Africanaussie

As you know a while back I decided to remove the remaining grass and create a new garden bed and path.  I didnt want it to stand out as separate , but the path was to provide access, so I mulched it the same as the garden bed.  Right now it is spring and the scrub hens are looking for places to lay their eggs.  They dont sit on their eggs - they gather together a huge pile of leaves and then the eggs are laid in the warm composting mulch.  Somehow a silly scrub hen thinks she can gather together enough loose mulch in my garden to build her nest.  I hung a very colourful kite above this area to warn her away. Once this lavender takes off and forms a little hedge and the hippeastrum behind put out their georgous flowers, there will be a defined edge to this new path.  Update:  Hubby found her digging right underneath the kite!  I think once they get used to something it becomes part of the garden as it did seem to be working for a  while.

The little section which I think of as my fan palm forest is coming along nicely.   I wanted to be able to look out and not see any fence.  I also wanted to look up and see the sun shining through the beautiful shapes of the fan palm leaves.  One of the most beautiful tropical sights in my book. I also have a fluted fan palm.  They both seem to have shot up this last year. I purchased this plant at one of the orchid shows, and it has multiplied and I need to reduce it in size once more. The foliage is so interesting. It does get some yellow flowers right at the base, but the interest is in the leaves. Of course my favourite bit of colour at the moment is the lady slipper orchid - sorry if you are getting tired of seeing this from every angle.....  the sunbirds are always flocking around sipping nectar from these flowers and often get a bit rough and I find these little flowers scattered like confettiti under the tree. The vine is climbing up this weeping tea

One of the suggestions landscapers have is to provide plenty of places to sit and admire the garden or have a rest.  Sometimes I think I may have overdone this feature since my garden is tiny.  This canvas chair is very comfy, and a marvellous place to settle into with the paper.  Having a few random hibiscus blooms on my shoulder is an added benefit. On my list of things to do one day is to sand it down and varnish to match these two chairs which  are on the other side of the front verandah.  Just in case you need a rest, within three feet is another place to relax, and wow do we make use of this swing.  Evening cockail hour with the hubby, place to assess the garden and plan more projects.  Place to just sit and admire what  georgous space we have created out the side. This swing has moved around the garden but is now back where it orginally started out, providing a long view all the way to the back corner of the house.  It is also sturdy enough for both of us and the two gra

A while back I joined up with  betty-thewoodfairy  for a swap and my package arrived in the mail on Friday. I feel very spoilt - there were lots of little bits and bobs, a gardening apronand garden twine, a coaster with some earl grey tea.  Lavendar cream, and a lovely tea towel with all the counties labelled - that will be useful when I am looking to see where different bloggers live.   thank you so much to my swap partner!   Dosie Rosie   who lives in the UK.   She has been having computer trouble so hopefully she is soon up and running again.

A while back I made room in my little bromeliad bed for the strelitzia, and after languising for about four years, it seemed to like its new spot.  Alongside was the only little patch of lawn I had kept.  My little ceramic sheep were not doing a good job of keeping the lawn cropped, and then when hubby put a play pool for the grandkids on the lawn I knew I had to reclaim that space for my own!  No blue pastic pools in MY garden! The only thing to do was to let the water flow out of the pool all over the grassy area.  That made it easier to dig, but my gosh, was it messy.  Instead of showing you the mess, I just have a few photos of some prettiness.  Rex begonia flowers.  Rex begonia leaves. Is anyone else having problems that blogger is turning their photos sideways, and then they are impossible to turn back again?   grrr.  I am posting this anyway in the hopes that when they are posted they will once again be the right way up. the area is not quite so muddy anymore, and

I had a break last month since I was overseas visiting my brand new grandson in America.  My poor hubby was battling bandicoots and scrub hens while I was away, but I returned with renewed vigour and enthusiasm for my little veggie patch. A reader asked what bandicoots are - they are like a huge rat that burrow into the garden looking for grubs. I have been going through each bed, weeding, mulching and even planting so I hope the wet season takes its time coming this year, allowing a bit more prime veggie growing time. The first two beds were weeded and cleared immediately I returned.  Last time I posted I talked about purchasing a dwarf avocado, and on my return I found a grafted avocado at the markets.  It is flowering and has been planted in  the hole that used to be the in bucket worm farm so I imagine that soil must be pretty good.  That was a pretty good reason to get out there in the garden. I have been given conflicting advice, some say these flowers will fall off, bu