September 2012 garden update

Wake up sleepy-twigs, spring is here.



Borage self seeds throughout the garden.  I let it do its thing. Since the recent Big Wet the plants are much larger than they used to be, with more flowers per plant. I use the flowers and leaves in drinks and in salads. The leaves taste like cucumber and the flowers are sweet and taste of honey.


Where does the path go?  Winding paths gives a sense of mystery and romance to any garden.


There are about 1350 species of Acacia (aka Wattles) throughout the world, and about 1000 are native to Australia. Here are two of them.  Both are large trees, but with different coloured and shaped flowers.

A. floribunda Gossamer Wattle
A. saligna Golden Wreath Wattle, Orange Wattle

While enjoying the spring sunshine, I think Potter must be nostalgically recalling a Time Gone By when there was a soft lawn to lie on and pee on. 

Behind Potter to the left of the photo is a tree stump. It is the last in a row of Leptospernum morissonii. This shows how I have become sensible, cautious and conservative, or maybe just tired and lazy. The stump was a lovely shrub that I thought would look better somewhere else. Instead of moving it straight away, I cut it back first to get an idea how the area would look without it. I moved another, much smaller, one, but decided to keep that one in its original position. It doesn't look great now but it will grow back... eventually, in time.


You have to be quick to catch the Echium Heronswood Pink at this stage of graceful, languid showiness. Masses of bees are also acting quickly and buzzingly to get the pollen before the flowers turn to seed.


This is the bit of the garden that was quite bare a few months ago. It's getting quite interesting as the Echium simplex is growing in its quirky Dr Seussian way, and - as I thought it would - wonderfully complementing the Artichoke leaves.  In the background is a row of Derwentia perfoliata (Diggers Speedwell) making a kind of  informal hedge. In the front, at the bottom of the photo, you can see the leaves of a few Echium candicans bushes that will grow quite large in the next couple of months.


This is an Australian native daisy flower: Brachyscome multifida.


Philothecas come in different forms, shapes and sizes, but all have these lovely pinkish white flowers in spring. Another Australian native.


I post photos of Correa flowers often because they flower often, and I never tire of their cigar shapes. There are many varieties that are differ in size, colour and form. I can't remember which one this is.


These African daisies have never flowered like this before. It's thanks to the hungry possums who have thoughtfully thinned out the tall trees to let more light into the garden.



Getting a shot of this Australian native flowering grass, Stypandra glauca or Nodding Blue Lily, was not easy because the flower was facing down at an awkward angle. Somehow or other I ended up getting my blue dressing gown in the background - purely accidental, but a nice colour combo.



Thanks Carol from May Dreams Gardens, for hosting the meme Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I'm joining in with this post. It's worth checking out to see what's growing in people's gardens this month.



Comments

  1. There are some lovely blooms in your early spring garden. That Stypandra flower is just beautiful, so is the Philothecas. Both new plants for me. That Echium is just amazing. I've never seen one of those before, and I'm just smitten with it. What a fabulous thing! Loved your splendid Wattles too.

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    1. Hi Bernie, the Stypandra grass is unusual but the Philothecas are very common here. I'm surprised they are new to you. They used to be called Eriostemon. If you don't know them I suppose they don't grow in your climate. The Echium is amazing. I don't know if it would grow for you, but I got them from Diggers Club. cheers, catmint

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  2. It's so weird that you have spring! We have autumn here in Finland. I envy you...Have a nice weekend!

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  3. I work in an unusual building named after Dr. Seuss, but your echium is much more "Seussian." I love those plants and they look amazing in your garden. Happy Bloomday!

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    1. Hi James, my mind is imagining a wonderful quirky building named after Dr S. I'm so pleased you love those plants too - i'll take more photos, they are growing, delightfully weirdly! cheers, cm

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  4. Your garden looks so beautiful and green. Very nice. You must be excited that things are finally leafing out. I'm ready for the cooler temps as it has been a hot one here. Enjoy your spring:)

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  5. Spring is such a lovely time of year, I never knew that Eucalyptus has such beautiful flowers. Love the Echium, wish we could grow them here, 10 miles away on the coast they can, but we get too much frost. Potter looks gorgeous, a fluffy bundle of fun!

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  6. Love your native plants Catmint, philotheca, correa's and brachyscome are some of my favourites, i have seen that correa but i can't remember what it's called either. You have a nice native garden and winding pathways do look enticing.

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  7. Oh my your garden is stunning with so much greening and blooming. i love your native daisy that looks like our native aster. Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. Hi Donna, the brachyscome is a ground cover, very low and very small. I think from memory the aster is taller although it is the same colouring.

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  8. Your post shows jsut how much milder the Melbourne climate is compared to ours. My African daisies don't even have buds yet! I love that Borage blue - although mine does self-seed, I never have as many as I want. Your whole garden looks lovely.

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  9. Wow! Your garden is really a stunner. You really did a very good job in maintaining it's beauty. Potter is really adorable too. Lovely!

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  10. Beautiful garden!! I love the freshness of spring. I really love your path. I have a soft spot for any type of path that meanders through a garden. :o)

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  11. My question of the day is--how do you have adorable Potter, yet still have such a lovely garden? In our backyard, we have what is referred to the "dog side" and the "nice" side. The dog side is basically barren, except for very larger trees and the plants I naively added--which now are very attractively surrounded by chicken wire! LOL! I love our pups, but they are destroyers. And, after recently watching The Lorax with our children, I love your Dr. Seussian plant! Beautiful blooms. I look forward to visiting your garden again soon! Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. Hi Julie, Potter occasionally does dig holes but not so often. She mainly tries to dig under the deck - I think something interesting must be living there. Luckily the lavender bush is extremely tough and survives. Recently she dug in 3 other places but it looks as if the Heliotropes have survived too. (although one looks a bit ragged)

      But here's the useful tip: Ammonia! Dogs hate the smell and it repels them. So when she digs I place a container of ammonia in the hole and it seems to work, she gets the message.

      Good luck - I hope in time you will be able to combine garden and dogs. But I guess it also depends on the breed and temperament of the pups.

      cheers, catmint

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  12. Hope everything is well with you Catmint. Your African daisies are awesome! Wish they could be in my garden hehe... You have wonderful native plants. It seems all have pretty flowers. Have a great week!

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  13. Myra has always said that our garden paths should be winding like yours catmint, too much hard work to make changes like that now though. You have so many great Spring plants, some of them like Brachyscome would be for Summer in this part of the world and even then would be a disposable annual, (fabulous colour). Terrific clump of African Daisies, Osteospermums? Ah well, Autumn is in the air today, soon the very cold Winter will be here.

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    1. Hi Alastair, yes, Osteospermums - I always think that sounds like a spinal disease. Corresponding to your weather getting colder, ours is starting to heat up, could be a hot dry summer. If it is, it will an interesting garden challenge after a few years of ease. cheers, cm

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  14. Dear Catmint,
    I enjoyed this post. I am jealous of your wonderful garden. Ours is a balcony and soon we will have nothing as winter sets in.
    I love Corea. They are such lovely flowers. In our Melbourne garden we have about three or four at present. That pale yellow wattle is nice too. I like wattle but unfortunately it brings out my hay fever big time!
    Do you have pink Heath? I love that flower and it is Victoria's emblem too!
    Bye for now
    Kirk

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    1. Hi Kirk, I don't have pink Heath, I love it too, but somehow I never considered growing it. There are lots of things I love but I don't grow them because I can't imagine a place for them in the garden picture. (But now you mentioned them I am seriously thinking and considering ...) This year I am suffering hay fever horribly - it might be the wattle. cheers, catmint

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  15. So many plants which are unknown to me... Love those native daisies!

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  16. Catmint, it's the winding paths in your garden that give it such a sense of being somewhere else. Such a gentle space it is.
    I especially love the Echium growing with the artichokes...a perfect harmony. Will you be Open Gardening again this year?

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    1. Hi Faisal, not this year. They didn't ask me. They said it was a special anniversary so they only wanted proper classy gardens by designers (my words, their meaning). But I think I wouldn't have done it anyway, needed a break. I will do it next time though if they ask me because by then it will be looking quite different and better than the last time.

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  17. Beautiful images.

    I have a $150 Bunnings Giveaway on my blog A Green Earth and I welcome you and your readers to enter.

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  18. thanks dear cyberfriends for the lovely things you have said about my garden. I'm already looking forward to next GBBD - month 2 of spring.

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  19. Hi Sue your pictures are always exquisite! I love the pic of your dog he/she looks very content in the garden!
    Derwentia perfoliata is one of my favs and its great tht you have so much blue, very pretty, bravo!!!

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    1. thanks serena, at the moment, it seems mostly blue and purple and grey. I also adore the Derwentia perfoliata, it has become very happy with all the rain. It survived the drought but wasn't looking that great.

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