Water Hyacinth

According to the CSIRO the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) native of the upper Amazon, is one of the worlds' worst aquatic weeds, forming a dense mat that can double in size in a few weeks, totally clogging waterways.

It was first noticed in Australia about 1890, probably brought in as an aquarium plant and has now spread to all states.
In the 1970's and again in 1980's biological controls were introduced with the release of a variety of weevil and a moth which has worked well in sub tropical areas of the eastern states, and another weevil species was released in the 1990's.

The plant shown here is growing in my frog pond, I have to thin it several times during the summer growing season, the roots form a big thick fibrous clump under the water.
It is probably something I shouldn't grow, but then that could be said of most of our introduced garden plants.
I make sure the discarded plants go into the compost bin, and cut the flower heads after flowering. As we are not close to a waterway and have no run off I grow it simply because I like the flowers.

Agapanthus time

I know when the anniversary of my mum's death is coming up because the agapanthus bloom.
In the last couple of weeks of her life I'd take her for a walk in my garden, frail, fragile, she'd stop at the agapanthus, which were just nose high for her, she would smell them and say 'beautiful'

Years before she'd joke about how she had no sense of smell and aggies don't have perfume, but there was enough of her fading mind left to know that flowers should have a scent and she loved them all.
At her funeral in the middle of the service, all the floral sheaths around the coffin slowly toppled sideways and we knew she was re-arranging them - never could resist having a fiddle with things me mum.

So each December, when the first aggie blooms in my garden, I stand in front of it and have a little cry, and then I get on with life.....

but I miss my mum



Technorati tags: Flowers

paintbrush lily

I've been having a busy week with work to finish for my art quilt class, then the Stitches and Craft show in Sydney today and tomorrow I'm off to Parliament House to sit with the ATASDA textile exhibition, but on Saturday I had a lovely lunch in a friend's garden and took lots of photos of her spring blooms including this unusual paintbrush lily - a south african friend tells us she had them growing in SA and they are either Haemanthus coccineus or Scadoxus puniceus either way they belong to the Lily family: Amaryllidaceae

grevillea

I really need to start using a tripod for my macro shots in the garden - balancing on one leg and holding my breath while I press the shutter just isn't cutting it.







tag: flowers

what kind of flower are you

thanks to Stuart, the happy little daffodil, I've just found out that I'm a Morning Glory - "Dedicated is one word for you. You have a tendency to overwhelm other people occasionally with your enthusiasm for life."

I am a Morning Glory What Flower Are You?

Sounds great except that in Australia it's a noxious weed
...and I think I recall something from the '60s about hallucinogenic seeds
....not that I ever did anything like that in the '60s
.......me mum would've had a fit

Pythonesque

For weeks I've been insisting that the grevillea was not dead, it was just resting, but we've reached a point where I'm sounding like a Monty Python sketch, and I have to admit that it is, indeed, a dead parrot plant.

It was growing happily in a pot, flowering like mad

but I foolishly sat the pot directly onto the garden bed, and not content to stay in the pot, it had sent a tap root through the bottom and into the garden, when I went to move the pot, well you know the rest.....grevilleas do NOT like having their roots disturbed.

So my lovely pink and cream grevillea, whose name I have lost, has gone to the big compost bin in the sky.

The Great Escape

We built them a nice little fernery,
Most of them seem quite happy....
I know sometimes I forget to water, and they watch their neighbours wither,
ok - I admit that's enough to make a few plants feel a little insecure and nervous,
but is it any excuse when my back is turned to do a Steve McQueen on me,
and does it have to look so damned happy about getting out!

Garden 2000 by Mark Quinn

thought you might find this interesting,

Garden (2000) by Marc Quinn is a real botanical garden, full of plants and flowers from all over the world. They are displayed in full bloom, and are potentially eternal: the nearly 1000 specimens are immersed in twenty-five tons of liquid silicon....

Drum roll please........

TaaaaDaaaa....
the mystery whatsit bulb has flowered:
what do you reckon? a lillium?

avocado and orchids

oohhh, I HATE it when I exceed my downloads for the month and optus slows me down - how did we get by on dial up....
anyway, we're back from Queensland - hot, humid Qld. and it's only October, there is no way I could ever move there, I would never survive summer.The wedding was nice, and we had a good couple of days catching up with relations.

Here is the progress of my avocado seeds, they are all starting to sprout after about 2 months sitting half in water

and here's a couple that have been growing in a pot,


and here is another of my rescued dendrobiums from our friend.

the plot thickens....

....as my mystery bulb grows (I think it is some kind of lillium)





ummmm.....just wondering.....is anyone actually reading this? would you like to say hello in the comments (and maybe pull a couple of weeds while you are there?)

easy peasy...

there's a reason I avoid temperamental plants,

the petulant, the moody, the highly strung, the sensitive, the touchy,

the ones who like their compost just right, not too much sun, not too much shade, not too wet, not too dry..

it's because there ain't no room in this garden for both of us

that's why I get on so well with nasturtiums, daisies and calendulas - they don't try to compete with me



so imagine my surprise when I found a camellia thriving enough to actually flower


not a big flamoyant flower, it doesn't pay to be an exhibitionist

... just a sweet little flower to start with this year, then maybe next year.....if it behaves and keeps a low profile....

short term memory

One of the features of ageing is that you start to forget things....

this can truly be an enriching experience as you discover things you put away and forgot about.....

like this,


I vaguely remember finding a little struggling bulb in the garden and sticking it in an empty pot and telling it to try harder next year....
and it did!!

have no idea what it is.