September 2014

This has been an exciting month – a trip to Penguin, staying at Ulverstone and going to the beautiful Rhododendron gardens near Burnie – and this year’s Orchid Show.

At home I got a few veggies planted – spring onions, pak choy (first time I’ve tried this) zucchini and more snow peas.

The camellias and azaleas are looking amazing and the whole front garden has sprung into colour.

Really thrilled with my orchids – most are flowering with just a few still in bud. 

Penguin Beach

a cute cottage in Penguin

our B & B in Ulverstone - gorgeous gardens

views around Burnie's Rhododendron Gardens

This was a huge flower head - bigger than a basket ball

an orchid I bought in Ulverstone - it is an Australian native

this looked amazing - a right angle rainbow?? - just an illusion because of the mist and cloud

August 2014

This month I’ve been busy getting the garden back under control after not being able to do much due to the surgery on my right hand.  So great to be back to being able to use both hands!!!

The front garden has continued to grow and a few clumps of daffodils have popped up to add a bit of colour.  A lot of the natives have buds and a few are in flower.  Some of the plants have more than doubled in size since we planted them a year ago.

The veggie garden is dug over and some more kale and snowpeas planted.  Against the side fence where I grew tomatoes last year I decided to plant 3 ‘Sweet Jane’ camellias.  There is enough space between to grow some snowpeas.   This will improve the look of the side fence and give the little birds that come to the birdbath, an extra place to enjoy.

The orchids are all in bud and next month promises to be a very pretty one.

The cyclamens that grow out in the garden continue to grow and flower happily.  I have some in the house for the flowering time then out into the garden the following year.  They seem to like this arrangement.  I’m looking forward to the warmer days and being able to spend more time outside.

 

a beautiful morning sky

the white Daphne is very fragrant

the large as well as the small cyclamen are growing well outside

some self sown pansies 

this is a close up of the following native

it must be at least three times the size it was a year ago

I planted 3 "sweet Jane' camellias with a growing frame for snow peas between.  It should cover the fence and improve the look of this area as they all grow.  At each end there is also a dark purple salvia.  It should look very pretty once everything has grown .

This garden bed has been heavenly to walk past - it has a brown and a pink boronia and also a white and 2 pink daphnes all out in flower.  

July 2014

Another month of ‘living left handed’ plus being away from home for nearly two weeks – so you guessed it not much gardening this month either.  My other problem is it is so wet and windy it is difficult to even take any photos. The wind has been so strong that our swing seat that is tied down went for an abseil off the deck into the garden below.  It will have to stay there until the weather settles down.

The camellias are blooming – I love them – they just sit there doing their own thing and just look after themselves and then put on a beautiful show – can’t ask for much more from a plant. 

The vegie garden is looking bit empty – I’ve done a fair bit of one handed weeding and turning last year’s mulch into the soil so it will really go well once the weather warms up.  We have had many meals from the pot of rainbow chard and Kale growing near the living room door.  I love the ease of picking it and it loves the position – win win.

 

a favorite visitor to the garden - an Eastern Spinebill - it loves the tiny fuchsia that grows near this apricot tree.  

June 2014

My month of living left handed…..

It has been an interesting month to say the least.  Surgery on my right hand on the 4^th June so not much gardening done in the past few weeks.  It is a thrill though to look back at the photos of a year ago and see the large amount of growth that has taken place in the front garden.

I planted this at the end of May

one month's growth....looking pretty yummy

first light of a frosty morning

the wrens are still about although they  are having to share the bird baths with some sparrows
that have now re located to our house 

sunrise this morning

a few plants in the front garden that have more than doubled in size in a year

'Robin Gordon'

'Sweet Jane' 

I do love cyclamens

my new cluster of pots are mostly doing well....the osmanthus had to be re-potted after a bad wind storm blew it over smashing it's pot.  It is now in bud.  It has a very sweet fragrant flower, so going past it will be a joy.

May 2014

I was thrilled to find a beautiful little ‘masdavillea’ in flower.  I bought it 18 months ago and it appear to be doing well in my shade house.  The other residents of the shade house are also happy.  The strikes of the begonias I took last month and also some pieces a friend gave me that she had struck in water are all doing fine.

It has been a rather wet month and so not much watering required in the shade house, but I still like to go for a visit and see what is happening.  It is also a little bit warmer in there so a nice place to escape to if it gets too cold or a storm blows up suddenly.

I moved the potted lime to a warmer position.  The kumquat near the back wall (where the afternoon sun shines) is doing well so now it has a friend (the lime) sitting in the corner near it.  It is looking better already.  I also potted up a couple of geraniums to sit with it and make a nice little group.

The vegie garden is looking a bit empty with most things finished and removed.  I mixed in last year’s sugar cane mulch and some more fertilizer to get the beds ready for future plantings.  We are enjoying eating the kale and the ‘red legs’ silver beet.  I bought a big spice pot in the same ox blood colour as my other new pots.  It is now planted up with kale (2 different types) and red legs silver beet.  It looks good on the deck by the living room window. 

It is lovely to see the camellias and azaleas budding up and blooming again.  They really are such easy care plants.

Gardening next month will be a challenge as I’m having surgery on my right hand so it will be interesting living left handed for a month or so.

 

The blue wrens are still enjoying being in the garden even though we cut back the hebe where they love to hide.  We had to wait over a year to cut back the over grown hebe.  It must be the most visited bush in the garden

I was thrilled when this scarlet robin came for a visit. 

My tiny masdavillea

Another wren

a beautiful sunrise

These plants are enjoying their change of  position

the newest pot - planted with kale and red legs silver beet.

A sparkling sunrise

the lime in its new warm corner

I do love the look of these steps - all done by itself - I had nothing to do with it