Bee Basics Montville -inspired by the garden

We knew it was coming and today the house is enveloped in white misty cloud and the rain is pelting steadily on the roof. The garden takes on an errie atmosphere with the grey greens of foliage emerging from the gloom. I can still enjoy the garden  as  picturesque and perhaps a visit to a garden in rain or fog may be more pleasant than a scorching hot day when the sun burns out the colours. I actually go a bit crazy and hang dog if the  wet weather persists and I can't get outside.
 Lately I have been working in the garden and creating water diversions so that our newly refurbished "Plough Inn"doesn't get flooded again. The recent by product of the cyclone was an incredible amount of rain that fell on the Blackall Range and caused fast run off down the yard and into the back shed taking with it a layer of red dirt.
I think I have successfully created at least two barriers that will  divert the run off and keep the shed safe for now.
Things to do inside
When I'm not in the garden I have been working with  my business partner Lisa on " Bee Basics Montville " products and marketing. Lisa is a beautician and I'm a gardener and together we have created a range of natural products that are based on high quality natural ingredients and essential oils. It all started with the creation of Big Stuff a natural insect repellent inspired by the garden. A walk around 'The Shambles" during summmer when the mozzies were around led us to the Citronella Geranium that I had planted to repell insects. At times after rain and in the humidity I use insect repellent almost every day and I have never really liked the sticky feeling of the repellents on the market so we made our own. It is effective, smells good and feels refreshing.
This was the beginning and we moved on to using Beeswax creating solid lotion bars . The range of bars includes Bare Hands, Bare Autumn, Bare Chest , Bare Bottom and more.
We believe that most people want to make natural choices and that it doesn't have to be a more expensive option. Gradually  I am replacing  personal and domestic products with things we have made. Our product 'Kleen' is a good example of an all round cleanser,deoderiser and sanitiser . It is long lasting and effective and can be used through out the house. Simplicity is the key.
We even have a web site www.beebasics.com.au and we are always keen to hear feedback about our products and new ideas of the types of products people need.
Here is a photograph of our grandbaby Austin doing his bit for Bee Basics Montville. He can vouch for "Bare Bottom" a soothing balm for sensitive areas that brings relief to rash prone areas. 
Michael is playing the piano , the rain is pouring down and the gardening will wait for another day.

Cheers Kyleigh

The Shambles, Who'll stop the Rain?

 Ipomoea carnea, a tall and imposing shrub

Well. Just when we thought the continual rain, dense fog and perpetual damp through the house would have a little break, another 'low' pressure system hangs over us in the last week of February.
All of our water runoff protection for "The Plough Inn" is successful and the newly planted material of lst week has the best start ever.
However, it's pretty miserable weather for visitors, the dog and just about about anyone else. It's so dark here in Narnia under the clouds.
Out there in the propagation house we hope that all sorts of things are not going to suffer rot. A shaded and therefore not flowering couple of different Iochromas including Iochroma warwscewiczii and Iochroma coccinea have had cuttings taken. Also from Kate Stock we have had cuttings of a pink Dombeya ? Dombeya burgessiae or Dombeya wallichii as well as a potted plant which may be threatened by drowning. From Nicky Booth at Woodford there are a couple of cuttings of a Wormwood, Gardenia radicans and a protrate Grevillea which can't afford to stay wet.
The propagation area is almost full of pots of cuttings roses, Salvias, Abutilons, Abelia, Carissa, Hibiscus, Weigela 'Eva Rathke', Argyranthemum, my one surviving cutting of Rothmannia and many others. The forecast is for rain for another week so some plants are going to be safer in the ground it would seem.
The garden at the Montville Uniting Church has been cleaned of weeds and fed pelletized fertilizer with dramatic results in only a week. We have potted Evolvulus pilosus and Cuphea for gaps in path way gardens.
From drought to flood our own garden has gone from "on hold" to bursting , especially with flower bud. Lets hope the rain stops in time for us to enjoy the flowers and not see them blown out with the weather, while we are stuck inside.
Michael Simpson

The Shambles, After the Flood

 An orchid waiting for hanging in the new fernery.

After a record difficult dry spell all hell broke loose with record rain and damaging wind from ex-tropical cyclone Oswald on the Australia day weekend. Terrible floods affected many centres and in our area at Montville there was damage around us with no power, phone or mobile phone for 4 days as a result.
Thankfully our home and garden was largely unscathed except for some flooding in the "The Inn".
Also thanks to Martin Leonard who came up on the following weekend for hedge trimming aand removal of much material to the tip.
A couple of weeks later the effects of the rain have been miraculous. All of the roses and perennials which had been flowerless and 'on hold' in the dry are now bursting with new growth and flower bud. We took the opportunity to plant more mature specimens which had been held over such as Magnolia soulangiana, Rhododendron indica 'Splendens', Viburnum suspensum and on our front embankment Nerium oleander 'Dwarf Apricot'.
We are revisiting an attempt to grow Hemizygia transvaalensis in a stone wall raised garden bed largely in shade and have planted out precious little roses such as Rosa chinensis sempreflorens and a cream tea rose from Nicky Booth in Woodford we style 'Mrs Cannons Woodford Rose'.
The new fernery with its raised stone edge beds, collections of ferns and orhcids has had a great start and looks like has been there for a long time. The final construction around the 'Fernery and Fungary' and our propagation area will probably happen this week.
To prevent flooding in the "Plough Inn" again we have installed corrugated iron lined garden beds and rearranged other stone edge garden beds to divert the flow of rain run-off from the hill in front of this building. We are not sure about the role of the resulting garden beds about 5 meters in length and in shade should be. I favour perhaps a collection of begonias, or maybe low growing fern allies.
We'll see.
Michael Simpson

The Shambles, Planting in the dry and heat

A painting of our Christina and tysons former house in Chermside with Poinciana

Poincianas have had a great flowering in the dry weather. 

Being unable to help it, on a recent excursion we acquired for planting some mature specimens of Magnolia soulangeana, Azalea (Rhododendron indica) 'Splendens' and Camellia lutchuenensis.
As a stroke of luck also picked up 30 pots of quite well established dusky pink Daylily, Hemerocallis and 4 quite well grown Nerium oleander dwarf apricot for the front embankment.
It would be mad to plant them now so they will sit in the propagation house with Viburnum suspensum   and all the other prepared cuttings grown plants until the drought breaks.

We did plant a lovely specimen of Brunfelsia lactea Grandiflora "Sweet Temptation" in the group with large mature Brunfelsia latifolia and Brunfelsia americana  . We also transplanted a poor specimen of Prunus cerasifera nigra and hope that this will do better near the wisteria trellis . The above mentioned Magnolia soulangeana is earmarked for it's former spot.

A glassed in wall is planned to screen our propagation area and make an entrance to the fernery. The pool fence and pool paving are ti receive a long overdue renovation before a bus trip of visitors arrives in march (hopefully after some rain).

Michael Simpson

The Shambles, Christmas 2012

 Some old roses at our Open garden

Christmas has come and just gone. Of course as well as the many gifts exchanged there were a considerable number of new plants to add to the garden. Unhelpfully the prolonged dry, hot weather has continued. It must be a record in our area surely with only about 25ml rain since July, with only one summer storm and dry weather continuing now, past Christmas.
New Plants added are a series of Hydrangea serrata "Komachi", "White Angel" and "Dance Party". The other Hydrangea serrata acquired at the same time are unlabelled but all are very attractive in flower. We also acquired a Hydrangea macrophylla sold to us as "White King". I am attempting to find our more about the cultivar names and breeding of the Hydrangeas from Poulmans who I believe have been the suppliers.
The newly built raised stone gardens of the fernery have been planted out with various groupings of Adiantum, Asplenium, Blechnum, Polypodium, Mycosorum, Darvallia etc.
In organizing the Hydrangea walk for new acquisitions a large number of Bromeliads were transplanted and the best moved to the nursery area.
At Christmas the small collection of Anthurium andeanum (Flamingo flower) was explanded and six new colour varieties added , which are now standing on their own display made from our recently replced back stairs. As originally native to columbia with hundreds of species and cultivars these plants are commonly seen but we have not really bothered to record our collection until now. Along with purple "Amethyst" we have white, Orange, Red, pink, Green, Miniature and cultivars with a different coloured Spath and Spadix.
Along with these we acquiterd two new specimens of the old rose Rosa chinensis sempreflorens.
Lets all pray for rain in 2013
Michael Simpson

A new Fernery from a Mountain of Rocks

 Cooper and Bauhinea corymbosa. Photo by John Simpson

Over the last few days our son John and our friend Martin Leonard have helped Kyleigh move a mountain of rather large pitching rocks (granite we think, rather than our usual basalt) to form a series of new garden beds. Our daughter Eleanor helped as well.  In the area adjacent to our propagating area and previous fernery, under the shade of large trees, Brachychiton acerfolius, Neolitsia and Toona ciliata a series of narrow raised rock beds have been built with a network of gravel paths to become our new Fernery.
The large Privet hedge has been reduced by 2/3 and the fernery building renovated to let in light and restore its usefulness.
Our propagating area is coming back into production as an engine for new and replacement plants. While much more attractive already the rock edged fernery needs the backdrop of the propagation area to be altered to make it more attractive when walking in the garden.
Lots of new growth on epiphytic orchids planted in trees over the fernery area and the large Crinum asiaticum anjacent to the new paths give plenty of visual interest.
In flower at the moment are quite a few things but looking best is the Bauhinea corymbosa along the northern pool fence and embankment which is a blaze of pink and of course the fragrant Trachylspermum jasminoides on a trellis beyond that.
Michael Simpson

New Plantings but a Dry Summer indeed

A  number of charming and new plants have been added to the garden in spite of prolonged dry weather which quite honestly is verging on drought.

Most have been acquired as cuttings from Nicky and Paul  at Woodford but some have been bought at Noel Burdettes Nursery . A dwarf Apricot Knifophia has been added and we have boldly planted out Forsytghia viridissima "Lynwood Gold" and Kolkwitzia amabilis as well as a variegated Deutzia in the central shrub garden and front path gardens.

we have also added.

An enchanting Michelia 'BLUSH' hybrid, bred by renowned New Zealand breeder Mark Jury. A well struck cutting of this bushy shrub is noted for its masses of russet colored buds opening to lightly fragrant blush-lilac pink flowers in late winter to mid-spring. It's apparently a compact size.

Carissa macrocarpa  'DESERT STAR'Attractive, small, compact evergreen shrub with large white, sweetly scented, star-shaped flowers and glossy round green leaves. Hardy and drought resistant and makes a very good low hedge or mounding plant. This plant has thorns so not sure where best to put it in our often moist environment

Graptophyllum excelsum is a shrub or small tree 1.5m to 8m high, usually no more than 4m, with multiple stems. It is found in dry vine thickets usually on soils derived from limestone. The leaves are about 3cm x 1cm and borne in opposite pairs. they are dark shiny green and spathulate (shaped like a spatula, with a broad tip and tapering to the base).We already have wonderful specimens of Graptophytum ilicifolium

	Pandanus utilis
	Red Edged Pandanus
	Madagascar and Mauritius.
	Sandy to rocky exposed slopes.
	Upright, generally multi trunking with wide spreading head.
	Evergreen
	Grey brown trunk and round seed pods create a statement. Branching often uniform from main trunk I believe that this may end up on our front embankment.   This small Fortunella japonica  (kumquat tree) has an abundance of dark orange fruit that is delicious eaten fresh or used in marmalades and jams. They make very ornamental tub specimens. Carl Peter Thunberg originally classified the kumquats as Citrus japonica in his 1784 book on Japanese Flora. In 1915, Walter T. Swingle reclassified them in a segregate genus, Fortunella, named in honor of Robert Fortune.   Viburnum suspensum is an evergreen Shrub growing to 3.5 m (11ft 6in). It is hardy to zone 9. It is in leaf 12-Jan It is in flower in March. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is not self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil. Tea Rose. Mrs Canons Rose Woodford. Cream coloured Tea rose grown from cutting. The spirce plant apparently was brought to Woodford  from the Blackall Range more than 50 years previous to our tiny specimen. Caryopteris x clandonensis ’Worcester Gold’ is a deciduous sub-shrub with a rounded, bushy habit. Its foliage is bright yellow and lanceolate with a simple margin. It bears clusters of small violet-blue, tubular flowers from late summer. Anisodontea scabrosa The pink mallow is an evergreen perennial shrub; its size is variable but reaching heights of 2-3m. It has an upright branching habit with partially woody stems.   We have many cuttings grown plants ready to go in , waiting for rain including Pieris japonica, Cleome, Abelia grandiflora, Pachystachys lutea, Plectranthus argentus, Sambucus nigra, Solenostemon spp, Salvias and even hopefully Rothmannia.  Lets see what the following summer will bring. Michael Simpson