Attention all plant lovers: Tradescantia, Purple Haze

 https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/purple-heart-tradescantia-pallida/

Yesterday I was out looking in garden nurseries and I came across this stunner at the Heritage Nursery in Yarralumla. I love purple,  and this plant was just amazing to see. I was so impressed with its beauty that I bought it. Thankfully it’s an easy care plant too. I love plants and being surrounded with nature, Australia is fantastic for growing all kinds of plants from around the world. This particular species of succulent comes from Mexico and doesn’t need much maintenance. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves unusual plants with stunning beauty. To Canberra locals, the sister shop is out in Pialigo and they may also have this plant in stock. I know there was at least one in the Yarralumla shop, in the indoor area. And also the shop is cashless shop and doesn’t accept cash payments. But the shop at Yarralumla is definitely a must visit for gifts as well as beautiful plants. 

Happy gardening peeps ❤️🤗🤗

Corpse plant in bloom

 https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gbg/plants/corpseflower/article/item/8dcfa8f2e06a22e.aspx

Yeah, Nah! I dry heave at the drop of a hat, lol. A stinky plant doesn’t do anything for me 🤣🤣 Just as well that it flowers only once in ten years. 🤢🤢 Australia does have magnificent plants, trees and flowers to enjoy and seeing them in a botanical garden is ideal for viewing a wide variety without long travels to see species in their bush environment. 

Parents’ chilling warning after baby eats mushroom growing in house plant pot

 https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/parents-chilling-warning-after-baby-eats-mushroom-growing-in-house-plant-pot/news-story/650a13269005cf0e54af440d2a6fab98

Wow, How terrifying, I know that plants can get a white fungus on the soil over winter if you over water them. It smells like vomit and you know instantly that it’s not normal and you need to get rid of it.

Sometimes just having the plant sitting outside in the sun can kill the fungus. But you need to be mindful of the care of each type of plant you have and they often require different care depending on the species. If you’re unsure Google is you friend. It’s a good idea to keep the plant tag that comes with the plant when you buy it and keep it in the pot or in a plastic sleeve with other plant tags. 

Also when your children are small keep your plants up where the children can’t reach them. Avoid table cloths that the child can pull and cause the plant to fall on them. That also includes plant stands because children will pull it over in an instant especially if they are just learning to walk. They may try to use the plant stand as an aid to help them get to their feet. You just have to be all eyes with small children around, and damn they are fast, lol. I have had some scary moments when my children were this age and I was a very vigilant parent. 

I am so glad to see this little boy made a good recovery thanks to his quick acting dad. Hopefully the little chap will forget this ever happened. 

Add This Flavorful Herb To Your Garden To Keep Flies At Bay Read More: https://www.housedigest.com/1399872/plant-rosemary-herb-garden-repel-flies-pests-naturally/

 https://www.housedigest.com/1053994/how-to-repel-bugs-naturally/

I have a wooden box of essential oils and they get a good workout. 

Scroll down the articles as there are other tips for getting rid of spiders, cockroaches and other critters.

I have rosemary in my backyard and have propagated some new plants. I intend to have them in pots at my back door. Mint should always be growing in a pot, if you plant it in the ground it will grow like wildfire and is a nightmare to control, just like ivy. I am still trying to get rid of my ivy that has gotten out of control. I hope that this year I will finally be able to eradicate the ivy. I  just want to grow it  in hanging baskets. 

How dead houseplants inspired Josh Armstrong to create cult-favourite plant care brand We the Wild

 https://honey.nine.com.au/living/how-dead-houseplants-inspired-we-the-wild-brand-josh-armstrong-exclusive/e1486378-cbb1-4c98-b8cb-388a4095125d

Attention all plant lovers 🪴🌱🎍🌳 I agree with his advice to buy easy care plants rather than obscure plants. Keep it simple yet a sophisticated look. The right plant in the right place can lift the room. 

https://wethewild.co/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=we%20the%20wild&device=c&network=g&placement=&matchtype=p&campaign_id=15616018450&ad_group_id=137001331389&gclid=Cj0KCQjw756lBhDMARIsAEI0AgkNEVBSQg_pctW-QjOIRLTz6QCFCY_33O4f0S21yWSFNqElhMKl5loaAk0GEALw_wcB

If you want to support an Australian business check them out, you can see their list of places to buy the products in your state or buy on line from South Australia. 

Air plants guide

 https://lawn.com.au/air-plants-guide/

 I am a huge fan of air plants and have had a few in recent years but occasionally due to the heat and doing multiple things at a time, sometimes my air plants croak it. I have just treated myself to a couple of new ones this week to keep indoors. So that I can keep an eye on them more.

They make a good gift to give people of all ages.So if you are stuck for an idea for a gift for someone these may just be ideal. Low maintenance and a bit of fun too. 

Here is a guide that I came across to help care for your air plants that I want to share. I will get my head around this and hopefully thanks to this person for making this guide, I may just be more successful in keeping mine alive.

Hyacinths in progress

 I decided to get into growing Hyacinths again after many years. So after keeping them in the fridge crisper for four weeks, last night I put them into the bulb vases and put them in a dark cupboard for the next exciting stage. 

I have at least one white Hyacinth and a mixed bag so I just hope that the three in bulb vases will be pink, white and purple. The smell is divine and so old worldly, it makes me feel sentimental. 

The last time I grew these beauties I still had all my original fur babies. Fondly remembering Garfield strolling past them on the sideboard and freaking out in case he knocked them  over. He broke a few vases and fancy glass candle holders in his time. 

Anyway I am super excited to be growing these again. I don’t remember what happened to the pyramid shaped bulb vases that I used to have. I must have donated them to charity. Damn, I do that and then think, D’oh! I wish I had hung on to that. 

I am a lover of old fashioned flowers and bulbs, there is something special about them that hark back to simpler times. Lace doilies and lovely flower vases and any romantic old world furnishings make me so happy. I think that I would like a country cottage like miss Marple’s. But more girly with pink, lavender and soft blues and soft green for a summer look. 

How to water plants while you’re away

 https://9now.nine.com.au/the-block/how-to-water-indoor-plants-while-youre-away-tips-diy-advice/0bcff77d-4923-4058-8089-11d62b1305e4

This is good to know for going away for a few days. Especially in hot weather. I would be devastated if my plants died. Two important things in my life apart form my family are fur babies and plants. 

More roses Lol, I just can't help myself I went out and bought a replacement Apricot Nectar and a Royal Highness rose. Once you fall in love with roses that's it. There are so many to choose from too. I am after the nice soft colours in a mixture of climbers/rambling and bushes. I think standards a bit difficult to keep in shape at present due to time constraints and now winter is here. My Royal Highness rose; I have put in to a big glazed pot so that I can keep a watchful eye on it. It is such a delightful rose to behold. The new Apricot Nectar will be put in the ground and will screen the new water tank that we just bought. Pretty soon my little paradise in suburbia will be looking wonderful. Come springtime there will be roses in full bloom to enchant all who entre the garden. Thursday, 23 May 2013 More Roses

 

More roses

Lol, I just can't help myself I went out and bought a replacement Apricot Nectar and a Royal Highness rose. Once you fall in love with roses that's it.
There are so many to choose from too. I am after the nice soft colours in a
mixture of climbers/rambling and bushes. I think standards a bit difficult to keep in shape at present due to time constraints and now winter is here.

My Royal Highness rose; I have put in to a big glazed pot so that I can keep a watchful eye on it. It is such a delightful rose to behold. The new Apricot Nectar will be put in the ground and will screen the new water tank that we just bought. Pretty soon my little paradise in suburbia will be looking wonderful. Come springtime there will be roses in full bloom to enchant all who entre the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 23 May 2013

More Roses

Roses: I just can’t get enough of them

 

Every now and then I have a strong urge to get into my garden and do something. Gardens are always a work in progress. Lately I am obsessed with roses and trying to make a highly fragrant garden.

There is just one problem though, I have a garden that gets the full sun and literally bakes in the heat. I have planted evergreen shrubs on my fence line, that grow up to 3 meters high. I have deciduous trees to give a canopy too.
In between this I have some roses, and now suddenly have the urge to go mad planting tall rose bushes and climbers, that will flower for 10 months of the year. Hmmm, now the problem starts.

I had just moved an Apricot Nectar rose, from the yard to make way for a rain water tank to water my garden from. Thus, also had to cut down a lemon tree too, also to make way for the tank. Well now the poor rose has died, as it didn't take to its new home. I have this ugly spot in the garden that looked so beautiful and was very fragrant. It will take a couple of years to restore the beauty that it once was. But now I am in the mood to plant roses where ever I can see the sun touching the ground. Oh dear, this could be a disaster waiting to happen or a magical transformation.

I have this dream of creating a magical, secret garden that is a delight to the senses. Searching through all my garden magazines and gardening books, looking for that special something. Reality hits me when I look at my garden and realize that it is a big job, and not just that. What things to get rid of and what to keep. The classic gardener’s plight, if I am not mistaking.
I have a few roses in big stone pots to create a fragrant entry to my back yard, the problem is the hot sun is on them from sun up until 3pm every day. The Australian sun is so powerful it can fry plants in hours, if they do not have cool moist soil for their roots. My pots are sitting on concrete and that is like an oven all day long, my poor roses.

For those wishing to create a garden with long  flowering roses, I would highly recommend the following roses.

For Climbing roses Iceberg, Pierre de Ronsard, Royal Highness, Albertine,
Cecile Brunner, Veilchenblau, and whatever else takes your fancy.

Rose bushes, Iceberg, Apricot nectar, Alex Red, Peter Frankenfeld, Peace
Campaigner, Seduction, Diamond Jubilee, Gold Bunny, to name a few.

A good idea for gardeners is to keep all of your plant and tree culture tags in a ring binder folder, with plastic sleeves/pages. Use sticky tape to hold the tags in place. Then you have a good library of all the plants that you have.

 

The top rose is Gold Bunny, which I have in a large pot and the other picture is an Iceberg rose, and a small pink rose called Palace rose. Which I gave to a friend as I was changing my garden, as one does lol.  Gardens are always being modified one way or another. Such is the way life is in the world of gardening.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                    

 

Australian/International Psychic Association's (APA/IPA) Psychic of the year 2013 (ACT) Awarded 5 Star rating in the USA 2015

Sunday, 12 May 2013

ROSES: I just can't get enough of them

Every now and then I have a strong urge to get into my garden and do something. Gardens