No excuse

For my birthday Michael gave me the Clive Blazey book, 'There is no excuse for ugliness".I think I feel much the same as the author and really can't understand why most Australian gardens can be so ugly.Councils too have dropped the ball with the rigid landscaping of public spaces and the unexciting planting. Sure there is always a place for a few natives but many places could be improved with a sassy colourful exotic plant - preferably one that provides shade here in Queensland.
There was a time when people were  house proud and maintained the outside of their properties mainly with that shorn piece of lawn and perhaps a flower bed or two.Yet lately I have noticed a distinct lack of care for both domestic spaces and roadside and public areas.

There is a particular spot in Montville on the southern side /coming from Maleny which illustrates this point. It is at the end of Western Avenue so I see it everyday. One side has the Entry statement  on a terraced garden and despite the weeds looks half cared for but the southern side is completely neglected. I used to take a bottle of round up with me when I went walking and attempt to cull some weeds but before long the whole thing is looking shabby again. Is it that people simply do not see it? Is it that we no longer have a "tidy towns' project and people can't be bothered ?
I am sort of convinced that people don't see it as they speed towards the shops.
I am sometimes tempted to take over some public space and plant it up with the  hardy colourful plants I have at hand but it is sure to incite aback lash from people who can't see any plant but natives being used anywhere and would prefer to have weeds.
It is great to see some of the Montville businesses doing up the gardens in town  as it all contributes to making the place look cared for. This morning I worked at the Church garden and it has changed a bit since this photo was taken. I have added a couple of plants from our place  including a Tagetes  which I love for it's sunny yellow flowers and the smell of the foliage  and it is so nice to have people stop to talk or ask about the plants or maybe

they just want to pat the dog!






"I just don't get it,first we have to do the garden at home and next thing she's gardening again"
Shadow

Things great and small at 'The Shambles' January 2016

Magnolia grandiflora, Grevillea baileyana, Taxodium disticum and Castanospermum (Queensland Bean) form a skyline.

There is a great deal of colour and life at ground level at 'The Shambles' garden, but looking up there is also a lot to see in the skyline with our collection of trees. This is our 24th year here at Montville and some of the young trees we planted in the past are growing to a substantial size. 

Rampant growth has it's drawbacks however. One of them is in the maintenance of our Duranta and Privet hedges , which require truckloads of material be removed each year. The South frontage hedge has taken 2 days to civilize, with 3 guys involved.

Young Araucaria bidwillii, Araucaria cunninghamii and Grevillea robusta North East Corner.

Then with the collection of trees including the Red Cedars, Flame Trees, Bollygums, Exotic pines and Macadamias, to name a few. There are remarkable sights on the small scale. 

             The Grewia occidentalis on the driveway attracts up to 5 different species of native bee at once and solitary Blue banded bees love Salvia guaranitica near my seat on the back verandah. Spiders criss cross our garden paths with webs s soon as we walk past and Kyleigh spotted an interesting leaf insect by chance this morning

Lead insect, or Phasmid (Phylliidae) on Lepachinia salviae in South Rose Garden at 'The Shambles'.

Our Roses and ornamentals and the garden in geberal attracts a great variety of insect and bird life. Lately we have spotted the elusive Richmond Birdwing Butterfly. With birdlife , however there is a dominance of the Noisy Miner, o the detriment of other small birds

Shadow the Border Collie guarding our Roses? Not really.

Over the fence at the Shambles

A lovely welcome at our front gate is the Delbard rose ,Maurice Utrillo. Some love these painterly roses and some people just hate them. I don't hate any plant and these just amaze me for the  mish mash colour and consistent flowering throughout the year.They are super thorny but that's life with roses. I like these roses with the feathery maiden hair fern in a vase and even when they start dropping petals they still look lovely .
Have you ever wondered if you can have too many agapanthus in a garden. At this time of the year they are just everywhere and usually make their way into tall jugs as decoration for the Christmas table. The thing about agapanthus is that they are really hardy plants barely touched by drought and can be dug up and replanted without missing a beat. I have been known to do this while they are in full flower so talk about instant gardening! Around Montville you can see white and blue/mauve agapanthus up and down the main street as well as along the streets in domestic gardens. Once you have them they will multiply which is never a bad thing.
Another favourite flower is the Shasta Daisy which with a bit of dead heading of spent flowers is putting on a great show. The white flowers with yellow centres remind me of the drawings that I would do as a child. Bold shaped flowers crisp and clean.
Our garden is rangy and colourful today and a short shower of rain has given everything a welcome wash even if it wasn't enough to drain into the soil. A cool breeze has come up and it's time to head out and enjoy it. Kyleigh

Snakes on the move

This week we had a visit from the Ferny Hills Garden Club and it was lovely to share the garden with other keen gardeners.Michael and I gave a short talk about the progress of the garden and no one seemed to drop off to sleep.
It is almost rose cutting time and I have lots of pots ready to go. I find November is the best time to take rose cuttings. Some of the cuttings roses from last year are already in the garden and putting on new growth. It is also the time for snakes and I have my trusty snake bandage  at hand mind you I do wonder what the reality of getting a snake bite would be and hope not to find out.Here is our gorgeous carpet python  a delightful creature who gets around popping up in the shed on the roof or out in the sun on the path.

NEW PLANTINGS 'The Shambles' SPRING 2015

Neomarica caerulia is a tall spring flowering jem 

In the East Border garden a reasonably large area of overgrown Jasmine (Jasminium officinale) was cleared with quite an effort adjacent to a drift of Azaleas, Vireyas and Fuchsia.
New plantings in the East Border gardens are
Azalea (Rhododendron indica) 'Alphonse Anderson'
                                                  'Exquisite'
                                                  Magnifica
                                                  Alba Magnifica
                                                  Ann Kehr
                                                  Conlec
Rhododendron vireya                Toff
                                                  Archangel (white)
                                                  Coral Seas
Buddleja davidii                       'Velvet'
Camellia vernalis                     'Star above Star'

New plantings, in an area cleared of weed, Poinsettia in the north end of the central shrub garden. Hibiscus mutabilis and Hibiscus syriacus were liberated
Cuttings grown Roses  'Comtesse de Labarthe'
                                     'Beauty of Glenhurst'
                                    'Ally's Rose'  multiflora hybrid
and cuttings grown  Fuchsia and Rosemary were added.
Also  Dipladenia sanderi  x 2 cultivars (white and pink)

Rosa 'Kardinal"  kordes 1989 added to North rose garden      



                                      Shadow the puppy helping with garden clear up

Justifying your garden.

Is there anyone out there who just likes to garden without the over lay of justification?
It just isn't enough that you have a garden these days and like the rough and tumble of gardening you must  have a manifesto  to support your style, plant selection , eco credentials and sociological perspectives.
I am sure that I don't do anything "right" in my garden and yet it rewards me daily . I don't use my garden to make a living and I don't want to study for a cert 3 in horticulture. I remember my great Aunt having a real love of plants and loving to visit her garden  and sit in those damp shady areas lush with ferns. It was the days of honest gardening- a simple past time that could rejuvenate you. It was a time of cuttings over the fence  and sharing produce with neighbours long before the term community garden was talked of. It was just the way it was.

I must say I would hate to bore people with some deeply thought over diatribe on my garden when it is far more fun to tell it like it is. We obviously do have a garden philosophy and some special interests and that is what all that writing of books is for. As for the day to day reality it is more about the flat tyre on the wheelbarrow  and another right hand glove wearing out . It is about near misses with the chain saw and trying to get the mower to actually stop when you want it to and remembering which tree you last saw the loppers.

 ps several near new left hand gloves available. Kyleigh

Another park bites the dust.

I know only too well about the need for access for all people to public spaces but sometimes it just goes too far.
I came across yet another once beautiful park that has had the landscaper make over . You know the stuff -concrete paths, removal of nasty old trees, built in gardens, ramps and stairs , new fangled toilet blocks. I just miss the soft edges of actual grass and untidy trees and plants. Once the natural landscape is tampered with it never really goes back. The natural landscape has that lovely untouched feeling and a wildness that makes it explorable. The park I am referring to is in the Mapleton Forest. It was beautiful and we had many lovely picnics down there around a real fire . The damper in the coals and our kids racing about collecting sticks and generally playing in the dirt,finding seed pods or precious stones.  Contrary to what the councils impose on our public landscapes I think people who live on the Range and the tourists as well want to have some things  un -landscaped.Surely the city folk have enough of curbing and footpaths and can cope with a little uneven surface or  a scatter of leaves on a path way. Rather than seeing the risks everywhere we look lets just have some common sense and enjoy a natural setting for what it is.