Hely’s Rose

The new moon is in Scorpio and this climbing rose always flowers for Hely’s birthday the 26th October and once again it is in full bloom. This one comes from a cutting from Hely’s which came from Shirley.

The first harvest

The Bok Choy is the first to harvest. I had some raw and some stir-fried with tofu and a couple of other ingredients. It was crisp and delicious. There is nothing eating the leaves, perhaps this is due to the soil chemistry being in balance.

 

Here are some gazanias growing wild at the side of the house mixed with a creeper.

Walking out the back door there is a cascade of pink, I can see it from here.

The pansy's have lasted well, they need water every day and some blood and bone now and again.

There’s lots of life in the vege patch as the warmer weather sets in, even a couple of visits from a bandicoot at night who digs up the edges of the beds.

 
Last year the tree dahlia as spectacular and from the new growth which is appearing it will be another great show:

Spring Rains

30 mm of storm rain in two days has enlivened the garden greatly, storm rain has a quality which stimulates growth far more than watering or ordinary rain. Science says it is due to the Haber process converting free nitrogen in the air to a soluble form via the electrical discharge, then again it could be the fairies.

The tomatoes are looking great, lots of blood & bone plus seaweed emulsion and Charlie Carp.

 

Pak Choy and beans are growing well, the pak choy looks like the first harvesting will be within a couple of weeks.

Some good growth from the sweet corn. I saw on Gardening Australia that they recommend planting lettuce on the southern side so I will do that.

This is going to be spectacular, it is the new season’s growth of the tree dahlia, last year it was superb.

The front yard has received some attention, Helen, my neighbour gave me three shrubs whose name escapes me, they filled the space behind the three callistemon bushes.

The plant at the rear is an Abutilon (Chinese Lantern) I hope it grows as well as the label looks.

At the front of the house the erigeron is in full bloom and spreading across the driveway.

A Day In The Open Gardens

Spring on Mt.Tamborine is the time for the Springtime On The Mountain garden festival  this year there were only six gardens. Spending the day inspecting beautiful gardens is one of life’s greatest delights.  The weather was perfect with a cool south westerly blowing I had problems with the light when taking photos so some photos were discarded.

There were lots of tourist buses around with some big queues to get into a couple of the gardens, I seemed to time things just right and missed out on all that.

This one used to be a nursery many years ago:

 

Here is a shrub with a spectacular perfume, it’s common name is Yesterday Today and Tomorrow:

The inscription on this reads” In memory of all the beautiful plants that died here at the hands of my husband:

A beautiful view from this garden on the southern end of the mountain, in the distance you can see the peak of Mt.Warning. Over the edge is the land warfare centre at Canungra.

Driving around the mountain there are many spectacular hedges of May:

Here’s an assortment from various gardens: