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The End Of Our Glorious Winter Draws Near

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:11 am

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Here in the southern hemisphere we're over halfway through our last month of Winter. Whilst that might be cause for rejoicing further south in Oz, here in the north we're a little saddened by the thought.

Springtime here is the beginning of the end of the fantastic cool, clear sunny Winter days and the beginning of the plunge into the horrid Summer temperatures and humidity levels. Ah well, it's time to enjoy every minute of the little Wintertime that's left.


Spot fires out in the surrounding bushland ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There were just a few little hot spots left burning the weekend after the bushfire swept through the hill opposite our property. Now all spots are dead and gone, so the threat is completely over.


Euphoriba pulcherrima and Salvia splendens hybrid ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Out in the garden I've been doing quite a bit of hand-watering, as it's our dry season here, and the drying winds have whipped again. I don't mind spending time watering though. To me it's the most relaxing time of the day.

While I'm out there I'm seeing the lovely flowers of the Poinsettias and Salvias seen above,


Scutellaria suffrutescens or Pink Texas Skullcap ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the Scutellaria suffrutescens,


Pentas lanceolata ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the Pentas,


Gazania rigens ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the Gazanias,


unknown variety of Begonia ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the Begonias,


Calliandra haematocephala or Red Powder Puff ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

the Calliandras


Rhododendron simsii or Azalea ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

and the Azaleas.

There are however some flowers or plants that are suddenly missing from my garden. Just last week I had noticed there was something wrong with the lowest tier of the rock garden beds. My patch of Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' appeared to have been eaten.


Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Supposedly, the branches of this plant are poisonous if ingested. The sap is rather nasty. Well apparently this problem does not apply to ravenous wallabies who are finding it difficult to locate grass to eat in the dry season. They literally ate the whole shrub, which was standing at around half a metre in height.

I then started noticing branches missing from the potted Euphorbias up on my courtyard garden. Well, I couldn't have that, so I barricaded the courtyard. Or so I thought. Wallabies should never be underestimated when they hungry and they find something rather delectable to their taste buds.


Potted Azalea and potted Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' with Wrightia ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The photo above shows not just the blooming Azalea, but also the Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' in its full glory to the left, filling out the pot with my Wrightia. It was looking fantastic for months! Well, despite my best efforts to protect this delicious plant over the last week or so, it's been nibbled down to ugly little stumps.

The wallabies also found my other Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' potted up with a Justicia carnea ... which apparently is not all that tasty!! Then I found my poor Gomphrenas. Obviously the stems are delicious, but the flowerheads not so tasty! They were nibbled off and strewn around the pavers. Wallabies, apparently have discerning tastes!

The Gazania flowers are not good enough either, but the leaves are to-die-for! I now only have little stumps left of my newly planted Gazanias out in the new rock garden bed.

I've been sticking up for the Agile Wallabies for ages now. Whenever anyone asks whether they are pests in my garden ... destructive little creatures ... I have always said 'NO!' Well that's all changed now. I'm no longer such a huge fan! Shame on you, you thief! So ... feeling a little funny in the tummy?


Agile Wallaby having a rest ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Thankfully, there is a little bit of good news from my garden and I can end on a more cheery note. There's actually a bloom appearing for the very first time on my Callistemon 'Pink Champagne', which has been in the ground now for almost two years and has done very, very little. But now there is the promise of lovely blooms to come.


Callistemon 'Pink Champagne' ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


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Flowers On Friday ... last winter month Downunder - Aug 2011

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 12:07 am

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I'm just sharing a few of the blooms around my garden on this first Friday in our last winter month.

One of my favourites right now is my Dietes bicolor. These are such lovely flowers.


Dietes bicolor ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Another gorgeous bloom is Dianthera nodosa or Pink Lady Fingers.


Dianthera nodosa or Pink Lady Fingers ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's a few red-flowering Hibiscus continuing with their year-round display.


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - double ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Then there's the fabulous Bracteantha bracteata or Everlasting Daisies. Some may know them as Paper Daisies or Straw Daisies.


Bracteanta bracteata or Paper Daisies ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's also a few blooms appearing on my different Bougainvillea plants.


Bougainvillea - dwarf variegated ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Bougainvillea - dwarf variegated ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The pleasant sunny mild winter weather continues here in the north-east of Australia. We had a light shower of rain last night which was refreshing but didn't do much for the garden. It's our 'dry' season here and rain is very sparse and light.

So to some more flowers ... just click on the link below.

http://youtu.be/0gKxUrEXCr4




















Last edited: Fri Aug 05, 2011 12:08 am

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Change Is In The Wind - July 2011

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:56 am

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Our last winter month begins August 1st, and our winter weather so far has been deliciously mild. Lots of lovely sunny, fairly clear, blue-sky days. Of course, our 'dry' season is well underway and there's been no rain.


View over the hills ... July, mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

So this was the view as I worked in my thongs and t-shirt in the front yard this past weekend. ('Thongs' being footwear, people!!!)

It's been a busy time in the garden here during the month of July. I've done such a lot of trimming back and clearing out in various spots around the place. As I mentioned in a couple of my last blog posts, I've managed to finish the cleaning up jobs so badly needed in both the Outdoor Tiered Garden Beds and the Shadehouse Garden, so they are both looking fairly decent once more.

There's a couple of little apparent changes right there, but there are a few others around the place.

We had a Category 5 tropical cyclone thrash its way through our area in February this year. That's the highest rating for a cyclone and it was the highest rated one to ever hit our coastline. Our place coped some damage, particularly many of the very tall trees and shrubs down our long driveway. These are slowly continuing on with their recovery and new growth.

There's a little more growth on my beloved white Bauhinia. It was a large tree, over 15 feet tall. It was felled during Cyclone Yasi and the root ball was almost completely ripped out of the ground.


White Bauhinia in recovery after being felled during Cyclone Yasi ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There were 16 stands of Duranta repens shrubs down our driveway which all stood at around 10 feet or a little more. They were all either felled or significantly damaged and had most branches ripped off. All were cut back to stumps and are slowly coming back. I have lost one though.


Duranta repens ... post-cyclone recovery ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's a few flowers on the non-cyclone damaged half of my Tabebuia impetiginosa. This tree is usually covered in flowers at this time of year.


Tabebuia impetiginosa - post-cyclone recovery ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It is lovely to see just a few of the Tab's lovely flowers though.


Tabebuia impetiginosa flowers ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Whilst there are no gorgeous white flowers on my white Bauhinia, which is also usually covered in blooms during winter, at least there are blooms on the white Bauhinia leaning over the driveway fence from my neighbour's yard.


Bauhinia variegata 'Alba' - White Bauhinia Tree ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It's a delight to get to see a few of the usual winter blooms down the driveway even if it's not the usual display or in the usual places.

One of the other delights that I found down the driveway after the cyclone clean-up was a scraggly ugly looking Hibiscus that had been struggling to grow under a huge Duranta repens. With the drastic cut-back of the Duranta, the Hibiscus has once again become rather a looker!


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - double ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

I'm loving the new blooms that have started appearing on this re-vitalised Hibiscus shrub. They look like doubles to me. None of my other Hibiscus have double blooms, so this shrub will be receiving some special attention from now on.

Now to the garden beds down the hill driveway. There are a couple of deciduous Plumerias growing in that area and for the first time in at least fifteen years, these trees are receiving full sun once again. They had been permanently shaded by the canopy of my other neighbour's very tall 30 foot trees, but nearly every single one of those trees has now been chopped down as a result of the damage inflicted by Cyclone Yasi.

Here's the hill driveway garden bed early last year ...

Hill Driveway 2010 ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

... and here it is this year.


Hill Driveway 2011 ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

You can see there's a huge difference in the conditions. So, as a result of this loss of canopy, I'm expecting the Plumerias to put on a fabulous flowering display later this year. I'm hoping they will be absolutely covered in blooms for the first time since we moved into this property.

Of course, with this loss of canopy the underlying ferns in my ferny grove are now also exposed to almost full sun. While this isn't such a big deal during our winter, I'm a little concerned how they will fare during the summer at the end of the year. I'm hoping that the two Cadaghi Gums that are growing in that bed will be fully recovered from their cyclone ordeal and have full canopy cover by that time.

Righto ... onto another little area of change.


Front garden bed and cyclone damaged house ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The front garden beds had become very overgrown and needed a good clean-up. There was a more pressing reason for the clean-up though. We've finally got the go-ahead for the repair work to commence on all the cyclone damage around our place, including the damage to the front verandah hood. We've been living with the hood draped down over the garden beds ever since Cyclone Yasi hit in February. So, to enable the workmen to access this spot, those Acalyphas needed cutting back.


Acalyphas in front garden bed trimmed back ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Much better ... now it should be a whole lot easier for workmen to get in to fix the damage.

Aah ... now this photo shows clearly what happens to our place during the 'dry' season. Notice the brown grass cover all over the front yard. We're not in drought ... that's just what our place typically looks like during the seven to nine month 'dry' season we have here every year.

I know there are gardeners out there who complain bitterly when it doesn't rain for a month or two, and they start talking about a 'drought'. For many Australian gardeners, those conditions would not come anywhere near what we would call a 'drought'.

Months without rain for many of us is just the 'dry'. Years without decent rain is 'drought'. Now I know, it's horses for courses. Months without rain is definitely drought for some, but I use the term very differently for a vastly different situation.

On the other side of the front garden, I got in and did a lot of weeding and trimming. The Russelia was getting out of control and the shrubs needed a little snip here and there.


Large Front Garden Bed - 'dry' season ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

(Notice the patch of green resulting from watering run-off. That patch is my one and only patch of green in the yard at the moment.)

Everything is doing quite well in that bed.


The old red-flowering Hibisbus rosa-sinensis ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The old, old red-flowering Hibiscus rosa-sinensis out the front is recovering from cyclone damage rather slowly. The Allamanada cathartica 'Sunee' just needed a trim back (it's not flowering right now), and the Mussaenda philippica 'Bangkok Rose' is recovering slowly but is showing new growth.


Azalea in front garden bed - unknown variety ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The dwarf Azalea is carrying on with it's usual winter display (it hasn't missed a beat this year),
and finally the Hibiscus rosa-sinensi 'Snowflake' and the 'Roseflake' beside it, but not in the shot, are both doing very well ... tough as old boots those pair.


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Snowflake' ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Now out in the Courtyard Garden I finished all the potting up and things are going along quite nicely.


Courtyard Garden - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Courtyard Garden - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

All the annuals are starting to do their thing and I'm looking forward to a better show of flowers as we get closer to Spring. I did re-arrange some of the pots because of the changing light conditions in winter out there, and everything seems quite happy in their new position.


Potted plants in the courtyard garden - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Courtyard Garden view - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There will be quite a big change coming up very soon for my Courtyard Garden. As I mentioned earlier in this post, the repair work will be commencing soon on all those things damaged by the aforementioned cyclone. One of the major works will be the replacement of our pergola out in the courtyard.


Courtyard Garden - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

As you can see the wooden perogla is quite a large structure ... and you might notice that there's a considerable lean to the posts. The pergola was left leaning quite dramatically from the force of the cyclonic winds and the structure is no longer considered all that safe.

Presently, the entire pergola is covered in Jasminum officinale. There's also quite huge plantings of Hibiscus schizopetalus at two ends, a planting of another climber Petrea volubilis and an Allamanda cathartica. All of these will have to be chopped down ... yes I finally said it out loud! The thought of this has been weighing on my mind for some time now, but unfortunately it's a necessary evil in order to fix the damage.

I'm not looking forward to the disruption and mess that will be needed during the destruction and then construction work. I know it's necessary, but it's going to alter the look of my favourite garden space for quite some time to come. The newly constructed pergola will look rather bare and ugly to my eyes until that Jasmine gets growing once more ... and I know that will take a long time. So, for now, I'm out there every spare second just enjoying the space as it is before the workmen arrive.


Potted plants in the courtyard garden - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Courtyard Garden view - July 2011 mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

So, there you have it ... little changes and some big changes are afoot at my place. Never a dull moment!



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Mid-Winter Burn-Offs In The Surrounding Ranges And Bushland

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:08 am

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Only a couple of days left in this mid-Winter month of July and the weather continues to be sunny and mild.


Mid-Winter Sky (July) ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

In the last couple of weeks there have been some controlled burn-offs around our city, including one that was set at the base of the ranges that surround my home. These controlled burn-offs are a common sight here in winter, especially after a long and intense wet season. They are deliberately lit by council workers and our Fire Service, who work together in an effort to reduce the risk of wildfires and maintain fire breaks around our city.

This year's wet season created a lot of huge amount of grass growing on the hill slopes, and after the cyclones we experienced as well, there was also a lot of debris laying on the ground from broken branches and fallen trees. Now that we are in our drier months, the risk of bushfire is quite high. Summertime is not the only time of year here when there is danger of fire.

As I left work during the week I could see the burn-off in the distance in the outlying ranges where I live. So here's the view as I travel the 30 kilometres towards my home from my workplace.

Just left work ... and I'm heading towards my home in those hills in the distance.


Heading home looking at burn-off ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

A bit further on now ... and I'm on the highway going south.


Heading home down the highway watching the plume of smoke ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

I've turned off the highway now and I'm heading into my outlying rural suburb that sits at the foot of this extensive system of ranges.


Heading into our suburb and getting nearer to the burn-off ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The fire is actually a few kilometres away from our suburb here in the foothills and will not reach us.


Getting closer to my home and that plume of smoke looks huge ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It will continue to burn for a couple weeks as it makes its way through the mountain ranges in the background. Luckily for us, the prevailing wind is blowing in the other direction.

When I reach my home in amongst the foothills to the right of the photo above, I can no longer actually see the bushfire from my property. There was however a tinge of red over the landscape as the sun set.


Sunset in mid-Winter ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )





Last edited: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:41 am

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Flowers On Friday ...mid-Winter Downunder - July 2011

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:48 am

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Let's see what's in flower this mid-Winter's Friday here at my place here in the north-east of Australia. As I don't really have lovely garden beds or borders, there won't be vista shots or garden views. I can however show off some of the blooms on display right now on the potted plants or shrubs out in my garden.

In the courtyard, I'm very pleased to finally see the bracts and flowers of this dwarf variegated Bougainvillea.


Dwarf variegated Bougainvillea ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It has done nothing for nearly a year now, other than sit quite happily in a huge container under an Aralia. It's the slowest growing plant I think I've ever had. But, despite being quite short and stunted, this climber is showing its first bracts. They start off as white, then they develop a pink tinge around the edges. The flowers are in the middle and remain closed today.


Lonicera japonica or Japanese Honeysuckle ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The Lonicera japonica or Japanese Honeysuckle, which was a new plant this year, has showed it's first spray of flowers. These dainty tubular flowers begin as pure white in colour and then turn a buttery yellow. They are gorgeous and have such a beautiful fragrance. I can't believe this little plant has already flowered.


Impatiens hawkeri 'Celebrette' series ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There are blooms appearing on the two Impatiens hawkeri or New Guinea Impatiens I planted under the Cycas revoluta a little while ago. Both these New Guinea Impatiens are from the 'Celebrette' series, but I can't remember the specific varietal name. They do have these lovely pale pink blooms with a darker pink blush.


Pelargonium 'Caliente' series ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

My great survivor of the horrid 'wet' season, a Pelargonium from the 'Caliente' series (again I don't know the specific varietal name), is still throwing up lovely flower sprays.


Salvia splendens 'Dusky Hues' series ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

My favourite Salvia splendens hybrids, the 'Dusky Hues' series is starting to grow taller and taller. Fabulous colours!


Rhododendron simsii or Azalea indica ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The winter-blooming Rhododendron simsii or Azalea indica is gradually showing more and more blooms.


Impatiens hawkeri or New Guinea Impatiens ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

In the shadehouse, my white Impatiens hawkeri is finally blooming again.


Aechmea gamosepala or Matchstick Bromeliad ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The Aechmea gamosepala or Matchstick Bromeliad still has its' one lovely flower spike.


Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Roseflake' ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's always a Hibiscus flower to be seen somewhere in the garden. This is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Roseflake'.


unknown Azalea ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

This winter-blooming Azalea shrub is putting on a very pretty display right now. I'm not sure of the varietal name for this, but someone suggested it could possibly be a Satsuki Azalea as it is a dwarf-sized shrub and has never grown any taller than a metre in height. Whatever it is, it's a welcome sight in our winter time.


Pentas lanceolata ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

There's also always Pentas blooms somewhere to be seen.


Euphorbia pulcherrima - dwarf white ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )


Euphorbia pulcherrima - dwarf pink ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The Euphorbia pulcherrimas continue to bloom.


Torenia fournieri or Wishbone Flower ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Finally, my favourite Torenia fournieri is blooming again.




Last edited: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:41 am

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Trimming And Yanking In The Tiered Garden Beds - July 2011

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:25 am

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In the last week of my mid-semester break, not only did I complete a huge clean-up in my shadehouse garden (see my last blog post - http://www.gardenstew.com/blog/e13149-1-mess-and-mayhem-in-my-shadehouse-garden.html) I also managed to finish another job that had been on the to-do list and had temporarily put aside while I was struck down with some horrid virus.

So, after managing to do what was needed out in the shadehouse, I went out with gardening shears in hand, determined to do battle with the tiered front garden beds.

One particular side of this tiered garden bed, the side that's tucked up next to the shadehouse garden, has what I call my tiered rock garden. This side was looking totally wild and woolly after our wet season. The Salvia madrensis looked like it was infested with huge woolly caterpillars and needed a short-back-and-sides, and the Giant Sword Fern needed yanking out.

This is the before shot:


Overgrown tiered rock garden bed ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

So many of plants in this middle tier were completely swamped by the Salvia and the Ferns. After some trimming and yanking it looked more like this:


After the tidy up in the middle tier of the tiered rock garden bed ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

With the Salvia and Giant Sword Fern tamed, a few of the other plants like that lovely variegated Ixora and the Turnera ulmifolia behind it, finally get to see some sunshine.

While I was out there working away on these tiered rock garden beds, I found something surprising. There was a Kalanchoe blossfeldiana that had somehow survived the the torrent of water that rushed through this part of the property during our wet season earlier in the year.


Kalanchoe blossfeldiana ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It was one of the little bits that I had broken off from the parent plant and just stuck in the soil hoping it would take. The parent gave up long ago, and many of the other little slips I shoved in the dirt had never even started, but this lone little thing had somehow taken. It had almost become squashed in the midst of my weeding and whacking frenzy, but luckily I spotted it in time. I have to give this survivor full credit for getting through or summer and autumn conditions, and then showing off its first blooms for our winter.

Then I moved onto the other section of tiers. Next to the tiered rock garden, there are two more tiers which are edged with red blocks. This area also needed a little bit of work. The photo below shows the 'after clean-up' view.


A section of the tiered block garden beds ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

While I was pulling out some clumps of the enormous Giant Sword Fern in this section, I spotted this!


Dietes bicolor ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

It was just on a year ago now that my husband bought home a poor little piece of this Dietes that he'd noticed growing in the garden bed at his workplace. He'd thought I would probably love it and ripped out a piece.

I prompty shoved it in a spot on the middle tier and forgot about it, not expecting it to do anything really as the poor thing had been yanked out without any care whatsoever. It had a tiny little straggley piece of root on it and that was all. I hadn't really noticed it in amongst the ferns that had taken over, and just like the Kalanchoe, I was not expecting it to survive the river of water that swept over the tiers for weeks and weeks. But ... there it was!


Dietes bicolor ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

That, however, was not the end of the surprises. I decided I'd better move the Bletilla striata from the top rock garden tier. The poor Bletilla really clashed with the other plants around it, especially my orange Iris domestica. So it needed to be moved down to one of the tiers in the red block section where it was amongst friends like the lovely Angelonia, Scaevola and blue Salvia.

As I was preparing a little spot for the Bletilla, I noticed that a slip of Inky Fingers Coleus that had broken off the parent plant and had been shoved into the soil at the back of this tier, had also taken off and was looking very fine indeed.


Inky Fingers Coleus ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

By now I was eager to get some plants that had been languishing in pots in my shadehouse garden out into the soil and light of the tiered garden beds. I planted up my Toad Lily right next to the Bletilla.

My pink Justicia brandegeana, or pink Shrimp Plant, was planted in the top rock garden tier, along with a little bit of bracken fern, a red Salvia and a little red Gerbera. Grow little babies, grow!


Shrimp Plant, Salvia, Gerbera, Fern newly planted in top tier ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

These new plants are at the front of this garden bed and are surrounded by my Hemerocallis 'Wedding Band', an Iris domestica and an Iresine herbstii, which got a great trim and tidy up.

In the neighbouring top tier, a pink Brugmansia and Pentas were planted


Brugmansia and Pentas newly planted in top tier ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

in front of the Aralia 'Firestorm', the young Lagerstroemia indica and the pink Euphorbia pulcherrima. I came back later and planted some Salvia splendens in there as well.

I'm more and more pleased with how the two top tiers are looking these days. I can't wait for that patch of Hemerocallis to bloom in the spring.


Top tier of the tiered block garden beds ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )





Last edited: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:39 am

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Mess And Mayhem In My Shadehouse Garden - July 2011

Category: My Dry Tropics Garden | Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:38 am

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Last week was the final week of my mid-semester break and before the holidays I had made plans about just how I was going to spend the fortnight. Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans. Some vile virus caught up with me and I was down for the count for around 10 days.

As the last week of my break approached the halfway mark, my craving to be out doing some decent work in the garden took over completely and I decided I just had to do something on the list. It was time to tackle the disaster that was the Shadehouse Garden.


Overgrown mess in the shadehouse ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

The Alocasia macrorrhiza or Giant Elephant's Ear was living up to its name and was about ready to lift the shadecloth roof. The Giant Sword Fern was in the midst of a take-over of the entire area. The poor Impatiens walleriana in the hanging baskets were swamped and bobbing up for air, and the plants growing around the clumps of Giant Sword Fern in the beds were almost invisible.


Trimming back in the shadehouse ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

So the mayhem began. First, I had to take out the potted plants that were sitting in these garden beds. It was a real struggle getting some of them out of their spots. They had become so root-bound that the roots had escaped through the holes in the bottom of the pots and had anchored themselves into the ground. It took some pushing and pulling to yank the pots out. Every single potted plant needed to be re-potted.

My Costus productus or Orange Spiral Ginger was potted up into a much larger pot with some Frittonia 'Red Vein'. My Costus speciosus variegata or Variegated Crepe Ginger was given a bigger pot to play around in, as were my Calatheas, Alpinia vittata and Anthurium.

I then cut most of the massive leaves off the Alocasia amazonica, leaving just one upright leaf. After that, I spent the rest of the day just hacking away at the enormous fronds of the Giant Sword Fern and trimming back all the clumps of Neomarica longifolia. Eventually the wilderness was tamed. Now I'm able to wander up and down without the need to take a hatchet with me to hack a pathway through the jungle.


Shadehouse Garden tidied up ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )



Potted plants back in place in the Shadehouse Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )



Order restored in the Shadehouse Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )



All tidied up in the Shadehouse Garden ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )





Last edited: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:40 am

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