Poos Aint Poos!

I have been working my butt off the last couple of weeks in the garden in an endeavour to fertilise & mulch before we get some autumn rain (hopefully)The front driveway garden has been tidied up & a few things ripped out - two dwarf date palms, which had become very un dwarf like, shata daisies (too much shade) and heaps of self sown seaside daisy (erigeron). One new plant in this view - crassula ovata (Jade), we will see how this goes there!

There are two remaining of the nasty dwarf dates & a better view of the jade, which was a cutting from a garden round the block.  The date palms actually have a lovely tropical look & are extremely robust, but they can kill in a single stabbing with the deadly skewers that grow on the leaf branches.

A lovely cordyline electric pink doing very well & a cordyline peko up against the fence, this one is in full shade all year round.  Ajuga varieagata, gerbera & lots of seaside daisy. Oh & up the back in the shade are my clivea.

 This looks a little sad atm, but its very early days, Cordyline at front & in amonst the broken pot (I had to break it to get it out) against the pole is clematis montana, dont know much about this plant, purchased at an open garden last year, so will live in hope of success.

My first succulent planted in front driveway garden - Aeonium short black. love the look of this one, hope he grows strongly.  Being a lover of Australian natives, I find myself in a bit of a quandary, I need to add poo & compost to the soil to save & store some moisture in order for my plants to grow, but a lot of the natives dont like the added stuff & keel over, but they also struggle in the sands total lack of ability to retain moisture.  I have killed mainly grevilleas & banksias, so may have to stear clear of them, anyway I added sheep manure from poos aint poos & also their own special soil conditioner with a topping of sugar cane mulch, will mulch with a darker mulch once Ive finished planting.

backyard Feb.

The purple fountain grass is going crazy & blocking out all other plants near it, think I will have to chop it back before its due.  Usually do it in August ready for spring growth, but maybe it could cope with two chops a year. I will try the one plant hiding my native hibiscus & see how it goes.  Am exhausted after laying sugar can mulch on the office garden & cleaning up after S2 - he has been digging & pulling out all the unwanted plants, mainly hundreds of agapanthus.  Im very pleased with him, he has done a good job & earnt some brownie points.

"Reeking havoc"

aaargh...............................scream, a few sobs, lots of back patting & then the brave smiles.
Unfortunately our sale fell through & we are now staying put for the time being.  After being very dissapointed, I have now reconciled myself to it & am getting on with things.
CP has been offered a job flying the water bombers for next summers fire season which will mean he can come home every night, so at least thats one thing.

Today the tree surgeon boys are creating havoc & chaos in the front garden, there are 5 of them & about 3 chain saws & a massive mulcher all going at once, Ive come inside before something drops on my head.  Going is the large date palm, 2 dwarf date palms, rubber trees (I think), travellers palms, bamboo & a sysigium hedge.  I wanted them gone as they had become too large for the area, the rats were breeding there & the bamboo & hedge was riddled with scale.  So thats my project for now to recreate my front garden into something I like & not something Ive inherited.
I am going to try and improve the soil as much as I can first, while its still summer, so I can get into the planting come autumn, my soil is basically beach sand so needs huge amounts of compost, humus etc.










This is my courtyard where I had the scale infested hedges, now I just need S2 to dig out the roots & I can get it ready for planting, I think I will create my little succulent garden here.

Theres the date palm stump in the centre, what a shocker of a plant to put on a small suburban block, those brutes need room to move!

Echeveria flowering

Not much happening at the moment, just waiting for finance approval for the people buying our house, It is extremely hot in the west & thunderstorms are making it uncomfortable. A few succulents flowering, this little sempervivum, I thinks this one will die once it finishes, so I hope there will be a few babies to make new plants when this happens.

This is Echeveria frosty flower

and Echeveria set oliver flower, I purchased this little fellow from Fickle Prickles over the internet.

Not sure what this is, but various people seem to think its an aeomium, Im not convinced as I thought Aeomiums went into domancy over the summer.

Only 10 days left until S4 heads off to boarding school, am a little apprehensive, but we will just wait and see how he goes and how his dog goes without him!

39.8C

What a stinker today was, & looks like another one tomorrow as well, have to get up early to water & hope nothing gets too badly burnt.

My spathyphyllum is flowering really well this year, it gets about an hour of sun at 6am & then is in full shade, which seems to agree with it.

  

Begonia
This begonia runs rampant & I have to keep cutting it back which means I miss out on the flowers.  The flowers are so pretty, a very delicate pink.  It is in full shade, but it doesnt seem to mind the morning sun & I need to turn it frequently as it strains towards the light.  I think it should be in a much bigger pot or the ground.

Flowering cactus

My poor epiphyllum had been banished since birth to the far back corner of the garden.
I struck two different ones from Dads, approx 18mths ago & shoved both pieces together in a terracotta pot & popped it out of site not to be glanced upon since, such a glorious suprise yesterday when a flash of red caught my eye.

Pitty about the rest of the plant!

I think its trying to tell me something -

Even if you totally ignore me & let snails & slugs run rampant all over me I can still show you the love!

Heaven scent

Spring is nearly over, but these shrubs are just begining.

This hot pink carpet rose was a gift to my mum for mothers day many years ago, she had it in a hanging basket on her front patio & it rewarded her with a continuous display.  Mum & Dad have since moved to a "Lifestyle village" where only native plants are allowed.  I score the carpet rose & a gardenia, which I have repotted & I think they are all very happy.  I just love hot pink flowers!

These 3 gardenias are so happy this year & I know why!  WATER!

Im very very stingy with my watering, liking mostly drought tolerant plants, which these are definitely not.  They have always struggled, wilting, dropping their buds, and one year they lost all their leaves, I thought they had died, but no, it rained & little green shoots pushed through.  so end of spring 2010 I repotted all three into self watering pots & have made a (very) concerted effort to keep the water up and although its paid off I cannot believe how much they guzzle. They only get the morning sun, but already Im watering them every second day, wondering if its worth it, then I go out the back door & am knocked over by their intoxicating scent.  Some people arent that keen on the smell, but I sure am, so will keep with the spoiling & hope all my other plants arent feeling too neglected when the gardenia decides to showoff & force its scent upon us!