Hosting the Beechmont Garden Club and a new arrival in the community

......Hosting a garden club is a collective effort - so I have a few people to thank.

Firstly thanks to Lyn for publicising the event; to Warren and Gareth for the lawn  mowing; to Kel for clearing the pond channels; to Annemarie for helping with afternoon tea and to Melissa and Rob for the mulching and gurneying of the paths.

Mel enjoyed a well earned cup of tea and the home made cakes.

Group relaxed in conversation in white wicker chairs

Admiring the view from the verandah

Home made cakes, slices and biscuits were quickly devoured

Baby prams were parked and blankets spread to enjoy the warmth

A bromeliad on the verandah in a planter pot

A cactus flower about to open

cactus flower

Michelle's dress matched the bright sunny day

relaxing with friends

Gardening books were shared for inspiration

 

The walk finished at the lower pond

Sadly all the gold fish in the ponds had been depleted by the herons - however, there is always something to learn from Gardening club members. Morrie told me that he has silver perch fish and they would do well in the ponds at Rosewood so I am keen to get some fingerlings and stock the ponds in Spring when the water is warmer.

Baby Jack a new community arrival with Steph and Rob and baby brother Andy

A visit to a local Monastery an 'Orchid Show' and a weekend game of Scrabble

Relle and Di were visiting on what turned out to be a fairly wet weekend. The girls like to 'get out and about' so off we went to the Beaudesert markets in the rain. We were rewarded with some very reasonably priced plants and time for a devonshire tea with scones and very hot coffee...just how I like mine brewed. Rainy days are also good for board games like scrabble which Di and I managed to enjoy playing over 2 days. ..I won wothout too much recourse to a scrabble dictionary! If I look at my word choices such as "grower' and 'loam' - there is no doubting I have gardening interests!

We managed a visit to the Pauline Fathers at the Marion Valley Monastery situated on Beechmont Rd, 10km from Canungra.

As you descend the mountain road, the Valley opens up before you and there is a Catholic Retreat Centre with Chapel and Shrines that provides an opportunity for extended solitude, prayer and spiritual renewal. We were amazed by the number of new shrines that had been built by volunteers.

The Monastery is in a natural setting surrounded by rainforest. We managed to visit most of the shrines - admiring a new Polish shrine that had a well maintained garden.

The girls managed to visit Delvae on their way back to Brisbane and buy some of her haloumi cheese.

The following weekend was the Beaudesert Districts Orchid and Foilage Society Show at the School of Arts Hall in Canungra.

 I went with Warren and Gareth and met Dean and Tim for coffee. They both said to us "Oh you should have been here earlier..everything has been sold"

I admired a prize winning begonia called 'copper glow'

And I liked the look of a prize winning bromeliad called 'groucho'

Well done to the Society and check ou their Spring show listing in their website  http://www.bdofs.com/
I'm assured I'll be able to source the red flowered Dendrobium Kingianum. This orchid is the emblem of the Society and was discovered in the Lamington National Park, and so is found only in a small area in South East Queensland and northern New South Wales. It should be flowering in September!

Gareth heated up some yummy chicken and vegetable soup for lunch

and I read their latest book on cooking called 'Stoked - Cooking with Fire" by Al Brown who shares his love of cooking outdoors in New Zealand. A great read by the way!












And I hope to see you all on the 1st April for a 1.30 for 2.00pm start as Rosewood is hosting the 'Beechmont Garden Club' and please bring a plate to share for afternoon tea. Everyone welcome!

Foilage colour

Having spent a good deal of time in North Queensland I was really influenced by the use of foilage colour in the garden - and especially influenced by my good mates Robert and Bruce who have an outstanding garden in Edge Hill, Cairns. They showed me how to mass plant bromeliads and cordylines to bring a coloured palette to the garden. Thanks guys! Enjoy the display!

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In the garden beds from the main house to the tennis court

I have planted cold tolerant bromeliads in tree stumps and shade loving cordylines to effect

I've planted the bromeliad 'neoregelia mcwilliamsii' and it has climbed up the tree fern trunk throwing out hard woody stems with new pups on the ends. It has vivid yellow green leaves and a red centre when in flower with small blueish/purple flowers.

I've planted some 'Aechmea Blanchetiana' bromeliads in the top garden. They are a true full-sun tolerant variety.  It's a big, upright plant, and wide yellow leaves that turn red from the tips down as it gets more sun.

 

Cordylines can give year round colour in a shady spot that really compliments other plants like palms. The range of colours is absolutely stunning. Other colour combinations to watch for include: green and an almost burnt orange; green and bright pink, and the good thing about these leaves is they stay that colour all year round.










It's interesting to learn how cordyline leaves get their colour.  The green colouring is chlorophyll, and when that breaks down, the chemical that's remaining is anthocyanin which is what produces the coloured red leaves. In yellow leaves, the remaining chemical is xanthophyll and if we had an orange leaf like the 'jaffa' variety, it would be carotene!

The trouble with Cows

It didn't take much more than an unstable front gate and the herd of cows came in from the front paddock and rampaged thru the gardens at Rosewood!
Warren was on hand to help pick up overturned timber pedestals with the bromeliads.

The herd munched their way thru the mondo grass and seemed to have a preference for the colourful foilage of the cordyline plants.

The cows didn't keep to the paths but trampled thru the garden beds; their heavy hoofs leaving deep marks in the garden beds

Ever curious our bovine friends pulled out draceana plants without an apology!

 

and they grazed their way thru the bed of cannas ...

My only consolation to the destruction is that I will have my revenge by eating one of them and having slow roasted organic beef ! Meanwhile the clean-up continues and a new gate post and latch is needed!

Monsoon in January

We weren't quite expecting the amount of rain to fall as it did in January. Luckily my Dad got the downstairs drains all sorted and not ones to be deterred Warren, Gareth, Melissa and I got stuck into the removal of the crofton weed that had been pretty invasive in the ponds. It was pretty icky work but really rewarding. Thanks Melissa for taking the photo!

The dahlias that were planted in the front garden were growing at an amazing rate and were as tall as a person! Unfortunately the heavy rain flattened them! Delvae got some nice cuttings before the rains fell!

However, the daisies still managed to shine despite the heavy deluge!

Holidays and Hannukah

           Holidays provide a great opportunity to reconnect with family and make bonds stronger.

Justin took all the cousins for a spin in the old Land Rover.

Alex, Jordon and Justin jumped and swam in the new waterhole

Bananagrams helped with word building

Nicola and Alex enjoyed playing with Alice and Sarah