Rain

Now I'm not complaining about the rain. Overall it has been brilliant for the garden and the paddocks and will set farmers up for their winter crops. However, when you've spent the last 10 years buying drought resistant plants and being able to control the amount of water that each plant gets, it is a bit of a shock for some of these plants to suddenly cop 8 inches of rain in a couple of days. I have lost a few to drowning including roses, natives, succulents, psilotis, kurrajong trees and, I fear, a large Geraldton Wax.
This excess moisture has encouraged the insect population to make the most of its short lifespan and breed prolifically producing scads of caterpillars and grasshoppers which have feasted on my favourite shrubs and veges. I try to be as "organic" as possible, but there is a limit to my "greenness"and I find myself bringing out the Confidor as well as the Dipel and trying not to think about all those "good" insects that are going to die too.
I was walking around my garden this morning as usual after a couple of days inside with a head cold. The dahlias are flourishing still - beautiful large, bright red flower heads and tiny yellow pom poms as well as large, bright pink pom poms and a large pink and white cactus-type flower. The Chrysanthemums are really looking good now too - tiny pink and yellow buttons, large, shaggy lime green blooms, white, pale pink, burnt orange and more about to burst into bud. Hopefully, Mothers' Day will bring more plants to be dug in.
One of my favourite plants, a Heliotrope, is in flower and the smell is delightful - a cross between vanilla and cherries - hence the common name "Cherry Pie". It's one I have to watch in winter so the frosts don't kill it. Speaking of frosts, they will be here soon. It was down to 6 degrees this morning. Luckily I have already sprayed my frost tender babies with "Envy", a polymer-type product which has got many of my young plants through below zero temps. Time for some more photos, perhaps? Several dahlias and my purple heliotrope.

Crazy Features

Shawn and Baabra were made by a friend from Hay and at first glance look quite realistic. We have momentarily fooled a few visitors.
The Atlantic petrol bowser, 1937 model, was bought in 2008 as an added feature for our classic car collection.
The red phone box, circa 1950, was bought in South Australia in 2008 and has had a new coat of paint.
The gazebo was bought in 2003 as a kit and "lovingly" put together by my husband and me. I did the paint job. We use it most afternoons as an R & R spot after a hard day's work.
The pool yard was extended and re-gardened in 2003, then the old pool sprung a leak in 2004 and the new pool was craned in. The pool yard was redone in late 2004 by me. I learnt to love paver-laying.
I think I'm getting the hang of this blogspot thing.

Starting Out

OK. So I'm sort of getting the gist of this. Thought I'd add some garden history and information. When we bought this place about 15 years ago it had 3 garden beds and lots of lawn. Now it has 13 beds of varying shapes and sizes and two vege gardens. It still has lots of lawn, which was mainly dirt and rocks until our recent downpours. We are on a hill overlooking the Macquarie river flats and a pleasant valley of rolling hills with a mountain range in the distance - a lovely view from our large back lawn.
Decisions about what to plant and where to establish beds fell largely to the lay of the land. I used to be a purist when it came to plants - natives only, but as I get older and realise that gardening time has its limits, I am happy to give any plant that appeals to me a go. I have developed a love for roses, one of the toughest drought and heat-tolerant plants you can grow here. I now have over 150 different rose bushes with 15 more ordered for this year. I feel a new garden bed coming on!
Paths now wind through my garden leading to various areas. I developed strong muscles shovelling and barrowing over 10 tonnes of gravel to make them over about 6 years. We also have a gazebo, a greenhouse, a red telephone box and a 1937 petrol bowser as features. I'll add some photos so you get a bit of an overview of the place.

First Blog - Ever.

Warm sunny days and cool crisp nights. Autumn is the best season in this part of the world.
After 10 years of drought we have had 600 mm of rain since Christmas. That is our annual rainfall in 4 months. My garden of approximately 2 acres is thriving at last, weeds and all. Its a welcome change and I have even managed to lay some buffalo turf before winter hits.
This is my first time as a blogger so be patient with me. I hope some of the stuff I want to say will be of interest at some stage to someone. I'm quite good at rabbiting on, especially about my garden as that is where I spend most of my time since retiring, apart from the occasional trip away, car club outing, riding my horse or helping offspring with their gardening attempts. I will now attempt to finish setting up this blog. My computer skills need honing when it comes to anything more than email and googling.