Flowering in October 2011

I didn't note it down, but shortly after I told everyone I had to cut stuff down ...maybe 4/5 weeks ago, to be honest I never thought it would come to anything so I didn't bother to note it down. the cuttings only have a tiny root coming out here and there almost like the nubs on the brugs, so I think it won't be too hard to gently sit them into the sand and gently cover the little root with a slow trickle of sand then sit the cup into a little water to water it (misting the tiny leaves) once the sand is moist I will leave them for a week. I may try one with a plastic bottle cut off and inverted over it as well.

I thought it seemed to have happened quickly, so it's a good result in the short period of time it's taken too.
Keeping the humidity high in the initial phase sounds like a good plan ...

Gosh I've been away such a long time, have been able to pop in and read in between but been ever so busy. My husband sold his business and we have been trying to wrap things up for about 2 months still lots to do but can see light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. We have also been doing up the house to place on the holiday market rental on the Island so have had to update the pool and some of the interior of the house ,throw lots of unwanted and unused items away and just generally declutter after 10 years of living here. Such a big, big job.

My plants have been going crazy here, they look so tropical and lush considering we haven't had rain since1st June. We had 2 drops tonight, more rain predicted for next week but we'll see.

Below is my Hedychium Longicornutum which is an Epiphytic Ginger.It has about 8 of these flowers which I have in a hanging basket.

Hey Dianne how are your Cannas going? Here is my Yellow King Humbert...look at the burgundy stripes on the leaves.

I'll go out tomorrow and take some more of my flowering cannas,unfortunately some were taken by the wallabies, rhizomes and all, they managed one night to get into one of my enclosures and eat the lot, poor b*** are starving no rain for about 4 months

The bearded irises are all starting to open now. This is a new one for me. Snowbrook.
So delicate looking , but quite lovely with just the thin blue edge.
With all the extra bugs around this year, my iris flowers are being nibbled, which has not happened before.
Jean.

Missed your lovely flowers, Mya.......is that gorgeous Ginger scented, I imagine that it would be, how spectacular......
I was hoping that you wouldn't ask about my Cannas, the best of them is only 6ins high..The grower said that maybe I should buy from a Victorian supplier, I think that he was right......so disappointing.
Sorry that you have had probs too.
I am glad that your Yellow King Humbert is as beautiful as it was in the catalogues....I will look forward to your pics........
Remember the Browallia that you were looking for...they are in nurseries here now...
Are you moving from the island?

Snowbrook is beautiful, Jean...I love the blue and white combos...

Mya ^_^ wonderful to see you here again ...where are you moving to ?

We too will be moving in about two years to our final Garden ...er I mean home, too much for us here.
Will you be moving to the Mainland?...I hope it all goes well for you. Sorry the munchers are still eating your precious plants ...hopefully you won't have them in your next garden.
Loving the Ginger it's quite spectacular ! you would laugh at our temps here.
Dark skies ...cool and wet.
Again.

Brugmansia Arborea

Anyone seen NZ yams grow ? they look just like clover

Top left of the pic sorry it is so dark out there is the other purple bottle brush, it's over 15ft tall, those blooms you see are way above the 6ft fence beneath. (my jungle triffids)

Mya, having so many of your plants growing in hanging baskets will make it much easier to take them with you when you move. Are you staying in the tropics?

I've never seen those yams before, Chrissy; very interesting.

I just had to have a go even though they are really a cool climate grower ...the leaves are edible too though I really don't care to chop leaves off the tubers. I just was really fascinated with the clover type leaves. They die down in the warm weather and you harvest the yams then. The tumeric is sulking in the cold, they may rot if it does not heat up soon. Oh well we can't have everything we want can we?

Oh yes, that would be the substitute for sweet potato for those in cooler climates who can't grow the Ipomoea (which also dies back in winter here in my garden, and comes back each year despite complete neglect. Apparently its leaves are edible too, eg in stirfry). I did have turmeric but it was in too dry and hot a spot, and I'm not inclined to grow it again (but in a different spot) as I already am struggling with my galangal, which is spreading each year. It has just been cut back and this really doesn't give you an idea of how much space it occupies when those tall stalks regrow (to 6 feet). It's such a big job trying to dig those rhizomes out though that I keep putting it off!

This message was edited Oct 15, 2011 12:08 PM

wow it looks pretty excited ...do you use it in cooking ? I haven't tried it , is it stronger than the edible ginger ?
Guess what we have some sun (don't know for how long ) yay !!!!
Your overnights must be warmer there than here or is it the clay I wonder. I have my tumeric contained (wishful thinking probably)

Here it is when it was in flower in November in a previous year. It tastes more pungent than ginger, stronger. It is also used for medicinal purposes (to give vitality/energy; ginger is supposed to have a calmative rather than energising effect. Mind you, I haven't noticed any burst of energy after eating galangal.). But the soil is so hard here that the only time I've used it is when I've run out of shop-bought ginger. Even then, I've only been able to dig out maybe a cm or two of the rhizome and have ended up using the bottom of the stalk (usually to flavour soup rather than to grate it and eat it as I would with the actual rhizome). The bed is surrounded by plants (some pots were moved away before the pruning began, so it's normally more crowded than shown in that photo), including brug seedlings, which makes the attempted digging so much harder. The flowers are aromatic rather than perfumed, and I like the smell but it wouldn't be to everybody's liking. (Oddly, I do find their smell invigorating.)
I've also grown ginger from supermarket-bought rhizomes but couldn't be bothered watering it (it was during the drought) to keep growing it.

This message was edited Oct 15, 2011 2:40 PM

Here it is, just before it was pruned. Some of the stems were singed by the winter frost.
They need to be cut to ground level because each stem flowers only once, and left to its own devices will then slowly wither.

Here are some of the stems that were cut off.
I'd already taken at least an armful away for shredding.
It still gives you an idea of how big it has gotten ... and getting bigger each year as the rhizomes spread. The bed suits it very well because it's very sunny and watered regularly, which is probably why both turmeric and ordinary ginger would grow well there if I was inclined to grow them.

Has anyone got any old fashioned Spider Gerberas, especially the dark red one. My sister has looked everywhere for them. She doesn't want the modern ones thanks. Maybe someone knows a site where I can source them for her. Thanks Colleen

Chrissy - Those yams are so yummy, I roast mine, or put them in a roasting bag & nuke them.
I do gourmet potatoes at the same time, a splash of nice oil & either a sprinkle of herbs, lemon pepper or sweet chilli sauce.

can't wait Teresa sounds great ! thankyou ! ^_^

Colleen I am unfamiliar with Gerberas but I found this, no web just this listing (phone number and address -you can write)
MERRICK MC CALLUM
168 Fitzroy St Grafton NSW 2460
Phone (02) 6642 6844
Gerbera seed specialist

Good Luck

Downsizing is in, by the look of things Mya ...all those bathrooms to clean ...whew!
We are looking to downsize too from over 16 acres to about 2 ...too many rooms and stairs here.
We are thinking of the future and it will be too much to care for if we stay here. I love this place and garden but it's something we must do.
Looks like you will still have your munchers, I thought you may be free of them ...oh well even paradise isn't perfect ^_^ at least you need not move very far lol. Don't know where we will end up yet ...still looking.

Thanks Chrissy. I'll give them a try. Colleen

Mya, 6 bathrooms? Great for a holiday let, but not so good for a private home. I take your point that downsizing does *not* mean downgrading. Sometimes your 'things' can own you instead of vice versa--and you'll be keeping the most important part: the view :-) Although I'm wondering how you'll do the actual moving, only two doors down--by wheelbarrow? LOL
What size is your new garden--enough room for all your plants? Or will you be downsizing there too?

BTW, did anyone see Gardening Australia? The woman in Corinda (Brisbane) planned on downsizing her garden by reducing the variety of plants in it ... one of those they showed was the yellow shrimp plant. Funny thing is that I saw them (the yellow ones) for sale at Bunnings recently, so they're obviously making a resurgence.

I forgot to mention that the yams have a reputation for being invasive...
make sure you plant them where they will be contained.
I put mine in my terrace garden & had a few meals from them but they didn't produce many of a decent size, & after a few years of weeding them out they were all gone.
Perhaps mine were just being contrary as I have been told that once you have them in the garden they will come up forever.

I was weeding round my lilies today & getting quite excited to see the range of foliage so obviously several different types are coming up.
Some are growing very fast too which is nice.

My sweet peas are taking off but need something to cling to, they are sprawling a bit at the moment.

Another iris open.
'Going My Way.'
Jean

Ocelot

Tiger Shark

Divine.

Classic Suede.

Cestrum, my yellow shrimp plant is going well and flowers a lot more than the orange.
Jean.

cestrum, I thought of your Shrimps when I watched that show last night........I haven't seen them grown in a large clump like that before.....very effective.....that woman had such a pleasant voice..
I saw the plants in Bunnings too.

Beautiful Iris Jean,
Here is my Bahloo.

I don't remember her accent, but I did like her garden.
Here's the purple shrimp plant in the hanging basket, with some extra flowering bracts.
PS I call it a shrimp plant, but it's not a justicia at all. It's Porphyrocoma pohliana.

This message was edited Oct 17, 2011 5:31 PM

These flowers must have just opened in the last day, or two at most. I almost missed them.
It's the coffee plant. I can't smell any fragrance on them at all. Possibly because ...

... the Chinese star jasmine beside it is starting to bloom. And it's its perfume is strong.

This message was edited Oct 17, 2011 11:32 AM

I've never seen a purple Shrimp....it's a pretty thing....

Here are the seed pods from my Chimonanthus, "Wintersweet"....I have never noticed them before.
Very solid looking for such a fine leafed plant.....

Jean, I must remind you about our little Abutilons...this won't affect cestrum, because she doesn't get it as cold as you and I.....the small ones are very frost tender, I didn't know that.....when my apricot one grew so much slower than the red, I thought that it must have just been the plant...then I read over the weekend that they definitely don't like the cold...thinking about it, I remembered that the apricot one was about a metre away from the red and wasn't getting any of the protection that the verandah was giving the red.......since the warmer weather, the apricot is now the same size.

I had just assumed that they would be as tough as the taller ones....if you already knew this then ignore the last paragraph....LOL

So you'll be sowing them, Dianne? I mean, how could you resist :-)
Found a pleasant surprise this arvo: the first ever flower on my Hymenosporum flavum. Smells like frangipani, quite lovely.
I think the flowers might darken as they age.

Those Hymenosperums are one of my favourite trees,cestrum, yes, the flowers will change to a lovely golden colour and as you say the perfume is wonderful on a warm Spring day.
Are you letting yours grow tall or will you coppice it?

Left two mature trees of that Native "frangipani" in my Woronora garden I loved them very much ...our home was all windows overlooking the river and the two trees bloomed right in front of them (second storey). They are a nice slender pyramid shape in growth, the blooms age to a golden butterscotch colour. I was sad to leave them, but had the satisfaction of growing them from tiny babies only about a foot tall when I planted them. I think they were quite quick growers from memory. Very nice to grow near 2nd storey decks or windows for the delicious fragrance.

Yes the coffee blooms are supposed to be fragrant, might just be the weather.

I lost the mini lanterns the first Winter I had them so I didn't try them again.The big ones don't care.

Dianne, I planted my abutilon seeds when they arrived. I have quite a lot of them up now. They are in a shallow tray in the mini greenhouse inside the large greenhouse. It gets very warm in there and they get the sun most of the day.
Cute mini abutilon leaves all over the tray.That mini greenhouse has been wonderful for starting all my seeds during the cold weather.
Jean.

Chrissy, I had my Native Frangipani next to the deck that led to our bedroom, it was about 15ft high and at that stage the flowers were right alongside the deck, it grew to that size from about 2ft in 3 yrs...
A really graceful tree or a wonderful clumper if you want to grow it that way to keep the flowers at a manageable height...You will have to grow one in your next garden.
How is your house hunting going, have you found an area that you particularly like?

Jean, I haven't planted mine yet, all these Brug seeds take preference...LOL
I love my little GH too, it seems to help everything and I can see it from inside.

cestrum how tall is your Hymenosporum?....it will flower every year now...
Here is Just Joey's first bloom for the season....