All about the Weather at "The Shambles"

Magnolia liliiflora 'Nigra' in full leaf by mid september."The Shambles"

Mid September and heavy rain and thundery showers in the last 24 hours have transformed our spring and summer prospects. Up to this point 7 or 8 weeks of very dry and unseasonably warm weather had made our ongoing plant propagation very water dependent.
New plants are always going in here but in the last couple of months were in peril, needing constant watering.
The enormous variety of long established perennials, shrubs, vines and trees were not troubled by the dry at all. However, the failure of a cold winter and the warm dry spring had made from some uncharacteristic early flowering and a less spectacular show from some usually reliable display plants.
Weigela florida, Weigela alba and our newly established Weigela 'Eva Rathke' still have last years spent leaves hanging and haven't decided when spring starts as yet. Hopefully these storms will ginger them along.

New additions which will be harden on in pots are Spiraea japonica 'Gold Flame', Garrya elliptica 'James Roof' and Buddleja lindleyana. The Weigela  florida variegata which have established in pots, we will try and venture out into the ground.  The rain will now help along newly planted Cleome 'Senorita Alba', Heliotrope arborense, Nictotiniana spp, Neomarica caerulea, Russelia equisitiformis (red) and our newly planted roses 'White Maman Cochet' and 'Laure Davoust'.

In our rainforest corner newly established young palms Livistona chinense and the newly planted ferns here and in the fernery can now get cracking.

Of course long established plants displaying best at the moment are Brunfelsia latifolia, Brunfelsia excimia, Spiraea cantoniensis, Eupatorium megaphyllum, Clivea miniata and of course the many arborial epiphytic orchids. Tabebuia chrysotrica is having a half hearted display this year having not lost all of its leaves in our brief winter.

Michael Simpson

Spring in August. Orchids are early

Argyranthemum  in August

With a visit today by the "Red Hat Ladies"  the garden was full of spring flowers. Shrubs and Orchids which usually flower from mid-September are in full display in mid August this year. Also our run of reliable showery weather has dried up, it seems , for the next few weeks.
Eupatorium was definitely a feature in late September 2012 for a book launch and garden party. It's about to burst now, as is Eranthemum pulchelum. All of this while Camellia japonica are still in flower and Magnolia liliiflora and Azaleas are fully out.
We have no Open gardens planned thank heavens because it would seem difficult to predict a best time with such different seasons.

Thelychiton speciosus

Busy Busy Bees at The Shambles

Camellia japonica just about finished for 2013 "The Shambles"

Busy Busy Bees

A busy time because of our lack of winter and advent of spring at "The Shambles'

We are always adding more and new plants. Also there is a real chance to strike more plants for a planned Plant Sale and Opening Easter next year. Very kindly Rowena Cavanagh who lives nearly in Montville allowed us with Kate Stock to take plant material for next year. Some is listed below.

A couple of specimens of red and also white Rosa multioflora were moved from a hopeless position in the fenced rose garden to the trellises in the South Rose garden. We added a new rose "Renae" Moore, USA 1941 a climbing polyantha. This rose will share a trellis with a fairly derelict "Albertine" and roses "Violette" and "Bloomfield Courage". We'll see who wins.

 We removed a big, but sparsely flowering "Spray Cecile brunner" and in it's place put a semi-mature Magnolia acuminata x denudata Butterflies'. 

Thinking of Magnolias made me do a little more research on "Kay Parris" and Magnolia × loebneri which we already had

Magnolia grandiflora "Kay Parris" Named for Katherine Killingsworth Parris. She was the mother of the horticulturalist Kevin Parris, sometime Arboretum Director at Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina who first discovered the cultivar. Central Shrub garden (We added this in 2010)

Dodonaea triquetra, known as Common Hop Bush or Large Leaf Hop Bush, is a species of shrub occurring in eastern Australia Described by J.C. Wendland Botanische Beobachtungen (Botanical Observations) 1798 collector unknown Rainforest corner

Magnolia × loebneri This small tree is a cros of M. kobus and M. stellata. It has star-shaped flowers (3 to 5 inches across) with 10 to 14 narrow white petals, sometimes tinted in lilac-purple or pale pink.North Rose garden (added in 2011)

Magnolia acuminata x denudata Butterflies' usually forms a small tree with an upright central leader or sometimes a multi-stemmed shrub. It has yellow cup to star-shaped flowers . Genus name honors Pierre Magnol, French botanist (1638-1715). Bred by Phil Savage USA  South Rose garden

Arisaema candississimum It has been a popular garden plant since its introduction from Yunnan by George Forrest in 1914. Hydrangea Walk

Beaumontea grandiflora Easter lily Vine. Himalayan tropics. 

Hiptage benghalensis ,Hiptage is a member of the Malpighiaceae plant family and is native to India and south-eastern Asia (i.e. Sri Lanka, southern China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines). It is not yet a declared weed Not going to plant this. 

Nephrolepis exaltata 'Rita's Gold' Slightly more compact than classic Boston ferns, this golden-leaved selection features striking chartreuse fronds that prefer shade but will tolerate intermittent sun. Fernery and elsewhere 

Neomarica caerulea is a rhizomatous plant from Brazil with tall, attractive fans of evergreen architectural foliage (ht to 1 m) Blue trellis garden & Criss Cross garden 

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureo-maculata' (Leopard Plant) East Asia Hydangea walk 

Selaginella moellendorffii Spikemoss. Belongs to an ancient non seeded group of plants called lycophytes and often classed as fern allies. Fernery & Central Shrub garden

Eomecon chionantha Snow Poppy. a perennial from China, with white, cuplike flowers in sprays. First described by Henry Fletcher Hance in 1884.Central Shrub garden  

Anenome hupehensis  All throughout.

Scutellaria ventenatii

Sinningia cardinalis  first published as Gesneria in 1850 by Carl freidrich Phillip Von Martius. Tropical South 

There are early spring flowers everywhere, including >20 sprays on our big orchid 
Thelychiton speciosus formerly Dendrobium speciosum. Having become dry inthe last couple of weeks we now find it necessary to water again. What a cycle life in the garden is.
MS

Bee Basics Montville ,The Shambles Collection

Just a quick up date on Bee Basics Montville , our Home based  business making natural products based on quality raw materials and essential oils.Naturally it is inspired by the garden. Lisa and I have decided to launch a "Shambles" range that is available only to our garden visitors. All of the items in this range are beautifully scented and lovely to use.
As a gardener I always need to reach for the Bare Hands solid lotion moisturiser for my rough hands . Not only is this a soothing blend to use it also repairs my skin . In our range we have also formulated a body scrub to use in the bath or shower that leaves your skin smooth and fragrant and a body oil that can be rubbed on after the shower .
My favourite in the range has to be the "Lawn" room and body spray. Who doesn't like the smell of freshly cut grass apart from Lisa? Lisa made me one of these about a year ago and I love it.
Our Mum's, Dad's and Baby range has recently added the Bare Baby Oil to the collection and this is a really cute useful gift for the new babies in our lives.

Townsville Garden Club Visit

We enjoyed having a visit from the lovely members of the Townsville Garden Club last week .It may be the middle of winter for us but everyone seemed happy to see the garden and have a chat over a delicious lunch provided by the  members of the Hunchy Association.
 Many Thanks to Iris who organised the visit .
On the day one plant that received a lot of attention was the Callicarpa bodinieri var.giraldii( beauty berry).
This sprawling lax shrub is well over a metre tall and produces tiny pink flowers in summer and then most notably shiny purple berries in clusters at this time of the year.I hope that the people who have taken some cuttings have some success.
As many of the group met Cooper the wonder dog on the day I will share a story about his latest escapade.
Cooper follows me everywhere and when I go  up to the Montville Village Hall to work in the garden he always comes along. Generally he is under my feet or sitting near by after he has had a scout about and a sniff.Anyway just a few weeks ago it came time for us to go home and Cooper was no where to be found.
I called him and knowing he is an old dog wondered if he had fallen off the cliff or something dire. Anyway I listened and I could hear him barking. I ran and followed his barks to find him tied up to a lamp post in front of the shops. Some "good" person thought he was lost and tied him there. Cooper was barking as if to say"I'm not lost". "I live here". Anyway he was very relieved to get home that day.
happy gardening
Kyleigh

"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.

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.