One of the books that raised the most discussion and debate was ‘A thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini. I really enjoyed the book and loved the style and was drawn into the beautiful yet heartbreaking story. Another one of my favourites which I absolutely enjoyed the most was ‘The Road’ by Cormac Mcarthy. Although others in my group detested it, found it very hard going and bleak. I found it beautiful and it touched my heart. I loved the relationship between the boy and his dad it was a thing of beauty set amongst darkness and futility. We have also read ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak. This is another book that I really enjoyed and received high praise at our book club meeting.

So are you in a book club, do you love reading and what book recommendations do you have?

It is flowering beautifully at the moment, much to the delight of all the local birds. I am pleased that it has thrived as the area where it is planted is quite a difficult spot. The soil has a really high clay content and it gets very dry in the Summer months. This plant has survived with no water from me, only rainfall and we havent had a lot of that lately.. We have also had quite a lot of frosts this past Winter but it continually grows.

The flowers are quite big and full, they are also laden with sweet nectar! They would probably measure around 15cm in length and it has been flowering since mid Winter, we are now in mid Spring. It still has loads of bud covering it and I think it will flower right through the Summer too.

This beautiful Australian Native Plant grows to 1.5m high and has a width af around the same. I would certainly recommend it after seeing how well it performs in my garden.

Things there just weren’t busy enough already…cough…ahem.

Anyway..we took over on Mothers Day and as if that wasn’t crazy enough, running out of chrysanthemums and carnations, we then got asked to do the flowers for the local deb ball.

A full days work to produce all the gorgeous posies, table arrangements and guest of honour’s bouquets. I have so much respect for florists…it is hard work and very demanding! Talk about a sore neck from craning my head down to look onto the posies.

The thing that really got us through and kept our spirits high was the endless supply of home made chocolate mud cake and tea…

They must of liked our flowers though because we have been booked to do it all again next year!

Set on the grounds of our beautifully restored hall, the market is always very popular with locals and tourists alike. There is always something yummy to taste, with local chefs giving delicious cooking demonstrations. You can always pick up some new recipes to try and sample lots of different treats. The local community cook a great country style bbq breakfast of bacon and egg rolls and sausages. Divine plunger style coffee and the most tantalising cakes are also on offer. Dont eat breakfast before you go!

I like to peruse the produce stalls. Most people are selling food they have produced on their own property, whether it be eggs, meat, fruit, vegetables, chutneys, pickles and even oysters.

Pass me the fresh lemons and pepper please.

I bought myself some great looking Sebago potatoes. In fact, they are cooking in the oven right now.

 Check out the eyes on that potato sign on the back of the ute. Scary….

There are also a few people selling plants. Succulents are very popular and with most of us here in the grip of drought, they are a great garden choice. Not only do they look absoluetly stunning with their different colours and texture but they are also very ‘waterwise’ plants.

Lot of people were drawn to the stalls selling stonefruit. We are in the middle of Summer and enjoying sweet, locally grown peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots.

I was very excited to see the local seed exchange up and running. What a brilliant concept and so well done. Sharing seeds, conserving seeds and traditional / heirloom vegie cultivars is a topic close to my own heart. I will be looking forward to perusing the seed packets at the next market.

It was a great morning, with many friendly faces, lots of smiles and happy people. Set in such a stunning location, surrounded by so much fresh food how could one not be happy? I tried passionfruit cordial, tomato relish, juicy plums and pretty little heart shaped cookies. All of this was enjoyed by the magical sound of our local harpist.

My busy life has prevented me from posting as much as I would like.  You see, it is now Spring here and because I am involved in the garden industry my life becomes very chaotic.

Anyway, nothing like a beautiful scent of rose or magical flowering magnolia to stop me in my tracks!

Here is a gorgeous specimen in my mother’s garden.

The buds were lucky to survive on the bush this year, because last year the cockatoos chewed them all off!

And just outside my bedroom window is my ever pretty Star Magnolia.

We also have another new magnolia in the garden, just planted. It is called ‘Star Wars’ and has huge dark pink flowers, so looking forward to seeing that one out next Spring. The kids gave it to their dad for a fathers day gift. Very appropriate really seeing as my 4 yo boy is just MAD about Star Wars!

There were a lot of cymbidium orchids in the show but also some beautiful, intricate and extremely delicate natives such as the Sydney Rock Orchid shown in the next photo.

These are such beauties and grow in our local area on the cliff faces around many river beds and waterfalls. They are an epiphytic orchid which means they thrive on trunks and branches of trees or even rocks. Epiphytes are sometimes referred to as ‘air plants.’

How impressive are they? Many people are scared to grow them because they really do appear to be just so delicate. The orchid club does an annual demonstration and workshop at our garden centre each year and shows how to pot and care for them. Most of the club members say to “just keep ‘em in a pot under a tree down the backyard and they will be fine.” It seems that if you fuss over them, that will most probably be their downfall.

I love the green ones, I think they are my favourite!

Lunch in Mallacoota after doing a garden consultation.

This particular species of Eremophila is from the inland states of Australia. It like the hot dry country, thus it can be difficult to grow in my Eastern seaboard garden. This one is grafted and it is grafted onto Myoporum rootstock. The Myoporum is in the same family as Eremophila and it is an extremely hardy little plant! This makes it then very easy for avid Eremophila lovers to enjoy this plant grown anywhere in Australia. How fantastic is that?

This little eremophila only grows to around 2 metres or so in height and it has the most beautiful purple flowers. The foliage is stunning too, being quite grey (which usually indicates drought hardy to me!) and it has very pretty little seed pods.

If you are interested in growing Eremophila’s, be sure to check out all the grafted species available now. There are many enthusiasts out there and about 200 different species to collect!

As it emerges from the ground the cap is usually rounded but then turns flat with age. The cap also the very pretty red surface with little white warts on it. It is a mushroom that many people would associate with fairy’s and other little fantastical garden creatures!

Something else that I find fascinating about this mushroom is that because of it’s psychoactive ingredient, it was apparently used by Vikings to enter their berserker rages. This theory though has never been proven and to some it is just an urban legend that has perpetuated over the years.

The wonderful fairy image above is taken from here.

It is called an Earth Star. I am not sure of the specific species but possibly Geastrum triplex. You can see that it belongs to the ‘puffball’ kingdom of fungi. That puffy section in the middle of the fungi is actually very soft to touch and when it is pushed it ‘puffs’ out all the spores through it’s little opening there. I find it really fascinating and so wondrous. There is a whole colony of them out there growing in my little bit of bushland.

It really is that time of year for fungi and I have noticed some beautiful specimens around. They are just so intricate and often in the most amazing shapes and patterns. I will have some more great pics to share with you soon. Are you a fan of fungi too??