Africanaussie

I just love cosmos, and a couple of years ago I had the pink cosmos.  This year I sowed a packet of orange cosmos and it certainly is a great butterfly attractant.   I like cosmos in the vegetable garden as it grows so high and feathery, and even though it is a huge plant with lots of flowers, it really isn't taking up much space as the vegetables can grow around the base and still get lots of sunlight. You can see my very healthy zucchini in the background here. I love the dangly bits on this Ulysses -  they are the lower part of its wings, which give its species the name swallowtail..  This is another type of butterfly we often see in the garden, called the Common Eggfly.  I have yet to find out where they lay their eggs.  This is a male and they are evidently very territorial and will chase away other males.  They look the same on the underside, but  the female has these same blue spots, but then orange spots in between them, often leading people to believe it is a different s

Slowly I have found herbs that grow easily here in the tropics and can be used to replace the more common ones that find this hot humid climate quite tiresome. I thought oregano would have no trouble growing here, but every time I have bought a little pot from the nursery it has stayed the same size and then eventually wilted and died.  then a friend gave me a slip of this; growing off to the left,( against the fence is the comfrey) .Now I know it looks nothing like oregano, but it tastes like a little oregano, a little thyme, and my gosh! it grows here!  never stops - you have to keep cutting it back :)   It is called mother of herbs, or Cuban oregano - I reckon you could also call it tropical bouquet garni, but folks are not that fancy round here!  Once that took over the entire back of my herb spiral, and I flattened it out I decided that my other favorite herb could have the front new section.  It is easy to harvest and water because this herb doesn't like to be waterlogge

I have these cosmos that have taken over in the vegetable garden - they are bright and cheery and  oh my! - they attract my favorite butterflies - I missed this display - it happened while I was at work so once again the praise goes to my hubby's photographing efforts. ( I told him he needs his own blog!)  all the talk about how they only like red flowers....  this one seems very happy with orange. Look at the proboscis sucking out the nectar - normally it is rolled up in a tight little coil.  Can you find the cross where this ones legs intersect?  I wonder who sent us this beauty? Look at the torn wing - I think they lead a hard life.  I think blue and orange go so well together. Don't you?  they flit around so fast that you only get a glimpse of that iridescent blue.  - welcome to my garden  you pretty little things.  I wonder if one of these (there were two) is the same one that hatched out of its chrysalis in our garden a couple of weeks ago?  I like to think the

As the back garden (side garden really) has become our entertainment area and the area where most of my plants are growing, the entrance to the garden has slowly evolved.  At first we used the little wooden gate, and I tried to get visitors to wander through the little path I had created.  Most visitors would have none of that and would rather squeeze between the post and the car in the carport! Then the decision was made to permanently close off one of the big double gates, and use the other big gate as the actual entrance into the garden.  Having the path visible through the gate did the trick and suddenly I had created curb appeal!  This weekend I decided to extend the front bed, therefore leading the eye directly to the gate. Don't you think the two white pots seem to shout - hey come this way?    I think it flows nicely, and I have planted one cordeline, but also needed another plant to fill in the remaining space. Cordelines are just the best plants around here - if you wa

Yesterday I noticed that the Ulysses chrysalis was turning brown, and I thought either the butterfly was going to emerge or that it had died. It was dark when I got up this morning, grabbed the flashlight and peered into the bush to see ......... the butterfly hanging there alongside the chrysalis!  It was way too dark to take photos and I stayed as long as I could before I had to leave for work.  Gosh I wanted to stay there so badly. My hubby had strict instructions to take lots of photos and this is what he took..... Isn't he a great photographer?   Just look at the detail. The inside of the wings is a brilliant iridescent blue, but as soon as it opened its wings a gust of wind came and it fell to the ground.  Then it took off and flew away - high up into the tree.  I hope it is all right - it needs someplace out of the wind to build up its strength. So my thoughts of you actually getting to see the iridescent blue wings have been dashed.   I will persevere though, and the good t

A very common problem in the wet tropics is bacterial wilt.  This affects any plants in the Solanaceae family, tomatoes, capsicums and eggplant specifically.  The almost wild  cherry tomatoes seemed more resistant although last year even they did not do well, but that could also be because the dry season was very wet. I think we are overdue for a good dry season so I have planted a lot of vegetables in anticipation. I started a new bed along the back fence in order to practice crop rotation and also imagined that if I grew them in pure compost, the problem would not occur.  Wrong - I bought a six pack of "tropic" which is supposed to be resistant and they all keeled over,  along with all the eggplant. There are a few cherry tomatoes that seem to be surviving.  Funny though that I have an eggplant that has been growing for over two years in the front garden, and although it doesn't look that healthy it just keeps producing.  I wonder if it has generated its own resistance

At last I have a few vegetables forming in the garden - it seems to have taken forever.  My baby butternut look just like the real thing, only very tiny :)   I want to pick some when they are still quite small - in South Africa they make a kind of stew in a cast iron pot called a potjie.  It is normally a mix of meat and vegetables, and they often have whole miniature vegetables in it - very yummy.  Is it only me or is this the cutest little butternut ever?  the zucchini are also forming - I wanted them to ramble over a frame, but this one keeps heading the other way.  I thought if it was over a frame it would stay drier with less chance of mildew problems.  Already there is some powdery mildew and so far all I have done is remove those leaves and throw them away.  If it gets any worse I will get out the milk and water spray.  Now I don't want to get ahead of myself but I have heard stories of people being overwhelmed with lots and lots of zucchini so i have been trying out some r

My neighbour asked me if I wanted her chair, and I jumped at the chance.  we have been trying to hang an old hammock and my hubby spent so long getting it right and then we noticed that the fabric was rotting so gave it up.  This is so much nicer than a hammock! doesnt it just look as though this spot was made for it?  I  thought it looked good jsut off to the side of the pathway. There were some ground orchids in that area and I moved them over to the other side of the path - I wanted some more orchids there so it all worked out very well in in the end. I have scattered my new pots around the area too - the big pot is still empy - not sure what I should put in that one.  So now I have  a new tempting spot to sit and rest.  I tried it out a few times today and it is very comfy - gives me a new angle to survey the garden.

 Hubby really likes the rather wild hot pink bouganvilla, and kept asking me to plant one somewhere.  This is a very heavy plant and has been known to pull down fences with its weight, so I was not sure I wanted one in my garden..   I stuck one in the corner, and didn't really focus too much on the fact that it has lots and lots of horrible sharp thorns.  It also has lots and lots of flowers.... It is sort of out of the way here, and hopefully will climb along the fence, creating lots of  welcoming colour and enticing visitors to enter through the gates. Unfortunately at the moment I think it just looks rather messy.  I have tended to just plonk plants here without much thought.  Originally I had the strelitzia - which will have orange and purple flowers, then the Chinese lantern - a reddish color, then the bleeding heart vine - white and  red.  What on earth was I thinking when I added hot pink to the mix?  I am really not sure about the bouganvilla, but it seems to have made i

If you lived close by I would be giving a quick knock on your door and leaving one of these on your doorstep..... To wish you a happy May Day! I first heard of this tradition when travelling though Mexico on a boat and a group of likeminded women got together and shared the crafts we knew.  Linda taught us how to weave baskets and my daughters and I wove our first May baskets and left them full of wild flowers on everyones boats.    This time the baskets were crocheted, but I have tried to do this every year. This is supposed to be an anonymous gift, and where I live it is autumn not spring, but I do wish you all a very happy spring day, and a lifetime filled with flowers! "You are as welcome as the flowers in May." - Charles Macklin