FILLING IN A GAP OF FIVE MONTHS!

There’s been a terrible lull in this blog for the past four-five months for which I humbly apologise.

Shouldering the blame

The reason for this was the fact that, while rushing around preparing for a very important birthday party in early April, I turned, tripped over the hose and crashed to the verandah, ending up with – disaster! – a broken shoulder. They don’t plaster these things, apparently, it just has to hang off the corner of one’s body in a sling until it gets better. NOT my idea of fun at all. I found it very painful, misery-making and energy draining, which meant that sitting in front of a computer, typing with one hand just wasn’t on my agenda for some time.

Back to work at last

Now its mid July and things are improving all round. It’s a good time to wake up, gear up the body and the brain, and re-connect with the blogosphere. Being the middle of winter, with a bit of luck the weather can only get warmer and spirits will rise with the temperature. My garden, being (almost) all Australian, is already showing signs of waking up with many winter flowers and signs of the beginning of spring.

Digital Cameras - bit of a problem.

I still managed to take a few photographs of each month although it’s a VERY difficult operation with only the left hand working. NOTE: Take a look at a digital camera and it will become clear that they’re designed to be used ONLY with the right hand. On the suggestion of a big grandson, I resorted to holding in the left hand and using it upside down so that my hand wasn’t covering the screen or the viewfinder. I then had to vertically flip the pictures 180 degrees on the computer, which worked - sort of. It was a great improvement when the right arm became strong enough to take over again.

That's my shadow, with right arm in a sling and camera in left hand.

A catch-up

So I’ll now do a quick (and brief) catch-up. To keep the blog in chronological order, you can go down to the March entry and work your way up to July.

JULY 2012 - BUSY AGAIN, AT LAST!

Replanting the drive
The old Acacias that used to greet us down the drive are being replaced with flowering gums and various smaller Australian shrubs such as Bottle Brushes, Tea Trees, etc. It’s a great opportunity to establish a whole new area of Australiana.
Of course the roots of the old Acacias have an enormous network underground so we have had to paint the stumps with poison and cover with black plastic which (I hope) will eventually kill the roots so that the new plants can grow properly.

Another problem with that root network is the digging of the holes. What to do? A farmer friend produced a brilliant solution for us which does away with all back-breaking digging, avoids damaging any underground telephone, water, electrical or sewage pipes and makes a clear, unobstructed hole for planting. It’s called high pressure water – and it works brilliantly!

When I think of the time and energy I have expended over the years digging into hard, unyielding ground, hitting unexpected roots or rocks just to plant one small tree, I ask myself, “Why didn’t somebody tell me about this before?”

Once the hole is dug, there is the occasional root that needs to be cut out with Farmer Friend’s long handled secateurs but, in general, the hole is quite clear enough and the plants can be put straight in. A bit of compost or potting mix is added to provide a some nourishment to start them off and, presto! The easiest planting I’ve done in years.

Alpaca preparation.

Geoff has been working hard and has put in a gate between the house garden and the paddock in readiness for our Alpacas in September.

I was a bit worried about some weeds in the paddock – I suspected they were hemlock which, of course, would have been deadly poison for the Alpacas but I’m told by all the farmers around that it’s not. No one can tell me what it actually is yet so a bit more research is needed.

This is the weed. It's very flat and has a small dark pink flower.

Wattles and Wanderers.

This view from the verandah is what I look forward to every year since I planted them both in May 2007. What a picture they make.

Pigface (Carpobrotus glaucescens)
I pinched a couple of pieces from a nature strip in Point Cook and stuck it in the ground about 12 months ago. It has grown so well and is smothering grass and weeds so efficiently, I’ve put some more cuttings in along the fence. While they’re new, I’m protecting them from the digging blackbirds with sections on mineral water bottles.

More morning glory

Another beautiful sunrise on the 8^th July will end this entry on a positive and glorious note. 

JUNE 2012 – ENERGY SLOWLY RETURNS

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

Lots of different shrubs began blooming and did soooo much to cheer me up! The three different Hakeas (“Burrundong Beauty”, “Pincushion Hakea” and H. drupacea) , Alyogyne, Erica, a prostrate Thryptomene, Grevilleas, Native Violets, Plectranthus, Lavatera, Hibbertia, ‘Eucy Baby’ and a tiny Goodenia. The Hardenbergia “Happy Wanderer” and many Acacias were filled with buds, all of which cheered me up like anything and encouraged me to get outside – even if the weather was freezing!

Hakea laurina

Hakea drupacea

Hakea - 'Burrundong Beauty'

Ayogyne

Erica "Darley Heath"

Prostrate Thryptomene

Grevillea rosemarinifolia

Plectranthus

Native Violets

Another Grevillea rosemarinifolia

Lavatera

Hibbertia procumbens

"Eucy Baby"

Bent Goodenia

Who says cottage gardens are more beautiful than Australian?

Back to work – at last!

It was early in June that I decided I just HAD to do something positive outside, so I embarked upon setting up my seed pots – quite possible to do with one hand.  I found some small fibre pots in the local nursery so set up two trays on the old BBQ trolley parked on the north side of the house. It’s protected from the south-west winds and ready for any sun that might possibly shine. I still have my home-made mini hothouses to keep them warm and I decided to experiment with overnight soaking in hot water with some Australian Native Seed Starter Granules.

I also organised a collection of larger pots with cuttings of various shrubs, etc. I’m hoping to produce lots of new plants for filling up the side of the now very empty driveway.

Sunsets – wow!!

June brought a few of those that made my heart and spirits rise. To open the lounge room curtains in the morning and see this is quite enough to make life worth living.

Alpacas!

We’ve decided to buy a couple – very exciting. Geoff’s getting a bit overwhelmed by the amount of mowing so, after some investigation online and discussions with local owners and breeders, it all began to look like a good idea and something we could handle. Some friends nearby have owned two wethers for over twelve months and were so enthusiastic about the lack of problems and their value both as grass-cutters and friendly animals to have around, that off we went to visit a couple of breeders.

We now expect to be the proud owners of two six-month old wethers by the end of September. This means we have time to get our fences and gates all prepared, protect a couple of small trees that we don’t want eaten and learn all we need to know about feeding, etc.

Bonfire

We finished the month of June with a big bonfire of fallen branches and prunings that had been collecting for about twelve months. A very pleasant way to get warm in the middle of winter.

MAY, 2012 - NOT A LOT OF ACTION FROM THE GARDENER.

Time for books and crosswords

A very inactive time in the garden for me for obvious reasons. Fortunately it really didn’t need any work as it had been beautifully tidied up in late March and being winter, hardly noticed my absence.

Friends and neighbours who wanted firewood called in with their own chainsaws and slowly took the wood away in utes, trucks and trailers. In no time it was all cleaned up and everyone was happy. This is a wonderful place to live!

APRIL, 2012 – A COUPLE OF DISASTERS!

Timberrr!

The 10^th of April was ‘the day of the broken shoulder” but it wasn’t quite the first drama of the month. That one was the evening of Good Friday when we were hit by some violent winds and woke on Saturday morning to discover that one of our very old Acacias along the driveway had broken off at the base and was reclining right down to the gate.

A call to the SES brought a group of very enthusiastic volunteer workers with chainsaws and muscles and they had it all cleared away for us in record time. How lucky we are to have these people to call on!

It JUST missed the little Acacia ityaphylla! 

Fortunately there were no cars parked in the wrong place – but they often are there.

Our own ute was right in the danger spot only a few hours previously. So, sadly we decided it was time for them all to go.

They were there when we bought this place and must have been twenty or more years old – ancient for Acacias – and so the Tree Man was called in and we now have a safe drive and big pile of very useful mulch.

Winter buds and flowers

The ‘Eucy Baby’ (E. leucoxylon) was covered in buds and began flowering. This is the tree that was flat on the ground during a very wet season in August last year. I hated the thought of losing it so when it didn’t die immediately, I propped it up and tied it to a star picket. It’s still firmly tied there and only time will tell whether it will survive or not. 

"Eucy Baby"

We're very lucky that the bare fence now reveals, not a house but another
beautiful treed garden (even if it's not Australian!)

Yet another victim of the high wind this month.

And Marley found a nest in the fallen branch. Great excitement!

MARCH 2012 – BEFORE THE CRASH

Lots of planting out and cleaning up.

This was the month of planting out all the online garden plants which had arrived in September last year in the smallest tubes I’ve ever seen. I had re-potted them immediately and waited for them to grow a little. Some VERY heavy digging was required in a couple of spots to get down through tough, dry clay but now they’re all out in the garden and looking fine. 

The rezt of the time was spent cleaning up outside for the prospective family and friends gathering for Geoff’s birthday, so not a lot of other work got done. We also had a week away with a beautiful trip to the Coorong – glorious weather and a great boat trip to the mouth of the Murray.



Two Grevilleas, Desert Cassia (from seed), two
Grass Trigger Plants and a Correa (struck from a plant
at Port Campbell. 



Hardenbergia 'Regent" and two Grass Trigger Plants.



Hakea laurina (Pincushion) and Banksia "Red Rover"

 

Going through the barrage towards the Murray Mouth



The last of the Everlastigs. They have flowered for almost
six months.







FEBRUARY, 2012 - AND YET ANOTHER LATE ENTRY!

Here it is, already 8th March and I'm only just doing my entry for February! There are excuses galore but, whatever - time passes and here I am.
Depite most of Victoria being flooded out, our corner of the world was surprisingly dry for the begining of February with only the odd 10 to 15 mm of rain on and off throughout the month and the occasional wind. Now that it's March, the first few days have been truly beautiful - what we USED to call 'typical' Autumn weather - sunny, warm and just a little breeze - practically perfect in every way!

This was 21st February, one of the perfect days for
crop dusting.

It's been a funny season for fruit and vegies, not much growth and what there was, was very slow. I've been picking tomatoes but they're not as tasty as in previous seasons and the slow growth has given them rather hard skins. The Golden Globe pumpkins have practically stopped growing at the size of a baseball and I doubt if they'll ever be worth picking.
There's been very little action from the garden or the gardener and I've let the few pictures I have tell the story on Picasa just click here.

JANUARY, 2012 - HEAT AND MORE HEAT - MOSTLY !

An excuse ...
This month’s blog will be very brief for a number of reasons, the first one being that it’s already 3rd February and my time is rather limited. Another reason is that I’ve put quite a bit of detail in the captions on the Picasa Album for February and hardly need to add much more. So the Album has most of the information.


The weather – whether we like it or not!

After a VERY hot opening to the month, we welcomed some days of rain but weren’t all that happy about the cold wind and wintry weather that followed. A few more extremely hot days were, at last, followed by a bit of moderation – some beautiful weather where we could enjoy the garden, the beach and the evenings. By the time that came along though, the garden had been horribly dried out by the heat. I don’t think we’ll get much improvement there until a change n the season.

Casualties and Survivors

When I wander around the garden and see dead things where once there were beautiful flowers I sometimes feel a bit discouraged but this is when the previous month’s blogs and Albums show their value. Looking back, I can see that it has happened before and things do regenerate. I’m also reminded that many shrubs and trees HAVE survived and continue to thrive with or without water. Of course, there’s also the fact that a number of Australian plants have a limited life span and don’t last more than three or four years. Lots of my plants have self-sown and I have also been able to strike quite a few. As a last resort (shock horror!) I may have to actually BUY a few replacements. May general aim, though, is to encourage my garden to survive through self sufficiency.



Here's the Bush Garden in September.





And here it is In January.



For all the above reasons, I’ve put some before and after pics on the Picasa album which show the dramatic differences between the seasons.

Vegies

Very little vegie planting this year – just two tomato plants which have been producing lots of green fruit and, as of the last week in January, they have been colouring up and I’ve picked about a dozen so far. The blackbirds like them too and I needed to enclose them in netting, otherwise the pesky birds were in there pecking them before I got there.

Three Golden Globe pumpkins are at last producing very small fruit – full size ones will be quite some time off I think. And that’s about it.

Go to the Picasa album here and you'll see it all in pictures!