Australia · butterflies · clouds · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · photography · spring · subtropical weather · Tweed Valley

Another Garden Wander

Just this one strip of mist lay in the valley this morning. The mountain sits to the south-west of the back of my house, and directly to the south the valley looked completely clear and sparkling green. We had rain overnight, hence the vivid greenery. I didn’t take any more photos today, because the clouds rolled in and we have rain again. It’s just as well I took some photos around my front garden yesterday.

I think I first saw Queen Anne’s Lace on my blogging friend Robin’s old blog, Bogs of Ohio. Robin started a new blog when she moved from Ohio in 2013. Gosh was it that long ago? Well, after all these years I’ve finally planted some Queen Anne’s Lace, which I’m sure Robin told me can get out of hand if I don’t keep an eye on it. It’s looking very pretty and well contained right now.

This white Buddleia is less than a year old and already it is about a meter tall and covered in flowers. The flowers are supposed to attract bees and butterflies, and as you can see, it is doing well in the butterfly department. At first I thought this could be a cabbage moth, but it’s actually a Female Brimstone.

A little Noisy Miner dropped by to say hello during my wandering around the garden. I’m sure it had something in its beak, but it didn’t sit long enough for me to see what it was. We’ve hung the little bird dishes on the chain wire fence for some Eastern Rosellas that we often see on the fence where the Miner is sitting, with some seed and water in. I think they may have a nest nearby.

I still don’t know what this plant is called, but it’s covered in pretty white flowers. It’s been in flower for a few weeks now and the flowers are growing bigger and more prolific every week.

The daisies are growing well too! I love this lilac colour in the garden.

The flowers on the Callistemon tree, or Bottle Brush as we like to call it, are maturing well, much to the delight of the birds. We planted this tree as a tiny plant about twenty-five years ago and now we have to trim the top back every year to keep it from growing too tall and hitting the gutters of the house.

My Spanish Moss is very special to me. My mum gave me this, and she’s been gone for twenty-seven years now. Over the years I have started up new collections of the plant by draping it over tree branches, but this one is the original. It’s crowed by some of my mother-in-law’s orchid plants at the moment! To the right, one of my Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, or Brunfelsia, shrubs is covered in flowers too. That’s another plant I have to prune to keep control of, as it grows so vigorously in our subtropical climate.

I’m so proud of my potted Fuchsia! It is thriving just now on my front veranda and the flowers look incredibly healthy. I think it enjoys the drink of seaweed solution I feed it every fortnight.

And finally, this is the lavender that I didn’t think would survive. It’s planted under a tree near the front boundary of my garden and was over-run with weeds up until two weekends ago when I tidied the area. Since then, it has burst into flower again! I think it could be Italian Lavender, but I’m not one-hundred percent sure.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I plan on spending the day in the garden. There’s a bit more weeding to do, some pruning to finish before summer arrives, a vegetable garden to organise, and a few new plants that arrived by mail order that I need to get planted. 🙂

Australia · Changes · garden flowers · gardening · in my garden · Mount Warning · new beginnings · photography · seasons · spring · subtropical weather · Tweed Valley

New Beginnings

Daisy buds.

Today is the first official day of spring in Australia. Everywhere I look on the internet I see “Spring Has Sprung!” talk, yet in my subtropical area of the country I have hardly seen the sun at all today.

Grevilleas

The temperature today reached 21 degrees Celsius, so 5 degrees lower than yesterday. I know the heat will return though, so I’m happy to enjoy the cooler weather while it’s here – first day of spring or not!

Gerberas

During the past week I have noticed buds springing from winter-dormant plants all over the garden. I’ve taken several photos and thought today would be the ideal day to share them. That plan has worked out well, as even though I have made a commitment to share a photo of the changing view of Mount Warning each day, I haven’t seen the mountain today! The valley has remained hidden by a layer of misty haze, so hardly inspires an image of the perfect spring day. This is how the mountain, or lack thereof, looks today. It just doesn’t seem right to post a dismal photo today of all days!

Tibouchina

During the last few weeks I have planted a few new plants in my garden. The pretty pink tibouchina flower, above, is the first flower on one of my new plants. It’s only about eighteen inches in height now, but it will eventually become a small tree. Can you imaging the beautiful sight of a tree covered in these flowers?

White Puffs

“White Puffs” is not the official name of this flower, it’s the name I have given to a plant I can’t recall the name of! The flowers are so delicate and pretty, and so photogenic that they need to be shared.

Rose bud

My roses are growing incredibly well this year, and the season has only just begun! I am really looking forward to seeing more of my rose bushes in bloom over the next few weeks and I will be sure to take plenty of photos to share. My husband sneezes easily when around fragrant flowers, but even he loves the roses. He draws the line at having jasmine in the garden though. In the early years of our marriage I planted a beautiful jasmine which grew and flowered prolifically over our front patio. I loved the scent and would go into the garden especially to take deep breaths of the gorgeous fragrance! My husband spent the whole jasmine flowering season sneezing. :/

Fuchsias

I absolutely adore fuchsias! My subtropical climate, however, is not kind to these beauties when planted out in the garden during summer. The solution? I have a fuchsia in a large pot on my front veranda, where it gets just the right amount of morning sun and is shaded and protected from the harsh midday and afternoon sun during the hottest days of summer. This lovely plant has now survived two subtropical summers, and this year has sprouted more new buds than ever before.

Port wine magnolia

Port wine magnolia is another favourite and grows incredibly well in my climate. A few of the buds on the tree near my front door have popped open now, and the fragrance at dusk is amazing! Surprisingly, the fragrance doesn’t bother my husband, well, not too much anyway. 😉

Budding hydrangea

Call me old fashioned – many have! – but to me, a garden just isn’t homely enough without a hydrangea plant or two. During summer I water the hydrangeas every day, remove leaves looking anything but pristine perfection immediately (to prevent any possibility of disease) and prune the old flowers to promote a longer flowering season. I also feed my hydrangeas, as well as several other flowering plants, with a regular dose of seaweed solution which I find improves the health of all plants, either decorative or edible. The start of my first hydrangea bloom only appeared a couple of days ago and I’m keeping a close eye on it to watch its development.

Prince of Orange

The Prince of Orange (Ixora) is another plant which thrives in the subtropics. The buds have just begun and I expect any day now to see the lovely tiny segments open up in full bloom.

Over the years it’s been a lot of trial an error in my subtropical garden. While there are less “errors” these days, it’s still a “trial” every time I introduce a new variety of plant. It is so rewarding to see so many of my old faithfuls, as well as my new plants, all in bloom even before spring begins this year. 🙂

 

 

 

Australia · birds · butterflies · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · photography · Tweed Valley · winter

Around the Garden

Just the tiniest, flimsiest wafts of mist danced around the valley this morning.

Before sunrise Mount Warning looked a tad grey, even the sky was grey. Then the sun peeked over the hill and lit up the morning sky.

What a difference a few minutes makes early in the morning!

I’m sure kookaburras enjoy the attention, because it seems that every time I venture outside with my camera lately, I find a little poser nearby. This little guy struck a pose on the top of my clothesline.

“Would you like a closeup of my profile? I think this is my best side …”

I can’t resist taking photos of the kookaburras I see perched on a tree down towards the valley. There were two on the branch this morning.

There are so many flowers blooming in my garden right now, even though we are in the middle of winter here in Australia.

The daisies look gorgeous right now, dancing in the sunshine.

There are only a few gazanias, but the yellow always looks so bright and summery, even in the depths of winter.

Did I say depths of winter? Our weather just now is probably similar to what some countries experience during summer! It’s a beautiful time of year.

My pink dianthus bloom nearly all year round.

When I saw this butterfly, which I believe is a male Common Eggfly, flitting around the daisies, I suspected it would fly away before I had a chance to get a decent shot – but it didn’t! I’m pretty excited to get my first decent photo of a butterfly in my garden. There’s another photo of him on yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post too, with his wings open.