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More Clearing Out and Odd Weather

12 comments


It was rather an odd day today, weather wise. There was a bright, sunny, hot start to the day and I headed out quite early to start two more clearing out jobs.

One job was to remove all the dead stems and leaves from one half of a huge stand of Alpinia zerumbet (Shell Ginger).

It covers an area of around 3×3metres and is close to 3m tall. It got seriously out of control while I was away from home. The photo above shows just how much was removed from just one half of the stand. I’ll be tackling the other half of the job next weekend!

Another massive clearing out job was needed for the garden space just in front of our car shed.

The photo shows the garden space where two massive stands of Thunbergia erecta had spread far and wide and needed a drastic cut back. I also had to tackle another infestation of the Passiflora foetida (Stinking Passionfruit) which was completely covering all the shrubs in that space. Nasty horrid thing! We always have issues with it here in the foothills!

Anyway, after a few hours of hard work, the trailer was loaded up with debris and it visited the dump! After I returned inside the house for a much needed cuppa, there was quite a heavy shower of rain that swept over our place very quickly and passed on. It lasted all of a minute then the sun came out as brilliant as ever. So very strange! Obviously that one little rain cloud was just playing with us! The rest of the day has been sunny and hot.

What did I notice in the garden while out and about today?

- the Alpinia zerumbet (Shell Ginger) is blooming

- my Alocasia Dragon Scale is blooming (the Alocasia is the plant at the front of the photo)

Photos show the spathe, the spadix and the flower of the Alocasia Dragon Scale.

- there were quite a few little Junonia hedonias, commonly known as the Brown Pansy Butterflies, dancing around the garden today

- the Dianellas (our native Flax Lily) are all blooming.

You have to get up close to see the tiny little white flowers of the Dianella.

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Comments

 

Hi Bernie, it’s lovely to see ‘houseplants’ thriving and blooming in their natural environment! The Ginger is particularly lovely. I hope your garden enjoyed its little drink!

12 Oct, 2024

 

Bernie, you have obviously been very hard at work and it looks good. Like Karen I'm impressed with your alocasias. I don't find them easy to grow, although I have managed to keep Azlanii going for a few months without killing it!! I lost Dragon Scale and am amazed at its flowering!
Fascinating blog., thank you.

12 Oct, 2024

 

Your energy puts ne to shame BB...especially in high temperatures.
That last plant Dianella is so sweet,the foliage looks almost fernlike.Just love the Brown pansy Butterflies.

12 Oct, 2024

 

Thank you kindly Karen, Angelat and Meadowland.

I also love the flowers of the Ginger, Karen. They really do catch your eye.

Alocasias do tend to grow fairly easily here Angelat, although sometimes if we have a particularly torrential monsoonal wet season, they suffer and some do die off.

Meadowland, our native Dianella is a really tough plant and is used quite a lot for those challenging parts of a garden. They are really lovely and I particularly love it when they're all blooming at the same time.

12 Oct, 2024

 

Bb, I’m glad you decided to join GoY. It is so interesting to see these plants growing in their natural home, & also the different wild life. I kept the photo of the black butterfly & put it in my butterfly album. I hope that’s ok.

13 Oct, 2024

 

So am I Bernie! You must work very hard in your garden.
So many different areas!

13 Oct, 2024

 

Interesting plants :)

13 Oct, 2024

 

Very kind of you Feverfew. Of course you can keep the butterfly photo. That's not a problem.

Thanks Rose. Yes at the moment there's quite a bit of hard work to get our place back into some sort decent shape. We let it go for too long, but work, family and life in general took precedence as they do sometimes.

Glad you're enjoying seeing the plants that grow here Hywel.

13 Oct, 2024

 

You've been so busy, Bernie! You definitely keep going, all day!!!! I'm loving the Brown Pansy Butterflies, lovely to see.
The flower of the Alocasia is very intriguing. Lovely to see your native plants, really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

14 Oct, 2024

 

Thanks Kate. Don't worry, I take breaks and days off as well! :)

14 Oct, 2024

 

Love reading your blogs Bushbernie. Very different vegetation and wildlife from ours. Thank you for sharing.

18 Oct, 2024

 

I'm happy to share and really glad that people enjoy finding out what it's like here.

19 Oct, 2024

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