Snoskred - Life in the Country

In one of the local reserves here someone has planted a Maiden Hair Fern. I know this plant fairly well. My Mother tried to grow many of them in our bathroom as I was growing up but no matter what she tried they always died. I think they are gorgeous and beautiful plants but these plants have no place in a local reserve. They are actually weeds there, and some of us are going to have to spend some valuable time pulling them out.

It may have started as just one maiden hair fern, but it has spread out over large areas now. This is not a garden escapee, this is a case where someone has deliberately put them there. However plants which might be good in your garden can escape and be a weed in the local environment.  We all need to be careful what we are planting and check to make sure it isn’t a plant which can cause issues for local wildlife if it does manage to escape our own garden.

Please, don’t ever put your garden waste in a local reserve. It does not belong there, and it may cause serious havoc for our native animals, not to mention the people who take care of the reserves..

There’s this company which visits regional towns in Australia with a truck load of plants and sells them off over the course of a weekend. Usually Thursday to Sunday. They send out flyers before they turn up and by the time Sunday is done they usually have an empty truck. If you can wait till Sunday they often sell the plants a little cheaper. My Mother bought a lot of plants from them in Tamworth and not long after we moved here a familiar flyer arrived in the letterbox, so we went to get some plants. The majority of these plants are still alive and kicking almost two years later.

One of the plants we bought is known as a “Geisha Girl“. Little did I know when I bought it that it would become one of my favourite plants. The flowers are stunning. I can see it from my computer room window and on windy days like today I don’t get a lot done because it keeps distracting me. The flowers bob and sway in the breeze.

So I guess this is a roundabout way of saying I haven’t got a lot done today. You know how people say they are away with the Fairies? I’m away with the Geishas.

On Tuesday we fixed the balcony. We used the high pressure spray to clean it and then put our plants in groups to create little ecosystems - as suggested by River - also because there are drains in the balcony where the run off water goes so it was better to group them near the drains.

We installed the water feature as well. The palms around it got a little too much sun where they were, I’m hoping the new spot will be better for them. In front of the water feature you can see my herb garden in a much more convenient spot to pick the herbs. In the below picture you can see my office window - I can open the window and hear the water which is lovely.

I was reading on A Spot With Pots the other day about ladybirds. I’d noticed since we planted the herb and tomato plants we seemed to have a lot of ladybirds appear seemingly out of nowhere. I thought it was cute. Now I know they are eating my plants!

The Hibiscus have begun to flower again. These are some of my favourite plants. I’d like to have about 20 more of them because they are available in so many colours and variations.

The fuschia is so beautiful right now - this is another plant I would love to have more of.

The jasmine is flowering and it smells gorgeous!

So there you have a little garden update. I hope you enjoyed it!