We have been busy. Still clearing some areas of what I laughingly call “the jungle.”
This morning I braved the back steps up to the boundary line and discovered…flowers on one of the (many!) crotons!
Croton
This is not far from the Grevillea, revealed when The Man chopped some overgrown ,weedy stuff a couple of weeks ago.
Grevillea insignis
I did start counting crotons…that sounds like a remedy for insomnia. Perhaps it is! But I gave up – they seem to be everywhere! Not that I’m complaining as they are so colourful and such hardy plants, especially in a “wild” sort of area. The experts will tell you they need regular, deep watering, blah-blah. Well, not here! Most of these plants have been here for 20+ years and survive on rain which, in the monsoon season, can be much more than mere “watering.” Tough as old boots! But I will lay a soaker hose along the top boundary and hope we don’t need to have a hose ban!
CrotonAnother Croton(with bonus moccasins!)
And a Croton, with “modified” leaves
There is a row, almost a hedge, of Raphiolepis indica in front of the deck. A few months ago I started pruning it, then we had a decent couple of rainy days and it flowered! So I left it for the bees. But I will try to reduce it somewhat before the wet season.
Raphiolepis
And two or three Draecenas are flowering! Useful fillers and, if you’re lucky enough to have flowers, deliciously scented. A bit ( to my nose, anyway) like clover. The thing is, they are not what I’d call reliably performing bloomers! All sorts of insects work them for nectar. And their strappy leaves are often chomped!
Dracaena flowers
And, since I’ve used the chomp word…I used a few other colourful words yesterday when I discovered that almost ALL the flower buds on a new Callistemon had been chomped, presumably by a caterpillar, though I couldn’t see one. Bastard! I only bought the plant last week and was very much looking forward to…this. Oh well, fingers crossed.
Callistemon “Dawson River”
The big pot of Eucharis lily is flowering. I will probably keep it in a pot (maybe split it when this flowering is over), but yesterday I noticed a hitherto unseen white flower just off the deck. A careful tug of some other things revealed another Eucharis!
Eucharis lilyThe second one, not planted by me!
Two of the papaw trees are fruiting, but whether we’ll get any ripe fruit is a 50-50 gamble. Possums, birds and bats also love pawpaw!
Pawpaw
One more picture before you nod off, bored to death? Oh, alright! Here’s Grevillea “Moonlight.” Long overdue for a serious pruning, but, being about the only thing keeping the birds and bees going we hadn’t the heart!
That header could get me sued for false or misleading information. And we get quite enough of that from political shenanigans!
I was having a chat with Scarlet about planning an exciting post. So…I knew we had some timber left over from mending a fence and I wandered out to see if any posts were exciting. I certainly didn’t feel any shivers of excitement. No trembling breathlessness. Nada.
So you’ll just have to make do with my usual fare.
Here is a picture of….??? No, there is not a prize for knowing the answer. But feel free to be creative.
And another picture… hint: this one alludes to the excitement.
Another little snippet of excitement! A friend who spins, dyes and weaves beautiful Alpaca fleece has been experimenting with natural dyes and I’m going to grow some indigo for him. I did mess about with dyeing, years ago and grew some native indigo before we moved to Mackay. I have some soil prep to do before planting the seedlings. Just as well the weather pixies have finally got their act together!
We have not had the flooding some areas have seen, but damn! it’s good to have rain.
Now, I must scoot back to the kitchen and get breakfast sorted as a workman is coming this morning and may have to turn off the power.
Have another picture! And all done without one of those silly selfie sticks!
No, there is not a prize for knowing the answer. But feel free to be creative.
Moreidlethoughts Weblog 