October, silver skies...

...lets you suspect summer is not far, still very dry.
made some pictures from the driveway/butterfly garden.



Bulbs are tough and have their resources stored within.

Heliconia "Christmas" has reached its final stage of flowering.




Old style Gerbera, beautiful and tough as old boots. The new hybrids I planted were not successful in these conditions here. These white ones grow and flower for many years.




Native Syzygium Wilsonii has no problems either. Always look forward to its glorious powder puffs. I grow many of these in my bush garden.




A view into the bush garden

I too am an Epicurean. Epicurus doctrines contain everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece has left us.




I see you soon....

Orchids in spring. 
Dendrobium species.



Dendrobium aphyllum; there is a detailed article  by Suresh Kalyanpur, 
The Orchid Society of Karnataka.




All my Dendrobium orchids are growing on trees.

See you another day....

and at random...

Laelia flowered in July.



Frederic is still around and as cheeky as ever.






I love to see the bees getting pollen and

 nectar from my roses.

Soft evening sky; waiting for rain.

---

A very tame King Parrot visits and demands food.




Geraniums are always a good staple to provide colour.

Life begins the day you start a garden. – Chinese proverb

See you next month again.

Text, Photos, mygarden Ts

September, Spring has sprung.

Enjoy the little things around you.

Kalanchoe belharensis.

Succulent sedum species.

Dianthus barbatus/ Sweet William.




Salvia attraction for bees and butterflies.



Geranium, I love them.




Viola tricolor, I welcome the selfseeders every spring.



Did you know that Lantana flowers have a wonderful perfume?



Fiji Pink stands out in the garden.



A hardy succulent pot plant.

Little things can make your heart sing...



....like perfumed Orange flowers, promising juicy Oranges next autumn/winter.

30/09/2019
Oh well, already the last day in September, just time for an other picture and then let's rush into October. Still very dry.





I received delightful orchids for my birthday.







Delightful bells from the Partridge Aloe.





Pruned this figtree otherwise the branches grow into the sky! Can't wait for the figs, big and juicy.

Well folks this is it for this month.

©Text, pictures mygarden Ts

Bravo Augustus...

August, last weeks of winter.  The days are stretching towards spring, full of promises  for longer and warmer days. Firstly with the strongly scented Jonquils Earlycheer. They are around for a short while and then disappear again for a whole year without much ado.

Organic mushrooms are sold in small cardboardboxes which I can recycle  to collect vegetables in my garden, like sugarpeas, small zucchinis and cherry tomatoes. I like them so much better than plastic. When they are deteriorating I can compost them.

I have harvested the last Mandarins and Oranges.  I have made some Marmalade and must make a few glasses more; Quick and easy in the Thermomix.

In the time of abundance of Oranges I like to use them in cakes as well. Like the spanish Almond and Orange cake. You cook 2 oranges until soft and mix the pulp inclusive rind with ground Amonds, sugar  and eggs. No flour. It is rich and delicious.  

I like also a very easy, simple one made with 3 eggs,  100g butter, 120g sugar 1 big orange,  juice,

130g self rising flour. The batter is very wet but rises beautifully 180 C until baked, test with a skewer around  45 minutes.

A similar one but with added ground walnuts. I never use as much sugar as stated in the recipes as it would be to sweet for me.

This is the simple one without added nuts.

Cooking should always be done with love and time and aticipation of something tasty.  

I love to cook. I always cook from scratch, love to go into the vegetable garden to collect fresh vegetabeles. 😉

My favourites to cook are Moussaka, and Lasagna and so much more.

...and aren't we all moved by light? Alumine motus.

Tempus breve est. 

Although sundials date back to around 3500 BC, the mottos on them didn’t begin showing up until hundreds of years later, in the 16th century. It isn’t exactly known how this tradition first started, but seeing as how sundial makers spent such a great deal of their lives devoted to time and timekeeping, it’s only natural that their feelings about the topic would eventually influence the design of their art.

In the Kitchengarden. 14/08/2019



Neighbours Nasturtium find their way into my garden. I do not mind, I enjoy the flowers and then I use them in my herb salt, tiny colourful spots.





A very healthy looking Potato plant.





I love Fennel, such a wonderful tasting vegetable. These are the bulbs not the herb.





Beetroot is very tasty as salad or as vegetable.




Bees love this ancient China rose "Old Blush" two bees are burying deep into the flower to get the pollen and the nectar.









Love the lanky, tall growing old French Rose "Jeanne Ducher."

Les roses sont sublime.

Sometimes we find brittle, faded pressed rose petals between the pages of a book, as a lovely surprise,  wondering who has put the rose between the pages.



Bye, bye Augustus, it was great to see you.

Top, African daisies love the sun and will flower for a  while, Old french rose General Galieni will grow and flower into summer until it is getting to uncomfortable and then will sleep and wait ...

All photos, texts, mygarden, Lavender&Vanilla Ts

...and now into July 2019

I never forget my first garden in Australia. A trial of hope and errors. Ts



Winter is the time to enjoy  Camellias.




Wandering around the garden.











....picked a couple of roses.



You are never closer to nature then in your own garden. You learn to accept the moods and uncertainty of nature. Sometimes kind and beautiful, but also cruel and devastating. Nothing beats a walk in the garden on a beautiful, early morning.  Ts



Camellia are the show offs in Winter.





I replanted many hanging baskets with hardy, simple succulents, as they are much easier to maintain in the hot summer month. Last summer was very hot and dry and I was struggling to keep all the pots and baskets watered. This will make it much easier.







This one shares a pot with a geranium.





A wall pot, this one gets very hot in summer, this succulent does not mind.




Tillandsia likes to grow on certain native trees. This one loves the Clarence river Baeckia, a lovely weeping small tree.

As we only live once, we better make the best of it. Ts

Last day July;

Harvest;









Camellia Pink gold.

Poinsettia winter colours are fading now to a pretty pink-wash look.

I better let July fade away as well, looking forward to August the last month of winter.


I may see you soon.

Photos/Text mygarden Ts Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens.