TEA ROOM #10

Sue would you believe that's all I had for tea tonight. Raisin toast and a "cuppa"
Thanks for getting it ready for me.
We have our main meal at midday because Fred (hubby) is a diabetic.

Chrissy HELP!!!!!! HELP!!!! HELP!!!!
I see one of my Angels in the garden is all chewed. It is about three feet high. What could be doing this?
I have sprayed it with an insecticide and put out snail bait.

Oh my goodness chewed Angels ? ...sad to say the critters love them as much as we do but in a different way ...there is a 28 spotted ladybird plague at the moment ...they make a shocking mess of them ...if you look at most pictures of Angels you will see holes in leaves ...even in the best gardens ...it is really something you can't avoid without heavy duty sprays ...I go over the leaves twice a day squishing as I go ...I am experimenting with different organic cures but the leaves won't ever be picture perfect. Sorry ...so get a torch and go look at night too because if it is snails grubs or slugs they will be at work then. good luck ...love the bird house.
Sue my camera is playing up ...@#$%^&* oh well ...Gee you got the hail? don't worry I know the angels will bounce back very quickly ...did you get much damage on your other plants? it's so cold again tonight ...gonna be the coldest October day in 30 years tomorrow! what's up with that?
Dead bodies on the doormat ...thats sad unless it's a rat or snake.I hate it when they kill the Blue tongues ...since my grandaughter bought cats here I don't see much of my feathered friends any more ...they stay high up in the trees ...I miss them a lot.
Yes leeflea you are right they (the cats) are only doing their thing ...but they sure reek havoc on our wildlife.
Well off to check the threads ...we don't have any water ...a pipe broke at Wallacia this arvo have been without water since 2. It won't be back until 10 and I am hanging out for a cup of coffee! ...and the tea room is shut now ...bumma!

Hi all you lovely folks, Must be the influence of that yummy trifle, the tearoom is humming with all the chatter. Chrissy that Alphonse sure is one handsome dude and will make a right handsome beau. The off spring should be good looking babes. It has been a nice day today and much warmer this afternoon so by the time I got back from having lunch with my DD (at a Thai place we have found, delicious)
I felt all invigourated and potted up all my tuberous begonias. Got a bit sneaky and multi-planted. I'm only getting 2 new ones this season
I'll try and get a couple of photos of the place that sells them it's like an Aladdins Cave full of begonias.
Jean I have about 15 Iris and I have no intention of catching up to you, lol, not even half way, even though they look after themselves.
That Fire tree is looking so on fire. Makes me feel like going up the Whareratas and getting me another one. Even when not in flower it's a nice clean looking tree and doesn't take up a lot of room. Has yours suckered at all or have you ever collected seed? Just hinting but not sure how much I want an answer, lol.
Lee,,, never mind the excuses just get stuck in and get as much physio as you can even if it's not always pleasant!! Better to have a bit of discomfort now than end up a crippled can't get around old man,, especially as you are still quite young and have other things you enjoy doing.. Best foot forward eh.
Lesley.

Yes, my friend Lesley, best foot forward. Did learn to climb stairs y'day. "bad leg first, good leg next" I am truly a wimp but I can count you all of my Aussie/NZ friends to get off thr pity pot. Thanks to all of you. I musg be without a limp come Spring.
Tell the other girls I said hello. Your American friend, Lee, flea, knee, gee and pee. BTW. chrissy, evemn though it's the cat's nature, I still hate to see them kill a bird. Lee

Marleneann perhaps you could try spraying your plant with liquid fish manure, I have found that most chewing things hate it that includes possums, horses, rabbits etc I used to use it a lot to protect my roses and shrubs and anything else I didn't want eaten. At the same time the plants got a good folia feed. Maybe you have a sneaky possum dining on your plants. I don't like the smell of the manure but on 1-2 plants it won't be too bad. Anyway whats more important the nose or the plant, lol.
Lesley

Lesley, you are just too funny! i have been using fish emulsion as a foliar spray on the orchids for quite some times now and have been pleased with the results. And after a day the odor barely detectable. Lee BTW will click on the picture above to see in better detail but even at this point of view, it looks beautiful

Yes fish imulsion is said to turn the bugs off eating things ...I think you do see a difference when you spray with that ...and it's so good for everything too ...I have been out of it for a while and the nurseries were out of stock here ...that reminds me I must check again. great for seedlings ...I was woken early here by loud noises ...screaming icy wind ...only 6C at 4 this morning ...???? I am waiting for the Sun to reveal the damage ...

Good morning everyone. I must say it is so nice to see so many faces in here all chatting away. It sounds as if our weather from here has moved north. All those poor plants being battered around. Never mind , there is still lots of time for them to recover. We are in a cold spell but no rain . the wind is the worst thing here. Even when it's not so strong, it's very cold. Straight off the Antarctic.
Chrissy , I know what you mean with the Italian gardeners but there are a few Aussies with the same belief, If you can't eat it , you don't grow it.
No good to me. I would never be any good with that as I dearly love all my pretty non edibles. I am repotting my gardenias today. They live in the shadehouse and are doing well. I have had the small flowered one there for about 6 years. The other is younger but has a larger flower. I love their perfume.
This time of year, perfume is everywhere in the garden. I have that lovely large bush ( small tree ?) with the blue pea flowers which has a really strong scent that wafts everywhere. Mmmmmmmm gorgeous
I must gets its name again. I'll have to go looking through the old threads as someone did give me it's name when I posted a pic.
Hello Marleneanne. We too have our main meal at lunchtime as my hubby is also Diabetic. We usually just have a sandwich or even just biscuits with cheese .
I like those birdhouses but here the sparrows take over everything to nest in.
I am at present, trying to block them from using the old dairy shed which is the end of my large epi house and fernery. They don't go into the plant part but as I use the shed part to store pots and other gardening stuff, it is all covered in bird glop.
The little B***##s can squeeze in along the wavy edges of the corregated tin roof. Now that word doesn't look right. Oh well you all know what sort of tin roof I mean.
Chrissy, I have not seen any of those ladybirds here, just the normal friendly aphid eating ones. I will be putting my bigger Angels outside permanently soon to make room for a baby Angel nursery. If there are any predators around they will be able to get at the plants outside.
Lesley I'm with you as I have been using the fish emulsion for quite a while .
You could try it . Sometimes I just use good water with a dash of dish washing liquid and cooking oil. There is another recipe for bug spray that I have found successful.
I buy Hydrogen Peroxide from the supermarket as it is in a safe to use dilution.
use 8 oz to a gallon of water plus 8 oz white sugar. . The Hyd. Peroxide is also great if you add just a little to water to soak seeds water seedlings and use as a foliar spray
Another good thing to spray is Tea tree oil in some water. Bugs don't like it much . None of these will hurt plants.
Just be careful with the Hyd. Peroxide.
Look it up on the internet. It is fantastic used for all sorts of things. Apparently it is an ingredient of rainfall so the plants like it.
I had better stop talking and get some food out here. Boston Cream Pie
Have a happy day all. Jean.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/915538/

Now I hope this is done right. I thought I'd better move us and make it easier for us all even though we could do with the exercise. Jean.

Raining and pouring ...and freezing cold!

Hold on I'm coming too!

Chrissy, hello. I was just admiring your (?) Christmas cactus. It really has alot of buds set. Would love to see it in full bloom. Also, what appears to be bougainvillea. A cousin of mine who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, has the wonderful ability of keeping her's alive, year after year by storing it in an unheated garage. I certainly have a brown thumb when it comes to them. You, obviously have quite the green thumb.
Have a good day/night. Lee

Oh Awchid, I have this wonderful mental picture of you following the fish with a little (VERY little)shovel and scraper, collecting all that fish poo......
I am one of those people that always has a supply of money in the ashtray of the car, and whenever I see poo for sale on the side of the road, I grab it. Have been known to go out for an evening and been all dressed up, and STILL collected that poo......
Any peculiar looks are disregarded completely......
Margaret

Jean thats not fair you've locked us out, boohoo. Mind you if you want to close shop just say so and we'll come back tomorrow. That is a very dark iris Jean and it is a really nice colour. Get you Margaret you have a vivid imaginationm lol, Can't you see that just as I get it on the shovel the sea washes it all off again, so I get my manure straight from "Neptune" saves having to scrape it up again. :-)) I think I am as bad as you, a couple of the schools here were selling sheep and chooky poo as a fund raiser so I just had to get some. You know , now it clutters up my garage. Chrissy is that a blue potato vine behind your bouganvillia, I'm probably wrong so what is it . It reminds me of my one up the coast and how much it will need pruning by now. Groan. Jean you are lucky you can get the peroxide in
large bottles, I use it a lot and can only get it in 2oz bottles at $5. It doesn't go very far with my amount of plants. Oh well had better call it a night and go and make my own cuppa. It's 1am!! no wonder jean has locked us out.:-)
Lesley