How the front fence should look

These palm garden pics are from Booval Shopping Fair. I want the front fence to look like this, with wide garden beds. I have palms to plant but with no rain for so long, the ground is like concrete - not the best time to be sculpting out garden arrangements.

Pink trumpet tree

I bought one of these online from Daley's fruit nursery (NSW), and they sent it. I put it in the front but it will have to be moved, I think, so that the display is used more to block the traffic from viewing the front of the house. It's situated currently a bit more 'round the corner' where it's usefulness will not be quite as advantageous. Actually, maybe not - the trunk is spindly, so perhaps it can stay where it is.

It's only tiny just now but hopefully will grow like one of the lovely specimens I have seen around, especially at Oxley.

The Oxley lovely (outside Mr Sparky's electrical):

Update 22 March 2019 - It died some time ago, but I am going to try again. Closest nursery that has it is in Kenmore.

Mum's red parrot tree

When outside watering this morning, I happened to notice the noise from across the road, from birds in the trees. Mum's red parrot tree is flowering - the birds love it! Me going to get one of those (not sure where to plant it yet), but not until the rains make the ground a bit more receptive.

The red flowers at the top are a lovely rich colour. Hers has been trimmed to an uneven shape (that's Mum for you), but I like the balanced look (see example below). It's also a fairly low-brancher, so I think I will plant to block the road-view from the house.

I have asked for one, when they become available through Daley's Nursery:

Ixora

The orange ixora next door is tall and flowering - mine is barely hanging on. I water it a lot - maybe they prefer it drier? I don't think next door water theirs at all. Maybe mine is a dwarf variety? Maybe the 'pink malay' colour does not do as well? The orange and red varieties are the ones that seem to proliferate all over town. Hmmm.

This is theirs.

Sorted a bunk

Mum gave me a single mattress which had been in one of the spare rooms - bed frames since collapsed.

I took it for the top bunk, and got around today to putting it together. Shame about the rest of the room, but...baby steps. I'm now a wee bit closer to getting the room sorted. It just takes so much time - the time I am usually required at work, actually!!

How nice it will be to have all this done. I've yet to re-arrange the pics on the wall properly. They look a bit haphazard here.

Duranta flowers

Am trimming up the back utility walk, cutting the overhanging trees from next door. It's a huge messy job in the heat. I wish they would cut them down.

Plenty of mess from the duranta trees, but the cute tiny purple flowers are pretty.

Spring clean for the chookie house

Big job. Messy. I've put the used straw and sawdust on the garden beds, and around the trees as mulch.

I've removed the covers which keep them warm at night, and am giving it a good air-out. I sprayed it with insect killer too. Hopefully that will kill some of the mites. I'm hoping the dry air might obliterate the rest.

Will put clean sawdust on later this afternoon, and close it up for them. Poor girls - they really need a new house, and I'm looking for a good one online and at Bunnings. Would prefer a plastic one which can be cleaned and disinfected but most of them are of fir-wood - which apparently is cheap and nasty. Also, Bernie put a good corrugated-iron top on this one and I am reluctant to let it go to waste. Maybe when I get new chooks?

My three lazy girls

It's been so hot lately that the girls have just stretched out during the hottest parts of the day, and taken it easy! So far, we are 3 months without a scrap of rain. The garden is suffering.

Crimson red frangi

The first hints at the colours of the frangis in the front - this one I think was given me from the folks who lived at the back, Tracey and Andrew, just as I moved in. They moved to Harvey Bay.

I love this unusual colour.

First little grapes!

From Dirk's grapevine - the first little clump of tiny grapes. So exciting to see!

Hard to get a good focus as they are still so small! But I was surprised to see them, and very pleased.

I also trimmed (29 Sept) the back walk of overhanging branches of hibiscus and duranta, as they make so much mess when they drop leaves and berries.

It gives the grape vine a chance to get a lot of sun. Wheelbarrow full of clippings! I've yet to add some extra support between the rafters for the new growth on the grapevine.

I later put the clippings in the bin, to go out with the rubbish collection next week. I wish I had a chipper, so I could make mulch out of it all.

Red geranium from Sonia Jones

I managed to get a cutting growing from Mum's geraniums which she got from Sonia Jones, Desmond's third wife. They live in Childers.

This is such a pretty, rich red flower. I have it shoved in a pot just now with old petunias, and some struggling portulacca.

New veggies in

Some lettuce and beef-eater tomatoes. I put in some snow peas, but I really think it's too hot for them at the moment to grow well (despite my watering).

No pic of the snow peas, as they look almost dead.

Mum's blue plumbago

...is huge and flowering so well at the moment - must be the 'great dry'.

I picked some for a vase at home -

Galpinii and honeysuckle - looking fine + update

Growing on my back fence.

And a cheeky morning visitor, after some crusts I had put out yesterday, and moistened with the hose when I was watering last evening.

Update: 30 Sept 2017 -

Two and half red flowers (at once) on the galpinii this morning. Most yet.

28 Oct (below) - thickening up nicely, and both flowering well.

14 Nov 2017:

Crepe myrtle shoots again - twice in one year? + update

I think our spring has come much too hot, too early. My crepe myrtle at the front has decided to shoot again - and it was only February this year when it did last time.

Here's the latest shoots:

Little bit blurry but my camera (on phone) couldn't quite get focused and the sun was shining in such a way that I couldn't see, PLUS my eyes were affected by blepharitis this week).

My blepharitis:

Crepe myrtle shoots update: 2 Oct 2017:

Looking healthy at the moment, hope the current rain will make it even better.