At the unfinished end of the Honeyeater Garden, an Eremophila Maculata plant is about to burst into flower and this Eastern Rosella was very interested in the bush. One of three Eastern’s, presumably a family group, the bird in my photographs happened to be right outside the window, giving me a chance to get … Continue reading Eastern Rosella: A closer look
Tag: Garden
Visitors in the Garden
The plants in our Honeyeater Garden are beginning to thicken up, and along with Crimson Rosella, Magpies and Kookaburras, it is now also attracting Red Wattlebirds, the odd Robin and some fast moving tiny birds that I haven’t been able to photograph yet. Also attracted to the garden is the young joey who spends a … Continue reading Visitors in the Garden
The Honeyeater Garden
I’ve mentioned our new honeyeater garden in a few recent posts, so I thought I would tell you a little more about it. The idea began approximately a year ago, when I noticed that all of the flowering plants in our garden were not visible from inside the house. We had plenty of honeyeaters on our … Continue reading The Honeyeater Garden
Crimson Rosella Bathing
Crimson Rosella have claimed the water feature we placed in the middle of our new garden. They use it to bathe in each morning, and it has become their source of drinking water as well. The water feature is the centre of a new garden we are planting, just outside the study window. We’ve chosen … Continue reading Crimson Rosella Bathing
Kookaburra on Water Feature
We’ve been setting up a new garden which has a water feature at the centre – just high enough to be a good vantage point for Kookaburras. The birds have taken to sitting on the top-tier to spy insects and worms in the garden bed below. The photograph above was taken through my study window. … Continue reading Kookaburra on Water Feature
Ornamental Plum Blossom
We have so many eucalypts and native plants with unobtrusive flowers, it feels fantastic when the ornamental plum tree is in full blossom. A real burst of colour which attracts both birds and insects. This week, two Red Wattle Birds have been feeding from the blossoms every day. I’ll post the bird photos tomorrow. Today I … Continue reading Ornamental Plum Blossom
Bougainvillea
Just for the joy of the colour, here is a photograph of the Bougainvillea in our back yard. Most of the bracts have one or two white flowers, but this one has three.
Fuchsia in the Fernery
Most of the plants in our fernery are non-flowering, so these bright Fuchsia flowers caught my attention this week. I couldn’t resist photographing them.
Bread and Butter Pickles
There hasn’t been any posts on self-sufficiency for ages, so I thought I would share my first attempt at pickling. I’ve tried sauces, butters and jams before, but never pickling. We had an excess of cucumbers, and the most common recipe in my cook books for using up cucumbers was ‘Bread and Butter Pickles”. Apparently the … Continue reading Bread and Butter Pickles
Digging up Spuds!
Months and months ago, I found an old bag of seed potatoes that looked past their best. They were all withered and sending out shoots into the air. Although I didn’t hope for much, I decided to put them in the ground to see what happened. Miracle of miracles, they grew! Yesterday, Richard dug … Continue reading Digging up Spuds!
Ivy-leaf Violet (Viola hederacea sensu Willis)
Throughout Spring, and into Summer, we’ve had Ivy-Leaf Violets growing through the grass. Looking down, they just appear as flecks of white and mauve among the green. When photographed, the true beauty of the flower is revealed. In Australia, native violets are often recommended by plant nurseries as a good ground cover plant for cultivated … Continue reading Ivy-leaf Violet (Viola hederacea sensu Willis)
Vegetable Tales
For those of you who have been following the vegetable garden and our attempts to grow our own food, I’m sorry for the long wait. The truth is, we’ve had more failure than success over the past year. Initially the vegetables planted in the greenhouse seemed to be doing very well. When Winter came, we … Continue reading Vegetable Tales
Our Spring Garden
Spring is almost here, and the garden is blooming! In this post, I just wanted to capture the form and colour of some of the flowers in our garden.
Acacia Tree in Bloom
Our Acacia tree is in full bloom at the moment. This tree has obviously been planted by one of the previous owners, and the cheerful yellow blossom stands out against the grey-green eucalypts. I’m enjoying it immensely.
Our Greenhouse Vegetables
Our greenhouse vegetables are growing beautifully. We’ve already harvested and eaten the radishes, which were delicious. The lettuce, carrots and beetroot are developing well, and it won’t be long before we begin to harvest these too. Lettuce and root vegetables are pretty straight forward – plant the seeds, water, and wait. However, the cucumber plant … Continue reading Our Greenhouse Vegetables
Looking for Kangaroos
People who know me well think it is hilarious that I have bought a book called ‘Scats, Tracks and other Traces’ which teaches readers how to identify the various animals which have been active at night, or when they can’t be seen. As indicated by the title of the book, sometimes this involves looking at … Continue reading Looking for Kangaroos
Setting-up the Greenhouse
Over the last couple of weeks, we have began to use the greenhouse. First, to hospitalise plants that were burned in the severe heat, and then to raise seedlings in punnets. Thanks to family help, we also have one of the raised garden beds filled with soil, and have directly planted it with seeds as … Continue reading Setting-up the Greenhouse
Regeneration
In November, when we built our new fence (to form part of the cat enclosure) we had to radically prune a few plants, including the beautiful Banksia Rose, a large daisy bush and the jasmine. In particular, the Banksia Rose was reduced to a stump, and I feared we’d killed it. Less than four … Continue reading Regeneration
Today’s Harvest
I haven’t written about the vegetable garden for a while, but we are enjoying the home-grown produce so much. After a long time of producing a handful of cherry tomatoes, the tomato vine is beginning to flourish. These small tomatoes are packed with full flavour – so much tastier than the ones available in the … Continue reading Today’s Harvest
We have a Greenhouse!
With the exception of the front door, the greenhouse is now built. To put the door on, we need to dig out the area immediately in front of it – the land rises and prevents it from swinging open. The next step will be to build the raised garden beds inside it.
Getting Back to the Greenhouse
This week, we are preparing to construct the greenhouse. After a busy couple of months, we are finally able to focus on this. The timing will be good as it will allow time for seeds to emerge and take root as we come into Autumn. So far, we have the front and the back section … Continue reading Getting Back to the Greenhouse
Swamp Wallaby 2: Ornamental Plum Breakfast
Our bedroom window faces East. Yesterday morning, I had to get up earlier than usual, and I was greeted by a brilliant terracotta coloured sky at sunrise. I got the camera out, intending to capture this brilliant colour, opened the door onto our decking and came face to face with a Swamp Wallaby in the … Continue reading Swamp Wallaby 2: Ornamental Plum Breakfast
A Small Plot
It has surprised me that the path to growing all of our own food has been more difficult than we’d imagined when we arrived. The existing vegetable garden is only small, and when we arrived it was newly planted by the previous owners. An entire half of the vegetable garden is still taken up with … Continue reading A Small Plot
Fallen Fruit: A not-so-happy story
Here the pictures tell the story. Look at the photo’s I posted last week, and compare them with these. I don’t think we are going to get much fruit this year. The fruit trees are only small. From the sharp edged marks in the top of the pears, I think the culprits were parrots. I … Continue reading Fallen Fruit: A not-so-happy story
Fifteen Acres 