You may remember I posted a photo of a lily that is at last bearing a frond
of flowers after being in my garden for 15 years. It still hasn't opened
and here is an earlier photo taken late June when first noticed. You
can read all about it on this older photo.
27-AUG-2018
Spring awakening...
Fresh new spring rose leaves appearing...these belong to a modern hybrid tea rose bush
that we've had growing in our garden for 28 years, but there is such a variation in
colour of the various rose bushes, always a delight when they open up freshly in
the early days of spring; not that spring has officially happened here yet.
24-AUG-2018
"Veronica"
This little plant started in a hanging basket but it died... fortunately for me
birds must have dropped seed in an uncultivated section of the garden and this tiny plant survived amongst the weeds.
When planting out an extension to my pelargonium patch I moved 3 of these little
self sown plants into a new position and they are thriving! Right now they are
totally covered with these tiny little blooms. A great time to be in flower
when there's nothing much else in bloom in the garden, they are much appreciated!
17-AUG-2018
Paint-brush Lily
Scadoxus puniceus - the time of year that it flowers in our garden after
taking about a month off where it dies down and starts again with these
blooms. The leaves follow and last for the rest of the year. This lily
comes from South Africa, grown fairly widespread in that continent from south
to north. The flower is most welcome in our winter month of August, and
we have a row of 12 - at least they started as 12, but they have multiplied
over the years and are now about double that. The lily is very poisonous
and has been left alone by most animals and birds, but I did pick off a
snail and a slug yesterday from one of the blooms.
28-JUL-2018
Viola Antique
A lovely selection of old-style violas doing well in winter on an
outside table in the gazebo. They still look like this, and have been
enjoying some lovely rains and chilly weather.
28-JUL-2018
In the soft winter's sunlight
A rose in bloom mid-Winter - this one is Jardins de Bagatelle, a lovely scented rose
on a very prickly but compact average height bush that resides nearby to a seat
that is placed permanently alongside one of the pathways in the rose garden. This one is
still waiting to be pruned...
Daisy
Osteospermum daisy (African) we have so many of these growing of various colours
this is a fairly new one growing around the edge of a huge cedar tree, visible from
our front gate. They spread and cover the ground like a blanket of leaves & flowers.
So easy to propagate - I always have a few more growing on in pots ready to fill a
spot in the garden somewhere.
10-JUN-2018
Heaven Scent
A fairly new rose in my garden... there has been some variability in the blooms so
far,
I'm not sure about this rose.. we'll see how it performs this coming spring. Anyone else grow this one?
Misty Morning in July
Temperature down to 1 degree Celsius first up this morning.. looking forward to
our holiday in the northern state of Queensland! The view from our front balcony.
02-JUL-2018
Up Close
A close view of a couple of the roses in the vase of pruned blooms. A few more have
been added to the vase since I took the photos, including yesterday's bloom.
This pair is Shocking Blue & Moonsprite.
28-JUN-2018
Brandy
A tall upright grower and rather thorny... awaiting the pruning shears.
A week today (July 4) we'll be winging it to the "Sunshine State" and a 2-week
rest from rose pruning.
02-JUL-2018
Prunings
I got stuck into the winter pruning job, cutting & bringing in any buds or blooms
before starting - and
here is a sample of the roses I pruned yesterday. For those interested in roses, here are some names -
Michele Meilland, White Wings, Shocking Blue, Moonsprite & Violina. Moonsprite is the only true yellow in this group.
I managed to prune 20 bushes, that makes a total of 32 done so far now - out of 500+ - a long way
to go yet, and we'll be away for 2 weeks mid-July, they'll be waiting for me on our return!
28-JUN-2018
Jonquils
We have a few patches of these growing in the rose garden, and one patch has just
started opening up with a few blooms, as seen here... others will follow soon, some
come later and are a different type and colour.
28-JUN-2018
Giant Spear Lily - before it opens
I'm not sure whether ours is a Doryanthes palmeri, or excelsa. Both are giant lilies
but the Palmeri droops with the weight of the blooms when it opens. We have waited 15 years
for ours to flower. I did see these growing alongside the Clarence River along
the north-east coast of N.S.W. many years ago - after we had planted our little seedling,
now ours is a GIANT too, the strappy leaves are 3 metres+ tall, and the stem of this
"flower" is 4 metres or more, hence the difficulty getting a photo to show you.
We're heading up to Cairns in northern Queensland in a couple of weeks time, and
hoping our flower doesn't decide to bloom while we're away! At least I will now
have a record of the fact that it has a flower bud!
PS. Palmeri is named after a Premier of Queensland, not a palm tree.
Background is a lilly pilly tree that young koalas like to sleep in, but not eat.
30-JUN-2018
Farmers' Market
Today we took some old friends down to a Farmers' Market in the Southern Vales
wine growing area of South Australia.. a brisk but sunny day when the sun came
peeping out from behind clouds. We then drove to a winery for delightful light lunch
a very enjoyable way to spend the day - good friends, food & wine.
28-JUN-2018
Safrano
Another photo of Safrano, at this time of the year always in bloom, there is
about 30 or more blooms right now, never spoiled by the winter's weather, rain, heat whatever
Mother Nature likes to throw at us. Alongside Safrano on the gazebo is a climbing
Noisette called Reve d'Dor (Golden Dream) that is also flowering,almost matching the colour of
Safrano, but out of my reach for a photo, that one covers most of the roof and
that's where the flowers are.
28-JUN-2018
Tamora
A very popular David Austin rose that is loved by many. A low growing rather
prickly shrub rose that needs to be on the edge of the rose garden so you
can enjoy the many blooms it produces. This one is flowering in our winter
right now. I took the photo this morning when the temperature was 6 degrees Celsius.
15-JUN-2018
Another Grevillea
This one is called Wimpara Gold and grows in a patch of natives & exotic plants.
The grevilleas are a haven for birds and bees, they flower for most of the year, even in winter.
15-JUN-2018
Winter's Day
A view we see year round - and in winter its always green.
22-JUN-2018
Succulent
I'm not sure which one this is, but possibly belongs to the Crassulaceae family
it came as a cutting from a place we used to frequently stay during a wine and
food festival, held annually during May. Very easy to grow from even a leaf,
I have a handful growing in both pots and in the ground. The plant I got the
leaf from was as tall as I am and possibly as wide as it was tall. The owner
said it had yellow flowers, but as none of mine have ever bloomed I have no
idea - perhaps where we live it is too cold for it to bloom.
22-JUN-2018
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam
This is one of the best known names in the history of the modern rose,
it has become one of the most influential pollen parents of the modern roses,
and can still be found in nursery lists.
An old hybrid tea bred in the UK, 1882
22-JUN-2018
Display of the rose hips
Waiting for me and my pruning tools... a view between the David Austin rose called
Heritage and the popular Bonica who grow in a row of similar pink blooms.
15-JUN-2018
Yellow daisies
Euryops pectinatus - meaning daisy with comb-like leaves - is in full bloom down
in the garden. A very welcome splash of colour in winter!
This one originates from South Africa, which means it will grow like a weed in southern Australia. The
only thing it doesn't like is frost!
15-JUN-2018
Violina
A very tall upright rose that performs well throughout the rose season, though
the blooms will often ball in wet weather. A lovely scent, and an armful of
blooms look wonderful in a vase. Each pruning season I chop it down to my
height, but it insists on reaching for the skies. A leafy shrub - no bare
legs on this rose. Would make an ideal feature rose in a garden. The name
attracted me as our son is an excellent violinist, he played in his first
orchestra aged 7. Unfortunately it is too difficult to bring his fiddle with
him when he comes back to Oz for a family event - we often played together
around the piano.
15-JUN-2018
Rose petals
A close up of the petals of the rose called Safrano. Quite a large shrub
rose that flowers through our winter each year. One of the first roses that
resulted from hand pollination, an innovative process at that time.
The new leaves are so pretty being a burgundy that contrasts beautifully
with this pale peach/apricot colour.
Bred in France in 1839
15-JUN-2018
Scots rose "Altaica"
A little rose growing on its own roots, one I picked up many years ago from
a Rosarian who lives in the Clare Valley wine growing area. So far my
little shrub has grown and filled out, and I took some root cuttings and gave
them to my rose growing friend. A pretty but very thorny shrub that normally
only flowers in spring followed by tiny black hips. This year in winter I
discovered these blooms and photographed them to share with you. They are
usually white in spring, but these are definitely pink, which could be from
the cold nights and mornings we are experiencing this winter. the leaves
will change colour making a very pretty sight - russet & gold in the autumn
which we seem to have bypassed!
Rosa pimpinellifolia - aka 'Burnet Rose'
15-JUN-2018
Souvenir de la Malmaison
This, the most famous and possibly the most beautiful of the Bourbon Roses,
was named for Empress Josephine's famous home in Paris. Unfortunately the blooms ball in wet weather,
a general complaint about the Old Garden Roses, and one from which
the Modern Roses are a good deal freer. Notes from my Botanica's Pocket book on Roses.
Although we've been having rain for the past week, this bloom, and a small crop
of others are about to open, as seen here in this image.
Bred in France in 1843
15-JUN-2018
Canna leaves
Not the time for my cannas to flower.. I recently moved them from a pot
that had split to a new larger ceramic pot, and they seem to be quite
happy in their new home. I was given these by my sister who prefers
to only grow Australian Native plants... I think someone had given them
to her. The flower is orange, and when it is their time to flower I
will get a few shots and add them to one of my bulb galleries.
10-JUN-2018
White Pet
Often called Little White Pet owing to the size of the bloom/shrub. It is a sport
from the loved Felicite-Perpetue, an almost thornless rose with a very similar bloom.
The fully double blooms of White Pet often have a tinge of pink; the buds are also pink.
Sometimes classified as a Dwarf Sempervirens, it makes a compact shrub with a long flowering season.
Ev also grows this rose and I hope he takes a photo of his when it blooms!
10-JUN-2018
Old Blush
This variety is the most common of the China roses that were brought to Europe from China,
initiating the great revolution in rose breeding by introducing the repeat flowering factor
into once-flowering old European roses. This particular rose is said to be the rose featured
in the old song "Last rose of summer".. it lives up to its name being the longest flowering
rose in my garden. Some of these notes come from my book Botanica's Pocket Roses.
12-JUN-2018
Four Fruits Salad
I chopped up 4 different fruits for a salad to have for lunch yesterday
Banana, persimmon, kiwi fruit & passionfruit... a lovely combination.
10-JUN-2018
Pax
Another Pemberton Shrub rose... though mine is a small tree.
A sweetly fragrant rose that flowers in trusses. It isn't one I photograph
very often as the flowers are often out of my reach & where it resides is
not easy for me to get to. The blooms tend to droop, so I put this
one on the little gazebo table as you can see here.
It won the National
Rose Society Gold Medal in 1918.
03-JUN-2018
Grevillea - or Spider Flower
The birds, bees and other insects love this plant, especially the little Honeyeaters
(birds) and this is a native that Dick planted quite a few years ago, it is now
quite a large shrub absolutely covered in these blooms right now.
03-JUN-2018
Autumn leaves in the rose garden
I went through my galleries looking for a photo of the rose, and had to go right back to 2007
for the following photo to give you some idea of what the flower is like
08-JUN-2018
Misty Morning in June
We were totally enveloped in fog this morning, it took a few hours to lift
to a grey chilly damp day - Winter has arrived! That patch of pale
gold is the asparagus waiting to be cut back to hibernate through the
next couple of months.
03-JUN-2018
Lavender Dream
A low spreading shrub rose that flowers on and off for the whole rose flowering
season... originating in the Netherlands back in 1980's. It hasn't got much
scent but is quite a valuable addition in the rose garden being quite an
easy-care garden plant.
03-JUN-2018
Another viola
Time of the year for planting violas in pots/baskets or in the garden. I have
been replanting pots & hanging baskets with various viola, this is just one
of a variety that was available in the local nursery, it should light up a
winter's day as the days draw in towards the winter solstice.
I have started pruning, and our grandson and I worked on an archway today, a
HUGE job, we should both sleep well tonight!
01-JUN-2018
A small cluster of pink
"Cornelia" again, it has covered itself with these small clusters of pink that dance
in the slightest of breezes in the rose garden. I featured this rose in my previous
gallery, April & May Down Under...it is so lovely to have roses in our early winter!
01-JUN-2018
The Queensland Firewheel Tree
Stenocarpus sinuatus - or the Wheel of Fire, of Australian origin. Mine has been
slow growing in our colder climate, but has been in flower for a couple of
months now. Here you see it getting close to the end of the flowering
season. They belong to the Proteaceae family which include a large number of
Australian trees, among them Buckinghamia, Macadamia and Oreocallis. Some of
these notes come from my book written years ago by Stirling Macoboy.
01-JUN-2018
Up the Ladder
The workman from COTA up a ladder on the job. COTA is not cheap, the bill was $2,200 but that is a lot cheaper than falling of a ladder and ending up in hospital with
numerous broken bones, and the agony... all very worth while when one thinks about it.
Note the rail going across the top of the frame - he had to get the BIG ladder out for this - and the poor guy wasn't keen on heights! :) that is a long way off the ground up there!
Today a mammoth bale of pea-straw has arrived - the next job is spreading it through the rose garden after I have pruned the roses...
Dick & the grandson will attend to that over the next couple of months. I'm not in a hurry to start the pruning, there are a few
rose bushes coming back into bud.
01-JUN-2018
Cota Van
In our driveway the last couple of days attending to our windows with a paint brush etc.
Dick has passed the time when
he can climb ladders safely, and this particular agency helps out oldies
who want to live at home but need help with the maintenance.
He also enjoys chatting with the workman :)
