BLOODY BUNNIES!

When we first moved in back in January I noticed, right down the back of the olive grove some scratchings in the dirt & some little brown marbles here & there.

I thought well if they stay down here, I can put up with them.

Unfortunately due to the lack of rain the horrible little critters decided it was time to come closer & have a nibble.  The weeds down their neck of the woods had all been eaten or started to shrivel up.

Last Tuesday night we were away camping for the night & took Bella dog with us, one night & the wabbits moved it!

Im hoping they decided they didn't like Aloe juice enough to  come back, but they did sample each one.  Since then we have had some lovely longed for rain, so here's hoping the weeds down yonder will keep them happy.  Otherwise I will become murderous, there's nothing surer.

 

 On another note I think I may have discovered the name of my mystery shrub.  This one was for sale at the local garden centre, so one could assume that my shrub came from there.

Any way grows to 5m & is quite drought hardy, so hopefully I will get a lovely flower display next year.  I pruned it very hard in Feb as it was struggling, but not knowing what it was I pruned it at the wrong time of the year & lost all the flowers :(

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Joining in with the GBBD meme over at May Dreams Gardens

Eucalyptus Rodantha

Gum Tree's

A few of my the gum trees on my property, some I have planted, some already here.

 

Eucalyptus tetragona - a beautiful straggly mallee

I planted this little guy on the 1st of April, 3 months later he is starting to push through some new growth.

Eucalyptus tetragona

 

 Eucalyptus tetragona or white marlock is a hybrid, I cant seem to find anywhere that will tell me its ultimate height, but I gather its quite small.

 I love the silvery leaves & the gorgeous new growth, by all accounts it should have cream to yellow flowers, we shall see!

 

Oops someone got in the way


Eucalyptus rhodantha

 This is a well established Euc & Im not 100% sure, but going on the time of flowering I think its rodantha, which is indigenous to the Avon area, the leaves & gum nuts are just devine.

rodantha gumnut babies.

 A beautiful big lemon scented gum at the front gate

Eucalyptus citriodora

 Illyarrie, another spectacular West Aussie gum well established next to the lemon scented gum.

Eucalyptus erythrocorys gumnuts

 My new baby illyarrie, their new growth is so pretty & they grow so fast!

Eucalyptus erythrocorys

 the previous photo & next photo are of the same eucalypt, growing on the eastern fence.

there are quite a few of them, Im not sure which one they are, a guess Eucalypt torquata.

Maybe I will be able to tell when they flower.

guessing Eucalypt torquate - coral gum



another on the eastern fence I am unsure of

 My new baby mottlecah - Eucalyptus macrocarpa

this was another gum given to me by my parents for my birthday

cant wait for it to flower, as they have the largest flowers of the genus & are so spectacular.

This little beauty is also a mallee & should grow to approx. 3m

Eucalyptus macrocarpa

 Southern cross mallee was planted on the 25th May & this will grow into a pretty little tree with yellow flowers in summer.

 

Eucalyptus crucis

There are heaps more which I will catalogue as well.

What shrub is that?

This shrub is in the front garden & was almost dead when we arrived, back in January.

I pruned it severely, composted & mulched it, then watered it well.  It has come back beautifully, I didn't expect it to flower, but it has managed to push through a few, although I do wonder if it should be covered in blooms.  Any way I don't know what it is so will need to do some research to discover its requirements.

Gorgeous little lantern flowers, but unfortunately they hang down so are hard to view. 

.

The shrub is about 1.5m high at the moment, but was about 2m when I cut it back, could be a tree for all I know!

 

This picture shows how the flowers hang down

My blood lily leaves a getting ginormous!  I did photograph the flower, but with my other phone, that phone is mine no longer, so will have to wait til next year for their weird blooms again.

Haemanthus coccineus - blood lilly

Aloe garden

Brand new & looking fairly miserable with its tiny little plants, but what I hope will eventually bebursting at the seams!

Aloe striata favoured me with a flower this season, after being dug out of my old garden in the heat of summer, left to scorch in a pot for the rest of summer, I thought I would be lucky if it survived at all!

Behind the coral aloe is Eucalyptus woodwardii, given to me by mum & dad for my birthday & the ground cover is trailing lotus - Lotus berthelotii, just about to come into flower.

Euryops pectinatus

Aloe plicatilis with a flower head peeping out

View looking north east, aloe always red with statice in the background.

Aloe always red

Aloe mountain gem, he also has a bloom forming

Aloe Gemini

Here I have planted senecio chalk sticks, a small kunzea baxteri , euryops virgineus, kalanchoe baharensis, aloe Gemini & you can see the bottom of my Norfolk Island Pine - Araucaria heterophylla.

"One kind word can warm three winter months"

(Japanese Proverb)

Hakea francisiana 

"Joining in with favourite plant in my garden this week" from Danger Garden , although mine won't be weekly as just like with garden bloggers bloom day I am incredibly unreliable.

But any way this hakea is a little beauty, although I do wish it wasn't so shy with its flowers as they are outstanding.  It's about 3m high by 1.5m wide, extremely drought tolerant & indigenous to 

Western Australia.

The flowers are produced on old wood & so are well hidden in the branches, which of course is a winner with the birds.  I just love it as the flower suddenly appears in all its glory from avery unassuming little tree.

"Find happiness in ordinary things, and keep your sense of humour"

(Boyd K Packer)

Well, its been some time since I last posted, which is disappointing as I had wanted to post about my new garden right from the start.  But here I am, full of excuses & ready to go again!

I have a new iphone, which I have taken these two photo's with, my camera is flat & I cant find the charger, probably haven't unpacked it yet.  There is quite a few boxes still to unpack as I have completely lost interest in that job & so the charger is somewhere with my jeans, which I do need as winter has arrived!

Cotelydon macrantha (& weeds)

 Anyway I have a lot of early photo's on my camera which I do want to add to my blog, so will eventually get it all sorted & organised!

We have had a beautiful rain & all the farmers & a happy chief pilot are all getting very excited for the coming season.  We are above average rainfall in our area, which hasn't happened in a number of years & it is all looking very promising for the crops.

Grevillea grandiflora - amazing growth in first few months, planted from tube stock