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| Agapanthus, Alexandra Gardens, Ararat, Victoria |
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| Agapanthus in a partially shaded position |
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| Agapanthus bordering another path |
Agapanthus - Love Them or Hate Them
I love agapanthus, especially the blue ones, though many people don't considering them weeds. They are easy to grow, look good in mass plantings, drought hardy, can tolerate poor soils, love full sun or a partially shaded position, flower through summer and beyond. With some extra attention they can be spectacular. My drive way is bordered by agapanthus, but they look nothing like these. I live in hope!
Caught in the Act
This swamp wallaby, a regular visitor to our garden, was caught in the act munching on the hardenbergia. It has also nibbled at a geranium, a standard rose, a plumbago and various other shrubs.
What a Difference a Week Makes
Those high temperatures I mentioned in my last post, accompanied by blustery winds, caused a grass fire to come bearing down on our small community in south-western Victoria. Thanks to all the resources thrown at it a major disaster was averted although some homes, stock, fences etc. were lost.
Our first glimpse of the fire was a cloud of smoke over the gum trees.
This is one of the aircraft that flew overhead: an Erickson Air Crane from Canada. There are currently two of these in Australia for our bush fire season, "Malcolm" and "Delilah".
A thunderstorm cell late on Saturday afternoon helped firefighters in the area contain and eventually put out the fire. The Country Fire Authority were still patrolling the area a few days later to control spot fires and flare ups.
Heavy rain is falling now and more is expected over the week-end. Flood warnings are in place for some areas of Victoria. The garden is getting a good soaking and water is going into the dam. Last check of the rain gauge showed over 10 mm had fallen.
This time last week we were sweltering in over 40 C temperatures. Today it is 20 C cooler. What a difference a week makes!
Our first glimpse of the fire was a cloud of smoke over the gum trees.
This is one of the aircraft that flew overhead: an Erickson Air Crane from Canada. There are currently two of these in Australia for our bush fire season, "Malcolm" and "Delilah".
A thunderstorm cell late on Saturday afternoon helped firefighters in the area contain and eventually put out the fire. The Country Fire Authority were still patrolling the area a few days later to control spot fires and flare ups.
Heavy rain is falling now and more is expected over the week-end. Flood warnings are in place for some areas of Victoria. The garden is getting a good soaking and water is going into the dam. Last check of the rain gauge showed over 10 mm had fallen.
This time last week we were sweltering in over 40 C temperatures. Today it is 20 C cooler. What a difference a week makes!
A New Year, Scorching Temperatures and Chinese Lanterns
The new year has certainly made a grand entrance. Temperatures of 40 C plus were experienced over the past few days. The dam level is getting lower and the landscape is dry, very dry. Gum leaves carpet the ground as trees shed them at an alarming rate. Into the second month of summer with more hot weather to come.
It's a battle to keep plants alive. Needless to say that work has not progressed on the garden. Plants bought in spring are still in pots. They will not be planted out until the worst of the hot weather passes, which could be around March/April. So much easier to water pots grouped in the same area than drag the hose around the garden. Most established plants are left to survive with no watering. It is only the ones planted in spring and some of the small trees showing heat stress that benefit from extra watering.
However, all is not gloom and doom. The morning was cool and I enjoyed breakfast out on the patio, accompanied by birdsong, while kangaroos fed on whatever they could find near the orchard.
A stroll around the garden before the sun broke cloud cover revealed that there are still discoveries to be made: like this flowering Chinese lantern or abutilon.
A compact hybrid abutilon, called Patio Lanterns Passion, it grows to approximately 60 cm x 60 cm. As you can see, it has lots of flowers and buds about to open. The colour is a vibrant red and, if the information on the tag is correct, this display should last until autumn or if I want to achieve all year flowering it can be planted in a pot and placed in a protected area on the patio.
I have two other Chinese lanterns growing in pots: abutilon flamenco and abutilon pink swirls. These shrubs are very hardy, enjoy full sun to part shade and can tolerate most frosts. They grow to a height of about 2 metres and a width of 1.8 metres. Lots of flower buds on both, but only abutilon pink swirls has one open.
As I was writing this post (on Friday 2nd January) a bush fire emergency occurred and it was put on hold until today. Fortunately the bush fire did not impact on us, though we did have a very tense 48 hours.
It's a battle to keep plants alive. Needless to say that work has not progressed on the garden. Plants bought in spring are still in pots. They will not be planted out until the worst of the hot weather passes, which could be around March/April. So much easier to water pots grouped in the same area than drag the hose around the garden. Most established plants are left to survive with no watering. It is only the ones planted in spring and some of the small trees showing heat stress that benefit from extra watering.
However, all is not gloom and doom. The morning was cool and I enjoyed breakfast out on the patio, accompanied by birdsong, while kangaroos fed on whatever they could find near the orchard.
A stroll around the garden before the sun broke cloud cover revealed that there are still discoveries to be made: like this flowering Chinese lantern or abutilon.
A compact hybrid abutilon, called Patio Lanterns Passion, it grows to approximately 60 cm x 60 cm. As you can see, it has lots of flowers and buds about to open. The colour is a vibrant red and, if the information on the tag is correct, this display should last until autumn or if I want to achieve all year flowering it can be planted in a pot and placed in a protected area on the patio.
I have two other Chinese lanterns growing in pots: abutilon flamenco and abutilon pink swirls. These shrubs are very hardy, enjoy full sun to part shade and can tolerate most frosts. They grow to a height of about 2 metres and a width of 1.8 metres. Lots of flower buds on both, but only abutilon pink swirls has one open.
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| Abutilon pink swirls |
As I was writing this post (on Friday 2nd January) a bush fire emergency occurred and it was put on hold until today. Fortunately the bush fire did not impact on us, though we did have a very tense 48 hours.
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