A neighbouring cat sidles amongst the front garden shrubs Eyes a-glow in the early morning sunshine. It slinks and stealthily twines amongst the twigs And pounces Successfully. Another bird dies. I have often written about the birds that visit our garden and how much pleasure they provide. This morning I was heartbroken to discover feathers…
Author: Jane
Safety in Numbers
Red rumped parrots are common in these parts and groups of them are often seen on the back lawn feeding on something…I’m not quite sure what, as they get their beaks down amongst the roots and tug until they find what they want. It doesn’t always seem to be seeds they are interested in. It…
The Pleasure of Spring: 11-09-2021
What an exciting time it is in the garden just now. There has been another 25 mm of rain since I last posted and with warmer, sunnier days the growth happening in the garden beds is nothing short of miraculous. A week ago ornamental grasses were shorn like a ‘short back and sides’ and already…
Narcissi: SoS 28 August, 2021
It would be fair to say that Winter in the Central tablelands of New South Wales has been wet. I have, in fact, let the words ‘we’ve had enough’ pass my lips on a couple of occasions. Our back garden is flat, the ‘soil’ is clay and the drainage is dodgy. Fortunately, when we started…
Trimmed or Tortured?
I first have to admit that I own a Bonsai. It’s a Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, and I’ve owned it since 1993. I won’t be showing a photo of it because, well, it looks a bit down-at-heel. Of course, it’s winter here, so my tree has bare branches just now. However, even when it was…
A Cold Snap. 12 June 2021
It has been an uncommon week here in the Central tablelands of New South Wales. A polar blast caused a major weather event which brought snow to many areas, including higher parts around Mudgee. In fact, when the clouds parted briefly on Thursday morning, we could see snow on the hills to the south of…
Autumn Tones May 1, 2021
There is no doubt that Autumn is a wonderful season here in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. The weather is benevolent: crisp mornings with the occasional sprinkling of frost, sunny days and an almost complete lack of wind. Beautiful weather for gardening and also for admiring the autumnal tones around the district. I…
Bowfield: a secluded picturesque place.
Mr MG and I have recently visited the garden of friends who live on a property near Mudgee. Their house is perfectly situated in an idyllic location in the centre of an amphitheatre of low hills, overlooking a large, tranquilly full, picturesque dam. Surrounding the house is a wonderful garden. Honey-coloured walls using rocks excavated…
Garden Visitors #4
Thanks to a benign and relatively wet summer, the ornamental pear trees are sporting bunches of fruit the size of blueberries, and they’ve attracted to the garden visitors intent upon filling their stomachs with an easily obtained meal. Cockatoos are large birds and they arrived en masse, landing on the trees’ upper branches, bouncing like…
Seeds, bulbs, and ‘Woodland Distant Lover’. Feb 27, 2021.
As I’m not at home this Saturday, I cheated a little and prepared my post beforehand, so these photos were taken a couple of days ago. Hylotelephium Herbstfreude was once called Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, and personally I wish it had stayed that way. Much easier to spell and a humble name for a humble plant,…