Going, going.....

Finally we have an offer on our house, yippee! Pending finance (of course!) on the 24th November & settlement on the 6th January.

 This is the front garden, shaded fully in winter & full sun in summer, not too bad considering.

Cactus in pot, agapanthus, gerbera, lirope, scabiosa, azalea, tibouchina, bracteantha onthe very edge (yellow flower)

Electric pink cordyline, asparagus fern, thrift, vinca, trunks of cotton palm & date palm

4 sale sign on front verge along with gazanias.

CP is putting an offer on the paddock in the country that we want tomorrow!

How scary!

adding to succulent collection

 Four new succulents to add to my collection, which is fast becoming an obsession.  Im a little nervous that if we dont hurry up and get to our rural property my backyard is going to become choc a block with little pots of these things.

If anyone with succulent knowledge is looking at this post, I would love some feedback as to what they are.  The place I bought them only had succulent written on the label, thought I would be satisfied with that, but unfortunately I am finding myself trawling the internet with my little "succulent" on my lap searching for answers.

Echeveria?

 Aeonium domestica variagata

 Echeveria?

 Aloe dorian black?

Dad's orchid - was repotted last year, this year very dissapointing, only produced one miserly flower and I had to get under the plant to take the shot, hence the roof in the background.  When it eventually does decide to flower it will be beautiful as its such a pretty colour.

A boy & his dog

At 5.30am this morning we awoke to the sound of hail & thunder, the gutters & the pool were over flowing & there was water everywhere, the hail didnt last long on the ground before melting.  I lay in bed while CP had to venture out & start the pool pump to relieve some of the flooding, it was lovely just listening to the rain & knowing it was a giving all the plants a good soaking.

The park at the end of our street filled up with water, which quickly drains away, but S4 & the dog were just as quick to race down there for some fun & games.  Racing through the water & mud I managed to get a few shots before I was asked to leave (by S4 - not cool)

We ended up getting 25mls (1 inch) of rain, in about 3 hours, so hopefully a bit of run off into the dams before the long hot summer hits.

Spring 2011

My garden in spring, as I write this Im feeling rather down, we felt sure we had a buyer for our house, after 3 viewings, which leaves me exhausted as I have cleaned my self silly (or rather the house) and I absolutely hate, hate, hate housework I am dejected so thought Id take some photo's of my flowers.  I have been looking at so many wonderful gardening blogs & the spring flowers are amazing & even the "fall" ones on the other side of the world look marvellous too, so this is me in the spring of 2011, not a whole lot flowering just yet, whether WA is behind or its just my garden (too shady perhaps) Im not sure.

Convolvulus cneorum (bush morning glory), this hardy little shrub gets by on minimal water.

Well that was weird, was half way through my post last night when the internet went down, so thought I would finish this morning, didnt even realise it had been published until I read Jackie's comment on my email (thanks Jackie).  I do have a few more flowers other than the above, which I will now put   below!

Russelia equisetiformis (coral plant)

I have a love/hate relationship with this plant, I hate it for most of the year & then it flowers & I love it.  It is extremely hardy, but it tends to spread & self seed & then is extremely hard to get rid of, but the flowers on mass are gorgeous, must remind myself I do not want to plant this in my new garden!

Erigeron (seaside daisy)

This one also self seeds everywhere, but is easy to pull out & is a real little stalwart in the garden.

Genista (broom)

These plants have struggled on Perths sandy soils, they are hardy, but seem to need quite a bit to drink in the summer.

This one I call my Meckering geranium as my Dad originally struck it back in 1979 when we lived in Meckering, its a trailing geranium & I just love the hot pink blooms, hopefully I can get a piece to strike as its planted on my limestone wall & I would like to take it with me.

potting up

A morning of potting, repotted my Mandevilla climber which hasnt climbed on anything yet, a dwarf crepe myrtle that my Dad struck in 1998, & dug out of front city garden bed my bush pearl (dwarf kangaroo paw), broke into 8 pieces and potted 5, leaving 3 to replant in garden bed.

Dad's dwarf crepe myrtle

potted mandevilla aloha red, bush pearls & bush diamond - flowering, which you can hardly see as its a white flower against the pale bricks

I had bought a small bush diamond from Trees A Green nursery, so the plan is to let these little "gems" grow on nicely in pots until next winter & then plant in new garden.  Also repotted Dad's maiden hair fern .

This flower is on a strappy leafed plant that came from Dad, The flower only lasts a day, which is a huge let down as its rather pretty, dont know what it is, but would love to.

Yesterday my S1 flew back up to Broome, we had a lovely week with him, coming & going inbetween him catching up with friends, even got to watch half of the grand final with him, he watched the first half with friends & then remembered that he had promised his Dad that they would watch it together. School holidays now, but isnt a big deal anymore as S3 & S4 dont really need my input into their lives except to drive them places, oh and hand out cash!