Waterfalls & Appologies

Back in September when I started this garden blog, I went searching for other garden blogs to look at and add to my side bar. After all, if there was a world full of stitching blogs, then there must be a world full of garden blogs as well. In time, I stumbled upon Blotanical, a site that lets gardeners interect from all over the world. Somehow I joined this group, and am only now discovering some of what goes on. Yesterday I discovered I have my own message page, where people can ( and have) leave messages for me, all 18 of them. So to everyone who has left me a message, please forgive me for not answering. I only discovered you yesterday, and I promise to answer all messages deliverd from here on in.

Today's pic is to entice me to think "cool". This is Wentworth Falls in the beautiful Blue Mountains west of Sydney. I am wishing I was there at present as Sydney is having another warm week (though not as bad as Adelaide & Melbourne), and I am keeping inside in airconditioning. My heart goes out to all the North Americans who are covered in ice & snow. I hope it warms up for you all soon.

White Bugs

I found this weird looking bug on my geraniums, not sure who he is, or whether he is friend of foe. Anyone got any ideas?

Australia Day in Review

Yesterday ( January 26th) was Australia Day. It is the day our country celebrates the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip & the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, in 1788. It also marks the beginning of European settlement in this great country of ours. Much fun & entertainment was to be had all around the country for anyone who wanted to take part. So today I thought I would show you all Sydney's front yard, our beautiful Sydney Harbour, as we all celebrated Australia Day.

First up there were the ferries at Circular Quay, dressed up for the Great Ferry Race.

Then there was the famous "Coathanger", (the Sydney Harbour Bridge),

and of course the Opera House.

There are also magnificent fig trees that shade the lawns of Kirribilli House, the official Sydney residence of our Prime Minister. the cliff faces of North Head,


secluded beaches,

light houses that guide the way for all the watercraft,

the cliff faces along the northern shores,

the wharves that line Walsh Bay,



and the city skyline from the entrance to Darling Harbour.

It may have been a grey, cloudy day, but the harbour is still beautiful in any light. There are lots of walks around the harbour foreshores, and I have plans of exploring them all over time. I had a great Australia Day, and I hope all my fellow Aussies did too.

Turkey Watch

Away from the heat now & into a rainforrest. This turkey sat on the fence as we entered the skywalk at Dorrigo National Park last year. More info on Australian Brush Turkeys can be found here.

A New Frangipanni

I have a frangipanni tree in my front garden that is growing downwards as much as it is growing upwards. This upsets the lawn mowers of the family who have to duck under it so as to get the mower under the tree. The lawn mowers have threatened to prune my tree, and as any good frangipanni tree owner knows, these trees will bleed to death if prunned excessively. So the mowers are under strict instructions for one cut per year and one cut only. So they must think carefully before cutting. Last summer the cut branch was laid to rest for a few weeks, then planted in another section of the garden. Back in spring this new tree put out new leaves and one new bunch of buds. With the heat of the last week the buds have started to bloom. The tree is only 2 feet high, but with lots of time it will eventually grow as high as the house.

After The Heat

We had a few days relief from the heat of last week, and enough dribble of rain from one storm to bring my "Jennifer" rose into bloom again. Not sure how long they will last though as the heat is back again today.

Lady Bug

Ok, so the heat has come, gone, & on it's way back again. Hopefully not quite as hot as last week. It doesn't seem to stop these little guys though. I still find them occasionally crawling over the leaves of my roses looking for the aphids to eat.

Summer Scorcher

Yesterday was a scorcher of a day. It got to 41C ( 106F) and my garden is suffering.

My poor pink roses fried in the hot dry conditions, drying out before they even opened properly. We finished the day with a small sprinkling of rain from a thunderstom, but it wasn't enough to do much good, and with water restrictions, I have to wait until Sunday before I can give them a drink. So I have been out this morning & deheaded them all, encouraging the new growth to return. Lucky there are still some buds that did no suffer too much.

Mystery Plants Transplanted

A few weeks back I transplanted my two mystry plants out into the garden. I still am not sure what they are, but they seem to be growing. I have them under my frangipanni at the moment, not sure if they will like the shade or not. We will see. Someone thought that they may be wandering dew, but I am fairly certain they are not. Only time will tell.
Blogger is doing it's **** thing again & loading my pic sideways. I've tried three times & each time it turns 90 degrees. I'll see if I can fix it later.

A Pollinator

It takes all kinds of insects to pollinate flowers. Not quite sure what this one was, looks like a mosquito but could be a fly of some kind. I just love the contrast of purple & yellow on this flower. Not quite sure what that is either, but it flowers profusely when it gets water.

A Kookaburra

I love the sound of the kookaburras, they always seem to laugh when we do something stupid, it is like they are watching us, waiting for us to do something silly just so they can laugh. It also takes me back to my child hood, when we used to have them around home all the time. In my part of Sydney, there are few of these birds. We hear them sometimes, but they are rare in this section of town. I saw this one on a recent trip away. Check out this page for more information, and scroll right down, nearly to the bottom to click on the "Call in MP3 fromat " to hear their laugh.

Roses Are Red

How I wish this PC had smelling capabilities! The perfume of this rose is divine, and looking quite beautiful as well, still carrying raindrops from our small sprinkling in last night's storm. The roses are on their second flush of blooms at present and looking quite stunning.

A Visitor

Look who came for a visit. Obviously this pidgeon was on a home flying trip & needed a rest. He stayed on my path for quite a while & let me get quite close to take this pic. At first I wondered if he was hurt, but then I noticed the band around his leg, and figured he was just having a rest. I never saw him fly, but he was gone later when I checked. I am sure he could tell some great stories about his adventures if he could talk.

My Baby Grows

Back in November I showed my new babies that I aquired. It is about six weeks since I first aquired them and they are all growing nicely. This is one of the Kangaroo paws, and if you look closely, you can see all the new growth at the base, and also how tall the plant itself is getting. At the moment they are still in pots on my back blacony where it has got extremely hot over the last few days. The heat does not seem to affect them at all, which means they may live in pots on the balcony for some time to come.

Summer Colour

Sydney's weather has been typical summer lately. We have had over 5" of rain in December & now we are getting the January heat. 35 Deg C yesterday & 37 the day before. It is also predicted for another hot one again today but hopefully with storms today to cool everything down again. As a result, my geraniums are flowering a treat in my hanging baskets. This one contains a pretty mauve/pink & a deep red one.

How gorgeous is this? A Jacaranda tree in flower just down the road. I just love it when these trees come out in flower. The flowers appear before the leaves in spring, and if you are standing on top of a hill looking down a valley, the mauve flowers can be seen for miles. Then when they fall, there is this wonderful carpet of mauve on the ground. Just spectacular!

Stink Bugs?

Remember this post from some time back when I found eggs in my lemon tree? I wonder if one of these is the culprit. There were four of them in all, crawling all over my tree, obviously doing damage of somekind. They are no longer there.

Blue Wrens

On our way home from our walk last weekend I spotted this little blue wren on the wires. I used to see them a lot in our garden but have not seen them for a while. Every so often I here them in my neighbours garden across the road but rarely see them. It is nice to know they are still around.