Bearded Iris fever....

For such an easy to grow plant, the display is spectacular. If you haven't grown a Bearded Iris, give it a go. You'll not be disappointed.

Unwelcome visitors........

One of the best things about the warmer weather is that you can walk around without shoes.

One of the worst things about warmer weather is that you get unwelcome visitors.

Has anyone tried one of these pulsating devices to keep unwelcome visitors away (the snake kind, not the human kind)? This will be our 5th "snake season" in the house, and thankfully we have only had 1 snake sighting. But to my mind, 1 is 1 too many. With long grass in the neighbour's land, we thought this was worth a go.

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree....

Well not quite. This one comes to visit quite often, and is really happy for us to get up close. Makes me wonder if he has been hand raised. Later in the day he joined me in the vegi garden, and while I was planting seedlings he sat on the bean trellis. Fantastic to see him watching for worms, swoop down and gobble them up.

 

In the garden this week.....

I love this time of year. Warm enough to go barefoot in the day and cool enough to snuggle under the doona at night. Oh and because the garden comes to life!

Top Left - this Lillie will need to be shifted next winter. The flower heads are way to tall for the landing above.

Top Mid - Tomato seeds & Spaghetti Squash seeds had been hanging around for a couple of years, so I wasn't sure they would shoot. No need to worry, and the toilet rolls make great seed pots.

Top Right - The variegated Fuchsia is great against the blue of the pot. Think I'll try it in a hanging basket too.

Bottom Left - The tulips have been fantastic this year. Those cold winter days did the trick.

Mid Right - The retaining wall bed is looking its best at the moment

Bottom Right - First time the variegated Iris has flowered. Love the clarity of the flower.

Watching the garden grow......

I've spent a few  minutes today looking back over photos of the garden.  Even though I've been the one to put in the work, I sometimes forget how far the garden has come in 4 years. I think most gardeners are guilty of seeing what is to be done next, rather than taking pleasure in what they have achieved.  

When we moved in the garden style was very heavily skewed towards water saving and native plants. Given we had just been through years of drought, it was a sensible choice (if not very exciting). I couldn't wait to get my hands dirty and make my mark on the garden. 

The narrow bed beside the drive was screaming out for something more interesting. I'm not a fan of Agapanthus, so they were replanted out on the road side. The Potato Vine and Jasmine were already in place, and have continued to thicken up.  The tired natives were given a good hair cut. Those that survived have been incorporated into the new bed. 

I wanted to renovate the bed so that it would give good screening, but not block out the view. So I decided to go with  "Big Red" Lillypilly that will grow up to form a 2m screen. I've added a mix of  Kangaroo Paw that were on a throw out table at the local nursery, as a mid level planting. I've managed to hold onto most through the frosty weather. After all, they are a bit far away from their natural warm & dry environment.  My mum struck cuttings from the box hedge from her garden,  so I could add this as a lower story hedge. It will grow about knee high.

This bed hasn't been easy to work with. The soil (if you can call it that) is rock hard and basically a mix of rocks and really poor dirt. I've been heaping the sugar cane mulch, dynamic lifter and trace elements onto the bed to try and improve the soil. It's going to be an ongoing process I'm afraid. I can't wait to see what it looks like in another 4 years.

beside the drive summer 2010

Spring 2013

What a difference fresh eyes make.....

A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Lizzie came to stay for the weekend. She is a mad keen gardener like me, and so I was picking her brain about what to do with various "problem" spots around the garden. She very quickly came up with ideas for the fence that joins to our neighbor's orchard. It has been bothering me that when I stand at the kitchen sink, this is what I see.

before

Not very inspiring! The green sheeting is to keep their goats & dogs in. Does the job, but not very pretty. With a trip to the hardware shop for some nature reed, wire & pliers we spent a couple of hours chatting, snipping & tying.  So after a window wash and a couple of warm spring days, here is the result.

after

With the blossom on the fruit trees, the fresh growth on the Japanese Honeysuckle and Lizzie's styling of the potted blueberry and cyclamen, I can't help but smile when I'm doing the dishes now!

Where did winter go?

 Is it just me or did winter just flash past? I can't believe we are at the end of August already. I know they say that the older we get the faster time goes. Good grief. I'm only 46 (and I do so only!) What will it be like when I'm 66?

I think the realization struck me on the weekend. I was back in Melbourne for work last week, and when I got home the spring bulbs had burst into life. Sure they had been growing away quite nicely, but the buds all seemed to burst into colour at once.

 

The winter colour is coming to an end.

Hellebore & Flowering Apricot

But the spring colour is starting to fill the gaps.

Jonquils & Daffodils

I love spring!

 

Summer colour in the garden

The garden has been suffering with the heat (and so has the gardener). The water bill was a bit of a shock, but when I've put so much effort into the garden I can't just see it curl up and die as soon as the weather heats up.

Even with the heat, there is still colour to be found.

Grown up mud pies

Did you make mud pies as a child? I did. My sisters and I would spend hours getting just the right consistence of mud to make the "recipe" we wanted. Just enough water so we could roll out "biscuits", or add a little more water to make a "chocolate cake". Can you tell we spent a lot of time cooking in the kitchen with Mum? But the best bit was the decorating. Petals, feathers, leaves, pebbles, whatever we could find in the garden to add the finishing touch to our masterpiece. When it was "cooked" rock hard from the sun, we would present it to Mum or Dad. They always seemed to be so appreciative of what we proudly presented.

So today I relived those mud cake days. My garden is on a sloping block, that means giving the garden a good soaking drink is a bit of a problem. The water just runs downhill, before it has a chance to sink in. So what to do to help slow the water run off? I decided to take advantage of the patch of clay in the boggie corner of the garden and make mud dam walls to help hold the water. I have to say it was great fun, and elbow deep in mud I was taken back to the days of making mud pies. So as a small tribute to the mud pie days, I've added leaf decorations to my dam walls. No ware as fancy as the old days, but just as much fun.

Sunnymeade

Yesterday I spent the day with Mum ooing and ahhing over a very special garden called "Sunnymeade". It is so beautiful, and such a surprise to find nestled into the Strathbogie Ranges. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

A winter garden

Even though the weather has been cold and damp, that doesn't mean there's nothing happening in the garden. Not on your Nelly! It's my time to look at the bones of the garden, and make changes. There's been trees loped, garden beds reshaped, shrubs riped out, and others pruned back.

More rocks carried up hill to widen the garden beds. My "lawn" is a mix grasses and clovers, and looks dreadful at the moment. I'm making the garden beds bigger, so I've more room to plant and less lawn to maintain.

The trees along the road have been loped back to give a more uniform shape. They look pretty haggard at the moment, but should recover when the new spring growth kicks in.

The winter veggies are in, and coping surprisingly well with the frost. Unfortunately the Passionfruit hasn't coped and has "gone to god". Oh well. It was an experiment.

The bulbs are pushing their heads above ground. It's always a treat to see them come through each year, and I'm reminded of what was planted in the previous years.

I've tried to create a garden that has colour all year round. So when I went out to take some snaps, I was pleased to see so much colour.

The Weeping Apricot is coming out in the most gorgeous trailing blossom.

The Blood Orange is only a young tree, but still has quite a bit fruit almost ready to pick.

The Robyn Gordon Grevillea blooms are fantastic. Can't wait to get them into the new "nature strip" bed.

The Mixed Asian Greens are looking strong and healthy.

The Hellebore give a splash of colour under the stairs to the veranda.

The Jonquils can't help but make my smile.

Roll on Spring.

A lovely day in the garden - Carlton Gardens

I spent a lovely day at the Melbourne Garden Show with my mum on Sunday. It is held at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens and it is the perfect venue for this. I always love looking at the building, and today was taken back in time to the late 1980's when I attend several university balls there.

The RMIT University Fashion Students had a fantastic display of garments made from flowers, foliage,  fruit & veg. The bridal gown made from garlic was so clever.

We were both a little more restrained than last year with our buying. That may be because Mum wasn't able to find stands with Clematis or Daylillies, and I wasn't able to find the Grevillea I was after. I've loved the garden show in the past, but today I came away with a feeling that it is changing. It is moving away from a garden show and more towards a lifestyle show. Less focus on plants and horticulture,  and more on the "garden room". We discussed this over dinner, and believe it is being influenced by the smaller and smaller blocks that houses are being built on. It is a pity.
Having said that we did find one of our favourite nurseries in Country Farm Perennials. Their range is fantastic, and I always have to restrain myself. Their range of really interesting perennials is well worth taking a closer look.

In the garden.....

It has been a while since I last did a post on the garden. That dosen't mean nothing has been happening.

I've harvested my "rubish bin" potatoes, which was a bit like digging for buried treasure.This would make a fantastic project to do with the kids, and is really easy to do. I've used an old rubish bin, but any tall structure would work. Try a tower of old car tyers.

Any way here is how to grow your own potato crop in a small space.

• Late Winter you will be able to pick up seed potatoes from your local nursery. I've tried a mix of different ones this year including Kipfler, Pink Fir,Royal Blue and Pontiac. This gave a mix of potatoes good for roasting, mashing, and chips.
• Once the risk of frost has passed, you can get ready to plant.
• Cut each potato into sections making sure that you have at least 2 or 3 eyes on each piece. Anyone who has had potoatoes start to shoot in the pantry will see that the eye is where the plant will grow from.
• Add about 20cm of soil to the bottom of the bin. I've used a cheap potting mix, but any normal garden soil will work just as well.
• Scatter the potato pieces on the soil, making sure that you don't crowed the pieces.
• Cover with about  15cm of soil, and lay another layer of potato pieces. Keep going.
• Cover the last layer with about 30cm of soil.
• As the plants grow about 10cm above the soil, cover with another 30cm of soil.
• Keep repeating until you get to the top of the bin. It is important to keep covering the plant as it grows. It will continue to put out roots if it is covered, and set new potatoes on the roots up its length.
• I had planned to keep adding straw layers up the wire tower, but the plant grew too qucikly before I had the chance.
• It is important to keep the soil moist but not wet, or the seed potato will rot.
• Towards the end of Summer / early Autumn the potato plant will go brown and die off.

• It is then time to harvest the potatoes by digging them up.

I've kept the soil and will dig it into the veggie patch when I prepare it for the winter crops.

It really is good fun to get your hands dirty and find the buried treasure. Just look at what I have uncovered.

There has been other things going on in the garden too.

The rain as bought the end of the Beans, and caused the Tomatoes to split.

The Dahlia are in fantastic bloom.

The Japanese Wind Flowers have taken over the bed, and add fantastic movement to the bed.

The Gazania continue to give wonderful colour day after day.

The pumkins have gone crazy and had taken off down the hill, so have been trimmed back so we can get into the wood shed!

This week in the garden...

The heat continues to stress the garden (and me), but there has been some action.

• The lawns have been mowed.
• The vegie patch has been weeded.
• The forest pansy has dropped about 70% of its leaves due to stress.
• The re potted orchids are putting out new growth.
• The second crop of beans are coming through.
• The failed corn has been ripped out of the vegie patch.
• The self sewn pansies have been potted up.
• The new garden path has been measured out ready for the gravel to be added.
• The snapdragons suffering from rust have been sprayed with pest oil and trimmed back.
• The watermelon flowers are forming.
• The lime is in flower.
• The blood orange fruit are plumping up.
• The passion fruit vines are creeping along the wire fence.

In the garden this week...

My parents garden continued.
The front yard.