Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Close ups, both near and far

Alyssum. Posted by Picasa


Jasmine Posted by Picasa


Violas and Sweet Peas Posted by Picasa


Box of oak tree seedlings including one with all white leaves. Posted by Picasa


Cerastium (Snow in Summer) Posted by Picasa


Pink marguerites, Smoke Bush and Cineraria. Posted by Picasa


How do you de-flower a lemon tree? (Only nice answers now !!!) Posted by Picasa


Echiums beginning to bloom all the way up the stem - I didn't expect that. Posted by Picasa


Pink Gaura, white Alyssum and Yellow ? Posted by Picasa


Osteospermum and Sweet Peas Posted by Picasa


Purple Aquilegia and single white daisy Posted by Picasa


Untamed jungle Posted by Picasa


White Aquilegia and Blue Felicia Posted by Picasa


This photo didn't turn out quite the way I expected it to. Can anyone name the plant? I know what it is and I'll give you the answer in a couple of days. Sorry that I can't offer you a return trip to Australia if you get it right, or a one-way ticket away from Australia, but I do make a good cup of tea if you ever come by this way. Unfortunately, you'll have to bring your own cake 'coz I'm not a much of a cook. Posted by Picasa

14 comments:

Peggy said...

Have no ideal what it is but can I come sleep in your garden? I would love to fall asleep at night to all those wonderful smells.

Alice said...

Zoey - your comment did come through but I had to reboot the computer and the comment disappeared. You're welcome for a cuppa anytime. Excuse me while I go and put the jug on.

Peggy - sure you can sleep in my garden. I think under the lemon tree would be good as you could smell the jasmine and roses at the same time.

Rachel said...

Such a lovely garden!! Just beautiful! You definitely have 2 green thumbs!!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Alice, as always your flowers and garden are breathtakingly! I don't know the plant's name.
But if I could I would like to take a cup of tea with you! And I would bring to you my homemade bread.

Judypatooote said...

I'm booking a flight, so Peggy move over, I'm under that lemon tree with ya.....lol It is so unreal to see all those flowers blooming, when ours hear are all whithered up, and leaves are falling down around us......what is the weather there....it is fall here....what are your temperatures...maybe I don't want to know.....but I'll have to know if I should bring a sweater to sleep under your lemon tree...lol

Miss Robyn said...

is it a bottle brush? not sure but I will be there for a cup of tea sooner than you think !! I will bring a cake for sure.

Sandy said...

I have no idea what that plant is..maybe a dill of some sort??? I love you color combo's. Everything looks so lovely. (And warm)

Stuart said...

Great photos again Alice. Loved the Jasmine and the Sweet Peas. I have no idea re: your mystery plant but I'll have a stab. Is it a type of she-oak? While we're talking about oaks, what do you plan to do with your seedlings.

Calidore said...

No idea what the plant is (possibly some sort of banksia?), but I'm packing my bags and bringing the cake and biscuits....lol. Can Richard give me some tips on growing trees from seed while I am there?? Love the photos.

Alice said...

To Gardening C-TD - Stuart, that is a very good question about what are we going to do with the trees? It's the same as what are we going to do with 135 Canadian Maples that Richard grew last year, to say nothing of more oaks, maples, ash, elms, Cercis, eucalypts, jacarandas, birches, pines and anything else that dares to produce a seed. And as if that's not madness enough, only 4 days ago he planted another 200 Canadian Maple seeds and the first one is already 2cm high. You see it's the challenge of the propagation that we love. Like the 30 purple buddlieas that I grew from my neighbour's prunings (which were from a shrub that I had grown in the first place). We give a lot away, but we do expect that in a few years time our children will have to employ trackers dogs to find us. I'm sure (hope)the solution will present itself in good time.

Calidore - there's no great art to how he grow trees. Lines a seedling punnet with a tissue, fills it with a mixture of peat (for moisture), perlite (for aeration) and brickies' sand (for heaven knows what - I think it just holds it all together). The secret seems to be that punnets are then placed in plastic pet litter trays ($7+ in the supermarkets but only $2 at the Reject Shop) on a piece of foam rubber (carpet underlay is perfect) and he only waters the foam so that moisture is taken up through the bottom of the punnet (although I sometime wave the hose around with gay abandon and just say, "Oh woops, I didn't mean to water those.") If the weather is cool he may cover the tray with sheets of glass (window louvres nicked from the tip years ago).

Ooh golly, cakes AND biscuits - I can't wait!

Judy Birmingham (Seeing Anew Blog) said...

Your blog is such a treat. You must garden on acres and acres to have this many plants! I love the lemon tree -- it's really loaded. I wonder what it would be like to have a fresh lemon off the tree. Is it very different from store bought?

Alice said...

Seeing Anew - Judith, if you look at my September blog you will see a posting entitled "How Big Is It?" in which I describe the garden. It is only 1440sq.metres (about 15,500sq.feet I think). There are also photos of the bad parts of the garden, too. The photos were taken at the end of winter so there isn't as much colour.

Not sure if a fresh lemon tastes different to a shop bought one - it's so long since I tried the latter.

Maggie Ann said...

Oh Alice, what wonderful pictures....how I've enjoyed them. You have an artist's touch with your flowers.

Jenn said...

"Pink Gaura, white Alyssum and Yellow ?"

The yellow might be a margarite (anthemis tinctoria)?