Felted artichoke

An artichoke made out of felt.

Arum Lily & Orchids

Green arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica ‘Green Goddess’) sit proudly amongst the Cymbidium orchids.

My scarf design

This is my scarf design. I want to make a scarf that sits in place while being worn, particularly under jackets and coats. I tend to wear a lot of dark tones, so the scarf would be the main source of colour in my outfit. I want it reversible with two different colours on either side, and maybe with different textures for day/night wear.

Pina’s watercolour

Here is a picture of my artist friend, Pina. She is making handmade gift tags using recycled paper.

Home of Vasili’s Garden

I finally had a chance to visit Home of Vasili’s Garden & Café in Coburg. I am an avid viewer of Vasili’s Garden show on channel 31 Wednesday 7:30pm. I love watching it for all the tips & tricks from ordinary gardeners. It’s like asking your neighbour for their gardening secrets.

Visit http://www.vasilisgarden.com/

As with any garden shop visit, I usually buy something. This time it was seedlings of red onions – both salad and torpedo varieties. I also got giant red mustard (to add a peppery punch to my salads), some Tuscan kale, and rainbow carrots – purple, yellow, orange & white. I heard someone say to grow them in seed raising mix rather than potting mix. And if you have ordinary soil, add some sand.

Yarn Corner

Whilst walking along Sydney Road, Coburg, I spotted these yarn decorated tree trunks. The books Magic Faraway Tree and The Secret Garden were celebrated and featured as relief soft sculptures sewn onto the covered trunks. Emblazoned across were the words ‘Once Upon a time…’ stitched neatly around to encourage the viewer to have a good look around the tree. Even the box seats were covered in knitted and crocheted to warm and soften what would otherwise be a slab of grey concrete. A short stroll further along towards the Coburg Library, you find more tree decorated with yarn, beads and buttons. Crocheted flowers adorn the gumtree branches. What a way to welcome visitors to Coburg!

Orchid

Dappled light and an orchid.

Cyclamen

This cyclamen is a mother’s day gift many years ago now reflowering to delight all who pass her.

Orange stamp

Check-out this orange stamp. What beautiful colour as it stands out against the purple envelope.

Shade corner

Along the brick wall and undercover from the rain is a shady spot outside. I have decided to place my indoor plants here, while they are nursing back to health, before they go back inside. It’s good to circulate your indoor plants (have some time outside) because sometimes they just need a bit of fresh air.

Croton plant

My latest addition for some bathroom colour is this Croton plant (Codiaeum variegatum).
Check out the strange leaf formation

Three violets

White, purple and pink violets in a medicine bottle. Simply beautiful.

Mother-in-laws Tongue

Another Ikea purchase is this variegated Mother-in-Law’s Tongue or Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). It was only $4.99 – super cheap! This will be going into my bathroom eventually, but in the meantime, it will stay outside undercover until I find a suitable pot.

Sago Cycad

This is my latest purchase from Ikea, a Sago Cycad (Cycas revoluta). It was only $8.99 which is very cheap! I have re-potted it in something a little larger until I find a spot for it in the garden.

Grouped together

If I stare at these plants long enough, these cacti grouped together might fool me into thinking it’s Summer time.

Orange harvest

From my little tree no taller than 1.2 metres and only a few years old, came this basketful of navel oranges. I’m very proud of my little orange tree.

Grey

What a better way to celebrate the grey Melbourne weather than to create a grey corner of the garden. Spilling out of is concrete container, the frosty grey foliage of this succulent (Graptoveria Paraquensis) is triumphant in bringing together the mood and form.  

Blood oranges on the tree

It’s because I just can’t get enough of the stuff, that I will put another picture of blood oranges. This time they are hanging off the tree.

Coffee for the garden

My friend collects used coffee ground and uses it as a snail deterrent. Obviously my friend’s household drinks a lot of coffee!

Telstra foyer plants

The Telstra building in Melbourne has a lush vertical garden.

Blood Orange

This season’s first fruit from the blood orange tree is ready for a juicing.

Hanging Grass

This is reminiscent my primary school fun where you planted grass seeds inside stockings filled with soil to make the grass “hair” grow. Eyes in place and you have yourself a grass head character. My friend Jimmy did this creation and it hangs from the balcony. There are no faces drawn and the grass is not trimmed, but rather free to cascade down.

Purple violets

This looks impressive, but what if I told you that this is a close-up picture and the flowers are no more than 10cms tall…still impressed?

Nat’s tri-colour scarf

My friend Nat is at it again! This time a tri-colour scarf with yellow, blue and white blocks of colour.

Melbourne Town Hall floral display

Here are some photos of a pansy display outside the Melbourne Town Hall.

More pumpkins

More pumpkins harvested from my garden.

Tuberose & Gladioli bulbs

These are my recent purchases from The Reject Shop – bulbs of Tuberose and Gladioli. Despite the unusual store to be buying plant products, I have never had a bad experience with the quality of products from the Reject Shop. The bulbs have always grown for me and they always have a vast variety of flowers (depending on the store). These bulbs were only $4.50 a packet.

Lots of orchids

Presents from the florist we regularly use at work. Each staff member got to take a bunch home.