Bougainvillea

The bambino boug has finally flowered. Its elegant white flowers caught me by surprise while I was watering the garden. I was so excited when it caught my eye that I have to take a picture immediately.

Artichoke

Heavily laden in grey foliage, my artichoke plants were leaning precariously and windy storms did not help. To solve this problem I removed some of the damaged and obstructive leaves. This also aids in transferring the energy to producing larger flower buds. A couple of weeks later, I was harvesting, cooking and eating the chokes.

Spring pics

Here are some pics of my garden after a week of much needed rain. One sunny day and now it’s exploded with colour. There are pink cosmos, peach gladioli, new growth on the blueberry bush and strawberries. I have also harvested some silverbeet.

More little gardens from my travels

I love how the locals in Austria welcome the potted plants decorating the streets in preparation for the festive season. I’m not sure if it would be embraced quiet as much back in my home town. I recall driving past some recently planted trees in Melbourne that were damaged and even uprooted by the end of the week. I’m glad the youth of Austria have better things to do with their time than target defenseless plants.

AUSTRIA

Potted pine trees line this street in Innsbruck, Austria. Even the golden roof is overshadowed by the giant Christmas tree.

Potted geraniums balance on this window ledge.

SWITZERLAND

A wisteria frames this front door in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Prostrate pine softens the hard edge of the roof edge.

Moss growing on the roof of Chapel Bridge, Lucerne.

PARIS

Poulbot Restaurant, Paris

Neatly trimmed garden of Versailles

LONDON

Colourful pots of flowers at an entrance near Westminster Abbey, London.

A vertical garden near Buckingham Palace.

Little gardens from my travels

I went on holidays to Europe in early November and I took some snaps of how people are beautifying their surroundings with plants. I was interested in getting ideas of how they utilised small spaces. Whether it be window boxes, garden balconies, pot plants, vertical gardens or simply climbers scaling the wall, there was no stopping a keen gardener. Let me start with Italy.


This caper bush is growing from a crack of a wall amongst the ruins in the Roman Forum.

Vatican lawn outlined by giant pots. This has inspired me to grow a bay tree in a terracotta pot.

Apartment balconies of Rome brimming with plants. In the afternoon, I watched the tenants watering them after coming home from work.

Plants growing out of cracks on walls in Pisa, Italy.

Some greenery to break up the grey in Florence.

This ledge can fit the exact amount of pots of rosemary in Florence.

Window boxes in Venice guide the eyes skywards.

Venice police station is decorated with pink walls and draped with plants.

Island in Venice is famous for its colourful houses. Geraniums line this balcony.

Phalaenopsis orchids

I bought two white Phalaenopsis orchids (commonly known as Moth orchids) in February from a supermarket for $10 each. They were marked down to such a low price because the flowers were coming to an end and the shop needed the space for other products. I snapped them up, repotted them together in a large shallow pot and placed them in the bathroom. After lots of waiting, one of them is flowering again.

Pride of Madeira in my backyard

Pics of my very own Pride of Madeira coming to flower. The violet tones are intensified by being situated between the Myrtle-leaved Milkworts (Polygala myrtifolia). The name Polygala is Latin from the Greek word polugalon for "much milk" because of the belief that cows grazing on milkwort increased their milk production.

Pride of Madeira at Carlton Gardens

Paid a visit to the Melbourne Museum and walked through the Carlton Gardens. The sunny weather has brought about a spectacular display of blues and violets from the mass planting of Pride of Madeira.

The one I have at home only has about five flower spires, but it’s only about a year old, and it backs onto a fence so it’s only getting half the amount of sunlight it requires. After flowering I will need to cut it back by half, to a node and it will shoot. Perhaps make more cuttings for friends with the discarded branches. It’s fast growing, drought, salt and frost tolerant.

Here are more pictures of the parterre garden beds of annuals and shrubs at the Carlton Gardens.

More about Carlton Gardens:

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/royal-exhibition/index.html

Spanish lavender

My recent purchase from Aumanns Nursery http://aumanns.com.au/, a pink flowering Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas ) bush. The two tufts at the top of Spanish Lavender flower blooms are actually sterile bracts and they are cute in that they resemble rabbit ears.

Hellebores

I had previously planted an azalea in this dry and shaded area, but unfortunately due to lack of sunlight, died soon after. I wanted a perennial plant with lots of foliage (flowers would be a bonus). I re-discovered Hellebores (commonly known as Winter Roses) while browsing through Bulleen Art and Garden http://www.baag.com.au last winter and bought this double white spotted - red spotting on a white background on a double flower. This is the first time it has flowered.

Spring flowers

Pictures of Spring flowers and the rest of the garden.