TEA ROOM # 48

Good morning everyone. I was getting wet walking all the way in the rain so here we are moved back to where the sun is shining.
We are in for more of this cold wet weather so if anyone needs rain, come down with your buckets. We ended up with around 40 points of rain yesterday. I see more weeds coming up, just when I thought I had them beat.
I have a new lot of cuttings to pot up today so will have to get out in the greenhouse to work. I am thinking of making another greenhouse next year. Maybe a more solid one from Alsinite sheets which will not wear out like the plastic. It will be fairly easy to build, just a wood frame and attach the alsinite. It would be a nice winter home for some orchids and also seedlings. I'll have to think on it and save money as Alsinite is not cheap. I will use a large sheet of commercial plastic to pull over the existing greenhouses as their cheap plastic wears away. They only need to be rainproof so that will do the job. Just a matter of sliding the new in under the shadcloth I use of the top of the greenhouses. Better go over and put up a signpost so everyone else can find us.
Enjoy the day. Jean.

Good morning everyone. Cool and wet here too Jean. We haven't had a lot of rain but what we've had has been lovely. The wind hasn't been too good though. If the wind went away it would be perfect. I noticed that the weeds that I sprayed last week are finally succumbing. I got a great lot of cactus yesterday. I still have another source to check out as well. There's people around here that you don't know they've got cactus until someone tells you and boy do you get a surprise when they take you for a tour. Put some pics up in the C/S site if anyone is interested. Have to get the boys ready so will be back for a cuppa. Colleen

Hello, Everyone! Glad I found you on this new thread! No time to chat at the moment - just wanted to pop in and say hello! We are packing up and negotiating over what will go and where it will fit in the car....Harmony has been regained temporarily...until we get to Round Two of the negotiations. I am primarily the culprit....3 tubs of plants.....so I have no right to put my foot down at all! I'll check back in after we arrive in Florida! Stay well and happy all!
Louise

Good morning all, I am back, it is nice to go away, but it is even nicer to be back home, I had a wonderful couple of days, I went to this wonderful Turkish restaurant on Friday night call Effes One, had the banquet, it was wonderful, food was delicious, staff was exceptional and they had a lovely bellydancer as entertainment, stayed for hours and had the nicest evening. Shopped till I dropped on Saturday, and then went to a party on Saturday night and drank to much oh well it matters not, at least I did not get a hangover on Sunday, Went to Cleveland and Southbank markets on Sunday, and bought lots of stuff that I probably did not need lol. Everywhere I went I took a few cuttings, and spent last night potting them all, I hope I get most of them to take, I have no idea what most of them are, if the plant jumped out at me I basically decided I needed a piece of it :-)
Monday went to the Valley to have a look as I have not been there since I was 16, I was blown away, it is very upmarket now, I think I was lucky to recognise about 2 buildings from my youth.
I had a wonderful weekend, but now it is out of my system I am very happy to stay home for a long time, it was very busy and everyone is in a massive rush all the time, the city is just to big for me now. I went and had a look at Paddington (where I grew up) and it has probably changed more than any where else I went, very upmarket now, not the dregs of society it was when I was a kid lol.
I have just caught up on all the posts I missed while I was away, and as per usual everyone has been busy busy busy.
Louise enjoy Florida, Chrissy welcome back, Kat can't wait to see photos, Jean I am sure you will get nice weather soon and I am sure hubby is happy your plants are moving outside lol, Marleneanne would love to see pic of the hoya, Teresa has that lovely flower opened as yet, Steve I to have just the place for your table so Jean I think we should toss for it heads its mine lol, Colleen glad to hear school is back and you can have some time to catch up, Bryan I don't need any wine this week I am on the wagon till I get over the weekend lol.
To everyone have a wonderful day
and will pop in later if time permits
Shell

Afternoon to all,
Gee the wind is so strong here it is near impossible to to go out side ,
I have a lot of plants waiting to be repotted cannot buy more till I clear this lot .
Better move on, only here while some adhesive is drying . have a great day .------------Elaine.

we had 33C yesterday, and then 13C this morning. Its hot again, dry, windy and dusty as. I don't have much inclination to go outside at all. I'll head out later this arvie if the wind dies down a bit, just to water a couple of areas as I do most nights. What is it with the weather these days?
Glad you enjoyed your trip Shelly
Drive carefull Louise
Jean, we hd a newbie called 'Jungle Girl' enquiring about vendors of named Epis, over in the brom thread, so i told her you were our expert. I don't know if shes found her way around yet, but heres the heads up.
Hello Elaine, what projects are you building at the moment? Have you finished all the mosaicing of the pots?
I haven't even begun with xmas, and it'll soon be on top of us, quicker than we think!
Sue

Elaine that is an awful lot of repotting there, you will be busy for quite some time :-)
Sue I have not even thought about christmas either, I will contemplate it in a month or 2 lol.

Hi Sue,
Still doing pots but to-day Iam working on a totem pole still a lot to do on it a section on the top to do when its finished it will have a light on top .
This is how it is looking .
Shelly ,
The weather is stopping the repotting it seems when I have a free day the wind comes to visit .

---------Elaine

Elaine it looks great, make sure you show it off when you have finished :-)
Marleneanne I don't think Brian's wife will mind if you move in lol.

This message was edited Oct 14, 2009 4:33 AM

Awe wayne where did you go ...maybe the same place I did ...off air all day! sigh!
Can you believe this wind? and the cold.
Checking in with everyone tomorrow because this thing only came back at 10.30 tonight ...power problems, even the foxtel cable blew out,crazy crazy things happening because of the winds.
elaine (sammut) love your "projects" great to see them again ...you sure are going to be busy.
Talk (hopefully) tomorrow!

it is a lovely sunny morning, I am gazing out the window at my peony but the flowers are still just buds, they like to tease!
I realise as I look at the flowers there is a red white & blue theme going on...
which is nice as those were our wedding colours.
We had a 1940's theme & were married at the old Wigram base chapel.
No longer Air force but privately owned, the reception was in the former Officer's Mess.
My hubby is mad keen on aviation & in particular loves WWII aircraft.
He was delighted when I suggested June 6 as our date - he will never forget the anniversary of the D Day landings.
Ditto for my birthday, I very conveniently was born on Battle of Britain day ^_^

Good morning everyone. I am watching the rain through the window. It's shopping day and very cold and windy. I will be looking for any orphans whether it's raining or not. Someone upstairs must have thought we never had enough winter and sent more. I can hear the weeds growing again.
Hello Louise. Glad you found us. I hope your move goes well . I could not move without all my plants. I would miss seeing what they were doing. But then in your snowy winter, the plants aren't doing anything anyway. Have a nice move and we look forward to seeing your Florida garden.
Hello Colleen. More cacti ? I think you may have a tiny addiction there. You will need to be very careful walking around soon as they all grow. Listen to me talking. I can hardly get in the epi house.
Shelly, you sound like you really enjoyed your time away. The good thing was coming home with lots of pieces.
Elaine, you are going to be potting madly for a while. I like your totem plole. Love to see it when you finish.
Wayne, that was a very short chat. Did you fall off the chair ?
Chrissy, you are having a lot of things happen at once there. Never mind, things can only get better. We will see lots of your lovely pics soon.
Dalfyre, your wedding sounds like it was very nice. My first was a pretty ordinary one but the second here was in a small country church with only the 2 witnesses Father John put on his full regalia for us. It was lovely. The church with its beautiful stained glass windows ,stands way out in a paddock with a few trees and a view across the valley . Sadly it is hardly ever used. A leftover from the pioneer days when more people lived around.
Better rush off to the kitchen to see what you can all eat then off to shopping. The sun has just come out. I hope it stays around even though the wind is cold. Have a lovely day all.
Red Velvet Cake.
Jean.

A very good morning to all at last NO wind I have finished the totem light OO no I can hear its starting again seems the wind is back a ring on the flag rope hits the pole cling - cling have to take the flag down and tape the ring again .

Hope to repot most of the day so better start take care and enjoy your day .--------Elaine.

Goodbye, Sue, Elaine and everyone! We'll try to stay safe among all those tractor-trailers!! Many, many plants are going with us. :)

Safe journey to florida ...give us a Coooo-eeee when you arrive.
hi everyone how are you all coping ...this is the coldest spring i can ever remember (I am not complaining ...well not too much because the heat kills me) but that wind ...our wind comes straight off the Blue Mountains and the chill factor whew!
brian look what was in my letter box a couple of days ago ...my sister in law must have been passing while I was out and look what she left ...she knows I love unusual herbs and veggies ...I hadn't talked to her about it ...she just thought I would like to know about it!
my cutting is doing very well thanks very much ^_^
elaine (sammut) you go girl ...great to see you back in action.
now you control yourself there jean ...there is only one of you and you already have hundreds of orphans *giggling* of course we wouldn't do anything like that now would we?
ooh there is hubby wanting me ...back later

This message was edited Oct 15, 2009 1:07 PM

Good afternoon to all, Chrissy sorry no coping needed except maybe for the heat, we have not had a cool day or night for that matter for months, I think winter decided to give us a miss this year, which of course I don't mind :-)
Louise, safe journey, and please post the Florida connection photos we would all love to see your garden there.
Elaine great work, is the light solar.
Jean I was forced to google that red cake, I have never seen anything like it, it even has a history lol, and it has cocoa in it, I am going to be forced to attempt to make one, if it turns out badly as my cooking skills are not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, I think I will have to blame you for my failure :-))))))))) (well I will have to blame someone lol )
Teresa that is a pain, as I to am waiting for your peony to open, it is nice to have a wedding anniversary that hubby can not forget lol.
Chrissy I see you have figured out how to post your photos, well done, one step at a time with these fickle cows of machines lol.
I have to go and do some work have a wonderful evening all
Shell

ha ha ha it only took hours ...they go into Office and I have to downsize them and then email them to myself then save to my pictures, office keeps going crook at me because Iam filling up the something board ...and I yell back *giggle* ...I will be getting another computer, this is driving me nuts and chewing up hours, but it was such a relief to get back in so to speak. I have a numb bottom from sitting here wayyyyy tooo long today but I was thrilled to find I could get around the beastie.
^_^

Back home again everyone. I came home with NOT ONE plant. oohhhhhh sob sob. Nothing was there.
I did get a nice parcel in the mail though. I was lucky to buy from a lovely lady on OZtion. I now have 3 more broms and 2 epis. The epis were very very cheap and I did have a small space on the bench, Ha ha.
The broms were extra cheap and a very good size. I now have B. blanchetiana with beautiful color and flower plus 2 pups attached. B. compacta and B. "Mary Brett" It rained most of the day but was not as cold as I thought it would be. Next week is the trash & treasure at Hamilton which is always good for plants.
Next month is the local show here, so as usual I will be taking my trailer of plants to sell. I need another load of potting mix from Mt Gambier so have to make enough for that and the petrol to get there.
Shelly, if you are looking for your winter, it is down here. I will send it back ,express.
Chrissy, you clever thing , getting your pics back on. You will be right once the new computer gets there. We buy everything from Harvey Norman as the prices are competitive and the service is great. I have a very nice tech there that I annoy when I go to town with all my questions.
I saw someone mention VSO as resizer for photos. I used to have a good resizer but it wasn't compatable with Vista so I found the VSO one. It is easy and does a good job and best of all , it's free.
Love the totem Elaine.
Happy trip Louise. See you when you arrive and get settled in.
This is my first pacific coast iris.
Jean.

G'Day Chrissy just read your posting and must tell you that Coleus amboinicus and Plectranthus emboinicus are one and the same.plant. When I smell a leaf of that I first get Thyme but then a whole heap of smells (all good) and I finish up with Chook stuffing and then I get hungry.
Going by the name of that other Coleus I wouldn't like that in my stuffing.
Brian

Yes that's right, a lot of names ...funny before you bought the subject up ...I hadn't seen anything about it or somehow missed it I do love using my herbs so ...it's fantastic!
I think some Indian recipes (I have indian in laws too) use that other one but I wouldn't be game.
Ann was kind enough to share a plant called "sweet leaf" to me, as soon as it's grown enough I will share cuttings ...it's a high protein leaf and is said to be very tasty and nourishing ...
oh poor jean no orphans never mind, I am getting some stuff off to you monday ...while my puter was down I couldn't remember what ones to send ...found it now. So smile ...enjoy your evening everyone!

my iris is showing purple or or dark blue at the tip of the bud... I am so happy to see it isn't the muddy brown one that was there already.
There was a bed of iris here out the back when I moved in but the dogs dug them up...
I moved one & it turned out to be pure white & just lovely.
Sadly I lost it when the landscaping was done.
It was dormant & was bulldozed with all the weeds {sigh}.

Good morning all. the morning is fine so far and I hope to get a lot of potting done today. One good thing about greenhouses, they are a good place to escape to if it rains. One can still go potty in therm. I have a dozen new rooted cuttings of chrysanthemums. . I am hoping some are the large round whites. I have 20 in large pots and they do make a wonderful show. I will be potting up some of my own rooted bits later for sale at the show. I also have all the rest of the baby angels to put outside.
I am hoping to make a start on getting the new iris beds dug. That will be a long job but hopefully will get finished while the ground is soft. I have more flowers on my Pacific coast iris too. They are very pretty things.
I was looking at tree peonies yesterday in the shop. I have watched them as the buds grew over a few weeks and yesterday they were open. Gorgeous. The lady said they are easier to grow than the smaller peonies I have so it looks like my peonies will go and be replaced by some new tree ones.
I give up on some of these plants. They have minds of their own. I think I will get rid of the peony roots altogether. Its no use moving them as there is nowhere they can go. I thought they would be very happy where they are as they have been there for 4 years. Must be friends of my cymbids, having the same attitude towards flowering for me. Going to the trash & treasure on Sunday so may find something nice.
There is always a very nice iris seller there. I may just see one or two I don't have. Ha ha.
Going out to check on flowers now. The first epi is nearly open.
Have a great weekend everyone. hello to all.
Chocolate hazelnut Biscotti for you all.
Jean.

Good morning ...brrrrr
I wonder if it will be a cooler summer ...the last two were cool and wet.
I have been putting it off but time is running out ...I am off to make a built up no dig garden for my summer greens. In the ever present wind it won't be a pleasant experience ...mind boggles at the manure and blood and bone blowing about while I do it.
So that's the weekend project besides potting etc ...enjoy your morning everyone!

G'Day
Chrissy check out DEll they have a decent desk top computer for $799 you can pay more and get even better machines but this looks OK for your needs. I had a laugh when I saw this brochure. Amongst other things this unit comes with a 320GB hard drive, my first PC had the biggest HDD then available 1.5 GB. How fast the IT world changes we poor old folks can't keep up a lot of the time.
Brian

hi brian yes I think it's funny too I remember in the beginning ...the puters were a minimum of 3000.00 ...clunky and difficult (as told to me anyway.)
Too darned windy to work out there dreadful!

Good afternoon all, another perfect day in paradise, Jean I don't actually need you to send me winter express this I can happily live without lol, but some rain would be nice, it has now been 157 days without it, my excess water bill this year is going to be painful :-(
I have my daughters birthday dinner tomorrow night, she will be 29 on tuesday, I have no idea where all the years have gone, I seem to have blinked and they all grew up, sorry I got a little nostalgic there for a minute, I will snap out of it now lol.
Brian I feel the need for a little wine, I have had a not great couple of days back at work, and boy am I glad it is Friday afternoon.
Jean no Orphans, I find this very sad that you could find not a single plant to give a good home to, maybe next week.
I had better go and do some work, I have been flat out this week, and only 1 hour to go to try and get finished.
Have a wonderful weekend all
Smile and stay safe
Shell

G'Day Shelly, The wine has lasted pretty well this time. Probably because you were away. Another couple that I know nothing about they are here for assessment, see what you think.
A white "Boal" & red "Carmenere". I don't know about up your way but it has been so cold here we need that demijohn topped up with Port, this lot made from "Touriga" I do know this and it is one of the best Ports you can get, at least I think so. See if you can find some in the bottle shop to try.
Brian

Good morning all. It's saturday again. I wish I knew where the days are going. Is this an oldie thing? It seems only a while ago we were starting a new year , now here we are nearly at the end of it. I will be getting my Christmas hampers delivered next month. That really brings it home that the year has disappeared.
I must tell you all the good news. Yesterday I became a great grannie. My granddaughter had her dear little girl and named her Ella Rose. I hope to have a photo soon. Mum and bub are both well. She was a large baby apparently. My daughter wasn't allowed in as she has been ill and the hospital didn't want germs near the bubs, so I have to wait for more news.
Hello Chrissy, are you still being blown around there ? I hate wind. Luckily ours seems to have eased ever so slightly over the last week or so. It's still raining . Mostly showers with a few sunny breaks between.
Shelly, I am disappointed that you don't want my winter weather. I thought that was a good way to get rid of it. Don't worry , there will be lots of plants coming home tomorrow. It's the trash & treasure over in Hamilton. We go every year and I usually fill the car with asstd plants. Hubby says I only take him along to run all the plants back to the car as I buy them.
Brian, don't put too much wine in the Tea Room as Shelly will never get out for work again.
Hello everyone else. Louise, Sue, Dalfyre, Colleen.
I bet Steve is out there hiding that table from us . What is the next project going to be. Some chairs to go with the table, Steve.
I managed to get a lot done yesterday between showers. I can sit in the greenhouse and work anyway. I potted out 30 little rooted cuttings of my fuchsias, plus a dozen or so chrysanthemums. I still have about 20 baby angels to pot on and move out to the greenhouse.
Better go and make a start on todays lot and check for flowers on the irises.
Have a great weekend and enjoy these assorted Cream Cakes ( with extra cream , Brian ).
Jean.

Happy Saturday, everyone! Sorry to hear that you are all freezing your little ----! It is quite pleasant here, even though we have had howling winds and more topsoil delivered! Today seems clear and fine..I think the last of the dust has been dumped out at sea.
I have had quite a few epies flowering and am hoping for more.:) Some were really just cuttings. Some were far more that I expected from the names. I am quite sure that once the world turns a bit more and more sun gets to you, Jean, that your display will keep us going 'ooh and ahh all summer'! For a start, you don't have any turkeys! I hardly remember what life was like preturkey! They just never give up. I swear that they have worked out how to undo twist wire and those plastic ties that lock in place. Tthey ate my bag of blood and bone in the laundry..or, rather, scattered and then ate..opened bags of potting mix..I have so many empty pots..there is a continual cycle of destruction. I just keep buying more wire and more wire baskets. The back really does look like a junk yard now...anyway, who can grizzle in Paradise? I am sure there is a reason they exist.the turkeys, that is! Just haven't found it! Ever seen one as road kill anyone? No, neither have I!!!!
We still have watering restrictions and it looks like we are back in drought or getting there so I guess we won't be getting more hosing time! At least two 30 min times is better than what we had..none.I have the washing machine emptying near the bananas as they like a bit of moisture. Does anyone else grow bananas and what type? Anyone grown a Pawlownia? I ordered some seeds and as it is a fast growing tree, thought it could replace some of the mature trees that fenceman destroyed. Nothing seems to grow over there now. I don't know whther he has used some TreeKill or whether it is the agpipe under the fence draining the moisture away but things seem to struggle then cark it..and as he always seems to be on patrol, I don't like gardening there now. There was quite a bit of bougainvillea and that has "gone" so I suspect it has been poisoned in case it gets near the fence. I do prefer the turkeys.
I have some bamboo I am growing but so far have it in big watersaver pots as I think it needs a lot of moisture too. I thought it might hold the soil together from turkeys and subsequent rain erosion.
Anyway, even though I don't get time to post everyday, i do lurk and read. Glad you are back on the air, Chrissy. Ciao, Kat

Hi everyone well it's Saturday and I am about to call my brother for our 2 hour chat ...he lives alone and so looks forward to our weekly chats, he is soon to have an operation to relieve pressure on his optic nerve , they found a benign tumour. So with a bit of luck he may regain some sight. Anyway this is why we chat weekly or more often if required.
Yes kat I grow bananas and have three bunches to pick soon.
Back after my phone call, meanwhile you all have a nice saturday ...cold but sunny here and so far no wind ...whew!

G'Day Katciao, If the bamboos you refer to are just the ordinary old common one. they survive here without extra water and you would never plant them in your garden they would just choke everything else out. They are used as windbreaks but not as much as they used to be because of the spreading menace.
Brian

Good morning all ,
Had a good morning got 2 great cement pots at $7 each and mark down flamingo flower plants for $6 and a untaged shrub for $6 so I was happy to pay full price geranium and 2 flowers to go in preety pots and solar lights and tiles ----------Elaine

I always know I start Christmas decorating in side early I just looked out the window the house 2 from mine has started his out side Christmas decorations .-----------Elaine.

hello, what a TOP day! Hubby and I whippered, mowed, raked, pruned and watered! Everything is looking great, despite being a little dry! In between all that, I got the house vacuumed and mopped! What a day! Hubby is now snoring on the lounge at 7.45pm! I think i tired him out.
Hi Kat, your fenceman sounds really irksome! I don't think i could be so tolerant as you! My neighbours know not to get on my wrong side, and I don't have to do much to show them why. I guess I am very quick to 'react' he he.
Chrissy, sorry to hear of your brothers troubles. I hope all goes well for him, and that you've enjoyed the 2 hour phonecall! My bottom would start to go numb if i sat for that long, also my ears.
Brian, I have that bamboo with the golden stems, the running one. I have it in a ceramic pot and use it as an indoor plant. It does quite well, and I just give it a shake when I vacuum, to help all the dead,dry leaves fall.
Elaine, your pots look fantastic, and well done on your bargains of the day. I started to think about xmas decos, as I am checking fairy lights for an elderly customer, and had to remove my rope light from the gum, because it grew and expanded and popped the connections! I don't know that i feel like doing the whole garden this year, but may do the front veranda instead.
Jean, we've had a lot of wind too, and lovely cool nights, which is great sleeping weather. After the big clean up today, I hope the wind dies down for a bit so i can see the yard looking nice for another couple of days.
Tomorrow I am doing some more cleaning up in the garden while hubby watches the bike races with a mate. I guess I'll have no interruptions!
Happy sunday gardening all
Sue
the vege garden

Good morning all. Running in to put cakes out then running out . Trash & treasure day and I like to be early for any bargains.
Have a cuppa and some Carrot Cake. Sue, sounds like you need it. Chrissy, hope your brother does well with his problems. Elaine, you have been busy again too.
See you all later, when hopefully I arrive home with a carload of goodies.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. Hope everyone is well and enjoying their garden. The cactus are coming into flower now. The Brugs are starting to grow now with a bit of warmer weather. The one I put in the ground is doing best of all but some sort of bug keeps biting holes in the leaves. I think that I'll have to resort to poison. 1 week to go until I go on my holiday and then 1 more week before my shadehouse is done. Whoohoo. Can't wait. Will put up a pic of some cactus flowers, [not mine] Will call back later for another cuppa and see what Jean has picked up at the markets. Colleen

Have a look at this colleen ...I have to go inspect the angels twice a day after the winds it seems to blow the 28 spotted ladybird in ...these little stinkers do almost all of the damage at the moment, a lot of people thibk they are cute but they will munch your brugs and other things too very quickly ...whats worse is they breed like mad, so get out and have a look ...don't forget under the leaves and look into the new growth were they hide.
oops good morning everyone! cool but not cold here a bit of a sprinkle starting up.

Your garden looks just beautiful sue ...look at all that empty space ...it gives me itchy fingers. If only I could restrain myself too.
kat paulownia ...warning! gosh a few places around here have them but you really need a LOT of room ...the leaves can reach the size of a newspaper and the trees reach way up over your home in 4 years.
Beautiful trees in the right place but one home just could no longer be seen from the front due to that tree in front.
elaine just love your energy, love your work.
Now jean, restrain yourself ...you will need a lot of room for your angels.
brian I love my beautiful windbreaker black bamboo ...in the ground but managable with round up every spring on any unwanted shoots ...just cut and pour roundup into the hollowish centre ...I upend a cup over it so it can't harm any wild life or get washed away, it works a treat.
shell I am with you on memories ...aren't we lucky we have them though!
A big wave to you all ...have a beaut sunday!

Yes Chrissy I did find one of them yesterday and wondered whether it was them making the holes. I have been looking and looking for whatever it was but couldn't find anything. I didn't look right down in the new growth though. Will do so right now. Colleen