Top ten list of garden plants

  • Abutilons of all kinds
  • Buddlejas old and new
  • Epiphytic orchids and ferns
  • Gordonia species
  • Heliotrope, Lemon verbena, Fennel and herbs
  • Michelias of all sorts
  • Perennial Salvias large and small
  • Species Camellias
  • Tea and China Roses
  • Weigela of all types

Montville Rose

Friday, June 28, 2013

"The Shambles" observations and additions


Its not all about the garden.
Kev and Anthony "Rocking the Shambles" 
Winter and wet it may be, but only now are some shrubs and trees changing colour and shedding leaves. Persimmon, Lagerstroemia spp, Toona ciliata, Acer spp, are wintering finally and Hibiscus syriacus are already bare.
Kyleigh has done a great deal of work in and under our border hedges and we have had a guy come and actually remove truckloads of green waste.
Into our North West corner long sheets of metal roofing and star pickets have been used to make large formal mulching bays in place of the heaps around the place. The underplanting of the "rainforest corner" in this space continues with the addition of more Deiffenbachia spp, Anthurium cv. ferns including Adiantum spp and 'Kangaroo fern'. There is much to do to use up lengths of old hardwood, fence palings and other jetsum perhaps to make a fence.
Today we added Lilium lancifolium bulbs, and planted Dianthus sp. The hundreds of cuttings of perennials , shrubs and repotted bulbs and rhizomes are establishing well. The five tiny Weigela florida variegata I bought have been potted on until spring and are doing well.
Always lots to do.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Winter at Montville

Finally we are experiencing some winter weather.Chilly nights and beautiful sunny days.It is a time when the Montville and Blackall Range scenery is at it's best.
The garden is still quite damp as it doesn't receive a great deal of sun at this time of the year.It is a time when I can catch up with weeding ,some dead heading and light pruning as there always seems to be so much of that to do. I am also re- organising a compost area and moving barrow loads of rich compost on to the gardens.
Luckily there is still some colour in the garden with Kniphofia,Camellias, Salvias and  sub tropical foliage plants. The camellia cuttings taken for the Camellia Project from around Montville are still alive but we will have to wait and see. Growing from  cuttings will always have an element of 'good luck' especially at this time of the year.We have found that there is one warm spot where pots can be set out on pavers that seems to work well.
We are looking forward to a couple of visiting groups. One from Townsville and one from  North Brisbane this winter. As always it is great to be able to share our garden.