Chrissy what is the secret that Awchid told you as I have a few that have been in pots for years and have never flowered, It has been a souce of my frustration
TEA ROOM # 43
Brian I like a good "Port" too.
I will have a drink with you after tea tonight,
Marleneann.
Chrissy...want to join us?
Move them into more sun in Autumn and feed them up ...I did not use orchid food though just the same fish emulsion spray (watered down a bit) a handful of old cow manure in each pot and a sprinkle of blood and bone (the 100% one).They are up off the ground on racks for good drainage too.
Good luck this worked for me ...never ever had blooms before the last 2 years .
Last year's orchid no 1
Hello, DG Friends in Australia!! I just stumbled on your tea garden thread and have had a delightful time reading your posts! I am in mid-summer in New Hampshire, USA, and I don't know what I've enjoyed more.....your speech patterns and expressions, your lovely, mouthwatering tea cakes or your pretty plants!
Thank you for letting me share your lives for a brief lurk! Stay warm and have a great day! Here's a shot of my garden shed (adult playhouse) where you can find me most days, rain or shine! We've had a very freak summer this year, rainy and cool on most days.
Louise
wow, Chrissy that is beautiful, I will give it a go and I promise not to tell and that way it will still be a secret lol.
Louise great shed, I would spend all my days there as well lol. We love lurkers here in the tea room so please feel free, any time.
Oh by the way Marleneann, my hoya cuttings are doing really well, thanks again.
Hi DonnieBrook ...your name gave me a bit of a start at first ...over here it means a fight ...a punchup ...ha ha ha ...I guess the speech and talk patterns are different to non aussies ...as are some of the lovely things we come across within the international forums ...like y'all have a great day, you know when I first came to dg I had a thread going regarding different sayings and meanings twixt different countries ...we had a darling Scot's lady ...some HW residents and lots of American's all "throwing their two bob's worth in " (means comments). In fact there is a gentlman in beginners who speaks so beautifully I pop in there just to watch that wonderful way he has of talking to you it feels just like you are sitting out on the back porch (we say patio or verandah) in a rocking chair listening to the grandfather in "Old Yella" ...we have that in common then don't we? Loise ^_^
love your "adult playhouse"
thankyou for your kind comments ...come join us anytime mate (friend) by the way that is a lovely place to live from what we see in the movies ...it's pretty good here too.
Hi Shell,thanks,the frogs are so cute.Well enjoy the rest of your day and take care.
Hi Chrissy,thanks,i have a bud on my N.O.L.This will be the first time it blooms and i can't wait.Well enjoy your day as well and take care.
Cody
Im back, I had to show all the cat lovers my little Molly, she is growing up and a very happy little miss she is now, no longer starving and near death, she is now spoilt rotten and greets me everyday when I get home from work by climbing my legs and into my arms for a cuddle, apart from the holes in my skin and the blood (only a little lol) it is a wonderful greeting in the afternoons.
and here is one of her watching tv with me, she likes to be under the blanket as well.
Hi Shell,she is growing and is so cute.Spoiled rotten is not the word for it.hehehe
cute kitty!
her face is so prettily marked.
Louise - just because it says Australian on the forum - don't be fooled there are a few 'tourists' visiting from the States
& some like me from New Zealand.
It is nice to compare what's growing in different regions.
Cheers - Dalfyre
Good morning everyone.
A bit windy here this morning so hopefully it will dry the grass a bit more. I did manage to get a bit more of the garden weeded but it's still gluggy with an inch of soil sticking to ones shoes.
hello Cody, It's lovely waiting for a bud to open, I hope she is a pretty one.
Hello shelly. I love your frogs . I would love them all here but the little darlings would freeze. Cute cat too.
Brian, the ladies are liking the wine, thank you. How is your cactus garden going ? Colleen said she has lost a few in the wet. Mine seem to be coping so far.
Hello Chrissy, That soup sounded nice, I do like a bit of pumpkin soup with toast.
Marleneann, hello . How is your weather ?
Dalfyre. that is a lovely hellebore. They are so pretty at this time of year when the garden is a bit bare.
Hello Donniebrook. It's always great to see a new face in the Tea Room. Please stop in and see us again . You will enjoy the cakes and never put on any weight. You may even be lucky enough to get a glass of wine if the ladies leave any.
Better get moving and be a bit domestic this morning. I see dust on the shelves. Ughh.
Enjoy the day and the Blueberry Muffins.
Jean.
Good morning everyone. It was a beautiful day here yesterday. Real Spring weather. I got a bit more manure spread and a few more weeds pulled out. The stinging nettles just keep growing though. At least they are easy to pull out. I have some more cactus to get planted out and more geraniums. The green loop grubs are sneaking around the angels again. Will have to check them everyday. Gee they make a mess of the leaves. Shelley love the frogs and what a beautiful little kitten. She is so pretty. I love tortoiseshells. Donniebrook, lovely to see you popping in. Love your play house. Show us some of your garden pics. Wonder where Kat is? Maybe the fenceman did lock her up with the turkeys or maybe the turkeys buried her while they were digging her garden up. The lilliums are just poking their heads through again. Hope they're as good as last year. Jean I see dust on my shelves too but it's not raining. be back later. Everyone have a great day whether you're working or playing [gardening]. Colleen
G'day, Mates! (Did I say that right?? LOL) What a lovely welcome from you all!
Shelly - I forgot to tell you the best part about my garden shed, as it is so appropo to this thread. It is called "Cuppatea", because once it was ready for use, I proclaimed to my DH that it was "just my cup of tea!". Now that I've found your tea room, I know I'm a natural, being a tea drinker for sure! I love the shots of your cute Molly! We just lost our sweet little 16-year-old dog named Molly as well. How we miss her! The porch of Cuppatea is so empty without her.
chrissy - My DG name means the same thing here as down under. I'm not much of a fighter, however. It just happened that my son's dog, Donnie, was sitting in the chair with me when I joined DG, and I couldn't think of a "screen name", so I looked at Donnie and said, "OK, I'll be DonnieBrook!"
Dalfyre - Cheers to you as well! I just feel right at home already! Love that pretty hellebore you posted!
77sunset - Thanks for the invitation! Such a nice bunch of folks you are! How wonderful to have calorie-free delights here in your tea room!
ctmorris - nice welcome - thanks! Here's a shot looking up our meadow past our Barbie Pit and patio. I'll look for a couple of garden shots for you.
G'night now, all!
Louise
Oh Louise. That is such a beautiful pic. I felt as though I just walked straight into it. Thank you. You started my day off beautifully. Colleen
That's great, Colleen! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It was taken very early on a misty morning and the mist had not yet lifted off the meadow. It was a magical image to me. So what time is it there??? It's almost 9:00 pm here....time for me to put the teacup down and get my jammies on with a crackling fire in my bedroom fireplace to snuggle in and read my good historical fiction book about Russia in the 30s ("The Red Scarf")....enjoying it so far! Hope you have a good day! Louise
Good morning all, Jean I am sorry I just have to show of, the days are still glorious between 25 and 27 and the nights are only about 16, I love this weather, it can stay like this forever lol, but unfortunately summer is just around the corner.
Colleen maybe the fence man has Kat held hostage some where, and I think she needs a big cat for the turkeys, maybe a lion or tiger lol.
Teresa very pretty flower love the colour, and your from new zealand so you are one of us and our closest neighbours lol, except when it come to the footy and cricket then you are the enemy he he he.
Louise I know how you feel I lost my Sally after 18 years (Border Collie) it just breaks your heart, but it does get better eventually with time.
great pics love the deer out yonder lol. It looks like a magical place to live.
That is the wonderful thing about the tea room, everybody is so nice, I have only been visiting for a couple of months now and everyone is already family, its a lovely place to come and visit and you get calorie free munchies and alcohol that does not put you over the limit, you can drink all you want and still drive, nice.
have a wonderful day all
have to do some work
smile and stay safe
shell
this is the latest addition to my underplanting that seems to be taking forever, I have built a garden inside my garden lol
Back again everyone. I have been out in the SUN. I thought b*** the dust etc inside, i am going outside. I am jumping up and down with joy. I was inspecting my plants in the fern house and found , to my surprise, a huge bud in the big noid bromeliad. It has 2 large pups and I have had it for years without a flower. I will post a photo as soon as it opens. I will also put it on the brom thread for an ID.
Louise, I think I'm going to move over to your yard. It is so pretty and much as I like our native flora. I really love the colors you get there in autumn. How lovely to have deer also .
Shelly , I like your bit of underplanting. It will look great as it all grows.
Dalfyre,I've always thought NZ should be a part of Australia as it's so close. after all we have Tasmania. You would be an Aussie and not have to worry about which sport you followed. Ha ha.
I have just planted 2 new hellebores. A double white and another black. I am doing the bee thing so hope for more seeds later in the year.
Better go and close the green house as it's coming over cloudy . Don't want the babies getting a cold.
This is my latest zygo out.
Enjoy your day. Jean.
Hi Jean,thanks,yea i can't wait now she has three of them on her.This will be her first time blooming.Well enjoy your day and take care.
Cody
Hi all and welcome Louise.
That's good picking Shelly! How did the angry ant go?
Nothing to report in the garden other than my potted grass tree (had it 15 years)
has suffered the ultimate fate at the hands of Budgieman. I should have removed
the base with the June rain. As a consequence it has rotted! Dang it!
Anyway I have a plan!!! Stay tuned.
Have a good night / day / whatever it is.
Cheers
Steve
steve my hubby lugged a dead grass tree home from the tip and I cut the "dead stuff off and sat the pot in a semi shade situation on top of almost pure washed river sand (it was in a pot) ...that was well over about 12/15 years ago and it is still going strong ...it sprouted again and has never looked back ...the roots have gone down through the holes in the pot.
Love your garden Loise ...do the deer eat your garden?
Hi to everyone ...I got this email to a site from my cousin ...in case you didn't ...it's a Christmas site full of recipes, I thought the tea shop may like to have a crack at some of the recipes.
http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/cat0003.html
Off to watch All Saints ...enjoy your evening everyone.
Good morning everyone. Not such a good morning here as we have showers again after a pleasant day yesterday. I still cannot finish the weeding. I'll just have to have patience and wait fro more sun. One thing about the irises though, they are tough and the weeds won't bother them too much. You don't damage the roots even if the weeds are large..
I have my first ranunculus out so it's definitely spring. I did get a bit of tidying up done yesterday. I have a nice Pride of Madeira that was growing quite wide and taking over a path so I moved the path a bit. The Angels are looking like they need a feed so their spring/summer diet of fertilisers will start soon . I was talking about the irises yesterday to hubby and he said they look like they need more room so I am allowed to invade a corner of his paddock. He has his aerials out there and there is miles of copper wire running all over the paddock from them. I can have a large space as long as I don't break the wires. As if I would do that. Hmmmm. The wires are under the ground now as they have been down for years and gradually get covered by soil and grass. If I do happen to put the shovel through one, who would know. Ha ha. The area is on a slight slope so drainage will be good. The only thing I have to check on is whether there is enough direct sun and for that I need the sun to come out. .
Hello Cody. Have a great day . Hope all your geese etc are going okay.
Steve, sad about your grass tree. You will have to get a new baby now. Waiting to hear about the plan ?????
Chrissy, I did the same thing with my tree fern and it is doing great now. Thanks for the recipes.
Shelly , I have a package to send you. A weeks worth of freezing weather. Ha ha.. If I have to be cold , I want to share it. I don't want to be greedy keeping it all down here.
Going to move now , hubby wamts the computer for a while. Man mail with his radio mates.
Have a great day and enjoy the sun if you have it.
I'm leaving you all some Cinnamon Buns.
Jean.
Good morning everyone. Looks like another beautiful day coming up. How are all your gardens going. Chrissy's angels are putting on quite a show aren't they. Mine are all growing slowly but they're still growing. My sister sent me some Lipstick tree cuttings and noticed yesterday that 2 have struck. I have one Pachypodium with 5 new leaves and still waiting to see if the other cuttings from Q are going to take. I get quite a kick when something does start to grow down here. The Epis are covered with new shoots and all the Geranium cuttings are getting ready to flower. The Gladdies from last year are just starting to shoot again. It's a busy time in the garden now isn't it? I have posted a pic of a Myrtillocactus cochal. It's not mine but I think it's beautiful. Everyone have a great day. Be back later. Colleen
Hello everyone!
Another nice day here on the Sunshine Coast.
My Epiphyllum cuttings have rooted so with the warmer weather I expect to see some new leaf growth soon.
Beautiful morning here too even if it was a very cold start ...I can see movement in buds and twigs ...it won't be long!
My bananas have come through winter unscathed ...fantastic!
No Brumansia pods have been lost,
I can see movement in some of the beautiful cordylines from QLD (thanks ann) ...stay tuned!
I see we have some stuff in common besides our love of all things Angelic jean ...I too have to work around hubby's bits and pieces,
luckily we are on acreage ...another acre of iris coming up, I can see your smile from here.
I guess everyone is very busy right now ...isn't it wonderful.
The only thing I am not looking forward to is a possible extended dry spell and high heat ...I have forgotten what drought feels like after 2 years of rain, I hope mother nature does not decide to remind me. Meanwhile I am making the most of these beautiful dry days ...sunshine I can stand in and no mozzies!
I love looking at your seeds and cuttings ...such an exciting time ahead, half the fun is dreaming about it.
Loise your garden is not only beautiful but tidy ...lots of work, but a labour of love I am sure.
cody ...I see you are harvesting your first Brug seeds ...well done, may they turn into beautiful angels for you.
colleen what is a lipstick tree?
Ok so a big wave to everyone not here in the tea room yet ...I think you are all having too much fun outside!
Back later.
Picture is of Brugmansias * Butter Bomb*
and *Glass House Angel* (noid)
To show the different sizes ...BB is the big one.
Hi Jean,yea,they are doing good.Well enjoy your day and take care.
Hi Chrissy,thanks,well enjoy your day and take care.
Cody
This is the seedpods of the Lipstick Tree, Chrissy. I haven't got a proper name or a pic of the flower. Maybe you can tell me what it is? Colleen
This message was edited Aug 5, 2009 4:14 AM
golly colleen ...here it is
http://plant-species.suite101.com/article.cfm/bixa_orellana
very interesting.
Hello Everyone. The morning is fine here so far but we are forecast to have thunderstorms, wind and whatever else is around. It's shopping day so I don't want any of those things. I may come home with a plant again, We'll see whats in the orphan area.
IHello Chrissy, I am waiting patiently for the warm weather and lots of Angel flowers. . I did manage to find a patch of sun to sit in for about half an hour yesterday, then it went elsewhere. Spring really is an exciting time in the garden with all the plants showing off.
I bought 2 nameless plants cheap on eBay the other day so it will be interesting to watch them grow. One I knew was a sanseviera ( mother in laws tongue) but I wasn't sure of the other. It looked like a dwarf sanseviera and I have them over on the succulent thread for some ID. Both cute little things.
Colleen, you or Brian may recognise them if you have a peep on that thread.
Better move because hubby , as usual gets all impatient to get moving .
Have a great day everyone and hello to all those looking in. Sue have a great trip.
Here are some Cream Cakes as an indulgence.
Jean.
Morning everyone. Jean if your new plants are Sansivieria dont water into the top of the plant. They rot. I thought that slugs had been into mine and then someone kindly said dont water into the vase of them. DG certainly has some knowledgable people popping in. I found another Mam longimamma yesterday to replace the one of mine that rotted. I will know this time not to let it get too much rain. Not that we've had much lately. Did you see Brian's Meerkat over on the C&S site? He's a little beauty and I'm sure he'll protect those succulents from those snakes. We are supposed to get 24 degrees today. The boys are going with the school to the Lake for a BBQ lunch. Garden4grace hope you pop back in with some more cacti pics. The name changes are a real pain aren't they? My brothers learnt the names in the early 70's and are having great problem with the changes especially my brother in Adelaide as he was also told the wrong names for a lot of cacti. It's a bit easier for me as I'm just learning about them and the names that I'm given are up-to-date. How long have you been collecting cacti? Louise, have you any more beautiful pics to transport me? Chrissy I dont know how that Lipstick tree will go down here. It might not like it.I might have to make a corner of my yard for tropicals and cover them with a plastic bubble. Everyone have a great day. Be back later. Colleen
Shell, how lovely that you had your Sally for 18 years. That's a long life for a border collie, isn't it? Thanks for your kind thoughts. Time will make it hurt less. My 6-year-old grandson is here with us overnight and he and I went out to water my garden. He remembered that Molly was always in the garden with us, and he said, "Molly was the best dog I ever knew." That was a sweet moment.
Jean - feel free to come on over and enjoy the beautiful fall colors with us! Those cream cakes tasted just heavenly!! Thanks for bringing them to the tea room!!
Steve - thanks for the welcome!! Sure am enjoying reading all of your posts!
Chrissy - This is the first year that the deer have come over the fence and into the garden, so I've had to welcome a couple of scarecrows and I had to weave some neon yellow fence rope at the top to keep them out. Thankfully, I had harvested 9 great heads of broccoli the night before they came in and ate almost the whole plants, leaves and all! So far, so good, since I put the hokey scarecrows up! I found one face down in the green beans one morning, but I think it just fell over from all the rain. Your brugs are just gorgeous!! I have a yellow one in Florida that is a cutting from Thomas Edison's yellow brug. His winter home is just down the boulevard from where we live, and they have a sale one day a year when they sell off cuttings from his plants.
Cody - you have some lovely feathered critters there!!!
Colleen - So you want a pretty picture, huh? I've got just the one. I'll put it in the next post since this is getting to be a long enough post by itself. Love that pretty lavender flower! Is it a daisy of some sort?
Colleen - how's this?? We are having a half-circle driveway put in our front yard. This was taken today.....looks sort of like a world war took place there today!!! I'm working hard on having some vision of how it will look when we tame the edges and plant some grass seed to bring it back to looking like a yard again. LOL Not very pretty yet!!
Chrissy - this is the brug in my back yard in Florida. It was a cutting given to me by a neighbor; it is not the Edison brug. I just love them!
But it will all come back and be pretty once again. Fancy putting scarecrows up for the deer. I thought that they were only for the birds. Is that a varigated Geranium to the right of your pic? I can never remember the name of those daisies, but someone will let us know again. They spread very rapidly but are quite easy to pull up and cut back if you want to. Mine have grown so big because we've not had much rain and I thought that they were better than nothing in the garden. Colleen
Yes, Colleen, it is what is called a "zonal geranium". The leaves are tri-color and the flower is a peach color. This is the first year I've tried them. I just cut off that taller part that you see in the photo and I'm rooting it in water. They look nice with coleus that are sun tolerant.
Are your daisies in the osteospermum family? I have some yellow with blue centers and some white with dark purple centers. Pretty!
Yes that's the name, Louise. .RE rooting the geranium in water. I wouldn't do that. It will rot. Just put it into some damp free-draining soil and it should take off. They dont like to be covered with a plastic bag either. Colleen
Hi Louise,thanks,we are trying to sell some of the other ducks and the geese.They are getting abit to messy.I enjoy the photos you post.Well enjoy the rest of your night and take care.
Cody
