Missy's Garden

Don't take palms for granted

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:53:00 +0000

Palms are an essential part of our garden. When we first began the garden we planted dozens of palms of different varieties - some in groves to provide shade, some in a line to form a screen or windbreak and some as individual specimens. The original ones are now about 5 years old and, while most are still not at their mature height, they are the tallest plants in our garden.
David from Tropical Texana asked me to show some of our palms. He made me realise that lately the only time I really think about the palms is when I'm collecting fallen palm fronds.

Palms form the skeleton and the background to the garden.

They tower over the rest of the garden plants, providing a layered effect as well as shade.

They compliment their underplanting of cycads, philodenrons, etc

They keep growing happily, even while the plants at their base get all the attention,

but, palms can also be feature plants.

Maybe I need to look UP more often.

The Bismark Palm demands attention with it's huge grey fan-shaped leaves.

Even though this palm is still young, its fronds are almost 2 metres wide already.

The triangle palm attracts attention with its shape.

The fronds grow from the trunk as a perfect triangle.

Its trunk's not bad either.

...and when it comes to unusual trunks,

guess how the Red Neck Palm got its name.

Red, you said.

The Red Latin Palm has red fronds.

When they first form they are completely red, then change to green with red highlights as they age.

The Alexandra's seeds attract attention as well

especially from the local birds.

The inflorescence begins like this and then changes to red or orange as the seeds form.

There is such a variety of colour, shape and texture in palm fronds.

I really shouldn't take them for granted.

Thanks David for reminding me.

Making more plants

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:53:00 +0000

We have a large garden and could never afford to buy enough plants to fill it without propogating our own - besides - creating new plants is fun to a gardener.
Before deciding to buy a plant in a nursery, a major consideration is often whether it has the potential to give me more plants in the future. I feel better about spending the money if I can imagine in a year or so there will be a whole row of plants from the one I bought.

Of course, all plants reproduce naturally. We just give them a helping hand. Some produce seed. Some form clumps that can be divided. Others send out runners. Some even produce their own baby plantlets.
It's amazing just how many plants will grow from a cutting. This would have to be the easiest way to get new plants for the garden.

The 3 C's of a tropical garden, crotons, cordylines and coleus can simply be cut and placed in a jar of water until the roots form. It's best to remove most of the leaves so the plant isn't using up nutrients keeping the leaves healthy, but they will usually shoot even if you don't remove the leaves.

These croton cuttings were placed in water early December and just left outside with an occasional top up of water until mid January. (about 6 weeks) Once the roots are formed, they are planted in potting mix for a further month or two.

This is what they look like now potted up.

I won't transplant them into the garden until they have a nice thick root system.

Cordylines

Alternatively you can just poke them into a propogating mix. (I use a mix of peat moss, potting mix and sand - roughly equal amounts) I want the cuttings to stay moist but not soggy or they will rot.

John collects styrofoam boxes from the same fruit shop that gives us the scraps for the chickens. They make great planter boxes for cuttings. Our shadehouse is next to the vegie patch so the cuttings get a regular watering while I water the vegies. They'll be ready to plant out into the garden in about 6-8 weeks.

Are there gardening genes?

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:41:00 +0000

I’ve discovered that my love of growing things may be genetic.

On Christmas day, I was talking with my uncle about family history, and about my great great grandfather who, apparently was an early pioneer/settler of the Rockhampton region. He sparked my curiosity so while driving home from our holidays, we detoured slightly to see if we could find the old homestead and graveyard. There were streets and even a bridge named after him but we didn’t really know where to look.

I have kept searching and with the wonders of the internet and google maps, I’ve since located it. I'll go exploring in person next time I’m near there. I was also able to find quite a number of old newspaper articles about him including his obituary on trove.com.au. He lived to 91 and was well known in the district.

He arrived from Ireland on the ship “Bayswater” at age 19 with his new bride in 1864.

For a while he worked as a contractor building fences and stockyards around the district until he was employed by the Archer and Co to build fences in 1868. They were the original settlers of the Rockhampton district in 1855. After completing the fencing he was employed as a farmhand on their cattle station. Then, after two years, he was placed in charge of the orchard and garden – described as “a place of beauty growing all kinds of fruit and vegetables”. Ahaa, says I – He had a green thumb. The road into the old homestead is lined on either side for 1½ km with tamarind trees which he may have planted. Remnants of the original orchard still remain too apparently - so I’d love to see it.

He was later in charge of another property - the Shorthorn Stud where all the growing of feed for the cattle was also to be carried on, but he determined the soil was too poor to grow feed good enough for stud cattle, so chose a different location on the other side of the creek which, of course, led to a bridge being needed. The bridge we saw is to commemorate the one he built. Among his achievements were building the first grain silo in Qld, and later, being in charge of the district dairy and butter factory.

He retired in 1908 and went to live with one of his sons where he continued growing vegetables and keeping chickens. In his retirement he became well known for winning first prize at the Rockhampton Agricultural Show many times for both his vegetables and his poultry.

The greenness of the thumb has faded slightly over the generations but it’s nice to know, in my small way, I’m carrying on old James’s legacy.

Leibster Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:08:00 +0000

What a lovely surprise. Marisa from Onslow and Miss B has given me a Liebster Blog Award. Thank you so much Marisa and Missy says to give Onlow and Miss B a pat from her (although Missy will never believe that two dogs are better than one). Marisa's garden is in the same part of the world as ours and is full of wonderful sub-tropical lushness. She also features usual plants she finds elsewhere, so I often learn about a new plant to add to my wishlist when I visit her blog.

Liebster is German for ‘favourite’. The Liebster Award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers. In accepting this award, the recipient must pass it on to 5 favourite up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers.

There are so many blogs I visit and enjoy it's hard to pick five. If you've never visited these blogs before, you are in for a treat.

1. Quarry Garden Stained Glass - Karen not only has one of the best gardens I've ever seen, but a wicked sense of humour as well.
2. Mrs Bok and the Bok Flock - Mrs Bok has a busy job (or two) but still finds time for the little Boks, the feathered flock, Tim Tam and a bountiful vegie patch.
3. Andrea in this Lifetime - has a truely tropical garden, wonderful photography and has a wealth of botanical knowledge
4. Tropical Texana - an industrious subtropical gardener in Texas who also has a great sense of humour and a flock of chickens
5. AfricanAussie - who has recently been away on holidays but is one of my all-time favourite bloggers. Her tropical garden is both beautiful and productive.

Flowers and Fertiliser - First Friday in Feb

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:41:00 +0000

The beehive ginger clump near our back patio is becoming huge. Might need to divide it and plant some in other parts of the garden after it finishes flowering.

I don't recall the name of this ginger. I just call it the orange one.

We have had heaps of rain over the past couple of weeks. Not unexpected. This is our wet season.

The plants love it and I don't mind either, as long as there's a bit of time between showers to get out in the garden. Gardening is great when it's cooler and overcast and the ground is wet.

Last weekend the entire garden got a good feed of pelletised fowl manure. With so much rain, I'm sure the soil nutrients needed a top up. We've also been buying mushroom compost by the trailer load to spread around the garden. It's quite economical and plants respond well.

The heliconias bloom at this time each year. This is another plant that's been divided as the clumps got larger and is now in several spots around the garden.

These heliconias look like they need more fertiliser. They are quite a hungry plant during Summer.

I love allamanda. It grows happily along the fence with just a prune now and then to keep it from taking off into nearby trees.

We have a single and a double - plus a recently acquired pinkish one which hasn't flowered yet.

With all the rain the Murraya are blooming. They make a great close-up subject to practice depth of field.

Our big orange broms - Aechmea blanchetiana - are sending out flower spikes. The aim is to have a whole bed of these sun tolerant beauties. I started with one and keep spreading them as they set pups.

The self-seeded pawpaw trees are flowering as well.

In the rainforest area, the euodia are flowering. Butterflies and lorikeets love these flowers.

I'm looking forward to getting out in the garden this weekend to do a some weeding and trimming and maybe even some planting. More rain is forecast but hopefully it won't be too hot and there'll be some breaks between the showers. We may also get another load of mushroom compost to spread around.

Check out what flowers other people have in their gardens

at Tootsie Time - Flaunt your Flowers Friday

and

Floral Friday Foto

Happy Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:44:00 +0000

When I lived at Trinity Beach, my evening walks were perfumed by the blooms from this common but wonderful plant.
I bought one for Missy's garden a few years back and now have a number of clumps. It is hardy, fast growing, attractive and grows readily from cuttings.
Although they flower each Summer in the tropics, ours (in S.E. Qld) had never flowered - until now. I was delighted when I walked outside a few days ago and smelt the familiar fragrance. Went looking and sure enough, my happy plants were flowering. What a bonus!

Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana' is an essential in any tropical garden.

The flowers only last a couple of days but up close are as beautiful as their perfume.

They grow as tall as a small tree in the garden so the dead blooms will have to fall naturally. I can't reach them.

Happy plants are a common indoor plant. I have one in my office at work which survives in air-con and flourescent lighting with a weekly water and an occasional wipe to remove the dust. It doesn't seem quite as happy as the ones in my garden though.

Goings on around the pond

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

There's been a lot going on around the pond lately - both in and out of the water.

John has made a bio-filter for the pond and redesigned the stream and waterfall (again). It works well, just needs to be finished off and "landscaped".

I don't know exactly what's in the filter or how he constructed it, but it works. The water is clear and healthy.

The local residents seem to be enjoying their upgraded living conditions.

This young fellow (hiding behind the pipe) has been calling potential mates night and day - not sure when he sleeps.
He makes a popping noise rather than a croak.

Results have been produced. A group of eggs have appeared in one of the pots. I hope the fish don't eat all the tadpoles when they hatch.

Garden Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:25:00 +0000

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

A. A. Milne

I would like to be an organised gardener with a “Monthly Garden Planner”, with straight rows of vegies planted at the correct time, fed and watered consistently and with neatly trimmed garden edges that always separate the neatly mown lawn from the well-tended garden, but I know I can’t do it..…and besides….. making exciting discoveries is much more fun.

There is a (sort of) plan in the vegie patch. While we can grow vegies all year round here, most have a season they prefer - Winter is much milder so is the peak growing season.
We have 5 main beds. I rotate them around but this is basically what I try to do.
Bed 1
Autumn/Winter - Zucchini, Squash and maybe some tomatoes
Spring/Summer - Melons – watermelon & rockmelon and also maybe sweet potato
Bed 2 (root vegies)
Autumn/Winter - Carrots, Beetroot , Radish, Onions, Garlic,
Spring/Summer - Carrots, Beetroot , Shallots, Radishes
Bed 3
Autumn/Winter - Tomatoes & Basil
Spring/Summer - Corn, Beans and/or Eggplant
Bed 4
Autumn/Winter - Snow peas, Lettuce, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower
Spring/Summer - Cucumbers, Asian greens, Silver beet, Lettuce
Bed 5
Autumn/Winter - Snap peas, Chives, Shallots, Spinach, Silver beet,
Spring/Summer - Beans, Cherry tomatoes, Capsicums, Eggplant
Herb Bed & Pots
I prefer to grow various mints, coriander, basil, parsley, oregano, sage and rocket in the ground. The rest of the herbs are in pots. Also, the chillies are in pots.
There's also a strawberry bed (which I've pulled out at the moment) and a potato patch (which is demountable).

So that's the plan. But in reality, it never quite happens like that. There's always some mishap with getting the seedlings ready to plant out. There was the catastrophy of the greenhouse blowing over last Spring, but more often it's simply that I forget to water them for a couple of days and they die. Usually the garden ends up with "whatever seedlings suvived" and whatever happens to be on sale at the nursery to replace the dead ones rather than my original plan.

We had some rain last week with more forecast so I've planted my Summer crops again. I know mid-summer is a bit late, but this is Take-2. I've sown some seed, but most of the garden is purchased seedlings from the big green shed.
In the top photo to the right is bed 1. The asparagus at the back is going well and even has some shoots that look good enough to eat. The sickly watermelon vine has a new lease on life since it's now being cared for. I planted rockmelon, a few capsicum plants and a row of parsley seed along the edge. On the left the strawberry bed has lettuce and some beetroot seed at this end.
The second photo bed 2 - rows of carrot, spring onion and radish seeds plus some chives & bed 3 (at the back) corn plus the eggplants.

Bed 4 has french beans and baby squash seedlings, a row of bok choy seeds sown and the remaining cucmber vine.
Bed 5 (at the back) I'm trying sunflower seeds and a few chilli plants.

Next weekend I'm hoping to replenish the herb garden and the pots.

I've also put some seeds in trays in the shadehouse. They would stew in the plastic greenhouse at this time of year. Besides - we now have a sprinkler system in there so I'm hoping they will survive and can be planted out as space permits.

Even though things didn't go to plan we should still have lots to harvest.

Oh, and my exciting discovery!

We put a wire frame around the mandarine tree in the chook yard to stop the ladies digging at the roots and threw a nice deep blanket of compost around the roots as mulch. The self-seeded tomatoes are doing better than any I have every tried to grow in Summer.

A new start in the vegie garden

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:41:00 +0000

While we were away on our holiday, my son did a great job looking after the chooks and the fish and, of course, Missy. He also mowed the grass and watered the garden and kept an eye on things for us. It was good to get home and find everything doing so well. We owe him a big Thank You!

The vegie garden needed a good clean out though. The pumpkin vine had taken over a couple of the beds and weeds had grown and multiplied. The corn was finished. My son said none was wasted. He enjoyed every cob. The strawberries had shriveled up in the heat and were beyond saving. Even the cherry tomato vines looked too sick to be worth trying to save.

Pity I don't like pumpkin, but I'm sure we'll find someone to give them to.

The eggplants are still doing well and so are the chilli plants. They both thrive in hot conditions. Also the asparagus seemed quite happy and some of the Mediterranean herbs, like the oregano and rosemary were fine - but that was about it. The rest had to go.

The beds were emptied and each given load of compost . Some potash and some blood and bone were thrown on as well.

Once that was all dug through, I watered the beds with some seaweed solution and covered them with a deep blanket of sugar-cane trash as mulch.
By the way this was done in bursts - mainly in the morning before it got too hot. We've had temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius the last few days and the heat will continue for a while yet.
Without mulch, the ground would fry and any water would just evaporate.

Next step is the fun bit - replanting.
I'm thinking beetroot, capsicum, cucumber, corn, carrots, plus rosella seeds and maybe some more beans. I may also buy some seedlings to get things going again - maybe lettuce, maybe a melon of some sort.
In Summer I can't get lettuce to grow from seed. I've even tried putting them in the fridge overnight to fool them into thinking it's Winter, so seedlings are the best (and only the loose leaf varieties). They go to seed very quickly so I only plant a small number at a time, give them plenty of nutrient and water and hope they will be edible before going to seed (it's a race) - But if we don't get to eat them all the chooks will.

Summer is the most difficult time for the vegetable garden. There are quite a few things we just can't grow. Even though it's hot and dry at the moment, within a few weeks it's likely to be hot, wet and humid. I've learnt my lesson in past years and don't even try to plant squash, zucchini, etc at this time of year here. They always seem to get mildew and/or rot. Tomatoes (except for cherry tomatoes) won't fruit - or if they do, the bugs get them or they split. If you forget to water, even for a day or so, everything dies. Last year I gave up at this stage and just waited for the weather to get a bit cooler.

Maybe I'll wait a couple of weeks, see if we get some rain and then plant.

The best ever

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:57:00 +0000

My grandson had to show us this house with the "best ever" Christmas light display. Have a look and see if you think he's right.

As we drove up, you couldn't mistake which house he meant. It was lit up with lights of all kinds. I couldn't capture them all with my camera.

There was a giant Christmas tree,

A gingerbread house in their driveway

You could look through the windows to see the people inside with their tree. There was a larger than life Santa to greet everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas. There were trees sparkling with lights.

But the best was yet to come. . .
Around the corner you could enter the garden through a lit archway and the special magic began.

Throughout the garden were hidden the twelve days of Christmas - each handcarved and painted, lit by small spotlights. The children had to make sure they found them all.

Down a pathway, in his own grotto sat the Grinch in his cave.

A giant book told the story of the Night Before Christmas - with a tiny scene set in behind the pages.

Even at night you could tell, the garden itself was spectucular.... of course I tried to take some photos but the garden was just the backdrop and it was too dark. The real magic was happy faces, pointing, showing their parents, eyes wide as they made their next discovery, around every bend something new to wonder at.

Apparently, this couple have been opening their garden to the local children for many years. Can you image how many happy memories they have created?
I think my grandson was right.

Merry Christmas .

The Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Rather than fly, we decided to drive to drive to Cairns this time. Actually, it wasn't a case of preferring to drive - I just didn't get around to booking airfares until it was too late to get a cheap ones and it seemed a good option. It's just over 1700kms from Brisbane to Cairns. You wouldn't drive there for a weekend.
We divided the trip into three parts - Rockhampton the first night (670km north), Townsville the next (another 720km), then on to Cairns.
John and I each chose a stack of CDs and bundled them into a bag - all our old favourites.

Leaving Rocky after the first night, the sign showed we still had a long way to go.

We took turns with the driving, listening to our favourite music (sometimes singing along out of tune), checking out the changing scenery (lots of cows and crops and trees mainly), and sometimes chatting about life and things you may normally not get to talk about when you're busy with the usual rat race. We decided to each make a "bucket list" and on New Years Day we'll show each other. I'm sure like most couples our dreams for the future are similar, but it will be interesting to see how they compare.

The motel in Townsville was more like a tropical resort - a huge swimming pool surrounded by tropical gardens - and the food at their restaurant was top class. Best barramundi I've tasted (and I have tasted lots).

On the third day, with Jimmy Buffett providing the background music, we arrived in Cairns - a bit tired from the drive but more relaxed I think than if we'd battled the traffic to the airport and the queues...

We've settled into our unit (which of course is surrounded by a wonderful tropical garden) are looking forward spoiling the grandkids.

The view from the balcony's obscured by trees.

Flowers for Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:49:00 +0000

The start of Summer brought rain and cooler temperatures to South East Queensland. We've been wearing jumpers, getting back into the Winter PJs and snuggling under the blankets - weird for December.
Even though the temperature doesn't feel like Summer, throughout the garden, many of the warm weather plants are beginning to flower.

The frangipanis love this time of year.

Most of our frangipani are grown from cuttings but now (after 5 years) can be called trees. They are one of the easiest plants to grow from a cutting and come in so many different shades, it's tempting to have one or two of every colour.

The deep red is a bought one. I couldn't resist it when I came across it in a nursery. Even though I love the colour, I'm guessing it's some sort of hybrid because it doesn't flower as well as the old types and is the first to show signs of distress if it isn't given ideal growing conditions.

The pentas are doing well. I planted them as a "filler" but I think they've earnt a permanent spot in the garden.

The ixora are just starting to bloom

Justica loves the rain we've been getting lately

Hibiscus are blooming throughout the garden.

They flower on and off for most of the year.

The real heat and humidity lovers are just starting to come out of hybernation.

the first heliconia bloom of the season

the first canna bloom

The shell ginger just starting....

The curcumas are coming up

The Beehive gingers are coming up too (not quite flowers yet)

Many of the bromeliads flower at this time of year as well

I love the way they form their own little water garden.

I'm joining in Tootsie's Flaunt your Flowers Friday

and

an Australian site - Friday Floral Fotos

The new perch

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:04:00 +0000

John set up a solar panel to run the pump for our pond.

It's proved to be very popular.

A great spot to check out what's on the menu.

These guys know how to party.

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:21:00 +0000

Last night there was a noisy party in our backyard. Lots of loud music and singing out of tune.
John went out armed with a torch to find the culprits.

Doesn't he look innocent? He's not.

He was on his way to the party of the year in our pond.
It was about to start raining. Usually time to head indoors - but not for these guys. There hadn't been any rain for weeks so the local frog population were celebrating with a vengeance.

"Party at my place! Tell your mates!"

The call was going out at full volume. Notice how this green frog has taken on the colour of the pot. I'm guessing he's the host.

"Mind if I take a dip? Nice pond."

"Well hello sweetheart. Do you come here often? Can I get you a drink?"

They partied into the wee hours of the morning as the rain poured down.

It was great. Noisy, but great.

What's been going on

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:48:00 +0000

Normally this would be the time of year when I spend as much time as possible in the garden. The weather is perfect - except that we could use some rain. Luckily we have three huge tanks to water the garden and currently water restrictions have been lifted and we can also use town water, so everything should be thriving.
Many of our ornamental plants are tropical and so they sulk or go completely dormant in Winter and start to come to life at this time of year.

The red stemmed ginger has reappeared and brought with it flowers.

The frangipani have their leaves back and are starting to bloom again.

Bromeliads are flowering all over the place.

The only problem is that I've been "a bit crook"....well actually more than a bit.... so everything has been neglected. I've discovered that all sorts of weeds REALLY love this time of year as well. I took some photos of the garden beds overgrown with weeds so I can post some before and after shots when I eventually get them back in order again. (for some motivation)

Missy has been doing her doggy duty and has kept me company. In fact, I think she's enjoyed having me home and she doesn't mind the odd snooze on the bed or the couch.

In the vegie patch, most things are looking rather unwell too. There are shivelled strawberry plants, giant tough carrots that should have been harvested weeks ago and lettuce that's long ago gone to seed...and many wonderfully healthy weeds.

There are a few things doing well however.

The corn and beans are looking after each other and ears are stating to appear. In the background (right) are some tomatoes on a very scrawny vine.

I didn't notice until I looked at the photos, that others seem to be appreciating the corn as well. Hopefully they won't do too much damage.

A pumpkin vine that self-seeded from the compost is very healthy. I don't eat pumpkin, but I'm sure I will be able to find someone who loves them.
Another doing well are the eggplants - not bearing yet but looking healthy with plenty of flowers.

The chillies are doing well also. They love the heat.

So, even though it's being neglected, the garden seems to be doing OK without me.

Maybe I need it much more than it needs me.

October's Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:37:00 +0000

It's Spring so there should be flowers in the garden. Much of our garden is trees, shrubs and foliage plants. I don't grow the traditional Spring annuals and I've had visitors ask me why I don't grow flowers - but if you wander around the garden there are quite a few making an appearance.

The giant Strelizia is impressive but as the plants get bigger many of the flowers are up high or wedged between stems. These plants need a LOT of room. They grow to over 3m tall and have almost filled the corner behing our Balinese hut. We (well actually John, with me pointing and saying "That one") chopped out quite a few to thin them out a few months ago.
This is a longer shot just to show how tall they are. You can see they are much higher than the roof .

and if you look closely, there is a big blue and white flower up in the centre of the leaves.

This is it up a bit closer.

Bromeliad flowers are scattered throughout the garden. There are such a wide variety of broms; there always seems to be a few flowers throughout the warmer months. Of course, with many of the broms, their leaves are more colouful than their flowers. I bought a couple of pots of these variagated ones at an open garden last year with the intention of using them as a border along a pathway. They're still sitting in their pots near the pathway waiting patiently.

Poinsettia flower throughout Winter but the flowers on this large double seem to last longer than the singles. Most of our poinsettia have been cut back and we have cuttings waiting to root so we can give some to a friend.

They are easy to grow from cuttings. You just let them dry out a bit and put them in a free-draining mix until roots form. We cut the tops on an angle so we know which end is up.

Acalypha reptans makes a great ground cover. It's growing in light shade here. It would probably flower more with more sun.

I love Bouganvilla flowers but the plants can quickly become rampant when planted in the ground, plus they have very nasty thorns. I keep them in pots and chop them back a couple of times a year to keep them under control. Because they are so hardy, they forgive me if they don't get watered so fit right in here.

There are dozens of colours available these days. They create splashes of colour around the garden.

I pruned most of the hibiscus back by between a third and half a few weeks ago - late Winter. They have lots of new growth and are just beginning to come back into flower.

Golden Candles has more flowers than leaves at present.

Geraniums or are they Pelagoniums. They grow in pots in the kichen garden area to add a bit of colour amongst the herbs.

Pentas fill a few empty spots around the garden with a splash of colour as well.

The Seaside Daisies just keep growing and spreading. They've even escaped the garden bed into the lawn, where they are mowed down but quickly shoot back to life. Since it seems to be so resilient, I think I'll dig some out and transplant it around other areas that could use groundcover.

Another ground cover I love is the common nastursum. They are great to use as a "green" manure to improve the soil (which is why I originally planted them). - but what I've discovered is - They self seed and come back each Winter / Spring when many of my other plants are dormant, then they die back in the really hot weather so get pulled out & added to the compost bin.... to return next year and start again.

The climbing bauhinia flowers to some extent all the time, but by the number of buds, it's getting ready to burst into full bloom.

A bit exciting - The avocado is starting to flower. It's still fairly young so I hope we get fruit this year. Last year tiny litle avocados formed and fell off before they matured.

As I went looking, I discovered quite a few other trees are currently flowering.

Native franjipani

The white cedar is in bloom.

The callistemon are loving the weather at the moment and the local birds are loving their bottlebrush flowers.

The Mongnolia Grandiflora has flowered for the first time and I almost missed it. There are quite a few buds yet to open so I'll be keeping a closer eye on it over the next couple of weeks.

Best of all - the Powderpuff Lilly Pillys Syzigium Wilsonii are flowering. They are a native rainforest tree. John propogated 12 trees from seed and they struggled for their first couple of years because of the drought. This is the first year they've flowered. The blooms are so large and heavy they are weighing the branches down. I had to hold it up to take its photo.

For more flowers visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens . She hosts Garden Bloggers Blooms Day on the 15th of each month.

The Great Potato Harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 06:17:00 +0000

We weren't sure whether the potatoes were ready to harvest or the recent rains had damaged the plants. It was only just on three months since I planted them. Either way, the plants were dying and they had to come out.
A bucket full came out of approximately a square meter of garden, so we were more than happy with the harvest. Some are small, but there are also plenty of really good-sized potatoes as well.

Afternoon Tea for the Ladies

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:51:00 +0000

We didn't eat all the muffins I baked and they had gone a bit stale. Around here between the compost bins, worms, dog and chooks, not a lot gets thrown in the rubbish bin. The ladies appreciated the muffins.

Flo was in there first

She loved the berry topping

Dorrie and Ginger couldn't work out how to turn theirs over

Gladys to the rescue

Not often they share - usually one will run off with the prize and the others chase - but today they used their best afternoon tea manners.

Very happy hippies

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:26:00 +0000

There is a blaze of red along our front fence-line. The hippeastrums have come to life.

For much of the year they are simply clumps of green leaves. Then in winter they die back and disappear completely. But when they re-appear they make sure they are noticed.

We began (a few years ago) with one plant and each year the bulbs multiply. It wouldn't be possible to count how many we have now. Many bulbs have been given away as well and hopefully will be putting on the same show in other gardens at the moment.

These plants receive no attention - except when they flower. They survive on rain water only and reward us year after year with a great display.

Clumps of Dietes are interspersed behind and between. They flower for much longer and are also an easy care plant that multiplies each year. When I saw them thriving in traffic islands along the motorway, I knew they would be the perfect plant for this area of the garden.
Gradually we are acquiring more as the seeds germinate. The clumps can be dug up and divided but I'm in no hurry. I just keep an eye out for any volunteer plants that come up and transplant them to where I want a new clump.

Some people have fairies at the bottom of their garden. I have hippies.

The A to Z of Me

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:40:00 +0000

Laura at Our Wee Farm did an A to Z of Me which I thought was so great I'm being a copycat. I haven't written this much for the blog in ages.

A=Age; (Ouch) 55 - Smack in the middle of middle age.

B=Bed size; Queen

C=Chore that you hate; I would much prefer to work in the garden than the house. But if I have to pick the ONE I hate the most – vacuuming. No wait – ironing or maybe cleaning windows.

D=Dogs; Missy, of course! But I’m not so sure she considers herself a dog.

E=Essential start to your day; Coffee. I can’t do anything until the caffeine kicks in.

F= Favourite colour; I don’t have a favourite colour as such. My favourite colour changes with my mood and the situation. In the garden I like red and white because they look so good with green.

G=Gold or silver; I’m really not a jewellery person. I like it and would never say no to something sparkly as a gift, but I rarely wear it or buy it and don’t really have a preference.

H= Height; 5ft 7in, 169cm and I’ve been that tall since I was about 12 which made me a whizz at netball when I was at school.

I= Instruments you play; As a child I learnt piano but haven’t played for many years. Don’t think I could now. I can tune a car radio though.

J=Job title; Manager – Injury Management Services. I head a team of health professionals who make sure people who are injured at work get the treatment and rehabilitation they need to recover and get back to work safely.

K-Kids; I have a son and a daughter and John has a son and two daughters, so between us – 5 (all adults) and we have 5 adorable grandchildren.

L=Live; I have lived in Queensland all my life – much of it in North Queensland but currently in the South East corner.

M=Mother's name; Ada

N=Nickname; Never had one. (Well, not that I know of)

O=Overnight hospital stays; When my children were born we stayed in hospital for 5-7 days, not like now when they send you home almost immediately. They’ve been my longest hospital stays.

P=Pet peeves; Ever seen the “Grumpy Old Women” shows – well I don’t want to seem like one of them - however – Rudeness in all it’s forms would be my pet peeve.

Q=Quotes from a film; The Castle has a quote for (almost) every occasion

“This is going straight to the pool room”,
“Tell him he’s dreaming”,
“How’s the serenity” and my all time favourite,
“I dug a hole”.

R=Right or left handed; Right handed totally and absolutely.

S= Siblings; One brother who is seven years younger than me. I used to call him my little brother until he grew to 6ft 2in.

T=Time you wake up; I wake up when the sun gets up – like the chooks. Early in Summer, late in Winter.

U=Underwear; With age comes an appreciation of comfy undies.

V=Vegetable I hate: I confess. I don’t like pumpkin. It’s one of the very few foods I avoid.

W=What makes you run late; Traffic jams. I try very hard to never be late. I will leave for an appointment half an hour early to avoid being a couple of minutes late. I think it’s rude to keep others that took the effort to be on time waiting, but when the traffic comes to a halt..... that's it....I'm not going anywhere.

X=Xrays you've had; Most bits of me have been X-rayed at one time or another. Not that I’m clumsy.

Y=Yummy food that you make; I love preparing celebration food – for birthdays, Christmas, family gatherings.

Z=Zoo animals; All animals have their own charm. I have recently rediscovered zoos with my grandchildren. I would hate to see an animal caged but the zoos I’ve been to aren’t like that. They really try to replicate their natural homes and make life as comfortable as possible for their animals.
The boys love the snakes and lizards as much as the furry animals.

My Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:56:00 +0000

I've been off to Cairns again to play with my grandsons.

Had a wonderful time.

Came home feeling refreshed and enlivened - ready to tackle many of the gardening jobs that have been neglected or just can't be done over Winter.
Two weeks holiday - one in Cairns and one in the garden.
In Cairns, I went to the Zoo, to the beach, to Kindy and generally enjoyed being Grandma.
In the garden, I cleared out and replanted a couple of garden beds, did lots of weeding, divided bromeliads, planted some corn and beans (thanks Hazel for the tip). For many people this wouldn't seem like much of a holiday, but I loved it and I'm looking forward to doing lots more in the garden now the days are longer.
John has put a sprinkler system in the greenhouse, so propogating will be happening over the next couple of weeks. Many of the plants in our garden grow from cuttings and I'm hoping to have lots of new plants ready to give away and to fill spaces in the garden in a couple of months. Hopefully I'll remember to get some photos as I do them. I've been rather slack lately with the blog.

Oh ... and I also gave Missy a haircut.

Silkie Terriers have hair that just keeps growing. Show dogs have hair that reaches almost to the ground and gets brushed daily, but Missy's definitely not a show dog. Over Winter Missy's long hair keeps her warm, but as the weather gets warmer she needs to have short hair. When I first do it, it takes a while for us to get used to the much smaller dog with the skinny legs. Luckily, she's not a vain dog or doesn't have access to a mirror because I'm not a great hairdresser. A professional dog groomer would do a much better job but costs a heap.

She doesn't like having it done but she just sits and lets me do it - such a good dog.

She looks impressed doesn't she?

Millie's Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:54:00 +0000

This is my friend Millie. Isn't she cute?

She has a keen interest in gardening like me. She has people who do most of the work for her as all dogs do. She's very proud of her garden - and so she should be.
During the floods in January the water washed away the grass and topsoil from a large part of her back garden. Her people (Marie and Baz) have had to work very hard to restore the garden - with quite a deal of encouragement from their dog of course.
They decided, rather than replace the topsoil and lay turf, they would reinvent the garden.

Rocks and pavers have replaced the washed away lawn.

They have a great collection of succulents and bromeliads, so the new look compliments their plants perfectly.

I love this little man.

Out of the chaos they've created a new garden room.

What a great place to hide out with a good book and a cool drink.

Millie tells me it was all her idea. She had to constantly supervise to make sure Marie and Baz got it right. Isn't she a talented garden designer?

What a rip-off!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Where has Spring gone. I feel like we've been robbed. We had beautiful Spring weather during the week while I was at work and then I woke up this morning to freezing cold winds.

The garden has been showing definite signs of Spring. The wisteria has started to bloom.

The strawberries are fruiting.

Tiny daisies are appearing.

Spring is a wonderful season. It's a pleasure to be in the garden in Spring and I was looking forward to spending the weekend getting dirt under my fingernails and the sun on my back.

I had sown trays of seed and they were being nurtured ready for planting in the vegie patch. - Capsicum, several varieties of chilli, yellow pear tomatoes, rosella, corn, cucumber, beetroot and bok choy. This weekend the plan was to dig compost through the garden beds to refresh them ready for the new seedlings. BUT - I woke this morning to cold and windy - definitely a day to stay inside.

I did a few loads of washing but hadn't even ventured outside to hang it up. I was hoping somehow that the wind would ease. When I did eventually go outside this is what I found...

It looks more like a coffin than a greenhouse and that's exactly what it is. All of the seed trays have been up-ended. Nothing could be saved. I had it weighed down with bricks across the bottom shelf - obviously not enough. Oh well, guess what I'll be doing when the wind dies down. This time I think I'll tie it to the post as well as weighing it down.

Winter is over!

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:14:00 +0000

What will I miss about Winter?
With today being the first day of Spring, surely there was something about Winter that was great....mmm trying to think.

The frost burnt plants? NO!

The coughs, sniffles, sneezes and wheezes? Not a chance!

Wearing winter woolies, the shorter days and getting up on cold mornings? Definitely NOT!

The misty mornings? Maybe

Winter vegies. Yes.

I’ll miss growing peas and spinach and big fat tomatoes. We are lucky to be able to grow a much wider range of vegies during winter, but now it's time to plant new crops and welcome Spring.

All around the garden there are signs of new life. The garden loves Spring.

Lots of buds on the little magnolia.

Welcome Spring - we love you!!!

August - much to do in the garden

noreply@blogger.com (Missy) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:32:00 +0000

Winter is coming to an end and while the garden is probably at its least interesting and least attractive, it is one of the busiest times in Missy’s Garden. Mornings are still quite cool (around 1-4 C) but during the day warms up to over 20 degrees Celcius.

In protected areas the cordylines and crotons produce a bright (some may say gaudy) display of colour, but flowers are in short supply.

August is a time for working in the garden and preparing for Spring, rather than enjoying its beauty. Over Winter, many of the tropical plants such as the cannas, gingers and heliconias die back, are cut down to ground level and covered with a blanket of mulch. Any that weren’t cut back were killed by frost and need to be removed. The hibiscus, alamandas and acalyphas need pruning to keep them compact.

Now the threat of frost has virtually passed, mass pruning begins. The mulcher works over-time and the compost bins overflow but the garden looks quite bedraggled with it’s bare spots, frost burnt foliage and short-back-and-sides haircut.

The palm trees lose a lot of fronds at this time of year and they don’t go through our mulcher very well so trips to the green-waste area of the local rubbish tip become necessary. In total, we have about 60 - 70 palms so you can imagine how many dead fronds need to be disposed of.

Rainfall is always low here during Winter and Spring, so as the daytime temperatures increase, watering becomes a priority. We are lucky to have 3 large water tanks and in some areas we can connect the hose to a sprinkler, but hose holding is still necessary for a few hours a week.

We spent a day in the fern house last weekend removing some of the ferns that grow too vigorously and choke their more fragile neighbours and soaking the hanging baskets in a mix of seaweed solution and Charlie Carp (fish emulsion). It really gives them a boost.

At this time of the year it is a case of too much to do and too little time. Every year I say I should take holidays at this time of year to work in the garden and every year I use up my holidays and don’t have enough to spare.
I haven't taken many photos lately but don't I want to miss Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - and I did find a couple of blooms.

The ixoras have new buds. Do they count?

Found the white calliandra when I was searching for something in bloom in the front yard.
Then I looked up ...

The strelizia are still blooming and the Sheenas Gold hedge is coming along well, but the grass is dry.

Don't think it will stay dry with those clouds...

I think we will definitely get some rain out of these.

..........and that's as far as I got with searching for what's in bloom.....down it came.

What was I saying about not having much rain this time of year?

If you want to see lots of beautiful blooms visit May Dreams Garden where garden bloggers bloom day is held on the 15th of each month.