Green Thumb

Its Sunday Again,Time Flies

Photos below prattle!!!!!

The shrubs in the last post haven't been transplanted yet,I was sort of hoping that the remainder of Cyclone George would filter down here at least a bit and give the garden a soak of fresh water as the town water is so full of chemical tratments that sustained use will lead to a build up of salts.

This was evident when I set up the drips for the new front yard garden,within a week I could see the white build up around the water outlets.The lawns at school have suffered in the heat and after scratching my head(job on line at end of year,LOL) I came to a similiar conclusion that no matter how much water they were given they didn't improve.The only time they have been really nice was in mild weather and after a reasonable ammount of rain.They do have a build up of matter under thatch that isn't decaying and in the more severe spots Ive scarified and so far a strong regrowth is evident.If the danged roos would leave them alone I couldn't be happier.

I take solice that at least I have some water to play with unlike the eastern states where in a lot of areas, are looking at severe water use restrictions.

Slowly I aim to convert a majority of the gardens to natives that don't need much water after establishment.Bearaucracy is a problem though,and its like in other areas, water is a precious resource but getting to the stage of making a difference is a long road.I could prattle on but at some stage it will either be totally boring or Ill make a mistake of talking out of school!

A garden"Bog out".Ive let the garden get away and so on a cool change last week i was able to get stuck into it and clean up a bit anyway.

Tilly checking out the mice hidy holes that is the neighbours junk pile on other side of fence!

The iris need dividing and I think some will go to school as there are a few spots that annuals are just not hacking it with bugs etc beating me/them. Boring Dk purple but when the new bright colour ones multiply well enough, some will also go there as well.

A nerine is now seen more clearly,they all flowered successfully this year four years after iItransplanted them from the front.

The lawn was mowed after the photo shoot,lol. Note the pool hoses,this is recycled water from the shower and washing machine.The lawns haven't had any sprinker water since just before Xmas when during a hot spell (I snuck some water onto lawns when Hubby was on night shift) I just shift those hoses around to the the spots that need it.

There are some dryer patches but when it does rain it will spark up very quickly(theres too much to mow anyway!!!!)

Unfortunately or fortunately which ever way you see it,my hubby has started the Kambalda Seeder Savers so he is now using paid water to keep his new vegie patch going so all my careful water saving in my gardening efforts will not be noticed in the pocket.At least it keeps him busy. Hes had seeds sent from those also in the SS in the drought areas as they have no water to continue growing plants to save their seed stock. Fearing that they could lose some varieties hes become the seed saver for those people as well. The experts keep telling us that the El' Nino has finished and the other half is starting, well maybe up North but not here.

A bit late but there

Purchases for the weekend!

All natives of course!

This Grevillea is darker than Robyn Gordon but is also a stiffer bush ,I hope to add a couple of RG to colection later,the nursery had too much money on them this week as they were big ones!

And my other fav bushes,the Emu Bushes(Eremophilia),I have another one already planted that is smaller and more bushy with purple flowers the same shape as these ones!These have fine spots in their thoat,the purple one is also gorgeous,will try to get a piccie of it later!

Heres a bit for this Green Thumb Sunday !

This is a gorgeous varigated hibiscus that I was given by my boss the Registrar at school for my devotion to the gardens there.it could be that I had already given her a huge hydrangea for her verandah of the Federation home she has in KalThe leaves are a motterly green and cream with splashes of pink.The flower was a surprise as a lot of flowers are sacrificed when varigated foliage colour is bred into them.The shrub is in a large self watering pot which I haven't used before am nervous that it will get root rot as i can't tell if fits getting enough moisture even if there is water in the base!

It will placed on the front verandah behind latices to protect it from the sun which I was told will diminish the vibrant colour it has at present.I have noticed it is fading propably becasue its recieving morning sun.Im fast running out of space for shade loving plants as I wait for the verandah and the court yard I hope will materialise in the next few months,most stop spending on plants!

Green Thumb Sunday

The usual plant photos with a little something different!

a bit of bushland as seen from above the iron ridges around one side of town!
A bit of wild life...

And a bit of colour...Clivias have put on a fantastic show this year,maybe because I divided them!

Abit more colour,the roses,can never tire of looking these fellas as they were a sad bunch until I shifted them.The new location was suggested by my friend who is now my garden assistant too! I was originally going to put them in a more open position which would have allowed more plants to be planted but here they are thriving and really our work load is big enough!

And another bush scene of the last of Cyclone Isobel ,all dried up now but at least the trees have had a bath!

GTS

The weather has been really weird here,it was very cool this morning and now has warmed up to the point I will off to the pool with the kids later this afternoon!!!
Anyway for today I am featuring some Australian Christmas trees...

The Western Australian Christmas Tree, Nuytsia florbunda, a parasitic tree that is a obligate root hemiparasite that also gained water and nutrients from grasses and plants around it! Sounds very much like a Quandong tree!

The NSW Christmas Tree,Ceratopetalum gummiferrum, a pretty 5m high by 1.5m wide tree that starts with white flowers that are followed by redish pink calyces much in the same fashion as a hop bush.

The Victoria Christmas tree is the Prothanthera lasianthos, a white to mauve flowering shrub to tree , 10m high to 2m wide.

The Queensland version is a gorgeous orchid, Calanthe triplicata,that has 90cm long leaves and showy white flowers held on a 150cm spike.I would to love see it in flower,it sounds gorgeous.

The South Austalian Christmas Tree ,Bursaria spinosa thar is a horny shrub with masses of flowers growing up to 3m high.I wonder if it has a perfume as well!

And there is always the Christmas bells....Blandfordia nobilis, it has 50cm grass like leaves and the flowers are held are also the same height as the leaves.It is a NSW plant flowering mostly in summer.

All photos were taken by Murray Fagg, Denise Greig, and F Humphreys.I found a very good source of native plant information was in Murray Fagg and John Wigleys 'Australian Native Plants'.

The last time I was in the local book shop it was on sale for $50 and I couldn't spare anymore with Christmas shopping nearly done.As this book was around $100 normally,even with heavy hints DH wouldnt get it so I will keep an eye out in the furture!!! I do have an old version but the new one was updated at least from the brief look I had.....

Well I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous and green New Year for all and may it rain often in the drought ravaged areas in the Eastern States of Australia,

Cheers.....

GTS

GTS
A bit late but at least I got it here!!!
Echinecea, a small plant that has finally flowered and is sending a few buds up too.I was thrilled to see it survive the ravages of slugs and even kangaroos climbing into the rock gardens to taste a rare bite!





This is a Zepherantes that was planted at the same time,I prefer the pink ones but I've found them hard to find in the nurseries.These were crammed into the pots so it was a bargain as I was able to split them into three reasonable clumps! I think the odd thunderstorm has helped the flowering alon as they are known as rain flowers!













And these I couldn't resist showing as the colours are gorgeous(guess what my fav garden colour is?) The remnants of the spring flowers are there but they need a spray for mites which i will
be doing this week early and a prune back may get another flower or two!














And a close up for luck...............

GTS

GTS

Plumbago

Simply Summer

Simply Gorgeous

GTS

I have been too busy to add any photos for a while so am putting a little in today!

This is the famous and my favourite Robyn Gordon Grevillea that has just taken off this summer.It was small shrub last year that only grew to a flower then was pruned back but this year even when I take off the flowers it will still be 50cm taller than last year!

A veiw from a distance! I think I will leave some height but somewhere around this as it can cause alergic reactions with some asthmatics with some people so I intend keeping inside the rails! These particular shrubs I intend to plant in my developing front yard after Christmas as they are hardy,pretty and being fairily drought hardy so excellant for this area. These photos by the way are my school photos where I am Head gardener at moment as with all Government red tape I have to apply to keep the position and I find out if I remain as this week some time.

Had to put another one in,isn't the colour gorgeous!Perhaps there should be something to compare the size of flowers but they are are around the length of my hands for those who haven't seen them before!

Here is the rose bed that was in a previous entry,it has proved very successful and these with stood 42' heat and in that position was closer to 45' but i am happy to say they didn't droop too much considering that the roots were quite small and haven't had that much time to grow significantly.At the moment there are heaps of buds that will come out during the Christmas break and I will give them a light trim before schools back to see if I can coach some flowers for the office as there wille a lot of new staff this year coming!

Take a look at the St Barbaras daisy ,the Magic Grow Fert has been applied here too and its thriving!

This is the Angel Face rose and although its not a good one of this particular bush but you can see the flower colour,which I caused some confusion before as I only had a red rose flowering at the time and it seemed I was refering to it as Angel Face.I have been waiting for it to put another one out and as its been hot it was not as full as normal.

I intend to put some of my own garden in next week as I have startd on the front with new plants in a red desert and laid retic,the back yard is green but full of weeds as I have had no time to scratch this last month due to job commitment etc.See you all next Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GTS

I haven't done much in my own yard with work and messy kids,and trying to finish my resume draft.


A firey bottlebrush,in full flower,its a specatular tree,not as prolific in flower as some others but for a reasonablely dull or ugly shade tree,the spring flowers make up for it. I have one in my garden too but I think I may have to wait for a few years to see a flower on it!


This particular Callistemon grows over 4 meters so it would have to be trimmed to size in a smaller yard but on memory this specimim hasn't been trimmed for years except at the base so it has a nice mature shape.Its also fairly slow growing .




Lastly a bush view of our country up away from the salt lakes, in the iron stone ridges, surrounding the town.
The boys are out investigating the local wild life for lizards,the snakes and other animals like dunnarts!

A Green Thumb

This my first entry for this Green thumb day,a quick one at that as I should be working on my Resume!!!!!














This is the best this shrub has flowered since I started work here,I cannot recall the name but it is a native and I will find out its real name (I need to buy more anyway,LOL) I have it,what I thought in the first place but didn't know how it was spelt! Calothunus quadrifidus,isn it pretty!!!!!!!!
Its relatively hardy,but one did die from collar rot so I am careful not to water too much and really its established enough anyway!!!
Cheers ....

My Big Garden!

I took some photos earlier last week and only worked out to get them the SD card so I could transfer them to the computor! I just couldn't be bothered ,work,tired etc to work it out earlier but now I know!
My Big Garden,This is where i work,Kamblada District High School where the Primary and High School has been combined!One big garden of much variation to cater for junior kids through to those who can participate with some garden projects as part of there Out Door Educaion courses

This is one of my favourite places and I believe it has improved a lot in the last twelve months simply with the addition of perannuals that provide ongoing greenery and more flowers than the quick growing and maturing annuals that also cost every year to replace!

Dianthus curtisy of the lead gardener before she went on maturnity leav as they grew like weeeds in her home garden and she transplants a heap here last spring!Nastursiums that reseeded,seaside daisies that are only just becoming mature enough to fill out the borders,with grey plants which avaid my memory for their name but I think are of the gerbera family?It will come to me later.In among these are heaps of annuals ,which this year are pansies at the request of a staff member.I hope to keep this area for fussy things interplanted with some hardy plants so as to provide a heap of colour but reasonably water wise for summer(only during spring need the water with the hardy ones coming into their bit as the heat grows and the annuals die off)

I was and still am really proud of the work done here with my former lead gardener and the two relief ladies who have helped lately to get this patch to the stage it is, at the moment!

Next is the new rose bed that I shifted a couple of months ago before the weather started to warm up.These bushes were in a very shady spot with limited soil in quality as well as quantity.Infact they hardly had any roots on them just a main root that run along the side of the bed!

Among these roses is Angel face which has since started flowering after showing signs of stress and is also shooting more healthy shoots!This is their new home,I will put a photo of the previous site later when the new occupant flower!
The only red in the groupbut I would like to add some more later as there some rearly nice red tones out there now.The lastest one I was looking at was one called Lady Red which is a orangey type,bright but maybe a bit bricky too!

Not sure of this pink rose ,although its a lovely colour it tends to be very weak at the bud stem and droops a bit too much for my liking,I have amemory that it could be a Princess Monacco? or some royal name .A bit of research needed there!

Note the peahay around the bushes ,they are thriving in part to this as they don't dry out too quickly,no spores are thrown up during hand watering and their roots ae cooler or even in temperature.Also a weekly feed of rose food is helping too!

St Barbaras Daisy, a type of gerbera,unless I am corrected,I went looking in a plant search on the internet and discovered this so if it another type I would love to know.It self seeds but the offspring rarely grow further than the second stage leaf and just sit there !I tried putting the seeds into the shade house but the same thing happens,so I shall persevere as maybe the timing was wrong .

I left it where it was mainly as it was a charming location for it ,it was perfectly happy there and a great show in early spring!Also I couldn't plant anothe rose there anyway!!

Well thats it for now,I will add more pictures of developement bits around the school, as its great to see the improvements as they appear and the new plants that are added ( identified at least).