An early Winter Gardening Weekend Downunder ... the Queen's Birthday...

Bernieh:

The garden is looking great! Good luck with the bulbs!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Thanks Andy ... it's been a very lovely weekend so far and there's still tomorrow to come ... can't complain about holidays!

Great pictures, you're so lucky to have coleus growing out in your gardens all the time.

Love the cordyline "red wings" it looks wonderful ...
If only we had winter temps of 26degrees ...It has made that yet this summer ......LOL

Thanks Louise ... as you can tell I'm a bit of a Coleus fan. They just do so well here ...aside from the mealy bug infestations!

Mushy ...I have quite a few of the Red Wings as it is also a plant that does really well in my garden. Once you find something that survives the conditions here, it's a given that you'll end up with more than one! We can't complain about our winter temps. ... it's a great time of the year here.

great blog and pictures Bernieh.love all your plants. I was just saying to my family in NZ that I think it is hilarious that them and Australia celebrate the Queens birthday with a holiday [my 2 grandchildren were delighted to have a day off school],while here we hardly even notice it apart from the birthday honours list appearing in the papers!!!!!

It all looks lovely, I like dark coloured butterfly great shot.
Finally where did we go wrong we don't have a day off for the Queens Birthday.But i think you know that, you are just trying to wind us up here in the UK. LOL

Hi Helen ... yes I agree, it does seem slightly ridiculous that we have a special day to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Eventually, of course, it will become a thing of the past ... everyone expects we'll become a republic sooner or later. But for now ... we'll take any excuse for a long weekend!

Bjs ... it would seem like the Aussies and Kiwis are the only ones who came up with a useful idea for keeping a monarch!! We are the land of the long weekend!

lol bernieh,, made me giggle about the old farts club ahaha,,, you garden starting to come alive again and looking lovely, you have so much to do and all them bulbs to plant, enjoy you long weekend ;o)) lovely pics to x

nice blog, lovely photos, Wished we brits got a Queens birthday day off work! lol.

Love your garden Bernieh everything looks so good, as for the temp where i live in the northwest of England we have'nt got to 18-19F yet, like Sandra you made me laugh about old farts club, dont have to worry about Queens birthday holiday, as pensioner everyday is a day of from work. Hope you had a nice weekend :o))

It seems so strange, Bernieh, that you should need instructions on planting bulbs - even stranger is the idea that you have never grown them before! I don't think the Daffs will be very happy even in the "coldest" of your weather. Your "coldest" is almost like our hottest! They are definitely cold weather plants. It will be very interesting to see how they do with you!

The garden looks very nice! I had a plant or two of the Cordyline when we lived in Spain. It was a plant that I liked very much.

Wow Bernieh I feel exhausted just looking at all the hard work you have done making such a Beautiful garden, so many pots and wonderful exotic plants, no wonder you got a day off from her Majesty!

Hi Bernie ~ you certainly have plenty to do You will find growing bulbs a breeze with your natural green fingers! The courtyard is looking fabulous. I love the white and pink Geranium and the red Bracteantha.
Hope "The Old Farts Club” had a great weekend .Have a good day off.

Now that's my idea of a great weekend! That middle pic of a butterfly is pro quality Bernieh!! Fantastic photo!!

great blog Bernieh..your garden is definately looking lush...maybe you could try putting the daffs in the freezer for a few weeks...it may help...and i too would like an extra holiday for her majestys birthday...he he he

Sanbaz ... the term 'old farts' was one hubbie actually came up with. Returning home from his first meeting with the Restored Motorcycle Club he remarked he was the youngest member ... there were around 70 members! Hubbie was 48 at the time.

Thanks for your lovely comments, Michelle.

Clarice ... luckily I still enjoying going to work, although it's part-time these days. I'm looking forward to the time when I can get out into the garden every day.

Balcony ... lol, yes I needed instructions about depth etc. The only bulbs I've ever planted before were the stock standard Belladonna lilies ... they're pretty common in my part of the world. I might take your advice about the Jonquils ... they had already sprouted in the fridge before I'd planted them.

PP ... it's always a joy to get out into the garden and winter is just the best time here.

Sueb ... yes the 'old farts' had a great weekend. Although hubbie complained how bitterly cold it was ... they went out west and it does get really cool at night time out there ... well really cool for us anyway. The temps out there dropped down to 10 deg C (50 F) overnight ... and he froze. He hates the cold.

Karensusan ... appreciate your nice comments. That middle photo of the butterfly shows one of our most common butterflies. It's the Common Eggfly Butterfly ... and there's lots of them around right now.

Hi Sandra ... will follow your's and Balcony's suggestion about the daffs. They're the ones in the photo that had already sprouted in the fridge, so I might try the pot in fridge now for a while as well. Her majesty has been quite kind to us ... we don't mind celebrating her birth with a day off work!!

ah HA!! spotted what i think is an Alocasia growing in the back ground of the second of your pics - just peeping up through at the back - have never seen one that has grown to a good size and was wondering if mine is in the right kind of spot - it would seem it is but as yet it hasn't done anything except not die LOL ...hmm

now - begonias - you grow them - i love them and kill them =( any ideas that might help me? i'll put this on the questions blog too

love - just LOVE this time of year - cool enough to do anything - your 'old fart' sounds like mine who was brought up in Rabaul in PNG and has nooo idea how to dress when the temp drops - his version of putting on something warm is to take everything off then put the one warm thing on - no concept of layers or tucking things in - weird - ho hum - back to the garden =)))))))

Lol, Cate ... yes that does sound like my old fart. He complains endlessly about the cold (like he knows what that is!) and how uncomfortable he is when he's wearing a jumper!! There's something fundamentally wrong with someone who loves the summers here ... hope he doesn't read this!!!

Yes that's an Alocasia in the background of the second shot. It's a hybrid - Alocasia Amazonica. I have a couple of these and basically I don't do much for them at all. They like a bit of direct morning sun here, but that's all, although they do need lots of bright indirect light. They like being a bit damp, but definitely not soggy, and they don't like being cold. They do have a break during the winter up here and don't do much ... and I think they go dormant if the temps. drop below 12 deg C. But should return with warmer weather.

As for Begonias ... I've only had success with the common bedding Begonias and the magnificent Dragon Wing Begonias. Both love sheltered, shady conditions and lots of feeding. That's about all ... they'll even survive the 'dry' up here fairly well ... and they come through the heat and humidity with flying colours.

Fabulous plants and garden. If only we had decent summers here on a regular basis. We seem to have a few warm weeks early in the year and then it's pot luck with the rest.

The last time I read one of your blog's it all looked very sorry for its self!
What a change it look lovely.
sue

Thanks for your comments Lindalooloo and Sandygirl.

Lindalooloo ...Our sumer just gone was also a bit of a horror as we had so much torrential rain and the humidity levels were horrid. Then the autumn was rainy with lots of overcast, dull days ... so at last we have some decent weather. Here's hoping your summer brightens up for you too!

Sandygirl ... yes the courtyard was in a bad way after the summer and autumn and just three weeks of great weather has meant a total change. Thanks for noticing!

Enjoy holidays and gardening.Good luck.

Thanks Camillia!

Thanks for your lovely comment Homebird ... I'm hoping for lots more colour soon ... I'm really over all that green! Those peachy coloured flowers you noticed are the Crossandra ... that's fast becoming a favourite of mine. It's such a great colour on those flowers. I've since found out that the creamy coloured butterfly is our Common Grass Yellow Butterfly ... and it is common. We see them all year round.