fallen in love with the Nepeta completely, and have already planted a couple more (in both lavender and white) and I'm trying to grow some from seed too, so I can have loads of it.
And then there's the borage, which I've been trying to photograph because the sunlight in those little hairs is so very pretty, and the Dodonaea viscosa purpurea, which has no flowers yet but is a lovely wine colour.
I have realised that I've unintentionally begun to create a rose garden with a white/lavender/yellow theme which should be quite nice if it all comes together as it looks in my head. Here is how it looks so far - without a rose in sight because they are all behind me! - getting there, getting there... I want to put in more silvery foliaged plants next, and more of the creeping thymes, and more Nepeta of course (and a few more roses, ones that are more yellow than apricot). That's my wish-list anyway, to begin in Autumn when we get back into a planting season. (Northern Hemisphere readers: Summer in Southern Australia is a bad time to plant most plants as it's very hot and much too dry. It's not impossible, but new plants need to be lavished with care or they will not thrive.)
That shabby brown plant in the top left is a native pelargonium (Pelargonium australe). It was looking wonderful before we went away, but has suffered in the hotter weather because it's in a bit of an exposed spot. The flowers are pretty though, typical pelargonium flowers, and I have started to collect a bit of the seed - they are fluffy and parachuted, like daisy seeds - to see if I can grow more plants from it (it can also be propagated easily from cuttings just as you could an introduced pelargonium).
Most of those plants pictured are on the western side of the front garden, the eastern side is very much a work in progress. This link shows you roughly what I have planned. The main eastern garden bed was just grass which I dug up, and then I transplanted a heap of the Icebergs into that space into a kind of wedge shape. There was a path down the side of the yard past the house here, which was dug up as we are bringing gas into the house from the street main supply. Until just a few weeks ago, this space was a giant ditch. It's finally had the gas plumbing put in and it's been filled FINALLY! I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to walk easily down there again! The roses are all totally fine and blooming - I had a picture which I accidentally deleted, oops! - but a couple of the other plants I had in here got squashed by plumbing/ditch-filling efforts. The gardener in me was horrified to lose a Lomandra (pictured!), a little Kunzea, and a chamomile (which may yet recover) but my inner-renovator is just happy that the plumbing is done.
Speaking of renovating, that's what I'll update you on next. :)
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