Garden Update

Since my blog hiatus I've been up to my elbows and knees in filth, grovelling around in black sand, mulch, manure, rain and anything else disgusting you might care to think of. But the end result is we now have a completely new re-planted front garden. A fabulous team of young men came along and excavated, paved, reticulated and limestoned, and then after they finished I ventured forth with rock carrying muscles, a shovel and expectant green thumbs.

All is going well, nothing has keeled over yet! I am so pleased with how it's all turned out, and every day go for a wander round the garden, visiting each and every plant. I did masses of research for my plant choices, and for now (until my memory starts to fail me) am a veritable encyclopedia, able to spout forth botanical names and growth habits at will.

Without boring you with the many hundred of photos I have taken, here are a few bits a pieces. plants l-r, Grevillea "Bonnie Prince Charlie", mini kangaroo paw "Bush Ranger", Spotted Emu Bush, Polygala.

Look at the different that mulching makes - I LOVE mulch. It hides all the reticulation dripper pipes as well as keeping the plants' roots moist.

I have fallen in love with this plant, Correa reflexa "Federation Bells". It flowers for much of the year, birds love it and it has the most delightful bell-shaped flowers.

You should see how many photos I have of these spectacular miniature Kangaroo Paws "Bush Ranger". They have gone mad and have trillions of flowers, pretty special for something that's only been in the ground a few weeks. They last for ages and are a good cut flower too, although I haven't had the heart to actually cut any. The purple flowering plant in the background is a Polygala, and the bright green foliage ground cover on the right is Acacia cognata.

For ages now we've been wanting a big, ancient-looking statue of sorts, and the Easter Island heads have always appealed to us. We have a small garden bed near the front door that we decided would be the perfect location, so off we trotted to the statue shop. After carefully examining the facial expressions of those on sale, we chose the relatively solemn and haughty looking "Rocky" (why did I name him Rocky I hear you ask - because he is a rock :-) ). And to our immense joy the statue shop was having a sale - 2 for the price of one! So we also chose "Slim Jim", Rocky's skinnier brother who lives in the back garden, guarding the koi pond.

For those of you that are horticulturally minded, here is the plant list. They are nearly all Australian Natives and I chose very carefully with a low-water garden in mind, plus a variety of flowering seasons and colours, and most importantly to attract more nectar loving birds -

Acacia cognata "Limelight", prostrate bright green foliage plant

Adenanthos "Albany Woollybush", tall dense shrub with small tubular flowers. Bird attractant.

Adenanthos cuneatus "Coral Carpet", ground cover with new foliage a gorgeous pink/purple colour

Banksia ericopholia "Heath Leaved Banksia" - winter flowering, golden slender banksia flowers. bird attractant

Callistemon citrinus "White Anzac" - smaller slightly weeping bottlebrush, bird attractant

Callistemon "Burgundy Jack" - bird attractant

Calothamnos sanguineus labill, small plant with teatree looking leaves and tiny red tubular flowers

Correa reflexa "Federation Bell" - this is even more lovely than I thought, little bell shaped flowers that birds adore

Correa "Dusky Bells" - same, but more of a ground cover and the flowers are more tubular

Darwinia citriodora "Seaspray" - lemon scented ground cover with interesting flowers that remind me of prawns

Eremophila "Kalbarri Carpet" - groundcover, grey leaves, little yellow flowers, bird attractant

Erimophila maculata "Spotted Emu Bush", tiny bright red tubular flowers, bird attractant

Grevillea rosemarinifolia x alpina "Bonnie Prince Charlie", small plant with the most amazing red and yellow flowers. All the grevilleas are bird attractants and most flower during winter

Grevillea "Gingin Gem" - ground cover with red flowers. apparently can be used as a lawn substitute it's so flat.

Grevillea "Mt Tamboritha" - tiny ground cover with pinky red flowers that look like raspberries

Grevillea "Seaspray", low sprawling one with grey foliage and beautiful little red flowers

Grevillea pimeleoides, lovely clusters of tiny gold flowers with small round leaves. Endangered plant.

Grevillea "Honey Gem" - I've coveted this since seeing it at Kings Park Botanical Gardens. Tall skinny one, with huge arching sprays of gold flowers

Kangaroo Paws - 2 x "Yellow Gem", 2 x "Big Red", 2 x "Amber Velvet", 2 x "Gold Velvet", 2 x "Black Velvet", 2 x "Green Machine" (mini), 10 x "Bush Ranger" (mini red), 2 x mini orange one. All bird attractants

Leucophta brownii "Silver Cushion Bush", small rounded bush of silver foliage.

Nandina "Gulf Stream", tiny little sacred bamboo. Foliage goes bright red seasonally

Prostanthera ovalifolia variegata "Oval Leaf Mint Bush", lovely mint smelling leaves and loads of purple flowers in spring

Westringia fruiticosa - native rosemary

Westringia brevifolia var Raleighii - bigger than above, a medium open shrub with mauve flowers

Viburnum tinus, old reliable favourite. Tall bushy shrub, masses of tiny white flowers that bud as red
Arthropodium Cirrhatum "New Zealand Rock Lily" - lush foliage, big sprays of white flowers

Choisya ternata "Mexican Orange Blossom" - Lovely glossy foliage and fragrant white flowers.

Ceanothus "Blue Pacific" - Gets covered with flowers of magnificent brilliant blue
Clivea Miniata - bright orange flower clusters in winter

Artemisia Powis Castle - "Wormwood" - I grow this in the back garden, lovely shaped grey foliage. Insect repellent. Fantastic plant for leaf whapping (printing on fabric)
Echinacea purpura "Purple Coneflower"

Polygala dalmosiana - Shaped like a small tree with purple pea shaped flowers

Liriope muscari - tiny strappy thing with central flower spikes

Phormium "NZ Flax" Clumping grassy plant, striped red leaves

Hebe "Blue Gem" - I tend to kill Hebes so here's hoping this one will be happier. Blue flowers

Dampiera linearis - ground cover with gorgeous bright blue flowers

Cuphea hyssopifolia compacta - small mound plant with tiny purple flowers

Sisyrinchium "Devon Skies" - tiny strappy plant with clumps of bright blue flowers in the middle.