15-MAY-2007
Sunny South
An Australian bred rose, bred by the same breeder as "Lorraine Lee". Our SS grows alongside Queen Elizabeth and is almost as tall, but SS has smaller leaves & twiggy growth. We planted a patch of species gladiolus at the feet and they often flower together. I've never pruned our SS, just cut out any dead wood and deadheads.
13-MAY-2007
Ginkgo leaves changing colour
Slow growing but a sight to see in autumn when all the leaves change to soft gold. The tree has such a lovely shape silhouetted against all the native Australian evergreens. We didn't expect much from our exotic trees this autumn after the long drought. Its a very ancient tree the leaves have been found in fossil strata from the Palaeozoic era when the earth was a jungle of steamy swamps. It has been known to scientists for centuries as the ancestor of all conifers. The leaves resemble the Maidenhair Fern to which it owes its popular name although the Chinese refer to it as the Duck's Foot Tree.
13-MAY-2007
Green lemon on the Meyer lemon tree
This little tree (more of a large shrub than a tree) has fruit or fruit forming the entire 12 months of the year. Its a very rare day that we wander out for a lemon and there isn't one to be found. At the same time you can find lemon blossom, green lemons and ripe golden yellow ones all over the tree. An Italian friend of ours loves to cut them and sprinkle salt over the flesh and she eats them like that! We often give our visitors a bag full to take home. Every now and then I strip the tree of ripe fruit and we give them away at our front gate.
13-MAY-2007
Vine leaves blowing in the wind
The vine is on the western side of our house and doesn't get as much sunlight in the morning. Just little ray of sunlight caught this leaf as the cane blew from side to side - it took a few shots to actually catch it with the camera.
13-MAY-2007
Palm Lily in bud
The Cordyline Australis growing at the side of the main pathway to the rose garden is budding up - its also called a "Cabbage Tree" and comes from New Zealand. Our tree is quite large and multi-trunked at the top of quite a tall main stem. It looks a bit like a palm tree. We've had top-knot pigeons nest in the tree for quite a few years - their eggs often fall out of the nest onto the pathway.
12-MAY-2007
A pretty weed - Groundsel
I found this growing on the grassed pathway down the side of the rose garden alongside the horse paddock fence. According to a book I have on wildflowers this is called a Variable Groundsel (Senecio lautus) - at least thats what I think it is.
12-MAY-2007
Blue Bajou in the sunlight
This is an experimental rose by the German nursery Kordes, trying to include the blue pigment into the rose, the one colour that is missing from the spectrum. It is the bluest rose in my rose garden, though it hates wind, rain etc, the bush is very pretty when in bloom. Yes, it is fragrant!
12-MAY-2007
Autumn leaves on Reine des Violettes
Another favourite rose in my garden - an oldie with magenta purple quilled with a button eye scented blooms that keeps on producing roses throughout our flowering season. It can gain quite a size (spread) over the years, and mine is now 17 years old.
Bred in France back in 1860
12-MAY-2007
Hips on Cornelia
Cornelia is a massively big hybrid musk, it sends out very long canes and joins up with another rose the other side of a very wide pathway, and turns up amongst other very large rose shrubs metres away from the original spot. The flowers are an apricotty-pink borne in clusters at the ends of the canes and is one of my favourites in the garden. Here's just a very small handful of hips that caught my eye (close enough to photograph) on my walk around this morning.
09-MAY-2007
Shady Lady for reliability
This rosebush is a fantastic performer in our climate. Its forever in bloom and when you deadhead the next batch of blooms are already forming. Although it has "shady" in its name, it really likes to be in the sunshine - especially if you want a decent display of roses. The bloom reminds me of pelargoniums, the regal sort. The colour is more striking in the cooler weather, it does tend to lighten a bit in our strident summer sunshine.
09-MAY-2007
Sebastian Kneipp
A very tall upright shrub/climber which really needs support in its early years. It sends up long thorny canes like a climber which I tend to wind back in on itself. The blooms are quite large and so are the hips which follow. This particular bloom hasn't fully opened yet.
09-MAY-2007
Heritage hips
A favourite Austin rose, the shrub is very tall and upright, actually growing taller than a nearby archway. Its a beautiful shrub if you have the room. Mine has a spread of about 2 metres. I only prune this one about every 3 years, just taking out any dead wood and giving it a general tidy up. I have found that some of the larger Austins tend to reach for the sky if you hard prune them so it pays to be gentle with them. For those not familiar with Heritage, the flower is a delicate blush pink.
