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

Two Birthday parties

I flew to Sydney to go to William Yang’s birthday party at Jack’s eccentric house in Marrickville.  

















His invitation said to ‘dress auspiciously please’ -so Rebekah Fogarty who accompanied me to the party gave me a Jade ring to wear to the party.

The party was a buzz of excitement with William beaming and a cellist played a chinese musical piece.

 I enjoyed William’s birthday speech as he mentioned the Karen Blixon novel 'Babette’s Feast'.
Check out the story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette's_Feast

William asked me if I wanted to meet any celebrities at the party but I was happy enough enjoying his company and of course Rebekah was charmed by Jack’s Irish charm.

Best of luck William with your performance at the 2012 Sydney Festival this year! http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/uploads-2012/08%20I%20Am%20A%20Camera.pdf

Also Gareth celebrated his 50^th Birthday by throwing a party at home in Beechmont  

He certainly looks 10 years younger! I enjoyed reconnecting with his friends Kate and Max. Maurice, Anna and Maria Meagher, Madelaine, Melissa, Gerard and Lae stayed at Rosewood. It was a great party and the work that he and Warren had put into hosting the event was evident from all the people enjoying themselves! Delvae was there as was Michelle who made the most yummy of desserts.

Meanwhile news around the family was Mum giving my nephew Leo a violin lesson

In the garden the the tree waratah and Christmas




I welcomed a delightful German family from Bavaria - Melanie, Jens and their three children: Lilly, Jannes and Joris. They are from the HelpX organisation and it was a great hosting them. Jens and Melanie are both psychologists so we had some very interesting conversations. My nephew Leo also came up to play with their children and there was alot of laughter and activity around the yard. Jens was great helping me around the garden and Melanie helped in the house and we had a few laughs over cooking instructions that weren't followed. They went to do some bushwalking up in Binna Burra and are now heading south - what a great adventure for their children to be travelling.

and in the garden...the Qld Waratah Tree is a mass of blooming orange!

and the bromeliads are looking great as a mass planting!

An organic gardening workshop and cheesemaking demonstration

Rob came down from Cairns and was kindly given a cheesemaking demonstration by the lovely Delvae Edwards (thanks Delvae!).

At the dinner on saturday night Warren, Gareth, Delvae and Colin enjoyed the fresh ricotta when Rob prepared a yummy baked ricotta dish with fresh thyme.

Rob also planted an olive tree in the orchard. The tree was a gift from my brother Dave and Sister-in-law Cate.

We attended the organic gardening workshop held at the Griffith University Ecocentre by Jerry Coleby-Williams. It was a great workshop. He is also a presenter on the ABC’s ‘Gardening Australia’ and for 11 years managed the horticultural estate at Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens.

He also co-created Bellis, a sustainable house and garden in the Bayside of Brisbane. Check out his website http://www.bellis.info/Site_3/Home.html Jerry was inspiring with his sustainability message and reminding us you just need to take small steps to achieve sustainability.

Hopefully one day we can live in an autark system. This is a self-sufficient system; for example, a system that is economically independent. Some religious communities such as the Amish and the Mormons attempt to sustain a viable autarky. 

Warren and Gareth have their hands full with the second litter of piglets from Bernie and Bernadette.

I have Wei Ren Lai (Neck) staying from Taiwan He is from the HelpX organisation. 'Neck' has been great doing mulching around the top garden and weeding in the vegetable garden. He has also had the time to go to Binna Burra to do the bushwalk at the Bellbird circuit walk. 




My nephew Justin told me about HelpX and it is provided primarily as a cultural exchange for working holiday makers who would like the opportunity during their travels abroad, to stay with local people and gain practical experience. In the typical arrangement, the helper works an average of 4 hours per day and receives free accommodation and meals for their efforts. Check out their website http://www.helpx.net/index.asp

And finally flowering in the garden at the moment and the bed of hydrangeas and the drive to the house is purple with the fallen flowers of the Jacaranda trees.