After a couple of days of pretty warm weather (around 30C), having finished my "school week", I ventured out into the garden to find lots of beautiful surprises. That was a week or so ago and from then on new surprises have been waiting to greet me each day.
Before we look at the nice surprises, there are also the nasty surprises. Yes, my friends the bronze orange bug are back on the citrus trees either side of the entrance to my cubbyhouse garden. These nasty little insects move around so their rear-ends are pointed towards the entrance and squirt their malodorous and stenching perfume at me as I walk in or out! I can see I need to meet with these guys quite soon. I'll come armed with my safety glasses, gloves and tongs and arrange for them all to have a party (inside a ziploc plastic bag).
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| Atomic Blonde |
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| Barron Edmond de Rothschild |
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| Barron Edmond de Rothschild |
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| Burgandy Iceberg |
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| Portmeirion |
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| Charmwell Fairyfloss |
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| Rosette Delizy |
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| Rosette Delizy |
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| Love Potion |
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| Love Potion |
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| Nepitos as a bud |
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| Nepitos fully blown |
Nepitos starts as an exquisite, classically formed bud that opens to a slightly messy, loosely formed bloom
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| David Austin Leander |
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| Leander |
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| Long Tall Sally (ready to wow me) |
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| Long Tall Sally's leaves |
I was stunned at the humongous leaves Sally has produced.
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| Perennial Dianthus Candy Floss |
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| Lilac blooms |
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| Governor Macquarie |
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| Rock Rose Gum |
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| Rock Rose Gum |
After waiting three years, Rock Rose Gum has finally graced me with some stunning blooms. These fragile, paper-thin flowers are unexpected on such a tough and hardy bush. Water tolerant, almost neglect proof and only growing to about one metre high x one metre wide, this is a must for every garden. The vibrant pink accents look as though they have been daubed by a watercolour brushstroke.
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| Pelargonium Reticulatum |
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| Pelargonium |
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| Pelargonium |
The last two pelargoniums haven't had it easy. Sheltered beneath the eves they get massive amounts of sunshine and no rain and so are fairly dependent on handwatering. I've not done a great job with them this year and from the foliage they look like they are halfway between life and death, but they've still produced some flowers. I am planning to either move them or plant them, hopefully they'll do better next year.
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| Vibrant pink pigrface, spills down the retaining wall in a mass of colour |
Pigfaces are really tough, their succulent-like leaves are designed to retain moisture. The flowers close each evening once the warmth of the sun has passed and reopen again the next morning.
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| Freesias |
Despite being planted almost as an afterthought, the freesias have produced some beautiful blooms. When you think about it, it is amazing that such a tiny little bulb can produce all this foliage and such beautiful, fragrant flowers.
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| Iceberg/Bonica twin grafted patio rose |
Once again, the Iceberg part of this patio rose has taken the dominant role. Even though I pruned the Iceberg section heavily, it has still taken over. Oh well......
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| Ivy Gernaium |
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| Dendrobium kingianum |
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| Dendrobium kingianum |
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| White "Hardy" waterlily |
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted a water feature in my garden, filled with delightful waterlilies, a few goldfish to keep the mosquito larvae at bey and a few other water plants. It seems that this is the year it will happen. I have three waterlily plants that are still managing to do their thing whilst immersed only in a bucketful of water and a large, lightweight fibreglass pot that will form the pond once a technical problem has been resolved.
From my brief research, there are two main types of waterlilies, "tropical" and "hardy". Authorities on such matters suggest that it is best to have both kinds, not because one is easier to grow, only that they have slightly different flowering times.Tthe "hardy" flowers earlier than the "tropical" and by having both you can enjoy flowers for a longer period of time.
So far I am yet to find a negative to these delightful plants. They have the most amazing, if subtle, fragrance, and seem to keep on sending up new flowers every couple of days to replace the spent ones; I only need to pushed one small fertiliser tablet into each pot to keep them happy for the season; I don't have to water them, and haven't found one single weed! Did I mention they don't need to be watered and don't have weeds???!!! Now, what's not to like about that?
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