Saturday 7 June 2008

TO LOOK and TO SEE


Reaching for the sky...



Melealeuca, Paperbark, When this tree is in flower it swarms with insects and a tiny native bee, crazy for its nectar and pollen. The flowers look like bottlebrushes each bud bursts into a myriad of stamens.



The pleated leaf of a native, small palm. It produces also tiny yellow flowers at the base. The rain collects in the folds and emphasizes the rich green colour.



New tender leaves and still tightly wrapped Rosebud displaying their vulnerability.. Rose Seduction.

Pond mirrors sky and palms...






Tillandsia, Epiphytes, 0r air plants.
They harvest all their nutrients from the air through their leaves. The roots are only for ankering. They don't need soil.
The second one I "planted" recently between the fork of this Clarence River Baeckia an Australian native plant. To protect its roots until it is established I wrapped the smallest Tillandsia, spanish moss around it.
The grey tillandsia lives since many years on this tree and all I do is seperate one of the babies and replant it.
They are the most undemanding plants. They also reward you for doing nothing with the most beautiful and unusual flowers.




The contemporary structure of a succulent. Beautifully formed and coloured a powdery, antique blue


The salad plant Rocket has finely textured, purple veined flowers...I let it set seed for my next crop.


Rue, a beautiful Herb, I use its colourings and lacy habit in the ornamental garden. It sends out yellow flowers in spring/summer. The colour doesn't fit the blue grey leaves. I am generally generous in accepting natures hues she has intended for plants, not with this one, the flowers are snipped off...


A closer look at the flower of Banksia ericifolia. I have nothing else then admiration for this plant and flower. The seed pods are just as attractive. They need to be set on fire before they open to release their seed.

The flora of Australia is a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus - gum trees), and Fabaceae (Acacia - wattle).
The settlement of Australia by Indigenous Australians more than 40,000 years ago, and by Europeans from 1788, has had a significant impact on the flora. The use of fire-stick farming by the Aborigines led to significant changes in the distribution of plant species over time, and the large-scale modification or destruction of vegetation for agriculture and urban development since 1788 has altered the composition of most terrestrial ecosystems, leading to the extinction of 61 plant species and endangering over 1000 more. Wikipedia



Euphorbia milii are among my favourites. Why? Because they don't give me any headaches they are so easy to look after. See, how the flowers have collected raindrops in their little cups. Once the flower has fully opened it lays flat. They also change colour if you look closely you see different hues...

Euphorbia - Euphorbus was the Greek physician of King Juba II (about 50 BC to 19 AD) of Numidia (present day Algeria). King Juba II was the first person to find a succulent-type Euphorbia, and he named it after his physician. Milii - named for Baron Milius, once governor of the island of Bourbon, who introduced the species into cultivation in France in 1821.

Gazanias start to flower into winter. This one has already provided a meal, I think for a grasshopper, I saw a big one loitering...and waiting...

Golden fern is indigenous to Queensland. The new fronds have subtle gold colouring, while the underside looks powdery golden. It is a wonderful fern that establishes itself in the understory in the shade garden, it is not invasive, like fishbone ferns which establish quickly. They are very attractive too but just to fast and one has to be vigilant to catch them before they have taken over the garden!

This silvery pink has become one of my colours in the garden. I bought this Camellia as a sasanqua but it has turned out to be a japonica. It is very free flowering, one of the first to flower and keeps on doing so for ages. It has never had a disease, doesn't get a special treatment or fertilizers. I think it is one of the plants that thrive on neglect or it has unintentionally received the best seat in the garden...

Aloe "Spotty" (psst...it is not its name, don't tell it,) a succulent that never lets me down. It doesn't need to be watered, nor to be pruned. The only work, to cut its spend flowerstalks.
Look and see luscious green with randomly placed white spots and small decorative teeth isn't beautiful?

The teeny weeny flowers of Bougainvillea are said to be insignificant. I don't think so. When one looks closely one sees very intricate tiny blooms and they enhance the showy bracts especially here with "Pedro".

Varigated Bromeliad. Designer "stuff" the small spider is impressed...



Silvery pink "Dreamtime" cross Azalea/Rhododendron. This shrub is nearly 20 years old. It flowers heavily and heavenly twice a year. It is a massive plant and I have made many cuttings to give away. I have also planted many in the garden.


Believe it or not: Every cloud has a silver lining.



I mulch my garden.

There are many benefits of mulching:
reduced weed growth
reduced drying out and surface crusting of soil
reduced water loss and erosion
improve soil conditions and healthier plants
encouragement for earth worms and other beneficial organisms.







































































All photos are taken in my garden.






Blog Copyright T.S. Yesterdaytodayandtomorrow in my garden.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trudi,
Your garden is so unique. You can grow so many interesting plants! Very cool! Your posts are very educational. What kind of rainfall do you recieve?
jenn

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Thank you jenn for your visit and your message. The rainfall on the Gold Coast is very variable. General rainfall is in the 800-1200mm range and it depends on the temporal patterns. Australia is the driest inhabited Continent, only Antarctica receives less rainfall!

xxxxx said...

Thank you for a great visit to Queensland. I grow bromeliads, too...but they have to come indoors for the winter here. You have some beauties.

Marie said...

Thank you for your open garden gate! Beautiful photos from your garden! Gorgeous roses in an other post too.

Have a nice day :)

Laura said...

Beautiful blooms and foliage. I love the picture. The way you take them really showcases the unusual colours and textures. Well done! Thats sure one cutie pie at the top!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Margaret thank you for your visit and your message.)

Marie, it is always nice to have you visiting and thank you for your kind words.)

Thank you Laura, I appreciate your message. The cutie pie is my five year old grand daughter, Fabrizia.

LadyLuz said...

Titania. So many interesting and beautiful things in your garden. I've just caught up with your last few postings. Is the melaleuca the same plant that yields tea tree oil? Much prized for its anti bacterial, anti fungal properties.

Thanks too for the all the great tips you give. We shall be looking out for clay based cat litter and give it a try for cuttings.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

ladyluz thank you for your message.
Teatree oil is distilled from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia. Oil can also be extracted from others like M.dissitifolia or linarifolia (mine). I think the most beautiful of them all is the weeping M. leucadendra. Yes the oil is very beneficial. Sunlotion with a little M.oil added makes a great rub against mosquitos for humans and animals.

Kerri said...

How I'd love to stroll with you through your garden in person, Trudi. However, seeing your lovely photos and reading your descriptions is the next best thing. You have so many wonderful and interesting plants!
I appreciate the educational value of your posts too. You teach me so much :)
The pink shades of the camellia and Azalea are incredibly beautiful!

Unknown said...

hi mom
i am so exited by ur garden beauty .and i would love to receive ur mails in fizfizan@gmail.com
i am an indian _kerala .we too have marvellous flowers like urs .
ur garden is a heaven on earth.congrats for this effort and may god bless u and ur family.
jasmin