Africanaussie

So here I am all packed and ready to go.  I have even posted my last post for the year wishing all my readers a very happy christmas. So organised am I in fact that I sat down to read a few blogs.  Rainforest Gardener issues a challenge.....  an epiphyte post! - no I dont have time - oh but there is that huge birds nest fern in my back yard I have been thinking I should do a post on - yes that one! Its a beauty isnt it?  there are a few weeds  taking up residence and this photo reminds me I must get the ladder and remove them. Look at the detailed lines on the leaves and then look behind the leaves! - these must be the spores. In the rainforest they seem to like living nestled in the branch of a tree like I have here, but then I also see them in a ring around the the trunk of a palm tree like this once next to our pool. Further down the trunk of the lychee tree are yet more epiphytes - funny I dont think of myself as an epiphyte person, but I sure have a a tre

I am going away for a couple of weeks to spend chrismas with my Mom and brothers and family in South Africa. I feel so blessed to be able to be in close contact with all my loved ones that dont physically live close by. For many years when the kids were younger and we travelled around the world letters were few and far between. The internet has sure made a big change in my life! I hope you enjoy family time this holiday season with loved ones surrounding you. I hope you get plenty of goodies to eat.  and have a very blessed and Happy Christmas! see you in the New Year!

I am a sucker for punishment and have taken on the extra job of maintaining the public areas around the units.  We have landscapers that come in and mow, trim and edge,  but have been doing less and less and charging more and more.  This little roundabout  was overgrown with weeds and I began ripping everything out a couple of weekends ago.  One of my neighbours gave me a hand, and so when we got our mulch the area was ready to be given a makeover. The palm trees do provide a bit of shade.  I planted a black palm in the centre - When that gets bigger and the other palms have to go we will still have some height and shade.   There are a few straggly cordelines, so I will start some more  and also put in some heleconias that I removed from my garden. They will be easier to maintain in an open area like this, and probably flower well.  I will have to put low plants in front of this light.  I also have the ginger plants that I started with the layering technique that are now ready to pl

All year long we have to pay to take landscaping to the public dump, then one weekend (4 days) a year you can go and pick up free mulch!  My hubby borrowed his sons ute (pickup) on Friday and got three loads, and it was almost finished by the end of the day, there was a line every time he went back for another load.  Just as well we didn't wait until the weekend!  I spent the entire weekend moving mulch and spreading mulch.  The garden has lapped it up and now looks lovely.   Doesn't this look just like a white tropical Christmas tree? I think a lot of the mozzie problems we have in the back yard has come from fallen leaves.  I do realise just how lucky I am to have landscapers come in every fortnight and mow and edge, but I have asked them repeatedly not to blow the leaves into the garden.  I would rather they blew them into a pile and I can mulch and collect them when I get home.  I try to mulch them before they come, but cant always get to it. So I have to go deep in a