Shades of Pink

Different shades of pink, from delicate and pale to bright and deep, ...

 Pink petals of a Cranberry Hibiscus bloom.

Pale pink strawberry  smoothie.

Deep foxglove pink.

A fluffy pink puffball.

Playing with pinks for a quilt patch.

Bright pink salvia bloom.

...are such pretty variations on a sweet colour.

Meg

Very Early Spring in our Garden

Warm breezes and a different quality to afternoon's light signal a change to Spring here in our subtropical home. Although the nights have still been cool, a sense of the season turning came earlier again this year than the flipping of our calender's page to September. It is a glorious time of year here which I relish before the heat of Summer takes hold. 

Out in the garden, green-tipped new growth abounds and more and more flowers are coming into bud and bloom. The mandarin tree is covered in promising white blossoms, purple lavender spires scent the air, plump mulberries are ripening and delicious, the passionfruit  in a pot is sending out its first tendrils and the veg patch waits, under a blanket of mulch, for new plantings. 

Creamy petals and a tinge of pink on a salvia's bloom.

Ripening mulberries on our little tree.

Little native raspberries beginning to form too.

The intriguing bloom of an iris.

A mass of perfumed lavender blooms.

White blossoms on our mandarin tree.

Early growth on our new passionfruit vine.

Chocolate Cosmos has a chocolate-y scent!

This Spring, I plan on adding even more salvias to the garden, with plants gifted to me by a new gardening friend, along with different varieties of cosmos. Packets of Cosmos 'Picotee' and Cosmos 'Sensation' seeds have arrived. I ordered my seeds from Green Harvest, an Australian organic seed supplier based up in the Hinterland not too far a drive from here. (I am not affiliated with Green Harvest in any way; I just like to buy my seeds from them.) 

There's so much to look forward to in our garden this Spring! I'd love to know what you are planning to grow as the season changes where you are in the world.

Meg

 

Saturday's Simple Things

In a world where right now things can feel as though they are constantly changing, I'm glad for some small and simple things, here in the space of home, that bring a little contentment, a little joy, a little comfort and a little peace...

Watering the garden in the early morning light.
(I love the sound of water splashing onto these large Queensland Arrowroot leaves.)

Collecting fragrant Frangipani flowers that fall onto our lawn.
(Free perfume from a neighbour's tree.)

Knitting a few rows every now and then.
(I ❤ the deep sea colour of this simple shawl-to-be.)

 Planting little seedlings in the veg patch.
(The promise of homegrown food to come.)

 Watching the bees  plunder our garden's flowers.

(This is a noisy native Teddy Bear Bee.)

Home baking for now and for later.
(Is there anything more comforting than the scent of a baking cake?)

What are you making, growing, watching, baking or listening to during these rather surreal times? Is it bringing you a little peace too?

Meg

Gorgeous Ginger Flowers

Last Sunday, we took ourselves off on a family outing. We drove up to the sunny Sunshine Coast, our new-to-us ute loaded with a basket of swimming togs and beach towels and an esky packed with picnic food and lots of cold water. One of the places we visited was The Ginger Factory. We took a ride on the old sugarcane train, spotted turtles in the little lake, had a picnic lunch of salad rolls, homemade slice and fruit and wandered the beautiful tropical gardens. Of course, at a Ginger Factory they grow lots of different gingers which means many gorgeous ginger flowers. Here are photos of my favourites:

'Cream Shell' Ginger

A vibrant Heliconia.

The little 119 year old 'Moreton' train.

A beautiful Beehive Ginger.

Pretty 'Red Stem' Ginger

I particularly loved the 'Red Stem' Ginger (Cheilocostus speciosus), in the photo above, for its tall red stems and frilly white flowers. I would love to grow it in our garden here for I think it's quite stunning. 

We drove on, after our time at The Ginger Factory, to Noosa where we watched the annual Surfing Dogs Spectacular, swam in the calm waters of Little Bay and saw a beautifully-patterned goanna (and quite a few scrub turkeys) while finishing off the last of our packed picnic in the Noosa National Park. 

Such a contented way to spend a Sunday visiting places we haven't been for a while.  I hope your upcoming weekend offers you some contentment too.

Meg

Three Things from My Garden

A delicate spray of sweetly scented blossoms, a bunch of fragrant homegrown herbs and a simple bouquet of little flowers are the joy I brought inside from our lush and green garden this morning...

Homegrown flowers and herbs.

That single spray of white star-shaped flowers came from my climbing Stephanotis vine. (Madagascan Jasmine).  Its sweetly perfumed blossoms are also known as wedding flowers because they are often used in wedding bouquets. I placed my single spray in a little vintage milk bottle, along with some of my favourite blue and white treasures, atop the old hoop pine table near our front door. Its heady perfume will offer a long-lasting and sweetly-scented welcome home. 

A spray of sweetly-scented Stephanotis in an old milk bottle.

While the Stephanotis is covered in sweetly-scented stars, the herbs in our garden are covered in lush new growth. The bunch of pungent basil and savoury rosemary I picked are now sitting in a blue jug of water on my kitchen bench ready to add flavour and freshness to our meals. The basil is destined for a pasta sauce while the rosemary for a focaccia and some herb-y roasted potatoes. Homegrown herbs have such vibrant flavour!

A bunch of fresh, homegrown herbs.

Into another old jug, I placed a happy little bouquet of small Zinnia flowers. With their creamy petals and centres of golden yellow, these Summer flowers always make me smile. I love them so for their simplicity. They seem to match perfectly the crocheted 'lace' of a favourite vintage doily.

A bunch of happy little Zinnias.

This is the joy of the garden for me; the food and the flowers that we grow. Whether it's a bunch of herbs or a bunch of flowers or both, I am beyond content when there's abundance in our garden to pick and enjoy.

Meg

p.s. If you would like to learn more about growing the beautiful Stephanotis vine, here is a Gardening Australia video and factsheet.

From Curtains to Cushion Covers

Ages ago, in a little local op-shop, I found a pair of old cafe curtains made from a creamy cotton printed with many beautiful blooms of Australian native flowers. The fabric features detailed prints of Qualup Bells, Christmas Bells, Swamp Wattle, Bottle Brush, Blue Pincushions, Banksia, Waratah and many others beautiful blooms. Each flower's botanical name is printed underneath too. Gorgeous!

Op-shop cafe curtains.

I adore botanical sketches, stitching, paintings and prints and love our beautiful native flowers so, for just a few dollars, I brought these old curtains home with me and stashed them away until I had time to make something from them. 

Printed with gorgeous Australian native flowers.

I followed the steps of this online tutorial, which includes a YouTube clip, to re-purpose these old curtains into a pair of pretty cushion covers. They were very easy to sew and I'm very happy with how they have turned out. 

Cushion covers from old curtains.

Perfect for someone besotted with plants!

Meg

Out In My October Garden

Just a little over a week ago, our garden was as parched and listless as so many other gardens where we live. There'd been next to no rain over Winter and early Spring. The drought, that's had a firm grip on landscapes along our country's East, felt like it was beginning to bite in our pocket of suburbia. The view from my front verandah was hazy and dry, the grass underfoot brown and crunchy, the little creek bed empty and silent and the leaf drop from the trees was just incredible. Thankfully, storms have rolled through over the ridge here this week and brought with them replenishing rain. 

Homegrown Lebanese Cucumber.

In our garden now,  plants are beginning to bloom and starting to ripen. I'm most excited about the cucumbers. I'm growing salad veg, like lettuce and cherry tomatoes, in pots over the coming Summer as I expect it's going to be very hot and, despite this past week's rain,  very dry too. On a bit of a whim, I did plant a few cucumbers in the veg patch. Although they took quite a while to get growing, they've taken off now and the first little Lebanese cucumbers are forming. There is nothing like fresh, crunchy cucumbers straight from the garden! 

 One ripe and juicy strawberry with more yet to ripen.

A cluster of blueberries

 Little yellow tomatoes are starting to ripen.

Besides the cucumbers, there are strawberries, blueberries and little yellow cherry-like tomatoes deepening their colour as they ripen in their pots. Pick again lettuces and chives are growing together in pots too but up on our back verandah where I can move them out of scorching sun easily. Happily, and with abandon, flat-leaf Italian parsley and sweet basil have self-seeded too. Fresh herbs for free!

A fragrant Gardenia bloom beginning to open.

 The pretty pink flowers of Grevillea 'Dorothy Gordon'.

The deep blue centre of an African Daisy.

A pink gerbera beginning to bloom.

The first Gardenia bloom has begun to unfurl its creamy petals. The scent of these flowers is simply sublime. I can't wait to bring a little bunch of them inside when more open up. A new plant in the garden, an African Daisy (Osteospermum) which I grew from a cutting, has its first flower. I love its bright white petals and deep blue centre. So pretty! Another pretty plant blooming in my garden is a gerbera gifted to me by a friend. I love its light pink petals. The native grevillea, Dorothy Gordon, has burst into bloom in the back bottom corner of the garden. The birds are enjoying it very much.

 Supervisor extraordinaire! 

Someone else enjoying the garden is Sir Steve dog. He came out with me yesterday to 'supervise' the digging over of the soil where our poor avocado tree used to be. Needless to say, he did very little digging and opted to warm the soil with his tummy instead!

We've been fortunate to have rain here. There are many in Australia living through unprecedented and heartbreaking drought. I hope rain clouds gather above them soon and that nature brings the water they so desperately need. It makes such a difference.

Meg

This Autumn in the Garden

It was a long, dry and very hot Summer here but we've had rain. There is just nothing like heavy, soaking rain! Everything is lush and green again. I lost a few plants over this past Summer; even a tough and hardy salvia. My avocado tree didn't make it either but it was looking sickly even before the Summer began so we made the decision not to waste any more water trying to get it to "perk up".  I won't replant another avo but will reinvigorate the soil with our compost and worm tea and then try a second citrus tree in that same spot. While a few plants didn't survive the Summer and have been duly composted, there are some, like my pineapple sage, that are showing signs of new life after pruning and rain. 

New leaves on the pineapple sage.

The pots of Portulaca that I planted, to cheer up that oppressive Summer and thus myself, are blooming beautifully. I have not grown these before but I am loving their gorgeous colours. I have a creamy yellow, a sunny yellow and a deep pink one. 

Pretty Portulaca in a pot.

Our little native bees carried on with their work while we carried on with ours. They love the Portulaca flowers too!

A little native bee on a Portulaca flower.

Our hive of native bees withstood the Summer heat; its position under the shade of the back deck keeping the hive cooler. Native bee hives can perish in high temperatures.  The entrance to their hive has been a busy one at particular times of day and, as always, they remain fascinating to watch. I often get distracted from my gardening chores and find myself resting on my shovel watching them!

 A salvia popular with all kinds of bees.

We've also been watching all the different bees that have been attracted, like bees to a honeypot (Sorry...couldn't help putting that in!), to this vigorous flowering salvia. It's been very popular with our tiny native bees, visiting honeybees and even a single teddy bear bee. What surprised us though, as we've never observed it before, were the dozens and dozens of native blue-banded bees that have been foraging in its flowers. These native bees are solitary so seeing so many on the same plant at the same time sent me off to research why. It seems that, while they are solitary, they will build their little nests very close to one another, sometimes in the same spot, burrowing into clay beside one another. There's always something new to learn from observing the garden! 

I plan to take cuttings and plant more of this salvia around the garden. It grew vigorously during our hot, dry Summer so its hardy and it provided lots of flowers for lots of different bees to forage in. It's a great plant!

A honeybee clings to one of this salvia's many little flowers.

While most of the salvias did well in our garden, our veg patch produced next to nothing all Summer. That's because I didn't plant anything much in the heat and neglected it as I seemed to lose my enthusiasm when I found, all bar one, of the Lebanese Cucumbers I was looking forward to munching on had been munched on by something else first. A gardener's heartbreak!

Leftovers in our veg patch.

Yesterday, before the sun was too high in the sky, I cleared out what was left in the veg patch and was pleased to see that the rain has left the soil crumbly and moist. I will prepare our little patch, the same way I always do, and plant soon. Better late than never! I want to grow what is tried and true here. Some silverbeet, lettuce, Tuscan Kale, beetroot, perpetual spinach and leeks. I will start with seedlings and I will put in some sweet peas too. I always have to have flowers!

Yesterday too, I was reading (because when I'm not gardening, I am dreaming about gardening) about urban flower farming in this Planthunter article and then read Dahlias at Dusk, over on Kate's blog, Foxs Lane. Oh, my! I would love my own little urban flower farm and I've never grown Dahlias and now think I must one day.  I have also enjoyed reading what some of you are growing in your gardens and what your veg patch plans are. Inspiration everywhere! 

Better get on with the turning of garden dreams into reality! 

Meg

A Bee's Honeypot

My Sunday morning began with a slow stroll through the park and along the streets with Sir Steve dog. The quiet of the morning was all ours! Both of us contentedly ambled along; my elderly statesman taking his sweet Labrador time to smell every tree trunk and blade of just-the-right-type of grass (and munching on the occasional one too) while I soaked up the early rays of morning sun that cast such a gentle light.

Bees on a blossom.

I heard the industrious hum of these bees, and all their companions, well before I saw them. I too caught wafts of the sweet and slightly vinegary scent of the pale yellow blossoms they were plundering.  Such hard work on a Sunday for these little bees. 

I guess bees don't have weekends ... I'm very glad I do!

Meg

Just In Time for Christmas

We are home just in time for Christmas. There's been rain while we've been away, the grass is long and green and the Poinciana trees in our little pocket of suburbia are covered in their showy red flowers. I think I will pick a spray of them for our Christmas table. So gorgeous and festive!

A Poinciana tree in glorious bloom decorates our neighbourhood.

As I write, a fluffy pavlova is baking slowly in our oven, dollops of meringue dotted around a circle to make a wreath shape. I made it the way Fiona, over at Stay Home Instead does. I can't wait to decorate it tomorrow with lashings of thick cream and slices of fresh fruits.  In many hours time, when I can take that pavlova out of the oven, I'll roast the chicken and the root vegetables for the salads that we'll share with our family for Christmas lunch tomorrow. It's simple, homemade food made with lots of love, baked with plenty of time and seasoned with much gratitude. There'll be leftovers too!

A cluster of Poinciana flowers.

I am looking forward to setting the table out on our verandah tomorrow, with a spray of those Poinciana flowers in the centre, and then sitting down to share the delicious meal we've made along with all the laughter, storytelling, memories and joy that comes with being together.

Wherever you are, and whether or not it is a day of celebration for you, I hope you can spend time tomorrow with the ones you love and that love you.

Merry Christmas to you.

Meg Xx