Frog Garden

Fellow Traveller

2011-12-17T20:29:00.003+10:00

We had a trip to Brisbane this week, it seems we took this lovely Green Tree Frog along for ride, How and why he got into the car door cavity we're not sure.

Rainbow Lorikeets

2011-03-13T19:08:00.002+10:00

These delightful parrots are having a ball in our font garden at the moment. They are spending time between a flowering Corkwood tree and a Eucalypt "Summer Red" It's probably the only time I find squawking relaxing. The photos didn't turn out too bad, my camera has a telescopic lense on it but quite often it doesn't focus well. I wouldn't get this close without it

Our Tree change

2011-02-25T19:03:00.002+10:00

Well, we are fully retired now and living in our lovely home at Tamborine Mountain surrounded by a beautiful garden full of Camellias, Vireyas and Clivias. The Vireya pictured is Souvenir De Mangles. Up here we are often in the misty clouds during the rainy summer season as you can see from this image. We have left Frog garden behind at Balmoral but we take with us lots of wonderful memories which are recorded on this blog. We have lots frogs on Tamborine Mountain but they might be a little harder to catch on camera. It has been a long time since I've posted. Larraine was ill for a long period and her recovery took priority. Hopefully I can keep it updated now that we are settling into our new home.

Open gardens Toowoomba

2009-05-27T22:05:00.003+10:00

At the Carnival of Flowers which is held in Spring each year, a day is hardly enough time to take in all of the beautiful gardens that are open. The Wisteria at the top is growing on a large circular metal frame and makes a stunning feature in the back garden of this home.
Centre photo. This Clivia looks so much at home nestled in the tree. Bottom photo. I'm sure we'd all love a garden bed like this to grace our driveways. These photos are worth a click on.

Vireya Rhododendrons

2009-05-09T22:05:00.002+10:00

I think that fascination with plants increases with age. That's not to say of course that some young people are not avid gardeners. But an analysis of the demographic at various garden/orchid shows etc. would suggest that some of us old timers predominate. Goodness what am I saying! I'm only 64 maybe i might be classified as a mid timer. Anyway enough waffle, my latest interest are Rhododendrons of the subgenus Vireya sometimes referred to as Tropical Rhododendrons. Like my other interest Hoyas, many of these plants are epiphytic in nature and have very small and fine root systems. They are found at altitude in mountainous regions of S.E. Asia and New Guinea. There is an abundance of hybrids in cultivation and most flower twice a year some even more. Above are just a few that have flowered for us this Autumn.

Tamborine morning

2008-08-20T21:36:00.006+10:00

Edit PostsThe mornings at Tamborine Mt. are just glorious, so quiet and peaceful. This is the front garden. the Kangaroo paws are about 1.5 metres high now with lots of flowers. All the other plants in the garden are getting new growth as spring approaches. There are Grevilleas, Callistemons, Banksias and Eucalypts of various sizes and colours . It should be a paradise for the native birds when every thing grows.

Camelias

2008-06-01T21:47:00.002+10:00

The Camelias on Tamborine mountain are delightful to see at the moment. The climate and the more acidic red soil seems to be perfect for growing them. We have a Camelia japonica growing at the side of our garden seat, the flowers of which are the 2nd photo down, we just love the compact form of the Japonicas and the attractive deep green foliage which doesn't seem to attract many pests. The final shot was taken at an open garden scheme plant sale at the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens. This was a display table on the stand of Camelia Glen Nursery , a specialist camelia nursery on the Sunshine Coast. The array of different flowers was quite amazing.

Mt tamborine wildlife

2008-04-05T21:20:00.002+10:00

A couple of shots taken recently in our garden at Mt Tamborine. I contacted the Queensland Museum about this yellow spider, it's the first time I've seen one and I couldn't find a reference in any of our books. Apparently it's called a flower spider and they can also be white. Larraine with her keen eye spotted the Kookaburra having snake for lunch. It sat there for about 20 mins occasionally bashing the snake against the tree branch.

More frog actiity.

2008-04-05T19:29:00.003+10:00

Thankfully Brisbane has had the traditional wet Summer that we so desperately needed. As a consequence there has been no shortage of frog activity. These shots were taken late Summer (mid February) Normally we wouldn't see a Striped Marsh Frog so exposed as this one, whats more it stayed there for quite a while. Marsh Frogs are prolific breeders and they call just about every night and the sound varies in intensity between a tennis match ( the "toc" "toc" sounds like a tennis ball being hit) and Chinese New year (firecrackers) It's a coincidence that the bowl at the side has the same markings as the frog. I thought I'd mention that in case anyone thought the frog had camouflage capabilities. The two little Sedgefrogs finally became an item. A little late in the season perhaps, we couldn't find any eggs in any of the ponds the next day. Maybe having a practice for next year. We are into Autumn now and the weather is starting to cool so our little friends will be looking for or will have found homes to hibernate no doubt.

The deluge arrived.

2008-02-08T22:06:00.000+10:00

Well finally this week South East Queensland has had a bucketing of rain. The dams are starting to fill up and there is talk of possible easing of level 6 water restrictions. Some suburbs in Brisbane received a 100 mm. in an hour. When a deluge like this happens it always causes flash
flooding, and sadly a young man was drowned in the Brisbane suburb of Capalaba. Our thoughts and prayers go out to this family at what must be such a difficult time.
The frogs pictured are residents of our garden, the common name is the Graceful treefrog or Dainty Green treefrog ( Litoria gracilenta) We very rarely see them until heavy rain arrives and then they are everywhere and they call all night long. As you can see, you can get quite close with the camera and they don't move. All of our five species of frogs have been active this summer now, and its good to see them in good numbers.

Mt tamborine resident

2008-01-20T21:02:00.000+10:00

We spotted this little frog outside the Mt Tamborine post office in the main street. It was perched on a tiled pillar about 60 cm. high. No doubt thoroughly enjoying our welcome run of wet weather. This is what we love about Mt Tamborine its surrounded by so many National Parks you are never very far from nature.

Christmas Colour.

2007-12-19T22:51:00.000+10:00

This is one of the grafted Eucalypts that we have planted in our garden. It gives a nice splash of seasonal colour with the red and green. This is the first good flush of flowers we've had on this tree, last year the possums nibbled the new buds. One of the parents is E. ficifolia a red flowering Western Australian species and it's grafted on to rootstock of E. phytocarpa which has the common name " Swamp bloodwood" this is able to tolerate our more wet and humid summers. They are not cheap to buy, but certainly worth it for the beautiful colour they bring to the garden, plus they attract the native birds. For any fellow bloggers dropping by we wish you a joyful Christmas and happiness and health for the coming year. God Bless.

Neighbours become good friends

2007-12-10T23:40:00.001+10:00

Sometimes as you browse through the garden at night you come across special little happenings that send you scurrying for your camera. I didn't know until tonight that they were sharing acommodation. So we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with this sight.

Neighbours

2007-12-05T22:14:00.000+10:00

There is something nice about two different species of frog being neighbours in adjacent pots. I was fortunate to be able to take a snap of them as they popped their heads out the other night. The first shot has a Green tree frog in the lower pot and an Emerald Spotted tree frog in the one above. The second shot is two Green tree frogs, I'm not sure if they are an item and live in the same pot or not. It's quite fascinating to watch the little Eastern Sedge frogs making their calls, they are in full chorus tonight after a storm today. I once again apologise for being irregular with my posts. We have been regular visitors to Tamborine Mountain ( an hours drive south of Brisbane) for a number of years now. We've always loved the place and we've finally bought a little place to share with the family and friends. As you can imagine it's kept us pretty busy over the last few months. I will post some shots of Tamborine soon.

How cute is this?

2007-10-08T14:40:00.001+10:00

Well..... we had the most unusual visitor come into our little gift shop last week. This dear possum came through the front door in the middle of the day and took up residence in the display shelving ( after dislodging what was there of course) There has been a bit of road works in the area recently so he was possibly a bit disturbed. Our main concern was to remove it safely, because should he run amok there was plenty of breakable giftware around. After finding out how expensive it is to get a possum removed we decided to do it ourselves. We taped a box to front of the space hoping it would move in. It was a very obliging possum and within a couple of minutes we were able to slide a piece of cardboard over the top and put him in the garden. Maybe he wanted someone to buy him. Just as well Larraine found him first, people might have thought it was a stuffed toy. I think you would get quite a shock.
Our Green Treefrogs are starting to get very active, the storm season is underway and there is quite a cacophony of frog sounds at the moment.

Our little favourite .

2007-09-27T20:45:00.000+10:00

I have to say that the little Eastern Sedgefrog would come close to being our favourite frog. Firstly they are very cute and friendly . Unless you make a clumsy movement they generally let you get close with the camera without jumping off. They are quite often found resting in the daytime on a leaf or the stem of a reed. It's chirpy call is quite pleasant to listen to in the early evening. Hopefully if we get a little more rain with our spring storms they might breed. From what I've read Sedgefrogs like to breed from the end of winter onwards. the tadpoles need about 90 days to complete the cycle so they like to breed early.

A rare sight

2007-08-06T18:19:00.001+10:00

Well, here we have a puddle. Quite a rare sight in South-east Queensland of late. This was the result of two or three days of good rain which we had at the beginning of June. People were remarking on talkback radio that some of their little children had never had the pleasure of jumping in puddles. A pretty amazing thought when you consider most of us have fond memories of playing in puddles as children. In the reflection you can catch the sun just bursting through the clouds. We've had very little rain since unfortunately and our collective dam levels are down to about 17%. Like our frogs I've been in hibernation over the winter.

Beautiful Autumn

2007-04-25T20:54:00.000+10:00

Autumn is such a beautiful time of the year, lovely fresh mornings and warm days. Actually when I say warm it has been unusually warm for this time of the year 29-32deg. The good news for Brisbane gardeners has been that level 5 water restriction still allow bucketing the garden for 3hrs late afternoon on alternate days. Dendrobium and Cattleya orchids have been a delight this year and our Achmea Bromeliad has flowered for the first time. We hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful Autumn/ Spring depending on your geography.

Driveway project

2007-03-06T21:27:00.000+10:00

Because we have no garden on each side of the driveway Larraine came up with the lattice idea.
we already had plenty of the terracotta hanging pots. For our first planting we chose compact miniature Zinnias in white , pink and orange. Below is Liriope which has a nice mauve berry type of flower. It's quite along driveway so it was good to brighten it up a little. We really are garden tragics just when we think we've done it all we find something else to do.

Finally some decent showers.

2007-02-25T21:22:00.000+10:00

Apologies for being somewhat slack in posting over the last month or so. I've been doing a few markets recently selling Hoyas, Bromeliads and Succulents as a fundraiser for African Aid, plus life is very busy as well. I hate making excuses but also I think I may have had a touch of bloggers block (something akin to writers block) . I must organise myself better to do a regular post and visit some favourite blogs. Anyway here in Brisbane the heavens have opened briefly and given us a few welcome showers, which as you can see has made froggarden's little inhabitants very happy. Unfortunately we still need what they call a "rain event" to stave off level5 water restrictions which take effect in April and could mean no outdoor watering at all, We'll have to wait and see.

Beautiful sounds G.T.S. post

2007-01-06T21:02:00.000+10:00

Before dinner tonight (Sat) I sat in the garden and listened to natures orchestra. With the water feature gently trickling in the background, there was the repetetive chirp of the cicadas in full chorus ( after recent welcome rain) Two Sedgefrogs were close by calling "reeek reeek pip" Striped Marshfrogs were not going to be out done they were there "toc toc... toc toc". Overhead the sound of batwings could be heard as they swooped between the trees.
As I sat listening in the dark, I was thankful that although we only live 10 mins from the Bribane CBD we can be surrounded by so much of God's creation.
Interestingly enough there was an article in todays Australian newspaper saying that native Australian birds are thriving in the nation's capital cities. Perhaps we owe a lot to our city planners, I know we have lots of parks and green belts which contributes so much to our beautiful environment. May everyone's New year bring good health and happy times.

Christmas Greetings! to GTS members and fellow bloggers

2006-12-23T12:48:00.000+10:00

This is our garden's offering of Christmas colours. It's Eucalypus "Summer Red" a hybrid between E. Ficifolia and E Phytocarpa. May everyone enjoy a wonderful and blessed time this Christmas with family and friends, and may 2007 be safe, happy and prosperous for all,
All the best, Roy larraine and family

Roger

2006-12-04T08:50:00.000+10:00

For my GTS post this week I thought I'd introduce our terracotta ram "Roger". We originally bought this to grow Mustard and Cress in, the idea being that you fill it with water and sprinkle the seeds in the grooves and you have a hairy green ram. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for us, and since then we'd tried a few different things to grow in it. Finally we've found that succulents look happy growing in there. He looks quite happy with his new hair do don't you think?

GTS... Hoya Survey

2006-11-10T08:57:00.000+10:00

For Green Thumb Sunday this week I thought I would conduct a little survey about Hoyas, also known as wax plant or porcelain flower (in reference to the delicate nature of the beautiful flowers.) I first became interested in Hoyas about two years ago. Our first plant was given to us by Larraine's mum Mary, it was a Hoya Carnosa which is probably one of the most common and best known of the Hoyas.

Hoyas are mainly tropical or sub-tropical plants and the majority are epiphytic. It is said that there could be up to 300 species, some of which are still being discovered. They range in size from miniature to very large plants and vines. The flowers are just as varied, many of them highly fragrant. Pictured here are just a few of those that have flowered in our garden, clockwise from the top left are Hoya C.V. Minibelle, Hoya Lacunosa, Hoya Heuschkeliana and H. Pachyclada.

Some of the most avid collectors of Hoyas are the Swedes, they grow beautiful Hoyas and about 80- 90% of websites about Hoyas seem to be Swedish. Here are some you may like to visit...

Blogs:
Hoyas etc.
Hills' Hoya Page
Diane's Place
Hoya Garden (me)

Websites:
My Hoyas
The Hoya Page
Swedish Hoya Society

I'd like to conduct a little survey with Green Thumb Sunday visitors this week...

1. Have you heard of Hoyas before?
2. Do you own a Hoya?
3. Having read this post, are you curious to visit the Hoya blogs and websites to find out more about these plants?

If you would like to participate please leave your response in the comments section, thanks for stopping by and taking part.

Have a great week,
Roy

Lots of tomatoes

2006-11-06T22:32:00.000+10:00

A good friend of ours told us that the best tomato plants are the self sown ones. How true she was. This particuliar plant is a baby off one of three we had planted last season. There are more tomatoes on this plant than the total crop of the three plants last year. Our little grandaughter who loves the garden had the privilege of picking the first ripe ones

Green thumb Sunday

2006-10-29T14:22:00.000+10:00

Well.... for this weeks GTS our Irises that are growing in the pond have decided to put on a show. They certainly add that extra touch of colour to the garden at the moment.
Our little Eastern sedgefrog population have taken over the large water bowl ( photo 3rd down rh. side) they are making plenty of noise, but no babies yet. A really good downpour would definately do the trick. It's probably worth a click for a larger view on the Iris shots.
Enjoy your week and Happy gardening!

Green thumb Sunday

2006-10-22T15:06:00.000+10:00

Thank you for the invitation to join Green thumb Sunday.
Well.... our dear old heritage green watering can has gone into retirement. We decided that with the imminent introduction of level4 water restrictions ( which means restricted use of w/cans and buckets on alternate days) we really needed a more efficient watering can. The old chap looks quite happy housing the geraniums don't you think? Well one thing about the drought it's going to give us lots of exercise if we want to keep our gardens alive. Fortunately we've got our water tank as back up if we get any bad heatwaves. We think we'll probably plant more geraniums, being mediterranean plants they seem to cope well with hot dry conditions.
Happy gardening!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

New pot stand

2006-10-10T21:27:00.000+10:00

I recently bought a couple of interesting plant pot stands from a local nursery. So I thought I'd share the idea with fellow garden bloggers. For plant lovers with limited space or people with patios, balconies or decks they could be ideal. The collage shot will give you an idea of the set up. The triangular formed galvanised mesh is concreted into a large plastic pot. In my case I got them to concrete 2/3 up so I could plant in the base (it's got a Hoya Australis planted in it) and I just drilled holes in the side for drainage. The centre upright has right angled swivel hooks attatched at various points and my terracotta pots fit in to the formed galvanised hangers. Of course you can just put plastic pots with hangers on if you wish. The benefit I found with the galvanised hangers was you can shorten them if necessary to create a staggered look. With the heavy weight of the concrete the stands are quite stable. The original height was about two metres which was a bit too tall for me so I cut 300mm off and screwed them onto my garden arbour. More places to put plants I'm such a garden tragic! The bottom shot is the stand planted with hoyas, It should look quite good once the plants grow and hang down and the base plant grows up the centre. I think the idea has merit for people with limited space who want to grow herbs or succulents etc, you can have a dozenplants concentrated in a small area.

Toowoomba prize winning gardens

2006-10-04T19:42:00.000+10:00

As you can see some of these gardens were an absolute delight to visit. The climate in Toowoomba suits a lot of plants that we couldn't grow in Brisbane because of our humidity so we were a little envious when we saw the beautiful Rhododendrums and Daphne growing.
A visitor to my previous post kindly pointed out a mistake I'd made. The water provided to residents in the garden competition was bore water not recycled water, my apologies. I hope you will enjoy the beauty and colours of these gardens as much as we did.

Queens Park Toowoomba.

2006-10-03T10:53:00.000+10:00

Just a few shots taken in Toowoomba during their annual "Carnival of Flowers" It's a real credit to the town that they where able to put on such a fabulous display. This was taken a fortnight ago, the district is now on level5 water restrictions now which means no outdoor watering at all. The residents have been preparing for this for some time and it seems most people have got either bores or water tanks. To ensure the carnival went ahead the council went around filling peoples water tanks with recycled water. When you see gardens like these it really is hard to imagine the area is facing such a crisis. I'll post some of the prize winning gardens in the next day or so. Take lots of deep breaths and enjoy the Spring (or autumn)

The frog prince.

2006-09-22T14:04:00.000+10:00

The frog prince was perched over the pond last night calling for his princess.

Steve Irwin 1962 - 2006

2006-09-20T18:59:00.000+10:00

How good are your eyes?

2006-09-20T15:47:00.000+10:00

The other morning I could hear a Sedgefrog happily chirping away somewhere in the midst of our " Powder puff" Lillypilly. It took me ages to spot it but then thats why they are green I suppose. Camera-flarged. Groan..........

Our Petrea volubilis vine.

2006-09-13T15:17:00.000+10:00

Our Petrea volubilis is in full flower at the moment, I thought I'd do a post on it for those not familiar with the vine. It's a native of Central America and it has quite a few common names, Queen's wreath, Purple wreath, Bluebird vine and Sandpaper vine, which is what it's mainly known as here. It doesn't seem to have a lot of pests, possibly due to the abrasive nature of the leaves. A mature specimen can grow up to 12 metres long. The racemes of mauve/purple flowers are a refreshing sight on a sunny spring morning. The top shot is above the pergola, the flowers are quite propeller like. At it's current rate of growth it should almost cover the pergola by next spring.

We're back

2006-09-05T20:58:00.000+10:00

Well the rain had a predictable response on our little frog community. The green treefrogs have appeared and the Striped Marshfrogs are breeding already. In the top photo the marshie is a little hard to see, its in the bottom RH of the shot with the frog spawn at top left.

Nutritious nibbles.

2006-09-05T14:07:00.000+10:00

I bought some nibbles at the ekka which were quite tasty. As they weren't available at the regular shops we thought we'd make our own.
Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons tamari sauce, Herbemare seasoning or sea salt to taste.
In a large frypan, heat pumpkin and sunflower seeds until they begin to brown. Add in sesame seeds and toss around until all the seeds are browned and beginning to pop. Turn off heat and add in tamari and seasonings and toss well. Cool and store in an airtight container. You can vary the quantities to suit yourself, the sesame seeds brown a lot quicker than the others so its important to add these later.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in zinc, iron and selenium. Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin E and sesame seeds are rich in calcium.

First day of spring

2006-09-01T17:02:00.000+10:00

We woke early today to enjoy the first day of spring. The weather was showers clearing and we were greeted with one of those refreshing sunlight showers as we inspected the garden for new growth after this weeks welcome rain. A Friarbird flew down for a feed of nectar on the red spider flower Grevillea as we sat having our first cuppa for the day. We spent the early morning potting up some extra herbs to surround our new water tank. For southern hemisphere bloggers we hope you had a beautiful spring day and for those in the north a beautiful first day of autumn.

Lemons, limes and mandarins

2006-09-01T16:40:00.000+10:00

We thought we'd have a bash at a few fruit trees, not having much sunny garden beds left we could use, we thought we'd try them in large pots. On the left is an Imperial mandarin and a Tahitian lime next to it. Above is a dwarf variety of lemon called "lots of lemons" they are grafted onto a rootstock called flying dragon ( whatever that is) Has anyone had success growing fruit trees in pots? They get plenty of sun where they are and we used a good citrus potting mix, so hopefully they should be ok.

Our new water tank

2006-09-01T10:30:00.000+10:00

It seems ironic that some years ago the council made it illegal to have a water tank if you had access to town water, and people had to remove existing ones or face a penalty. How things change, today the council offer a$500 rebate on tanks 3,000 litres and over plus the state government give a $1,000 towards the cost of any tank and installation. The tank people are out to 8 weeks delivery and quotes are taking a fortnight. The guy who installed ours said that some are starting to charge $50 just to quote. Ours is a Slimline colourbond 1850w x 2150h x 850 deep with 3000L. capacity. It was just the right size for our wall , we didn't have to move our hanging baskets at each side. Fortunately we got it just in time for the showers this week, it was great to put your ear to the side listening to the rain trickle in. Its about half full now, so that might be it for the present as the rain has pretty well cleared. Larraine and I were having a laugh because its given us an excuse to buy some more plants. We used to have the clothes line there, so now the tank's there we thought it needed a few herbs and shrubs to keep it company. With the plants on the other side we were hoping to create a sort of entrance to the back section of the garden.

Beautiful rain

2006-09-01T09:42:00.000+10:00

This shop had a positive outlook on our current drought selling childrens wellies and pocket umbrellas. We've had some wonderful rain this week, I recorded this precious commodity sitting nicely on the leaves of our Eucalpytus "Summer red". I heard something interesting on ABC radio recently about rain that I didn't know. Have you ever noticed how fresh and green your lawn and plants are after a thunderstorm? Well apparently storm rain is charged with nitrogen, effectively natures fertilizer. The rain was a long way from drought breaking, but certainly a welcome relief from a long warm spell. It looks like we'll have level4 water restrictions some time in October, which for gardeners means bucketing before 7am in the morning and after 7pm at night on alternate days. For the poor folk in Innisfail its only just stopped raining, it reminds us of how much a continent of extremes we live in.

Ekka cake prize winners

2006-08-31T09:41:00.000+10:00

It's not every day you get to see Queenslands best rocky road, it's enough to make the sweet tooth drool. I thought the work that went into some of the cakes was quite imaginative, I always think it must be hard to have to cut them in the end. There were prizes for everything from scones, biscuits and all types of cakes. I told larraine I thought her scones would go close. I don't know what people thought of this guy going around taking shots of all these cakes. (it's ok folks it's to show my wife)

bananas, pumpkins and pineaples

2006-08-30T05:36:00.000+10:00

Just a few shots from this year's Brisbane exhibition locally known as the "Ekka". I chatted to the man on the banana display and he was saying that banana prices should be down to $5 a kilo by december (for overseas friends our banana prices have nearly tripled in price since cyclone Larry ealier this year) It was a great show this year and I think they had record attendances, the weather was certainly pefect for it. The three pumpkin prize winners are pictured, and although the orange one looks smaller it was the heaviest at 117 kilos. Larraine was unable to go this year so I took lots of shots and she was able to enjoy a slide show on the computer. I rounded off the day having a nice chat to a retired farmer and his wife from Warwick. It's very refreshing to talk to country people they are so open and friendly I find.

Signs of spring

2006-08-03T21:33:00.000+10:00

We are very fortunate living in the subtropics the signs of spring come very early. Although the nights can still be a little chilly the days are starting to get quite warm 23-24 deg. The birds are chirping and there is a definate spring feeling in the air. This is a native vine Hardenbergia Violacia it was full of bees today.
.This orchid sits on our breakfast table it has four of the biggest blooms at the moment and it emits a beautiful fragrance, these flowers seem to have lasted for ages and don't seem to show any signs of wilting.
This is one of our favourite Grevilleas it's a mass of red spider flowers at the moment and little white eyes have been visiting for the nectar.

This two-tone Azalea seems to bloom continuosly once it starts. Ithink it must be in just the right spot.

My little Ikea ball

2006-07-06T12:41:00.000+10:00

I started this little project a couple of years ago and I've added things to it as it became established. It's one of those little cane balls that you buy at Ikea. I lined the bottom and sides with paperbark (thats a bit of a painstaking job as the gaps are very small) then I filled it with a combination of potting mix/ orchid mix/spaghnum moss. It has five small elkhorns tied around with fishing line and pink rock orchid on the top. Since then it has become home to a maiden hair fern, two miniature bromeliads, a hairs foot fern, babys tears, selaginella and moss.
The ball itself is suspended by a chain connected to a hanging basket so it gets the water run off. It dangles happily at the side of the carport enjoying filtered morning sun. My theory is ( and I hope I'm right) by the time the cane rots, as no doubt it will eventually the elkhorns will have bound together as a clump holding everything together. I've added this week two miniature Hoya cuttings one should climb up the chain hopefully and one should hang down. Some may wonder if the plants are a little crowded, the answer to that is yes, but they really do seem to be having a ball. Happy gardening folks. ( click on picture for a larger view.)

Bromeliad pups

2006-06-29T11:05:00.000+10:00

I've been busy the last few days potting up Bromeliad offshoots commonly known as pups One of the great things about these plants is their ability to multiply, particularly if they are in their preferred position of semi-shade or dappled sunlight. The experts say to cut them off with a sharp stanley knife at the base, they are ready for this once they get to about one third the size of the parent plant. This one pictured above has three, one to the left and right and one behind. The amazing thing is once the pups have been removed the plant quite often keeps producing them. I pot them up in a mixture of orchid mix and mulch and leave them in the shade house until they take root. Bromeliads certainly give a good return on the initial outlay and make an excellent gift. And of course give a frog a home.

Brisbane late afternoon

2006-06-21T16:54:00.000+10:00

Well we are still having showers which is wonderful. There's not a lot doing on the garden front, so I thought I'd post a couple of shots taken from Mt Cootha. Looking southeast towards Brisbane and Morton bay (top) Looking south towards Toowong and a bend in the Brisbane river (centre) and looking southwest over the suburbs (bottom) I hope you are having a lovely summer in the northern hemisphere, happy gardening everyone! P.S. sorry the photo's are bit bleak, click on for larger shot.

Our bushfire season

2006-06-20T21:08:00.000+10:00

Strange as it may seem to some, danger time for bushfires in Queensland is from winter through to early spring. We have to be particularly aware in august when at the end of our usual dry winter we get strong gusty westerly winds. I'd noticed clouds of smoke to the West of Brisbane in recent weeks and on a visit last week to Brisbane forest park I came across a large burnt out area. You'll notice the bush is burnt out on both sides of the track, It reminds us how perilous our bushfires are and how easily we can be cut off.
Thankfully we are having welcome showers in Brisbane this week. We havn't had enough in our catchments unfortunately and we started on level 3 water restrictions this week which is buckets only. I heard on the radio today that it's already saving 50 million litres a day.

A special Brisbane sunset, June 7th.

2006-06-08T21:40:00.000+10:00

I woke on the morning of the 7th of June to hear our local ABC radio host Spencer Howson say that there was something special about the day's sunset. He went on to explain that the sun setting at 5pm was the earliest time it would set in Brisbane. So armed with what some might regard as trivial information I headed off to the city's highest spot Mt cootha. Here it is, not spectacular........but special

A "mazing" place

2006-06-06T10:32:00.000+10:00

We had Gardening Australia's exhibition recently and we happened to pick up some info on a great place which is virtually at our back door.
The Redlands Indigiscapes Centre is an initiative of the Redland Shire Council and it really is a great place to visit. Nature trails and laid out native garden settings where you can sit and have a picnic, and this great little maze of course. They concentrate on native plants from the local area and their nursery sells plants for $2.10 each which is very reasonable.
One of the trails features a 400 year old Tallowood tree, most plants are marked even the native grasses. There is live music on the 1st and3rd sunday of the month between 2 and 5pm. There is an information centre and cafe and the trails are open from dawn until dusk. For anyone visiting Brisbane we would highly recommend a visit the address is 17 Runnymede Rd Capalaba. ph (07) 38248611

Autumn project No 2

2006-06-04T18:26:00.000+10:00

This is an area we've always found difficult to landscape, partly because there's an old concrete slab where the previous owner had a shed. So its pipes to the rescue again. While ringing around chasing the pipes for previous project, the salesperson at the local plumbing supplies kindly gave me the address of a wholesaler who happened to have some seconds laying around. Which I gladly snapped up for a small fee. We are hoping the two Golden cane palms will grow fairly quickly and provide shade for the Bromeliads and Cordylines.

Extra accomodation

2006-05-30T19:56:00.000+10:00

Sorry I've been a little slack posting of late. The last of the warm autumn days inspired Larraine and I to create a few new garden projects, one of which was the use of some old clay plumbing pipes which I managed to pick up at a second hand building supplies. This is probably not everyones cup of tea, and you'll either love it or hate it no doubt.
My purpose was twofold, firstly to try and be creative in displaying some new Bromeliads and also making a few extra spots for the frogs to hibernate in. We have three currently at home on the verandah, two Green treefrogs and one Emerald spotted treefrog.
I'll try and post photo's of the two projects over the next few days. Happy gardening.

C'mon aussie, c'mon c'mon

2006-05-18T19:00:00.000+10:00

Walking around the Brisbane botanical gardens today
I wondered if their taps were getting ready for the
world cup. My apologies to any overseas blogger
friends for being a bit parochial

An interesting piece of nature

2006-05-09T17:25:00.000+10:00

I spotted this delicate little white sac hanging from the elkhorn fern
about four weeks ago. Not being an expert in these things my guess
is it's probably a spider egg sac.
Looking at it I thought how marvellous it would have been to see
whatever it was do it's work on a time lapse camera. The initial thread
that dangles from the frond would have to be quite well bonded to
withstand any wind or disturbance. I had a look today and it's still
there. I'm always amazed at the little intricate things of nature we
can find in our gardens

Beautiful one day , perfect the next

2006-05-05T10:13:00.000+10:00

Beautiful one day, perfect the next. Thats the slogan the tourist bureau use to entice people to Queensland for a holiday. It probably applies more to this time the year than any other. The mornings are crisp and the days are bright and sunny. Pictured is new growth of Syzygium luehmannii (small-leafed lillypilly) a native tree from the rainforests of eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It bears panicles of small creamy white flowers in the summer which in turn produce coral red pear-shaped fruits in dense bunches. I've actually tried the fruit, a little tart but quite edible. I'm not sure if it's this particular Lillypilly or not but some people make jam out of the fruit. So this last flush of new growth before the winter is our garden's offering of autumn colour.

Northey street organic market.

2006-04-29T13:06:00.000+10:00

Saturday mornings are probably a favourite time for most people.... time for a good walk before breakfast, an early start on a planned project or maybe just a well earned sleep in after a busy week. Talking about early morning walks, just about everyone you meet will say good morning if it's early. I've noticed later in the day people are more reticent to speak, has anyone else noticed that? It's as if the freshness of the dawn and the sound of the birds has a disarming effect on people. I always look to speak if I'm out walking later but generally speaking you don't get the same response.
We love to listen to garden talkback on the radio early on saturdays. Even though quite often the same questions come up, it's so nice to hear the interaction between the callers and the gardening expert, in our case thats Annette Mcfarlane. She's taking a group to the Chelsea flower show soon, the very name of this exhibition makes the gardener's mouth water.
Then it's time for the regular trip to the Northey st. organic fruit and veggie market. Lots and lots of farm fresh produce. The market is held every saturday morning in the car park of the Northey st. community garden. (pictured 3rd down) The garden is the initiative of the Brisbane City Council and run by volunteers. The markets have a great atmosphere, a place to let your braces dangle,(an english expression meaning to relax) and have a coffee and muffin. As you can see from the shot the coffee shop is pretty basic and laid back, cob oven and earth toilet etc.
Also on the site is the nursery Edible landscapes, they sell completely organic seedlings and fruit trees and a large range of herbs. If any bloggers would like to do a post describing their typical saturday morning it would be good to read. Enjoy your week.

Classic FM , cup of tea and a book.

2006-04-27T09:13:00.000+10:00

This our favourite spot for doing a bit of relaxation, taken at midday. It's particularly pleasant in the early morning when the sun filters through the lattice on the right. The mornings have been fresh lately with autumn temperatures of 25-26 deg. high and low of 12-14 degrees. You might think we are a bit spoilt in the Sunshine State but we don't get the distinctive change of seasons that other latitudes get. I must confess to a craving for colder climates which is satisfied by a trip to Melbourne in August each year.

Shadows

2006-04-19T10:50:00.000+10:00

Shadows..... they get a little taken for granted sometimes.
so I called them together to celebrate their beauty.

They were surprised and we were surprised

2006-04-18T08:28:00.000+10:00

we sometimes have a torchlight walk through the garden to see what we can spot. we occasionally find the odd frog. So to our surprise and delight we spotted three within five minutes last night.
It was a particularly warm autumn evening just after dark, so I think we caught them just setting off. The first we came across was our little friend Litoria peronii (emerald spotted treefrog) who had just hopped out of the bromeliad on the verandah. Then we saw a little Litoria caerulea (green tree frog) looking like it's ready to leap. Then finally a small Litoria fallax (eastern sedgefrog) we havn't seen these for while so it was good to see one. Our neighbours recently spotted a tree snake which we think was a common tree snake from the description and being active in the day, so as sedgefrogs laze around in the day we wondered if they were being eaten. still thats nature I suppose, everyone has to have their dinner. So don't forget to take your torch out on a warm night you never know what you might see.

delicious bonza apples

2006-04-14T11:29:00.000+10:00

Just as our garden friends in the northern hemisphere are seeing the apple blossoms appear, we down under have been enjoying different varieties of new seasons apples for a few weeks now. As we were doing our pre- easter trundle through the supermarket. We spotted them - BONZAS ! mounds of them. we just love these apples, they are described as having a sweet flavour with firm and juicy white flesh, they have a bold red blush overlaying green to yellow skin. They are quite a different taste to most of the other apples, well worth a try if you have access to them.
A little apple trivia to lighten our day

Did you know?
*There are 7000 varieties of apples grown worldwide.
*Apples float when dropped into water because the consist of 25% air.
* Over 2.6 billion apples are grown in australia each year
* Granny smith apples originated in australia. They were first grown
by Maria Anne Smith in Eastwood, Sydney in 1867.
*Apples have a dietary fibre called pectin which helps move food
through your body efficiently.
* Apples have a mineral called boron which is important to keep
your bones strong and healthy.
*Apples contain lots of antioxidents
* An apple supplies a quarter of your day's vitamin C needs.
* The longest continuous apple peel took 11 hours and 30 minutes to
remove and was 52.51 metres long!!

Happy gardening.

pathways

2006-04-13T09:16:00.000+10:00

I've just discovered the joys of collaging on picasa

cosy and cute

2006-04-12T20:15:00.000+10:00

I had a bit of a theory that these red centred neoregalias were quite attractive to the frogs after seeing the ones on the table taking it in turns. ( see previous post "popular spot"march archive) so we put another one on the verandah. sure enough this little froggy found a home there. It's starting to cool down at nights now so it may decide to hibernate in this spot or possibly look for somewhere more protected. Its worth a click for the larger image to see the emerald spots that give this little frog it's common name Emerald spotted treefrog. It also has a vertical line through it's pupil which is distinct from other frogs.

look at me

2006-04-11T16:01:00.000+10:00

tillandsias are in the bromeliad family and most of them are totally ephiphytic. this one, tillandsia cyanea can also be grown in an orchid mix. I've got this one tied to the trunk of a ficus with a bit of spaghnum moss wrapped around. they prefer morning sun only or dappled sunlight. this one has just flowered, together with the beautifully coloured flowers and the heady perfume it's crying out to be admired.

cats whiskers

2006-04-10T08:58:00.000+10:00

This is a native shrub orthosiphon aristatus common name cats whiskers. It likes a shady or semi-shady positions. I think it normally flowers spring/summer but ours is still flowering into autumn and still getting new buds on. They need a prune after flowering otherwise they get a bit leggy.

totem poles

2006-04-09T18:35:00.000+10:00

this is hairsfoot fern growing in a series of seven pots called totem poles. They clip onto a metal strip on top of each other. In our case we've screwed the strip to the verandah post and the hairsfoot has grown so well it's given the effect of a huge clump. Whats so good about this design is when it rains the excess water from each pot drains into the one below

favourite water feature

2006-03-30T15:05:00.000+10:00

This is where we like we like to start our day with a nice cuppa. It's very peaceful with the water gently trickling down the rocks. It's just had an annual clean, the algae on rocks gets a bit out of hand, so it's looking it's best at the moment. This was taken early evening, the underwater light in the pond is just catching the rocks.

magnificent moss

2006-03-26T13:13:00.000+10:00

we are so glad we had the driveway and paths paved instead of concreted. we were advised to use seconds because there is always a good percentage of reasonable quality ones amongst the load and the poorer ones (which were very few) were used in inconspicuous places. we've had very few weeds come up , but to our delight we have lots of this verdant green moss in our shadier spots. It's worth a click for the larger image to see the detail.

Inspired

2006-03-25T07:26:00.000+10:00

Inspired by cheryl's beautiful exhibition of garden images 23.8 perches, I approached our garden this morning with a fresh set of eyes. We truly do have a wonderland of treasure in front of our noses

Litoria Peronii

2006-03-24T18:54:00.000+10:00

With this little frog we can see the distinctive markings that give it the commmon name emerald spotted tree frog. They are not normally so visible in the day. This one was in a bromeliad hanging near our back door, it was accidently disturbed and jumped onto this plant. They are slightly warty, I always hope people don't mistake them for cane toads. Double click on photo for better view of emerald spots

tockie

2006-03-23T19:40:00.000+10:00

If you like watching long tennis matches you won't mind striped marsh frogs, the noise is very similiar to a tennis ball going backwards and forwards, except after heavy rain then it's like fire crackers on chinese new year. They don't keep us awake,and the neighbours have never complained. So this is tockie the marshie, I can never find them in the day, they are usually under the rocks, I caught this one under torchlight.

check this out

2006-03-21T21:16:00.000+10:00

This is our garden chess set, It's made from sandstone and volcanic lava rock. We've just started our first frog garden tournament with the family. It's quite strange playing a game with real pieces on a board after playing online for so long. There is so much more atmosphere and intrigue when you play with the real pieces. I suppose Gameknot ( the chess website) fulfil a need as very few people have the time to play a game through with so many busy lifestyles today.

down the garden path

2006-03-16T17:11:00.000+10:00

This is the very back of our block It's mostly tropical plants Bangalow and foxtail palms, cordylines and dracena's. It's still quite young and not yet the jungle look we want to create. The pathway is starting to weather nicely with moss growing between the pavers and babies tears encroaching from beneath the rocks. As the pathway curves around we pass a poinciana tree, (which unfortunately we had to have lopped and poisoned because it was lifting the driveway) to which we've attatched a variety of bromeliads. These plants are actually epiphytic so we are hoping the tree will be completely covered eventually.Then as we round the corner this is our shade section with a rich assortment of subtropical plants. We love to inspect this part of the garden early mornings as the birds are singing and have our first cuppa of the day in front of our water feature

ready to pounce

2006-03-13T10:57:00.000+10:00

This L. fallax (eastern sedge frog) is just waiting to pounce on some fruitflies. when our tadpoles first morph we leave a few containers of old fruit peelings around which attracts plenty of fruit fly and other insects. old bits of pineapple is particularly effective.

popular spot

2006-03-11T16:00:00.000+10:00

This bromeliad is one of the neoregalias. It sits on the top of our outdoor table and has become a very popular spot for our frogs. you'll spot the green tree frog in the top quarter of the photo, with a close up further up. The following day there was an emerald spotted tree frog in exactly the same spot. I think they must feel feel very secure in these plants .

2006-03-10T10:08:00.000+10:00

We'll give our frogs a rest today, this is a grafted eucalytpt outside our bedroom window. It flowered abundantly this summer. It's rootstock is eucalyptus ptychocarpa (swamp bloodwood) chosen for it's hardiness in the normally wet and humid queensland summer. It's a beautiful sight to wake up to on a midsummers morning.

cosy corner

2006-03-09T09:35:00.000+10:00

although peron's treefrogs are quite often a grey/fawn colour, I think this one realised it would be well camouflaged as it settled for the day on the back rungs of our gardenseat. We had to look twice when we first saw it.

baby eastern sedge frogs

2006-03-08T11:20:00.000+10:00

These little frogs would have to be our favourites, partly because they hang around in the day. some are darker than others, I wonder if thats the different sexes. I must consult the frog society. visitors to our blog are welcome to comment, just click below

graceful treefrog tadpoles (one week old)

2006-03-07T11:50:00.000+10:00

these are our new babies just starting to swim around. As soon as they are a bit bigger we'll transfer them to the ponds. we probably won't see a lot of growth before winter sets in. I think they take about 14 weeks. Although we've got 11 weeks of autumn to go and queensland winters are quite mild I doubt if we'll see them out before spring

2006-03-07T10:15:00.000+10:00

we had the pleasure last week during a night of heavy rain here in brisbane to have some graceful tree frogs breed. sorry the photo's a bit blurred. they laid their eggs in the lily pond (pictured in an earlier post) we transferred them to a bucket of pond water, because although pacific blueyes don't eat tadpoles in the main, they together with a few large perons treefrog tadpoles seemed to be nibbling away at them.

2006-03-06T13:56:00.000+10:00

these baby graceful treefrogs generally hang around for about a week before heading for tree tops then we don't generally see them again until they come down to breed as adults

2006-03-06T13:49:00.000+10:00

Sometimes you can get a lovely surprise when you turn your head in the garden. this baby sedge frog is about 9mm long as you can probably tell from thhanging basket ring.

a shady place in our garden

2006-03-06T12:18:00.000+10:00

This is a favourite area of our garden, with a variety of bromeliads, (frogs love them) cordylines and a few native orchids. On the fence we have a number of elkhorns and in the hanging baskets there are a variety of miniature hoyas. We've become more interested in hoyas since an original one that we planted had flowered beautifully this spring/summer. There is a variety of hoyas available, they have exquisite flower heads, some strongly scented. It's lovely to walk through this corner on a summers afternoon when it's bathed in 50% sunlight pleasantly dappled by the overhead trees.

Lily Pond...

2005-12-29T13:47:00.000+10:00

This is our latest lily pond, the water lily was purchased from Mappins Nursery at Kenmore. They have a huge range of water lillies and aquatic plants, well worth a visit. This pond has emerald spotted tree frog tadpoles in it.

Fritz...

2005-12-29T13:30:00.000+10:00

This is Fritz after his winter hibernation, hungry and raring to go...

Floral Beauty...

2005-12-28T14:00:00.000+10:00

Photographed in the frog garden this last spring, this water plant is called pink retala. It's a marginal plant that grows at the edge of ponds.

Water Feature...

2005-12-28T13:30:00.000+10:00

This is the largest water feature in our garden, about 2.5 x 1.5 metres and about .5 metres deep. If you look carefully you can spot one of our goldfish having a swim.

Baby Graceful tree frogs relaxing...

2005-07-22T19:31:00.000+10:00

Here are a couple of baby graceful tree frogs resting on a vine near the top of our pergola.It never ceases to amaze us where these dainty little frogs turn up . They are quite placid, you can brush past them working in the garden and they hardly move. The vine is petrea volobulos (sandpaper vine) it's a vigorous climber with beautiful racemes of mauve flowers in the spring

Fritz on the prowl...

2005-07-22T13:30:00.000+10:00

Fritz's favourite spot is the handrail on the ramp which leads up to our house. In the warmer months he climbs out of his pot mid evening and on the occasional early morning we spot his backside making the final squeeze back into his hole. Green tree frogs are a delightful companion in any garden. Just create the right enviroment, a pond or water feature with lots of native plants, ferns and grasses. In our garden we have two water features and five ponds of various sizes. I hope to post photos of them later.

Welcome to Frog Garden...

2005-07-16T17:25:00.000+10:00

Hello, this is Fritz, he lives in Frog Garden... Fritz (or maybe it's Fritzina) arrived in our garden last summer. Obviously attracted by our number of ponds and water features, we found fritz on a hot summers day cooling off in a cardboard box in our car port.

After a couple of nights scouting around he made his home in the self watering pot (pictured) during the warmer months he popped out nightly to find his dinner. Fritz is currently hibernating, we are hoping that he or she might find a spouse in the garden this springtime.