Around and About

Two photos of the open parkland between our suburb and the next. The white fence on the right is our vegetable garden fence.


Parkland on the other side of the street leads up to a Reserve which is a great favourite with walkers. Great views of Canberra and suburbs can be seen from the top of the hill (see Posting of July 7th).


Broad Beans flowering. Pretty flowers but they still only produce green beans.


The 'elusive one'. I'm sure he's checking to see if I'VE thinned out HIS vegetables correctly!


Self-sown Larkspurs.


Phormium (NZ Flax)


Aquilegia (Columbines/Granny's Bonnets)


Pink Gazanias, Yellow and Burgundy Arctotis, Purple 'Winter Joy' Wallflower and one red Sweet William.


Lavender and bees.


More Arctotis.


Violas (Little Johnny Jump-ups) under the Birch tree planted by ShellyC's parents-in-law on their first visit to Australia from Switzerland.


Cytisus (Broom), Grevillea and Claret Ash (but not Claret until the autumn).


Now if only these 'Blue Poles' supporting the Sweet Peas were as valuable as the Jackson Pollock painting (now valued around A$54m).


White Banksia Rose.

Blogging Gremlins

Is anyone else having problems with their comments not registering? I always 'Preview' my comments now, in case I've mis-typed the 'Word Verification' (let's face it, I often have trouble reading it, let alone typing it!) and even though I'm sure I've pressed 'Publish this Comment', sometimes it doesn't appear on the relative blog.

Another hiccup that's really starting to bug me is when I access a blog and the first posting that appears may be several weeks/months old. This happens everytime I go into 3 blogs that I can think of. I either have to go into 'Archives' and call up Current Posts or in one case I have to go to the bottom of the page and press 'HOME' to bring up the lastest postings.

Perhaps it's all a not-so-subtle hint from a higher power that I should do some work instead of blogging.

A Closer View.

This morning I thought I'd try some close-ups. As you can see, the results are variable. Lots more practice and understanding of the instruction book needed.

Malus (Crab Apple) blossom with friend.


Abutilons (Chinese Lantern)




Irises.






Ranunculus and butterfly.


What would we do without Centranthus/Valerian? Richard would say, "Quite a lot!"


White Osteospermum, orange Arctotis, with a once variegated Abelia in the background.


This beautiful Acer Palmatum 'Seiryu' should be about 4 times its current size but it's been suffering from 'dieback' for years and we've had to keep cutting off branches in an effort to get below the disease. It's now only 1 metre high and wide and the branches are coming out of the trunk almost at ground level. We are not very hopeful of saving it.


Tanya, it's still alive and flowering although few buds this year. Probably needs a jolly good feed after all these years.


It's a shame that I can't arrange flowers. My florist daughter, ShellyC, would never make an arrangement like this and then have to put it on the floor to photograph it.

LOOK .... hard!!!

Chloe, can you see them? Not one, but TWO cherry tomatoes. Oh yes, the race is on!

WHY?

Why do you think my husband spends his time painting tomato stakes?

Did he miss out on opportunities to paint as a child?
Perhaps he doesn't have enough to do?
Maybe he is just learning his colours?
Or will he lose them if they are not brightly coloured?

No, no, no and no. They are painted because it preserves them and they last longer, and if he's going to the trouble of painting them, then they might just as well be colourful, too.

The Bounty of a Perfect Spring.

Lettuces, beans, leeks, and tomatoes - all getting bigger by the day.


Beetroot, carrots, onions and radishes, with pansies around the edge. 


View from the deck. An unusually green one thanks to a wonderful Spring. 

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Where I can usually be found on a wet day - at the sewing machine.

One Cloudy Morning.

The real reason I started taking photos this morning - the clouds. But a stroll round the garden led to another 51 photos! (No, no, they're not all on this blog.)


Mint Bush. 


Lilac. 


Banksia Rose.


Yellow and Burgundy Arctotis. 


Cream Arctotis, pink Gazanias. 


Ranunculus, Centranthus, Aquilegia. 


Californian Poppies. 


Hop Bush. 


Convolvulus. 


Grevillea 'Johnsonii' - still my favourite. 


Anemones. 


Ranunculus. 


Californian Poppies. 


Smoke bush and silver-leafed Cineraria. 

Anyone for Salad?

This short row of lettuce must still contain several hundred plants. Looks like lots of tossed salads on the menu.


Transplanted lettuces among the tomatoes and stakes.


I really should feed him, shouldn't I? He's looking a bit anorexic as he tries to stop the parrots from pruning the roses.

A Week of This and That ...

It's been a funny week. I think I've done a little bit of many things, amounting to not much of any of them. Weather has been variable, too. Sometimes sunny and warm, but then a cold wind would drive me inside from the garden or deck. Then I would cut out and sew a couple of peg bags for the next market, read a few blogs, send an email or two to Sara in the Netherlands (she won 'Player of the Week' after last weekend's game), make a cup of tea, hang out some washing, ring ShellyC and stop her from working, do some more of the daily crossword, have a look at what else is growing in pots on the deck and get depressed because I don't know where to put anything, and wonder if there's anything worth watching on TV, but what would be the point since I'd fall asleep anyway.

Actually, the week wasn't totally wasted. I looked after Luca for a while on Tuesday and managed to pull out a few weeds in ShellyC 's garden before spoiling Luca's fun playing in a tub of water on the deck. A complete change of clothes was needed before going to collect Shay from pre-school. I drove home by way of son's house to check on the garden, and may have scored a speeding ticket in ShellyC 's car on the way. Now, why did I tell her that if a speeding ticket arrives at her place, it will be mine? Why didn't I just let her and Marcel each think it belonged to the other? No, they'd have worked it out pretty quickly. Russ came for dinner last night and today I took Sara's car to be serviced, since I hate to think when it was last done.

Today was cloudy with occasional light drizzly rain - a very English feel about today, and so perfect for gardening that I transplanted 16 climbing beans, nearly 300 lettuce seedlings and about 100 beetroot seedlings. Also thinned out radishes and thousands of tiny carrots. Richard bought a cheap ($1.20) packet of mixed lettuce seeds and I think every single seed germinated and brought all their family with them, too. There must still be hundreds in one short row but I've nowhere else to plant them so I'll just keep pulling them up and using them for salad now. There really were thousands of carrot seedlings - nearly a bucketful of tiny plants. Richard loves planting all these vegetable seedlings and hates having to discard any. I can't convince him that unless they are thinned out, growing them is a total waste of time. Our two rows of beetroot now have another row planted down each side, and the space between where the seedling tomatoes will go when big enough to plant out, is filled with lettuces. The Snow and Sugarsnap Peas have been cropping so prolifically that I usually only get to pick from couple of bushes each time and that gives me more than enough for two of us. It helps though that when Russ comes to visit he usually detours to the vegie garden where he has a feed of peas before coming into the house to see us.

However, the highlight of my week thus far has been the joy of discovering that I can listen to Classic FM from Radio BBC London via the Internet. Now we've been on Broadband since the beginning of the year, so why has it taken me this long to access music on the Internet? Probably because I never even thought of it. I only discovered it by glorious accident and now I have the most wonderful pieces of classical music playing all day and half the night. A lot of the music I probably have on disc already, but this way I don't have to choose what to play or change discs.

I know we have Classic FM on the ABC in Australia but I prefer almost uninterrupted music, with very little commentary (I loathe talkback radio). The BBC actually has a few commercials, but only a very few. There are hilarious ones advertising Digital Radios, and another one advertising .... wait for it --- The Hernia Clinic. Did you know that you can have your hernia operated on and be awake during the procedure? It only takes 30 minutes and you can walk away afterwards! So contact The Hernia Clinic. It's presented in such a 'jolly' tone that you feel like saying "Oh, goody, let's go and see if we can get one!" Anyway, I know nothing about what's going on in Canberra, but I know everything about what's happening in Britain, thanks to regular news bulletins.

The garden did look nice for a while ...

... but it's looking a little bedraggled this morning thanks to a heavy hailstorm last night. Still, it could have been much worse. The hail was only about 1cm in diameter and, although it fell heavily, it has mainly stripped petals, leaves and done a bit of ragged pruning. I'm sure most things will recover in a few days. I'm not sure which I was most concerned about - the garden, one car not under cover, or the Laserlite panels in the deck roof - but the last two seemed undamaged and the garden will surely survive. Although I think there will be a few less cherries for Kirby Kid to pick in the summer. Is everything worse at night when you can't actually see what's happening, or does it just seem that way?

SARA - these are for you.

In Our Own Backyard

We really didn't need to travel to Young on Wednesday as I think the Cherry Tree in our own garden was the best one I saw all day.



Kirby Kid is counting the days until the cherries are ripe.



How good would that grass look now if it was 'proper lawn, instead of just clumps, a legacy of the drought.






'Red Wing' azalea.

I Hope They DIE!!

Regular readers will know that I am more than happy to encourage new, or not-so-new, gardeners to take an interest in plants and their gardens. I love to share cuttings, seedlings and plants with anyone who asks. However, I am not willing to share my plants with those who come armed with a spade and just help themselves.

A very pretty variegated Hebe, a small silver-leafed Helichrysum and something else that I can't recall have been dug out of the front garden. Obviously, not the work of a true gardener as, firstly, they wouldn't have stolen them and, secondly, the holes are so shallow that the spade must have sliced clean through the roots.

Fortunately, I have more of the missing plants - one of the advantages of being an incurable propagator - so they are not lost to me forever. I guess I should be thankful that I've not lost more plants from that garden as it runs right along the front footpath. A few things have disappeared over the years and there's been a few cases of wanton vandalism (like a car being driven down the centre of the garden), but all in all we've been pretty lucky.

PS. I hope the PLANTS die, not the thieves.

"Where are you now, oh pretty Hebe?"


The parent of the missing Helichrysum.

A Day in Young.

Yesterday we drove to Young in Central West of NSW, about 90 minutes drive from Canberra. We wanted to see the Cherry trees in blossom. It was a lovely drive there and back now that the crops are growing and the dams almost overflowing. Along the way we explored (still in the car) Bowning, Binalong, Galong, Harden, Murrumburrah and Wombat. If you are interested in pelargoniums (Regal, Zonal and Ivy-leafed) the Old Convent Geranium Nursery at Wombat is an absolute 'must visit' with literally hundreds of varieties to choose from. I bought several plants in pots, including six chosen for the colour and markings on their foliage rather than their flowers.

We stopped on the outskirts of Young so that I could take photos of the Cherry orchards and encountered a little too much nature for my liking. I was just about to step off the road into some grass when I noticed a copperhead snake coiled up in the exact spot I would have put my foot. So I gave that a miss and walked along the road for a better view of the trees. As I was taking the photo I heard the flap of wings and the clicking of a beak as a magpie swooped low overhead and landed nearby, sharpening his beak all the while. I decided I'd had enough encounters with the wildlife of Young at that spot and hopped back in the car.

We parked in town, did the rounds of the Op. Shops, had lunch, walked up and down the main street, called into a discount curtain shop and was able to buy a fabulous amount of fabric and samples for next-to-nothing, all of which will be perfect for bags, etc. for ShellyC and me. Then it was out to J.D.'s Jam Factory to stock up on supplies, to the Lambing Flats Chinese Memorial Garden and then to the highlight of the day, Jacaranda Hill gardens.

Two and a half acres of sheer delight set amongst the biggest boulders I've ever seen in a garden. The boulders have been there for thousands of years but the owners for only 16 years. They have created a beautiful garden of bulbs, perennials and trees, with wide sweeping grass paths meandering amongst these huge rounded boulders. For anyone visiting Young, this garden is a must see. We spent well over an hour there and walked and talked with the owner. I would have loved to have taken lots of photos but I somehow didn't like to when she was with us; although she was such a delightful lady that she probably would not have minded had I asked her.

A garden that we had visited a few years ago, The Price of Peace, is now only open by appointment and for a minimum of 10 visitors, so we missed out on that one. But all in all, it was a lovely day, even if we did have McDonalds for dinner on the way home.

Cherry Orchard outside Young.


Massive Banksia Rose covering archway at J.D.'s Jam Factory.


Series of photos of Lambing Flats Chinese Memorial Gardens.

Another day, another garden.

Wonderful Spring weather, except for the wind. Spent most of yesterday helping son and his partner in their garden. Russ dug up an area of backyard for a vegie garden and Shannon has been busy working in compost, as well as weeding and planting flowers in other gardens. It's great to work in the garden with someone who is so keen to have a go and learn new things along the way. They have made so many improvements to the house and garden. They even have a COMPOST HEAP. Thanks kids, for such an enjoyable day - even if I did have to go to bed at 8.00pm.

Postcards.

I have been very slack in acknowledging all of the lovely postcards I have received in recent weeks. I do apologise, as I appreciate the time and effort to select cards and write letters. Thank you all - Wendy, Kali, Shell, Robyn, Brandy, Melissa, Ainslie and Peggy (2) - very much indeed. I am always on the lookout now for interesting postcards to send to my blog friends. If I have omitted anyone it's because either your card hasn't arrived, or I have temporarily mislaid it. See, I can scarcely bear to own up to it!