Plenty of fodder for the green bin in these stormy times.

July 2022

Air plants (tillandsia) are renowned for coping with, and thriving in, diverse environments. Must be true. These little ones have happily made their home in the shells in my back room for years.

May 2022

B. Remember the days when lots of girls were named after flowers: Daphne, Violet, Rose, Lily?

G. Oh yes, I remember that fashion. I had a Rosemary and a Primrose in my class at school.

B. Poppy, Daisy, May, Iris. There’s many of them.

G. And how about Ivy, Holly, Olive, Fern – though they aren’t exactly flowers I suppose. 

B. Nowadays no one seems to go for those names…a bit too pretty/pretty for these times, I guess. 

G. Interesting there wasn’t a similar trend for boys. Like Oak, or Mangrove maybe.

B.  Or Cypress or Fir or Chestnut.  

G. They were all called John or Michael or Dave or Steve back then…well the trad Aussie ones at least. 

B. Still are. But I wonder if it’s the same in other cultures?

G. I don’t know about Chinese boys. But Chinese girls seem to be given names that mean qualities – pure, accomplished, graceful, fragrant, quiet. 

B. Hoping for nominative determinism?

G. Maybe. And how about Middle Eastern boys and girls?

B. No idea. 

G. Our ignorance is immense. Better just get on with our tea and toast. The garden calls.

April, 2022  

But was it really worth the effort?

March 2022

Finding myself in a plant nursery specialising in old fashioned flower species in the wilds of Victoria, yet not needing any more flowers, I asked the young owner if he had any edibles. Sorry, he said, we don’t do veggies or herbs. Oh, pity, I said and continued wandering among the flowers. Hang on, he said after a while, I do have one. And led me to a large clump of yellow day lilies. These are edible, he said. Here, try a bud. 

I looked at them (and him) a bit askance, but admiring his salesmanship, I thought why not? And purchased a small pot.

Googling once I got home, it turns out he was absolutely spot on. Several Chinese recipes call for using hemerocallis flowers and buds (gum jum), either dried or fresh, and rate them delicious. It seems they have long been a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine.

So will my next summer’s salads be given a gum jum boost? Hope so. We’ll see.

March 2022

After traipsing up the back yard in the dark in the middle of the night for the last five nights to check on the progress of a rare bud on my Queen of the Night cactus (epiphyllum oxypetalum), it finally burst into bloom last night. First time I have caught it in all the years I have grown it. Gorgeous eh?

These night flowers only open well after dark and only last a single night. Next morning? Collapse. See below.

February 2022

My whole house is currently awaft with heady perfume. Every available vase has been recruited. It seems ginger loves a hot humid summer as much as I do.

February 2022

B. I’ve just been thinking….

G. Uh oh. Trouble ahead.

B. ….that we can barely call ourselves gardeners lately.

G. How do you mean?

B. Well, look at how little time we’ve been spending in the garden.

G. Come on. It’s been Christmas. We’ve been busy.

B. Not that busy.

G. Besides, it’s sometimes been 30 degrees in the shade. And 100 per cent humidity.

B. True. But a real gardener would get up early and….

G. And what?

B. Do stuff in the cool. Pull out all that parsley that’s gone to seed for example.

G. Yes. I’ve been meaning to do that.

B. And hack at the wretched convolvulus – I swear it grows a foot a second. It’s twisting round the bay tree. 

G. Yes. I saw it’s even started on the datura.

B. And the lilly pilly branches are so heavy with lilly pillies they’re dangling over the front fence. They’ll soon block the footpath. 

G. Oh Lord. Summer! There’s just no respite. Why don’t we pour ourselves a nice cold drink with clinking ice blocks and go sit on the verandah and plan to mow the lawn at least?

January 2022 

Ground orchids have the ability to merge visually with the surrounding leaf litter. Perhaps that’s what has enabled this fabulous plot of bonnet orchids (cryptostylis erecta) to survive even though they are right beside the boardwalk of a very popular local urban bushland track.

Years ago this stretch of bush had hundreds of flannel flowers but barely a one remains due mostly to their admirers’ enthusiasm to pick one. 

Let’s hope today’s joggers keep swishing past these tiny wildflowers, unaware of such treasures in full bloom so near at hand. 

(photo taken by my daughter lying on her stomach – an enviable feat)

December 2021

What could it be? Not your average backyard shed, that’s for sure.

Set in a grove of heritage-listed 100+ year old trees in a garden high above Sydney Harbour, it cleverly doesn’t compete with, perhaps even enhances, the landscape. Hope the 100+ year old roots have survived its construction though. 

November 2021