Where are you in AU .

hello Shelly and Lois and anyone else here this morning. I just had a look at those geraniums on the hyperlink and being me, had to buy some. I like the staphs and have been wanting to get some for ages.
I have lots of geraniums here now but no names.
Today is the usual weather for here. Cool this morning but it will most likely warm up by lunchtime, then cool off again around 4pm. Still no rain about and the fire season has started here with a fire not too far away. It has been a fantastic year for the grass so will not be a good summer with the fire danger high.
Chrissy, if you are anywhere, please , please send us some of your rain. I would not even mind the mud. I haven't seen mud for a long time.
I am thinking about a redo of parts of the garden that are drier. The cottage style, I do like, but I may add a bit more in the geranium area plus a few more taller shrubs.
I must get out and take some photos now as I have more epiphyllums out.
Have a great day everyone. .

I am wishing as hard as I can ...that you all get some rain!

Hello all on.
Chrissy, I had to pop in to tell you, we had RAIN. It must have rained for at least 4 minutes. Ha Ha Ha. The wind came up very strong and must have blown it all back to you. Blow harder next time you try to send some down.
I have been cutting back geraniums. they went mad this year and are looking a bit shabby now. I smell like a geranium , should go and wash or my tea will taste like geranium.
Must go as my favorite shows are on. Star Trek. Love it.
Happy day all.

Hello from NZ-i haven't called in for a while,so have just been catching up.
A special hello to weeds'n all..My absolute favourite rose is Albertine-with my last pay 5 years ago,I bought two to join one I already had and they have now reached the full length of the fence.This has been a fabulous season for them.the wire is an electric one to stop the cattle from munching the roses.
Best wishes to everyone
Emelle.

Hi E I love your pretty roses! ...I have lots of them however because of the constant rain it is most difficult to get a decent pic of any at the moment ...I bet they grow beautifully for you in your lovely Country :)
chrissy

Thanks everyone, for your welcome, have been so busy lately, have been putting protection screens around the blackbirds nests, as the currawongs are trying to get the babies. YES!! I do protect my blackbirds, everyone else I know destroys their nests, and my next door neighbor traps them, then takes then over the road to have them killed, he can't do it himself. He couldn't understand when I got upset about this and had a go at him...Why do people regard them as vermin?? their singing in the morning is beautiful, they are a lovely touch of England in my garden, and keep the bugs down.

now the miner birds!!!!! Grrrr!! thats another story!!!! maybe I could encourage my neighbor to trap them instead.

I was going to put up photos of my garden, but will try to figure out how to put the link to my garden photos in yahoo flickr and you can see more of it.

There are also photos of the David Austin nursery that I visited in England that will make you just drool....

We just had the 9th tree from our neighbor's place fall on our garden. nearly 40 metres tall tree. He only had two left now, so hopefully I will only face this twice more. It can be so depressing to see all the smashed plants and trees here, and have to start yet again to rebuild. Fortunately only two have fallen on the house, so I should count my blessings, but its a real pain and becomes a very expensive excercise when insurance companies don't recognise plants as worth paying out on....I now get very nervous about my own trees when its windy. Must go and water the plants on my deck, we're having a real heatwave at the moment.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was very kind and generous to you all.
Will go now and have a play with this flickr link

Margaret

This message was edited Dec 28, 2007 6:27 PM

Would you let us know your flickr link,please,Margaret,as I would love to have a look-especially the Austin roses which are so special I think.
My daughter lives and works in Melbourne in the field of mental health-we visited a couple of years ago and went on some wonderful bus trips around your way-the Dandenongs are gorgeous-wouldn't you know-our trip up the gt Ocean road was on the only day it poured with rain-many passengers just stayed on the bus,it was so wet!
I hope you are getting rain to help with your garden-It is hard to believe that anyone could want to kill the blackbirds-how Ignorant they are ,as blackbirds are wonderful in the garden.My daughter's neighbours smile at her when she feeds the birds,but she appreciates them.
A recent photo of my NZ garden.the white rose in the centre is Sparkler,and the pink roses on the left are Sharif Asma and Mary Rose.
Best wishes to Aussie cuzzies,

Emelle

Just saying hello and finding my way around. I am on 5 acres in the Dandenongs Vic. . How's Cocatoo? weedsandall. That was great rain we had a week ago wonder when the next lot will arrive.

Regards
Gecki


This message was edited Jan 25, 2008 4:19 AM

Hi everyone lovely to see some new faces (gardens) :)
chrissy

Hi Gecki (is that the plural for gecko?) LOL. Welcome to the forum, please look around and butt in when you feel inspired. We love pickies too. Do you have a camera?
Sue

No Gecki is the cat :) or one of them. Camera is happening shortly. The kids have them but hard to get hold of them so am aiming for my own digital. I have an old SLR I haven't used for ever. Thanks for the welcome nice and informal here.
Liz

Hi Liz ...I had no camera for ages,so had to do a lot of yakking, but everyone was so helpful and encouraged me to try (no camera experience) but now they can't stop me I love it! warning addictive!
I have been looking at your description of your garden ...lots of that sounds very familiar :)
informal you bet!
fun ? you bet!
great gardeners ? you bet!
Welcoming new faces yes please!
Shy lurkers come in please ...new gardeners or experienced ones we want you here ...only qualification ? love of garden.
chrissy :)

Hello chrissyand Sue. welcome from me too Liz. I had a really warm welcome when I arrived her.
I can tell you that it is one of the most interesting places to visit. These ladies ( and men) are so helpful and encouraging.
I hope you are not getting too wrinkled in the wet ,chrissy.
How much rain is enough ? your plants will definitely need water wings.
A garden on a raft, now there's a novel thought. it's cloudy here but still warm. A sad thing to say , but good bushfire weather. My epis love the heat, my ferns do not. My little Brug likes it too.
Liz, chrissy is right about the camera. It is addictive. How easy to take all the pics you want and just delete for a fresh lot.
Our camera came with computer etc in one lot. Took a bit of working out as I had never used digital before. I still don't know what half the buttons are for but I don't need them anyway.
pic is one of the babies from the large mother who died . owner gave me babies ,10 of them.. I've cut them off mum and put on poly with fishing line. all doing well. Goodness knows where I'll put them when they grow.
Have to go and throw water around again. Pot plants do dry out quickly in this weather.
Happy day all.

Thanks for the welcome ladies. Re the watering I can highly recommend MULCHING big time. Has saved my garden for the last 10 yrs. I am lucky to have a free source of woodshavings and I also use this for my animal bedding such as geese and chooks and the dog run. Makes great soil conditioner when it breaks down. I just add a bit of blood and bone to plants before applying it. Helps with the nitrogen cycle. Straw and newspaper shredded and of course wood chips if you can afford them.

Liz

This message was edited Jan 5, 2008 7:30 PM

Yep you are one of us!
ha ha ha 77 do you chuck the banana skins in behind the plants?
chrissy

Hello all. Yes chrissy, I throw banana skins around my roses and the occasional bit in the elks and stags. Adds potassium.
Liz , I'm coming to steal your mulch. It is so expensive up here to buy any mulch and besides, I'd need a tip truck full. I use plants instead. If I cover the area with plants, there's no room for weeds. works too.
Except for the horror area. I have a corner of the paddock garden where nothing will grow or if it does grow it never thrives.
Could it be something to do with never any water in that area. HaHa.
Seriously, this is an area that is on the side of our slope , faces south and east , is beyond the weeping willow and just grows weeds and those b*** thistles. I have tried all sorts of plants and you can still see the poor little things hanging on by the skin of their teeth. In desperation, I thought I'd fill it with trees. Ha !! again. Have you ever seen dwarf melaleucas and oleanders ? Don't even think oleander. I have seen them grow into giants with no water or care. I have some 7 yrs old that are still 2' high. Sob Sob. I like oleanders.
Maybe I should take all the trees and bonsai them.
What can I plant in this space ????
The sun is coming out and I have a few little parcels to pack Bye all
Jean.

Hello everyone!
I don't live in Australia, but would you adopt me please?!!!!

Ha ha ha oh t of course we will :)
chrissy

If you can cook and clean, I'll adopt you! I have two spare rooms abd lots of garden to ply in! That goes for any of you out there!
Jean, why not try a xeriscape garden with cacti and Yukkas and such, although it would cop frost too eh? Have you done a pH test? Maybe a rockery, or get a load of soil and mulch and plant more Iris!
Sue

Thankyou!!!!!!!
Sue, do I have to cook and clean? 2 jobs I hate doing most!!!!!!!

Snap! I HAAAAATTTEEE house work and cooking, (but I like a clean house and eating!)
I think I'll have to advertise for a wife. LOL
Sue
Bunch of fungus for you

or maybe a houseboy!!!!!!!!!!!!

strange mushrooms in your plant pot, do you want me to cook them for you?!

Hello TerriC this is a nice warm comfy chat place and they are great company I have just come in as well so welcome. Jean just be very careful handling oleander VERY poisonous to fatal. Animals chewing it will turn toes up. Should not burn any off cuts and wash hands well after handling it. It is a great plant. Saw some lovely mop top trees made out of them along the foreshore of Lake Como when I was visiting my mum years ago in Switzerland. I have been tempted but given my maurauding herd around here it may well end up as dinner.

Xeriscaping would be an option. There must be some suitable plants. Are you upto digging out some pockets in the not so good soil and putting good stuff in to start some young natives. You could use some root guard to create a bottomless pot with about a 2 foot diameter so your good soil and water does not nick off down the slope. Add some of those water crystals and you might have a chance to get something going. If using natives don't overfertilise just good soil with some compost should be good. For watering get the lemonade bottle or plastic milk carton and sink it well in near the roots and cut the top out so you can insert a watering can or hose to keep the water source full. The neck end is buried in the ground. I think Peter Cundal on the Abc was showing this old method we used years ago but he was sort of hiding them so it did not look like a bottle yard.

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/dripsystem.php

Liz

No TC. I picked some field mushrooms a couple of weeks ago that I swear were all good, but when I cooked them, there was a strange smell, so I turfed them out! I'd love a houseboy, but DH wouldn't allow it! (no fair) I'd like a swedish one that could do massage! (oh yeah and house work and cooking) but mostly.... massage! He he.

good advice Liz. You know how to do the link fing! It took me ages to learn that (and Chrissy even longer LOL)
Sue
Purple Basil

This message was edited Jan 13, 2008 7:02 AM

Thankyou for the welcome Gecki!
I don't know how to do the link fing yet, maybe this year I will learn how to!
Swedish houseboy eh? I'd like a dutch one, myself, I believe they are great floral designers!
same problem here, the DH won't approve the appointment ..........

Ok the link thing ...go to the address at the top of the page you wish to send a link of ...right click and it will then say cut or copy click onto that and it will save it for you. when you are ready to show the link in your thread just click onto the edit button up there next to file at the top of your page that will say paste just click and Bob's your Uncle!
Come on be brave! ginger showed me how to do that ...I wonder where he went?.
Bike not me! That must be Sue ...me? no way.Not my bag.
yes it is true ...the cyber/camera and all things modern are fairly new to me ...but I hope that I am making up for lost time, still lots to learn though, but it sure is fun!
Night everyone it is my bedtime midnight
chrissy

Good evening folks. I have been having fun getting lost then side tracked and ending up far from my destination. Thought I could check
out last nights peoples as they sounded so friendly. Alas it's 11.30 and ive only just got here. Am very new to this computor lark so will
take a while to catch on. Loved the fungus photo, they are so delicate and pretty and here for such a short time. I always have to grab the camera for visual memory of them.I do have one small claim to your Australian forum , I grow Aussie orchids have done for about twenty years.Used to do it very well, a lot of them have become a bit heavy duty but when they flower I'm reminded all over again why I love them
so much. I have only lived here in Gisborne for 12 months, prior to this I lived at East Cape, [first place in the world to see the sun ]
Well actually inland behind some quite high hills and not too far from Mt Hikurangi, on the coast it was quite sub tropical, over the hill we got hot dry windy and either not enough or too much water. Winter very cold black frosts and rain rain and more rain. Many of the things I grew up there with great difficulty and stubborn perseverance are now thriving in their new temperate climate. Lack of room is now giving me new challenges. Oh well keeps my mind active at night. On that note I must away. Will try to find my way back tomorrow.

Howdy cuz. A Kiwi is as good as an Ozi, except when the union is on. We share a common foe in the English & all. Hope you make it back.
Is that an artichoke flower Sue, or a cardoon? You've done well to let the thing bloom without eating it. I doubt any of mine will get that far.

Is'nt NZ 8th state?? :))))

It's actually raining Yahooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awchid
The orchids you grow are they tiny fragile pink ones??? There are lots up in the bush by the bus stop at the moment.


We have a Gisborne down here too a bit smaller than yours I think but a nice town. Part of a tourist and wine growing region.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Victoria/Gisborne/2005/02/17/1108500206473.html

Hi Gecki yeah I've heard that re reference to 8th state. I do know we are just over the ditch so not far away eh.
The little pink ones and also cross pollinated ones ,they come in a variety of shapes and colours. Most are manageable
some get carried away and are abit heavy to handle, they are also very forgiving and if I don't keep up my side of the partnership
they still do their bit with a lovely show of flowers in Sept - October - Nov and each plants flowers last 3-4+ weeks. I would love to see them in a bush setting. Mind you mine get hung up in my trees. Family object to this quite vocally usually when they've just been donged
on the head while mowing my lawn . Don't know whats their problem Iwas taller than most of them for years and years, didnt
bother me I just had to duck. Our Gisborne sounds a bit like yours . Tourists wine agriculture and farming . Yours is probably
on a larger scale. In the 1800's my great grand parents came from Australia and settled here in Gissy, my daughter lives here
and ihave moved here. Don't they always say you end up going back to your roots.
Thats enough rambling on for now catch you later. Lesley

Wow! Where are all the sand gropers?? Am I the only person in WA on here? I'm in Shoalwater, about 40 minutes south of perth.

I have lived in a lot of the places people've mentioned, so it's a bit nostalgic reading through here. I moved back here to WA from around Newcastle a coupe of years ago due to ill health and financial problems, and seem to be stuck here for now. Not that I mind living here, except for the wind :(. It's almost always windy here, and it can drive ya a little crazy after a while). Something I've noticed after living away for a dozen or so years in that it now gets very humid here. Never used to get much humidity here at all, but it's been muggy as all get out this summer. Must be the dread greenhouse effect.

Originally I'm from Gippsland in Victoria, which is a beautiful place to live but verrrrry cold in the winter. I kinda grew up in Rockingham, WA (if you can really call what i did growing up ... lol). I lived around Coffs for a couple of years, then went up to the Gold Coast. After being there for a couple of years, I spent a few months in Edinbugh, up from Adelaide, then a while in Wagga, NSW, then up to Katherine, NT, then down to Somers on the Mornington Penninsula in Vic., then up to Newcastle, NSW, for a couple of years. Oh yeah, and there was Geraldton, Darwin and a few trips back and forth between WA and Victoria, staying with rellies and stuff. Oh, and Canberra for a couple of months too .... never again! Waaaaay too cold for me there:{.

A lot of that travel was with the defence force, but a lot was just my own wonder lust too. It's only been in the last few years that I haven't been looking for the next place to move onto as soon as I got somewhere. Finally feeling a need to settle down somewhere, and I guess here is as good a place as any ... even if WA is 25 years behind the rest of the country :P

OK ... enough prattle from me for now.

Cheers

Kerri

Welcome Kerri, wow you sure have been around ...have you settled for a while? ...long enough to have a gardener do you take a lot of pots with you :)
Are there any special things you love in your garden ...what are your favourites?
Most everyone loves the succulents here ...I am a jungle type garden lover, but love everything except weeds:)
I know you will have fun here.Hi everyone else ...we had a whole day of sun yesterday ...rained in the night, happy gardening.
chrissy

Hi Chrissy

Yeah, i think i have settled for a while. I really like my little unit here, and the rent is unbelievably reasonable for this day and age.

I used to keep lots of pots, but they were so hard to take with me on my travels. A lot of the times i would have a big garage sale, sell everything, and only take with me what would fit in the car. It meant starting over again many times, but it's a great sense of freedom to not be tied down by 'stuff'.

My favorite plants have always been strappy, grassy type things (flax's etc.), but since i got here, i am beginning to appreciate a much wider variety of plants. Because most of what i have has been given to me, i've got a heaps of things i've never had before. I'm falling i love with succulents and cacti type things. I totally adore my cannas, and have a few swaps lined up to get different ones. Mine has a lovely deep red flower. My neighbour gets yellow and orange flowers on hers, and my sister has a red verigated variety that gets orange flowers.

I never thought i'd say it, but i'm also starting to like pretty little flowering things too. Had a plant just pop up in the back yard a couple of months back that didn't look like a weed, so i stuck it in a pot. I've since found out is a Four O'clock, or Marvel of Peru. It has beautiful pink and yellow flowers ... some almost all pink, some almost all yellow, and some about half and half. It's a gorgeous plant, and is what actually led me to this website. I needed to comfirm the ID the local nursery owner helped me come up with after ages of looking through her books. I'm getting heaps of seeds off it, so plan to plant them in the back corner where it originally popped up, cos nothing else seems to want to grow there.

Yesterday i picked up a couple of small Moses in the Bullrushes at a garage sale, and the lady there gave me 3 rather sick looking Impatiens. I've cut the Impatiens back, and will see what happens. I don't know if they grow from cuttings, but i've shoved the bits i cut off in a pot, just in case they do :}

Most of what i'm doing is trial and error at the moment. I'm revelling in my successes, and learning from my failures. It's great to have somewhere i can rave about my plants. My family and friends have started rolling their eyes when i start reporting on the progress of this plant or that ... lol. I guess a little garden talk goes a long way with a lot of people.

Cheers

Kerri

Kerri impatients grow very easily from cuttings ...but give them a shady position.The beautiful 4 oclocks (I adore mine too) may be a bit of a worry in a smaller area as I use them as filler type plants to smother out weeds in Summer ...I would put it in a pot and make sure you pick off all the big black seeds you will find wherever there has been a bloom.You cut it down to the ground in Winter and it comes back again from a tuber.

Lovely pic Chrissy :). I tried taking a couple of mine last night, but the flash washed all the colour out of them. I've been collecting the seeds. A neighbour wants some, and i think i'll take some down to the lady at the nursery, as she's never seen 4 O'clocks before. Plants are great, aren't they? Imagine chopping a person off at the feet ... they'd never come back to life after winter ... lol.

That's one problem i have here ... finding a shady spot for things. Everything either gets full morninig or full afternoon sun. Having been bitten by the bug though, i'm now thinking of building a little shade house at some stage, cos a lot of the shade loving plants are really beautiful.

Just put something to keep the afternoon sun off at least most things like morning sun and afternoon shade ...perhaps a couple of larger shrubs that love the sun could be put there to protect the more delicate things ...the 4'0clocks don't mind full sun but perform better in a more protected situation (they last longer and have better colour) I am lucky as my house provides shelter as it blocks the afternoon sun from my jungle plants ...I grow the tough stuff in the front.

I can get them out of the afternoon sun, so they'll have to make do with that.

So glad i didn't throw this out as a weed when it popped up!