Africanaussie

The lady slipper orchid is beginning to flower again!  I have a few dichondra in a hanging basket, and like the way this is becoming the "hanging garden"!  I never tire of these beautiful flowers, and the fact that they are growing in my garden fills me with such pleasure.  The vine needs to be cut back so that it doesn't take over the entire garden.  I want light to be able to get in, and it also strains the branches of the weeping tea tree it scrambles over. In other orchid news I cut back the plants around the back fence, letting in more light and neatening it up a bit more.  Often when one does such a thing though it can still look a little messy for  a while until new shoots start to fill in the bare areas.   All my orchids need a bit of TLC, but they have survived the neglect pretty well. My phalanopsis has two flower spikes!  yeah!  They all got a good dunking in some seaweed solution.   This little...

Some things I just keeping trying even though they have never worked in the past.  Are you like that? One thing is grafting -  I tried both a lime and a lemon tree grafted onto a citrus that grew up from the rootstock of a lime mandarin.  I cut a pointed edge on the scion and then inserted it into a slit.   I rested a moist bit of coconut husk into the branch above the graft to allow some moisture and then placed a plastic bag over the entire thing.   Tied up nice and tight with grafting tape. The other thing I have not always had success with is pollinating pumpkins.  I see lots of bees and flying insects, but supposedly pumpkins have to be hand pollinated.  I have let a volunteer pumpkin have its way in the back veggie patch because at least it shades the ground.  I have heard young pumpkin leaves are very tasty, but I have never tried them.  This little thing was right beside the path so I got a female flower and broke away t...

For multiple reasons, I have not spent much time out in the garden lately.  Life sometimes takes over, but I am so lucky to live in a climate where the garden merrily keeps on growing, all by itself....The old gazebo trellis is where I tied up a bunch of Tilladsia (airplants)  and placed a bunch of orchids in pots on the shelf below it - they are all badly in need of re-potting.  I have been noticing a bit of colour in the area lately, and the Tillandsia are really putting on a  show.  the tibouchina also love this time of year, and are continually covered in these lovely purple blooms.  These angel wing begonia struggle through the heat and humidity of the summer, and then show all their glory as the weather cools down a bit.  Even the cordeline leaves seems more brilliant.  I keep threatening to pull out all these tissue paper costus, until they flower that is......  There are always lots of birds in my garden, but a ...

The little section which I think of as my fan palm forest is coming along nicely.   I wanted to be able to look out and not see any fence.  I also wanted to look up and see the sun shining through the beautiful shapes of the fan palm leaves.  One of the most beautiful tropical sights in my book. I also have a fluted fan palm.  They both seem to have shot up this last year. I purchased this plant at one of the orchid shows, and it has multiplied and I need to reduce it in size once more. The foliage is so interesting. It does get some yellow flowers right at the base, but the interest is in the leaves. Of course my favourite bit of colour at the moment is the lady slipper orchid - sorry if you are getting tired of seeing this from every angle.....  the sunbirds are always flocking around sipping nectar from these flowers and often get a bit rough and I find these little flowers scattered like confettiti under the tree. The vine is climb...

My white orchid is the most prolific flowerer, but the last time it flowered the ants climbed up the stem and ate the flowers!   I was devastated, and made sure it didnt happen again.  As soon as I saw the buds forming this time I brought the plant inside. The grubby outside pot doesn't look so good, and it didn't fit into any of my other containers.  I just wrapped it in a piece of cellophane and jammed it in halfway.  I like the idea of bringing in the flowering orchids, so will have to either pot them up into pots that fit into my containers or purchase other containers. This is one of my most succesful orchids, flowers every six months, and this time has two flowering stalks, and at the top of one of the "branches?" there are a few leaves with some roots that I presume I can re-pot and start another plant. I have a selection of mismatched hanging pots and one of them doesn't even work anymore and hangs at a tipsy angle. One of the pots is marked 4.00,...

I am back again after an unexpected trip to South Africa. I went camping with my brother and his wife, and my daughter.  It was good to catch up with family, and enjoy some South African sunsets - it must be the red earth that puts so much colour in the sky.  My non gardening hubby held down the fort at home although he did nothing about the encroaching jungle.  He doesnt mind jungle - I like the garden a  little more trimmed and contained. So the weekend was spent jungle busting - I suppose I should have take a before photo.  The vegetable garden seemed to fare the worst - so many weeds.  I pulled lots of weeds, and I think the next plan will be to lay down newspaper on all the bare patches, and then cover with mulch - seaweed possibly. I need to do that before the weeds start growing again.  That will also help to prepare the soil for spring planting. Hot wet weather here means the tropical plans are thriving.  This buttery yellow orchid f...

After our week in Brisbane admiring the amazing gardens everywhere, I came back with lots of ideas.  Gardening, crafts, food, my gosh I am going to be busy :) On Sunday I started out in the back, weeding and once again cutting back the mandevilla. I love that plant - it never seems to stop flowering, but it is very big and the branches can get quite heavy.  I dragged out some of the remains of our gazebo frame and managed to create quite a nice sturdy support. I have moved the orchids over here as well - they really don't get noticed over in the other corner behind the gate.  I have two branches of flowers on the white one, an orange orchid and then another one is in bud that I don't know what it is going to be.  This white one flowered a couple of months ago.  :)   My franzipani has not flowered for some reason - it looks rather healthy, but I think the...

As the heat and humidity increases so the tropical flowers really flout their colours....  this is the time of year when I wonder if I have really planted too many plants too closely together in my small garden.   Actually I know I have, as I am continually giving extras away!  This roheo edge needs to be thinned out yet again...  The ground orchids love this time of year, and I am glad to see the darker pink ones have come up again.  I couldn't resist this plant at the market the other day - the red flowers are slowly starting to open up. I am not sure how big it gets, but just loved the pop of color it provides.  Isn't it strange the way the flowers pop out from between the leaves.  Anyone know what this is? One of my orchids has also started to flower - lots of little flowers that remind me of poached eggs. I guess I am thinking of poached eggs because I have been harvesting lots of yummy asparagus....

I spent the weekend spreading 6 bales of hay around the communal area and then some more in my little garden.   Hopefully it will keep the weeds from running rampant this wet season and then also hold in some nutrients once the rains really start. Whew!    Tired old me flopped down into the swing  for a  rest and a huge jug of iced water, then looked up to see..... my little buds on  the Ulysses host tree (I really need to find out what to call it now) they have burst into the prettiest little flowers.... Isn't that just the prettiest little bundle of pink cuteness you have ever seen?  Pink is my youngest daughters favourite colour and she would be calling this pinktastic, and I totally agree. No other word for it. I haven't seen any Ulysses butterflies around lately - gotta get the word out ...

One of the most tropical flowers is the orchid, but I am a pretty lazy gardener, and somehow orchids always seem a  lot of trouble.  Living here though, I have found myself on occasion being gifted with or even buying an orchid or two.   A while back I moved my crucifix orchid out to the back fence, and with just a few rays of sunshine it began to bloom.  Oh Happy days! Maybe the orchids need more light in order to bloom, although the white one loves its spot under the shade of the lychee tree and this is the second time it has bloomed this year.  I love the white among all the tropical green leaves.   I have a few other orchids hanging from a bamboo stake in that corner.  While walking on the windswept beach after our storm I came across this bit of flotsam - I thought it might be  the trunk of a tree fern, b...