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Thanks Thorneyside. I love the Waterfall Plant, especially when it's covered in its fruit.

Meadowland, my Japanese Lantern is between 3 to 4 metres, but then the branches arch over and drop for another metre or so. It fills a large space covering almost half of the pergola.

Loving the waterfall plant BB although you have some other beauties there as well.

How beautiful and unusual the Japanese Lantern is BB.Looks a rather tall plant.

It was actually over 3 years. It was supposed to have been completed in summer of 2023.

Yes, and I am the GoYpedia palm editor. 😀
I approve the GoYpedia nominations.

Bushbernie,

It truly is an awesome palm! It grows way too big for most small properties, though. It’s widely used in commercial plantings.

Hywel,

It’s definitely worth it. There’s so many varieties for sale.

Shirley tulip,

Thanks you! I hope they will adjust to the new soil!

Bushbernie,

Thanks! I’m going to get a few more cuttings soon.
I’ve never tried croton seeds in the past. I’m going to plant some next spring.

I think more than 50,000 people attended.

I love freshly pruned palms! They look so much better.

That would make sense! I adore those wavy petals.

Yes Karen, when I was growing up Bowen was a relatively small country town and most people had flowers growing in their front yard and fruit trees, vegetable beds and/or chook pens out the back.

People were in general a little more self-sufficient with food sources. Of course we didn't eat as much food as many people do today and we certainly didn't have the variety and choice we have now.

Usually there was only one or two mango trees as they did grow to be rather large. We used to climb them when they weren't full of fruit.

What a marvellous sunset you had! :)

Thanks, Bernie! It is a pretty flower & a little unusual in that the petals are a little wavy instead of being smooth! I imagine the it gets its name from frizzy hair, which it looks a bit like! :D

I wont Hywel...there is another one to the side of it...that is enough.
Klahanie I was so pleased the pot avoided being hit...just by chance really.

Thanks Bernie ... season's greeting to you.

Many thanks Hywel, BB and Klahanie x

I’m certain your Bowen Mangoes are unbeatable! The image of a Mango in every garden..wow! And they are big trees too!

Merry Christmas Julia and all the best in New year
Love your painting.

thanks gents, it is what I was led to believe too. Just need some replacement glass.

Here the wind does not hit the greenhouse at all, but in the previous incarnation we always left the vent at the rear of the greenhouse open as the cats had the habit of opening the door.
We were told donkey's years ago that the damage to greenhouses was done when the wind could get in but not out. If the wind can enter through the damaged pane then leave a gap for the air to exit.

Yes I'm afraid we do have a number of different snakes here in Oz. I've never had a bad encounter with one where I've been bitten.

As a kid, you get used to stomping around the garden and in the bush when you're out and about. It's a way of letting snakes know you're coming and they usually move on.

I had to look up "slow worms" and found out they are legless lizards. We also get a type of legless lizard here.

I also looked up the adders on the Isle of Wight and they look a little more serious given they are poisonous.

What a selection of snakes. When we lived on the Isle of Wight we used to see slow worms, and had a grass snake in the garden living in the compost heap. We saw an adder once near to the golf course next to our allotment.

I’m sorry to hear about your loss Kate, we are all thinking of you. I hope you manage to enjoy Christmas with your family nevertheless. It’s seems a pity that your colleagues who are retiring were not able to delay until the new nurses start in Feb. Perhaps there are rules governing time of retirement. You will be very busy, so keep up with the yoga etc & the Zumba ( I’ve no idea what this is ) :-). Sounds fun.

Lovely blog / photos. Ty for sharing your home visit with us. I have never been to Sunderland, that is why blogs on this site are so important for me.

Linda we see a lot of tree snakes - both the Green Tree Snake and the Brown Tree Snake - which are non-venomous.

We also see Pythons - the smaller Carpet Pythons and Spotted Pythons, and also the massive Amethystine Python which is Australia's largest snake. All Pythons are non-venomous constrictors.

On two occasions (in the 20 years we've been here) we've also seen the highly venomous Coastal Taipan. They are nasty, very aggressive snakes and the two we saw were not very polite or interested in leaving the house or workshop where we found them. They both had a swift end!!!

Sounds good to me, and you are helping the wildlife survive too. I like snakes Bushbernie. What ones do you get in your garden?

Many thanks Julia and Hywel 🙂.

I did have a go at growing some coleus quite a while ago now. I planted them in the garden and they were o.k. all summer. (When I had a very large garden in my last home before this one.)

Have a lovely Christmas Hywel and Shirley and thankyou both for your good wishes.

Merry Christmas to you as well.

Very pretty. Love its name!

What a treat! That is a stunning sunset.

What a beautiful creation. I wish I had such a talent. Merry Christmas to you.

Klahanie, I generally only get one or two buckets of mangoes from the roadside stalls and then my husband and I enjoy those for a couple of weeks. As you say, they're high in sugar so we don't feast on them for too long.

We used to have a pop-up market at our local service station for many years where we could get things like fresh tomatoes, capsicums, beans, shallots, zucchini, lettuce, and herbs whenever the surrounding market gardens and farms had excess. Sadly that market doesn't exist any more.

Meadowland, I like Kiwi Fruit but I love mango. I don't eat either of them in desserts, but freshly sliced and cold from the fridge. Nothing better in the summertime.

I love mango, we have plenty of them in the stores here in British Columbia. Mainly from Mexico. My favourite is 'Ataúlfo' mango as it has rich, sweet flavor. I could eat tons of it but it is very high in sugar so we have only few raw pieces for breakfast.
How lucky you are Bushbernie that they are being sold at roadside stalls in your area. I love to buy nice and fresh fruit and vegetables from owners sale tables in our neighborhood.

Merry Christmas Meadowland :)

Take care Kate and try to enjoy Christmas, you're having a stressful time so it's important for you to look after yourself.

Definitely a mango dessert for me...I usually push the kiwi yoghurts over to OH's side of the fridge.We don't often see fresh mangoes in the supermarkets.You are very lucky BB.

Karen, here in Australia the best mango is considered to be the Kensington Pride. It's regarded as the best-tasting and is probably the most common.

Kensington Pride used to be known as the 'Bowen' mango and I grew up eating them as I'm from Bowen. We were so very proud to be the home of the best mango!

Almost everyone had a Bowen Mango tree growing in their backyard back then and there loads of mango tree orchards / farms as it was the main source of income for the town.

I'm afraid I still think it's the best ever.

Thanks you Sheila, I agree.

Julia, last year I think I showed the lovely cross-stitch cards my daughter-in-law had made us.

Merry Christmas to you as well Hywel, stay safe.

Thank you Klahanie, have a lovely Christmas and a happy new year.

On our honeymoon…yes that’s going back…we were told that the best Mangoes are the Julia and the Graham varieties. Funny how some things stick in your brain. But there’s nothing like fresh tropical fruit and fish straight from the sea. Now I am longing to visit St Lucia again!

Thank you Shirley-tulip XX
I have it for many years. It loves that wild spot on the property.

Thank you for your kind comment Bushbernie .

I am glad to see that beautiful pot undamaged Julia.
So far we are lucky on the south V. Island. It is calm and relatively warm but I do not expect to stay that for too long. We can get some bad winter periods here too.
Stay safe.

I love handmade gifts. Merry Christmas Shirley_tulip.XX

These are also my favourite palms. Their colour is spectacular. They were very popular in the Mexican region where we used to winter.

Looks like it has lots of buds.
My first blooming camellia will open in April.