Help out this summer at the Botanical Gardens

The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens are seeking volunteers to assist with a range of projects over summer. This is a wonderful opportunity to get involved in many of the summer activities, so if you like the idea of being outside in beautiful surroundings whilst lending a hand, then drop them a line. Call Anne Suter on 03 6236 3055.

A focus on blue

I didn’t start out with a preference for blues and pinks in my garden but that is the way it has turned out. I am pleased with this corner that used to be quite overgrown and dominated by my sick passionfruit. It became trampled last year as the water feature was built but now it is all blending in as a blue backdrop to “Chascade”.

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I have managed to combine sage and thyme, with delphiniums and a few iris under a nectarine tree. Even the passionfruit is improving after my efforts to feed it with chelated iron and Seasol and it has lots of flowers promising lots of fruit.

Exuberance of Peony Roses

Don’t you love this over the top exuberant peony rose?

The bold and beautiful peony rose

It is not in my garden but I was lucky enough to be given a bunch of peony roses by a friend over the weekend and I have loved having them in the house. They are exquisite, intricate, and bold and a real source of joie de vivre.

They brighten any room

When I think about my childhood, I cannot remember having cut flowers in the house. We certainly had the maidenhair fern on the blackwood stand in the lounge room but flowers were left in the garden. At boarding school, I met one of my closest friends whose home was full of cut flowers and from then on, I was hooked.

Home grown roses: smaller but no less beautiful

So when I started to develop my own garden, my rules were that plants had to be edible, or habitat for native birds or suitable for cut flowers and that is why I grow some roses. Different from the peonies, but nevertheless beautiful and fragrant are these buds cut from my garden over the weekend.

Delicate little blooms

 

Promise of harvest

One of the best things about fruit trees is seeing them begin to set fruit and imagining the bumper harvest that you will enjoy. The reality is always subject to possum attack, bird strike, storms, insects and so on and so forth. I love my cherry trees for that reason.

This year I intend sharing the cherries with friends and family. Not blackbirds!

At this time of year the fruit begins to plump up and I get excited. Last year the blackbirds somehow got through the net and so I ended up with very little. I am now intent on outsmarting them and making sure that this year will be different. Raspberries are the same. Tasmania is perfect for raspberries and together with luscious thick cream, they are a real summer treat but again subject to ability to out do the birds.

Nearly time to break out the cream. Raspberries coming.

 

Oreganos make a fragrant and edible groundcover

Having herbs as groundcovers is such an easy and good way to use small spaces under and around shrubs and fruit trees. I have been collecting various oreganos for the purpose and they are really thriving. Some are better than others for cooking but they all look terrific from the lush greens to the variegated varieties.

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I have parsley amongst flowers and purple flowering sages and prostrate rosemaries along a boundary wall. Thymes make good edging plants and attract the bees. The other great thing about herbs is that they are generally hardy and respond brilliantly to a good haircut with hedge clippers.

 

Something is eating my Iris

I love Iris and so was delighted when I was given an unusual, mauve and beige small iris by a good friend. It flourished in one part of the garden so I decided to break up the clump and transplant it to a few locations to facilitate its spread. But the end result has been a much diminished original clump and unsuccessful transplants.

It's seen better days this Iris

Something is eating it. I am surprised because I have not had to contend with anything eating iris before. Any suggestions re improving the health of the transplants generally or re the pest would be gratefully received.

 

Repotting geraniums

It is that time of year when you get to a point where you cannot overlook what must be done a minute longer. I have been looking at my geraniums for weeks thinking that they need repotting, feeding and weeding but I have not had the time to get on with the job.

Before: weeds taking over

Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore and just made it happen. It is amazing how a job like that makes you feel so satisfied when it is completed. No matter how small, a sense of achievement in the garden, seeing where you have been, is a great feeling.

After: weeds kept at bay...for now

Chinese garden in Sydney

Recently I was in Sydney to speak at an event about bees as part of the Sydney Food Fair. As it was a fantastic day, I went for a wander and came upon the Chinese Garden at Darling Harbour. It is such a beautiful retreat from hot brick pavers and gaudy lights and noise.

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Right there in the centre of Sydney, you can just sit and relax in a quiet secluded spot, surrounded by cascading water features..you know I love a water feature.. and shady trees and flowers, even water lilies and all amongst Chinese pavilions very suitable for time out.

 

Hobart Show Day is D Day for tomatoes

Folk history in Tasmania is that tomatoes can be planted after Hobart Show day and so I was quick off the mark and planted two healthy specimens.

Tomatoes and beetroots survived some cold nights

This is a reality check for me as every year until now I have planted at least six plants and have ended up with way too many tomatoes and not enough room for other salad vegetables. So I have decided to be more restrained and to opt for two, so here goes. I was a bit taken aback by the sudden drop in temperature over the past few days with frosts in patches across Hobart but fortunately I have been lucky and on inspection this morning, they remain healthy, as do the beetroot seedlings. I opted for Spanish onions in a polystyrene box to expand my salad capacity and they appear to have taken.

Spanish onions doing well

 

Garden up to scratch

After months of neglect, I have now managed to get the garden under control and it feels good. It has taken me a number of years to reach a stage where the garden is constantly changing in subtle ways and I am always pleasantly surprised as the fading of one flower sets the stage for the blooming of another.

Solomon's Seal follows the daffodils

Take Solomon’s Seal, a perennial plant which appears very rapidly after the daffodils and spring bulbs have faded and shoots up to about 60 cm with lovely white flowers gracing the green stems. How can you not love it? I am also very happy with this creeping thyme which I have now planted in several locations around the garden and unlike culinary garden thyme is not woody and leggy but maintains a high gloss and flowers beautifully for the bees to enjoy.

Creeping thyme, a joy for visiting bees

My native dogwoods were a picture this year and unlike in the wild where they are subject to the ravages of several other creatures in the ecosystem, they were brilliant and looked great against the native hop bushes which the birds love.

Native dogwood enjoying safety of the garden

I also love this plant which I bought from the Friends of the Botanical Gardens in Hobart and was propagated by Dr Helen Cutts.

This wonderful plant from the Botanical Gardens is loving its spot near the water feature

One thing I especially value in my garden is the plants that I have been given over the years or which I have planted to mark special occasions. It makes a garden a very personal and special place.