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Kathie Thomas

Beautiful Saturday

With a forecast of a beautiful pre-Spring day of 18C and blue skies, Graham and I decided to spend most of the day in the garden. But before we got started we went to visit a local reserve where wild orchids and other beautiful but miniature plants grow. He’d not seen it before and it was the perfect way to start the day. Came back home for a cuppa and then off to work outside.

First off we had to clear up all the dry liquidamber seed pods lying on the front lawn. They would become projectiles when he mows and our front windows would be targets, so we had to clear them up and the autumn leaves lying with them. Three and a half wheelbarrow loads later, that was done.  We used that for mulch around our rose garden in the paddock. Graham went off to clear the rest of the lawns from branches that had fallen in recent winds, in preparation for mowing. I got our wagon out and filled it with potted loropetalums, my small garden tools and camera and off to the paddock to get some more planting done. Using our Power Planter always cuts down on the amount of work required in digging holes, these days, and we get a lot more done in a session.

Graham had already loaded up our fire-pit, waiting for a suitable time to burn, as recent weeks have been incredibly windy, but today was beautiful, calm and clear and dry, and so, for the very first time, he was able to set the fire-pit alight! And it is very effective for using for burning off, as well as a camp fire or barbeque.

  

I managed to get 6 loropetalums into the ground, several succulents that had been sitting in pots for ages, a low growing banksia shrub, a Eucy Dwarf that has pretty pink flowers if the tag is correct, and several other plants. We also cut up some wire we had to create cages around the loropetalums and a native hibiscus that the wallabies (and possibly a wombat too) had been showing a taste for. It took longer to do the cage surrounds than it did to drill the holes and plant the plants. We’d been losing the flowers and leaves off these from previous plantings so had to cage things up, including our new Silver Princess Eucalypt that had also been eaten. Love the wildlife but really want our garden to grow a lot more before the wildlife decide to do some pruning for us.

Afternoon tea was spent sitting by the firepit, watching the Black Pacific and Australian Wood Ducks in our billabong and wandering around the property. Every now and then one of the maggies would swoop them and send them back to the billabong. The magpies have a nesting tree in the bottom right hand corner of the paddock and they don’t like any bird life wandering near by – even if they’re on the ground and not in the air. Was a bit comical to watch.

All in all, a very productive day for us both and such a gorgeous day to be outside virtually all day. We loved it although our backs were feeling it somewhat at the end of the day – not from planting, but from bending over to manage the wire that kept curling up and also picking up heaps of branches and twigs, etc. And, as we were packing up I noticed the late afternoon sun highlighting the beautiful Epacris Impresses (Common Heath but I don’t think of it as common) in the native garden section of our paddock.

Danger in the garden!

But not so much for us. We’re building a Garden for Wildlife Habitat and already have a variety of wild birds, possums, foxes, lizards, skinks and frogs that live here. Some birds are seasonal. We get the occasional wombat passing through – not that we’ve seen it, just the evidence that it has been here. Also wallabies and kangaroos visit and while that sounds lovely, it does mean that many of our new plants get eaten so it’s a battle to get them to grow and survive long enough to grow big enough that it won’t matter if they get nibbled on. Hope you got that!

Some seasonal visitors are ducks – currently we have Australian Wood Ducks and Black Pacific Ducks who make regular visits. Although we haven’t seen the wood ducks for a few days now so suspect they’re nesting in a tree nearby. We’ll see them again once their young are old enough to jump out of their tree nest and come and enjoy our billabong.

I mentioned ‘Danger in the Garden’. Occasionally we hear the squeal of an animal late at night and know that it’s been caught by an Owl or another raptor in the dead of night. Seems cruel and sad but that is how nature is. And this is the danger I’m talking of today. Our garden is a hunting ground for different birds and animals and, as our garden grows and develops, I’m sure that this will increase. The cycle of life.

Yesterday, I was sitting in my office at my computer and noticed movement out the corner of my eye through the window nearby. When I looked I saw a kookaburra on the garden path and it was swinging its head from side to side. I realised it was thrashing something on the ground it had caught. I grabbed my camera with the long lens to zoom in and get a closer look. It was longer and bigger than a worm or skink. And then I realised it was a frog. I felt sorry for the poor frog but what could I do? It is nature doing what it does. So I stood there at the window and captured what I was witnessing – the images aren’t as sharp as I would like but they still give you a good idea of what I saw. Sad as I was for the frog, I was also thrilled that I got to witness this first hand – a kookaburra with its prey.

Kookaburra and frog
Kookaburra and frog
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Visit to Beleura

Last week I attended an AGM which was held at Beleura House & Garden in Mornington. As well as the morning tea and  meeting, we got to do a tour of the beautiful gardens there. The original property was purchased in the 1800s by James Butchart, who had the Italianate style villa designed by the Melbourne firm of Architects Barns and Reed and built in 1863. Butchart died at Beleura in 1869.

It had a succession of owners and eventually was subdivided in the early 1900s, attracting Mr & Mrs George Tallis who had already acquired a property next door and later purchased more of the villa sites that had been in the subdivision enlarging the property to 2,000 acres in and around Mornington. It was used ultimately as farm land, however Sir George was also known as a theatrical entrepreneur and was the major shareholder and Chairman of Directors of the entertainment company J.C. Williamson Ltd who, I believe, were responsible for building a number of theatres in Melbourne.  The Tallis’ used Beleura as their seaside house and brought up four children there. Sir George died in 1948 and, by family agreement, the youngest son, Jack Morton (later known as John) inherited the property.

John Tallis was a composer of music and entertained many well known entertainers at his property, including Dame Nellie Melba. When he died the property and the Tallis Foundation was bequeathed to the people of Victoria in 1996.

The property is open for House and Garden Tours from Tuesdays to Saturdays each week for $42 or $39 Concession. Tours are by arrangement, you can’t just arrive to visit. They also have a small theatre and stage on the property and have a musical program available. you can find out more and book via their site at beleura.org.au.

Below are images from their beautiful gardens. I encourage you to take the time and go for a visit – it’s well worth it.

 

Planting and protection

Went and bought up a few more plants for the native bush area of our paddock project today. It’s going to be very wet and windy over the weekend but today was lovely and sunny, with just a bit of a breeze. So I took three hours off from work to purchase new plants and then get them in the ground. Graham came out to help me for a short while and then I continued on myself. The idea is that the rain over the weekend will well and truly water them in.

Sadly we have discovered the wallabies have been back. We found evidence of their presence in a couple of places on the ground. They’ve not been getting under the fence at their normal spot so I’ll have to walk the fence-line to find out if there’s another spot but they could be just jumping over at some spot. As a result a lorapetalum I planted two weekends ago was eaten overnight – it was fine two days ago! I’ve had to put a guard around it and I planted a new one today but put a wire guard around it, in the hope that will ward them off. Also found our new Silver Princess Eucalypt had been eaten and there are probably other things too. Seriously looking like we’re going to have to put up high fencing around some of our newly planted sections just to give the plants a chance to grow to a decent height. Currently researching the type of fencing we’ll get.

Today I put into the ground the following: Thryptomenes, two different Westringias, a White Diosma, Acacia Honey Bun, a Gingko tree – looking forward to that growing but it will be slow going, and a new Happy Wanderer Hardenbergia, which I’ve also had to put a guard around as the wallabies ate the last one. The Power Planter, as usual, made it much less work digging holes for the plants – just makes it so much easier and I don’t have to depend on my husband to do the tough work – especially if the soil is hard in places.

Below: Acacia Honey Bun. Will grow to 1.5m wide. Took less than a minute to dig the hole.

  

Below: White Diosma, Thryptomene ‘F.C. Payne’ and Westringia Sea Mist

Below: The new  Purple Prince Lorepetalum I planted today, the one that got eaten a night or two ago and the Silver Princess that has been munched on.

Below: the new Hardenbergia Happy Wanderer which will, over time, grow over an old stump we have in the paddock. I’ve put netting over it to protect it from the wallabies – I hope! The last one is sitting next to the new one – completely void of leaves.

Learning about Hellebores

I’ve recently joined the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society. I’ve been looking for a garden group for some time. One that has speakers, perhaps some garden visits, one where I can learn and mix and mingle with others. I want very much to see what others are doing and gain new ideas. After looking around and contacting a couple of clubs I decided to give FCHS a go and I don’t think I’m going to be disappointed at all. The people were friendly when I came into their hall on the weekend, the speaker was great, and I came home with some new plants.

The speaker was Peter Leigh from Post Office Farm Nursery which is at Woodend. Quite a trip for him to come to Ferny Creek to give a presentation. He speciliases in hellebores only and brought with him some really lovely hellebores for sale. I bought a large one and a couple of smaller ones and also won a yellow clivia in their raffle. The hellebores were planted on the weekend but the clivia still sits in a pot under a liquidamber tree in our garden, till I decide where I’m going to put it.

Peter shared about the various different hellebores: stemmed and unstemmed species, some that are deciduous and others that are evergreen. Most are drought tolerant and need some shade but not heavy shade. They grow well from Tasmania up to Toowoomba and here in Victoria they like summer shade and winter sun. So planting them under deciduous trees is ideal – like where we’re putting them under our birches. Except the birches are still small so we might need to give them some protection this coming summer… maybe. Their growth period is May to October and then they go dormant. That’s the ideal time to plant, divide and move them. It’s always good to clear around the base of the plant and not have mulch right up to the stem. You can remove old foliage as the leaves die off.

Peter also told us that when the plants are in flower, there are less bees around, so the flowers stay open for weeks to get pollinated.

If you have a slope or a raised bed, you get the advantage of seeing inside their flowers, as they naturally hang down. Makes it hard to photograph them too 🙂 They look good when planted densely, about 40-60cm apart. We have quite a few growing under our old fig tree here at home.

There are apparently 17 different species and 5 hybrids. In ancient times they were used in herbal medicine but not recommended today. They are actually poisonous. Their origins are from Europe although there is one species from China. And the hellebore belongs to the Ranunculacae family. They are winter flowering and often referred to as a winter rose.

After the talk, the purchases and afternoon tea, I went for a wander round the gardens at the Society.

Below, first row, hellebores at home, the rest were taken in their gardens. It was threatening to rain and there was thunder rolling nearby so I didn’t stay too long but look forward to going back again soon. Click on each image for a larger view.

 

Winter work on a Sunday

Late winter here in the hills of Melbourne, Australia. We’ve had some pretty windy weather this winter. Usually that’s in spring. Hoping that means it won’t be so windy in the months to come. Over the past couple of days we’ve had 20mm of rain. Just over 40mm so far this month. Really at less than half of what’s normal for the year to date.  Our planting has been somewhat slow this year too. What with extended summer into late Autumn (hence, no rain), occasional bouts of ill health (colds, and a virus) and bad weather on many weekends when we’d rather be outside planting up! But we’re getting there.

The wind has one good use though – it makes our wonderful windmill go. This was given to us by dear friends last year at our joint birthday party. Isn’t it lovely? The bird you can hear is a corella that lives next door.

Today I put into the ground 6 x hellebores, 1 x cyclamen, 4 x canna lily tubers, 1 x grevillea and 1 x lorapetalum.  Graham came out to help towards the end and we put a lilac tree back where we had dug it up over a year ago to make way for the landscapers. The lilac tree is just starting to bud up. Below are three of the cyclamen plants I put into the ground. The variegated leaf plant has a yellow flower.

Wandering around we noted a few flowers had been nipped off here and there. We suspect the wild ducks that have decided to make our home their home for now. I’d been wondering where they had been nesting and had been looking at the trees on our property but couldn’t see any that might have decent sized hollows. However, this afternoon I watched the ducks fly off to a tree just over the fence line on our neighbour’s property which looked a likely candidate for hollows.

Below, one of the cyclamens that has had flowers bitten off. We’ve had similar with jonquils and daffodils too. The tree we believe the ducks are nesting in, and the kniphofias I planted two weeks ago in the rock garden area with a daisy bush and aloes. If you click on each image it will enlarge for a better view.

Later I heard two crows calling high up in the air and looked up to see them either side of a hawk. The ducks below flew off and other birds were calling and scattering. Clearly the hawk was being escorted away from the area. Pity I couldn’t get a shot at the time.

We’re loving seeing wildlife visit our property but also learning we’re going to have to accept we’ll lose some flowers and some plants along the way. The faster we can get planting, the bigger the mass and the less that may be damaged as a result. Especially when we’ve crowd planted – just feels like it’s taking a long time. Of course, the visitors are only looking for food while we’re looking to create a great garden for us and for the wildlife. Hopefully we can get the two mixing well, over time.

Daily walks around the garden

It is the custom of my husband and I to take daily walks around our property. We both work at home, and are at computers a lot of that time, so we make sure we get outside, get some fresh air and vitamin D and some exercise too.  I rarely ever walk outside without a camera in hand, or, at the very least, my Samsung S8. But most times it’s one of my Nikons. There are always birds around, kookaburras, rosellas, magpies, honeyeaters and lately, ducks. The Wood Ducks are back and enjoying our overgrown lawn and the billabong – when the maggies chase them there from the garden.

We like to inspect the bushes, plants and flowers, even the fungi we find here and there. Sadly, today we discovered that the wallabies have been back. Where we had been able to block them from coming in, the neighbour had made some changes to the fencing, not realising why we had pegged the wire down. We also had a pile of pieces of wood along the bottom but they had been moved away where the wallabies had clearly pushed their way through under the fencing. We’ll have to peg it down again as the wallabies were back overnight, and ate almost all the buds off our native hibiscus that was getting ready to bloom, and the flowers off our beautiful Robyn Gordon Grevillea. I could cry. Looks like we’re going to have to invest in a lot of mesh to put around plants as otherwise nothing is going to get to grow! And we still have so much planting to do. The lack of rain this year hasn’t helped at all – that’s what brought them here, in the first place, looking for water and then, once they found our billabong, the new young tasty bushes and trees gave them further reason to stay. It’s been a few weeks since they were last here. Had hoped we’d get a lot more done before they came back. Sigh.

Below are some of the plants now in flower – including our camellia bush which is very, very late this year.

In order from left to right:
First row – Osteospermum Serenity Bronze, Hellebore, Erica Cerinthoides (which is looking really stunning in the front garden).
Second row: Cornea not quite yet opened, one of the first camellias on the bush by our kitchen window, and some jonquils.

As we walked around the paddock I noticed a White-throated Tree Creeper creeping up the side of a tree trunk, and I pointed out to my husband a magpie nest I’d been watching being built over the past week. Quite funny, really, the magpie adds more twigs and then sits in the nest and smooths it out with its bottom. I watched it move from side to side as it wiggled its butt. Never really thought about how they build a nest before. I watched the maggie arrive in the nest again this afternoon, but this time I think it was carrying food. The third image is of two of the six ducks that have been hanging around. Love seeing them here.

I so look forward to the time we have our paddock garden fully planted and growing so that visits from the wildlife of the nibbling type won’t be such a cause for concern.