Lookin' out my front door

I see growing things!

Post-Script: 3 years on -  this is how it looks March 28, 2019 -

Symmetry

Bought another fake box hedge plant-in-a-pot today, from the Ipswich Buy and Sell Facebook page. It was so cheap!

So now, I have matching sides on my porch! Adds a sort of cache to the old place. As if someone is thinking of it, and trying to make it better. Which I am.

How much better will it all look when it's painted?! (Get rid of that effing blue)

We have the white! (Bougy #2)

It's supposed to shower today, so I took these in the early morning sun (before 8am).

We have white flower centres - which means we finally have proper flowers! I am very pleased as it means this one is ok, and has taken. It's such a pretty colour. Hope it gathers strength over a dormant winter and goes great guns over the fence next Spring.

P.S. It looks so beautiful close-up, but the plant is really still so tiny!!

Update 26 Sept, 2017: (6 months later, with little rain)

It's much bigger now and appears to be growing well.

Update 26 March, 2019 - and hasn't it grown well!Three years on and it has started to look like a garden!

Coral ornament

Spotted this in a junk shop, and loved it. Have been looking at it for weeks. It's real, so it was pricey.

Picked it up yesterday at a super-reduced price. It had a hideous blue base, so I spray-painted it gold. I don't mind the graduated 'ombre' colour effect, although I may fix that later with a different white spray.

These are all over Pinterest, on'styled' bookcases. I'm happy to have it!

Dead lily-pillies

They don't seem to want to grow in my garden. I'm sick of them doing nothing. This is the second one which has carked it.

Out she comes.

Discovered a new creeper - want!

Saw this along the highway as I was motoring to work recently - photos is blurred as I was stuck in a traffic jam, crawling along the road and only had seconds to capture the pic. I was attracted by the colour, and the blooms so high flowering in the bushiness.

Did not recognise it at all. Showed the photo to Mum, who thought it must be a double-headed bougainvillea, but nope, I insisted it was not.

Then, driving locally, I spotted it again, in a front garden.

Decided to park the car, and walk up to get a closer look. What a curious plant - the leaves of a bauhinia (book-tree), and the flowers of a poinciana! Lovely coral colour too.

Did some research and it turns out that it IS a bauhinia - b. galpinii.

So I called Little Pee Dee Nursery and spoke with Esme - she did have some in stock, and Maree will bring them to the Ipswich Sunday Market on Sunday, after Easter. I ordered 2.

So exciting. They grow to a good height. Have plans to use them as more shelter from the road.

They say it's a bit of a weed now in Qld. Well, too bad, as I still like it. It's not yet outlawed, so I'm going for it.

I'm thinking some plumbago will be the final plants I need. I was against them for a while as they can look so scraggly, but I reckon the blue colour will be pretty against all the pinks and reds.

New compost heap

Poor old disused dog cage turned on its side, to accommodate scraps and compost.

What I really need is one of these - on sale at all the Aldi's I imagine, except ours of course. I checked. Nup - not ours. Sigh.

Will go to Bunnings instead.

Passionfruit #1

This one seems not to have done much lately. Maybe the soil is too crappy, although I have been feeding it with seasol and blood and bone from time to time. I notice the occasional leaf goes yellow and falls off. Some mineral must be missing - I'll have to research what it is.

I'll keep regular photo updates here, now and then.

Draftsman

Let's see what he can come up with (visited 19 Jan 2016)

New creepers fruiting - spathe and spadix

from Fleur and Justin's old flat, when they moved out, to their new townhouse in Bardon.

Latest house shots - morning

Ficus #1 progress

It's growing!

Update 3 Oct 2016:

I've had quite a bit of trouble getting these to grow well. When I put them in pots - it's a no-go. They just fester. So, I'm looking now at putting them all free-form in the ground.

This one, in front of the grape-vine (from Anne) is now going great guns, but there have been times, particularly during the winter, when I really thought it might be on it's way out.

However, looking good for now - hope it lasts, and on with the show re-the others. Have to decide where I want them to creep...

I moved the bougainvillea #1

This (in the red circle, in pic) is the first bougainvillea, the el cheapo one ($4) from Bunnings. It 'died' during last winter, then came alive again when summer arrived, and alas has not done much since I planted it next to the passionfruit vine in the garden.

Perhaps, as I always water the p'fruit, it's too wet for the bougy? They prefer drier ground.

So, I moved it today. Next to the honeysuckle (left of it, in these pics). I will be moving the honeysuckle too as it is doing not-very-much where it currently is. The fence might be too hot for it to climb. I reckon the front side fence (facing Jo, my neighbour) might be the place for it to go.

General progress, or how does your garden grow?

Much better, thank you.

Proper flower bracts on this bougy!

And the transplanted 'yesterday, today, tomorrow' plant seems to have adapted to it's new location, although I'm waiting for more flowers (it's getting plenty of water, so what's the problem?)

I'm thinking of clipping the undergrowth and keeping it fuller at the top.

Things that make me happy

Next door's (Andrew and Tracy) poinciana flowering over my garden - a gorgeous thing.

My kitties, sitting in a row, waiting for me to feed them this morning. They like to do things in unison.

The feathery girls who keep me company in the garden, and who make me laugh everyday.

Thanks for the googs, too, girls! I gave 6 to Janette and Bernie, and 4 to John this weekend. At two eggs a day, I can't eat them all myself. And thanks for your poop - the garden loves it.

The view from my kitchen window. Not too shabby, hey?

Simple pleasures! I am so fortunate to have this piece of land, the big sky, fresh air and space around me to grow things. Next project - winter vegies.

Update 21 October 2016: My kitties sitting in the sun before I leave for work!

Tutti and Taffy

The girls sleeping around the place:

High biscuit - IN

John dug the hole this morning and we transplanted this hibiscus into the ground. I wanted it in front of the gate, as it is not a gate I want used. I'll have to set about wiring it closed. The other gate (on my address side) has a gate which whines whenever it's opened - that noise is a useful warning for one someone is coming, and the other double gates are the driveway entrance.

So, this is in. I hope it grows tall and strong as the pink flowers are gorgeous and the position is close to the tibouchina. Together, they will provide a lovely 'block' of vision from the road, giving me more privacy.

Being so exposed (to the main road) as I am at present is a real trial. It's also a reason why I strive to keep the garden neat and tidy (apart from the fact that I like it that way). I couldn't bear 'certain types' to go by thinking 'aha, an unattended garden could mean an unattended house', leading them to break in and steal stuff. That's why I like to be visibly outside doing things, and the company of John and Bernie now and again assists with the impression that I am not on my own. One has to be so careful, especially in certain locations.

The address side gate -

Tidy garden, happy person

I knocked myself out this weekend to get the grass mown after the mower had been out of action for over a week. Apparently it had water in the carbie - I need to ensure the mower is stored under cover. Also, they (Griffiths Mowers - good crowd of guys there) suggested I use a plastic storage container for the fuel, rather than a metal one, as the metal 'sweats' they say. I would have thought the other way round (the plastic sweats), but there you are.

So, I got a little more fuel and will dispense with the tin container shortly. At least the grass was mown and I put in about 3 hours this morning pulling weeds along the edges - oh, for a whipper snipper. It's first on my ;garden-buys' list. It will save me so much time, and I expect it to bring me much satisfaction in terms of quick and 'easy' (relative to pulling by hand) weeding. I plan to get one from Griffiths Mowers as their sales and service is fab.

Finished product - we need some rain to green up that grass.

Yes, I hate the power poles. And yes that's correct - there are weeds over the driveway pavers. Weed sprays have not worked. As the pavers will be all dug up soon, it doesn't really bother me, although I'm going to try the 'boiling water' approach soon to see if that gets rid of some of them (and make the pavers easier to get out).

And what to put in the big brown pots (which need a concrete base first, to support their weight)? Bird of paradise is pleasant but can look so messy. 

Frangi's maybe? 

Or how about ficus benjamina which can be shaped into, well, shapes? See below.