The `Bees` are back !

Ok, so you didn`t know they were gone. Well, out of the blue about three weeks ago I went down to feed the doves and noticed the bee hive in the old dead tree was silent. On closer inspection, there were one or two lonely bees milling about looking for everyone. Normally at dusk, they were mostly home and busily crowding around the opening, almost in mass form, waiting their turn to get in and unload their pollen.

 

This was how busy it used to be.

Have a look at the post `Bees in the Garden`, June 2014

 

 

We have been having some weird unseasonal electrical thunderstorms for the last three weeks and our best theory is the tree was struck by lightening - not as rare as you might think here in Sydney - our Mulberry tree was struck once. No matter what the reason, sadly, they were gone. So I took this perfect opportunity to prune the old rose climbing the tree. Clair Jacquier` is a natural scrambler, and has grown rampant with neglect. That`s a job I have avoided for years - you don`t want to upset bees.

 

So today. three weeks later, I was out watering my garden and I could hear an unusual buzzing sound, similar to a Cessna airplane. I looked up to locate it and couldn't find it. THEN my eyes focused in closer to thousands of bees buzzing all over the place! Jokeingly, I yelled up to them `Where have you lot been? Get home this minute!` To my amazement as I studied them, sure enough, they were all sort of moving towards the pond and the empty hive in the tree!

 

 

I ran up the yard calling out to my husband and daughter to come and see - the bees were coming home from vacation! By the time we all ran back down to the pond, camera in hand, they were all starting to form a swarm, and blimey Charlie - into the hive they went!

 

 

It only took about half an hour from when I happened to notice them to when they all finally went in. It was a quite a rare moment to witness nature doing it`s thing. Well the hive is now active again, although not as full yet as it once was. I`m sure the Queen will get down to business and populate her hive, after all, that`s all she`s got to do!

 

 

We are just glad they are back. Our bees are an integral part of Bloomfield Cottage. Not only do they pollinate and increase flowers and fruit and veg, but they add another dimension of natures balance.

Visitors are mostly fascinated to watch them coming and going from the hive.

 

I just wonder where they`ve been for the last three weeks?

 

 

 

 

 

Saving the old Mulberry tree...after a massive storm.

An old Mulberry tree, I hear you thinking. Why would you go to all that effort - just plant another one, they`re quick growing. If only it was that simple. The tree, which I might add, does NOT even fruit! is the main shade source for our dear little horse` Hunter`.

 

Not only did it give beautiful cool shade during our stinking hot summers, but it kept him busy chomping up any fallen leaves. He absolutely LOVES the them. They must be very sweet because he will go to great effort to eat them, often straining up on his hind legs to `prune` the underside of the tree. He`s even got my sister trained to collect great handfuls of leaves for him that fall on the other side of his yard fence!

 

And then we had a really, really Big Storm...

 

 

and now we`ve got a really Big Problem.

 

 

 

Now let me tell you about this big old Mulberry tree first. When we first moved here and had no horse or yard, my husband reversed into the small tree which was one of the few trees on the block. He didn`t knock it over, just gave it a bump and a nasty lean which grew....18 years later...into a majestic, double forked trunk, shade tree of massive proportions, which is still on the lean. Now the double forked trunk was always going to be a problem as it grew, so we took measures to support it using military grade, super strong strapping, holding both branches securely. This seemed to do the trick and the tree kept on growing, Hunter kept on depositing manure mulch around it and the strange monsoonal weather made it grow like the dickens. Now, last year, this same old Mulberry tree, was struck by lightening! I know, I was in the garden, battening down during an electrical storm when I heard it hit! We thought we had lost it for sure then. Not so. The tree seemed to grow even faster after it`s hit of nitrogen charged electricity. The trunk was quite badly burnt at the fork, and so we thought we would at least lose half of the tree, but it just went berserk instead. Now the tree hung up and over the horse yard railing and over a significant area around. It was so cool and beautiful underneath. Hunter was in heaven.

 

So, down comes the tree in a particularly bad storm, but, not pulling out of the soft wet ground! After our initial shock, and the horses delight - he could now eat freely of the desirable foliage laying on the ground - I said to my husband `I think we`ll try to save it`. He looked at me like I was mad, shook his head and walked off. Hmm, this needed some research from the world wide web. Sure enough, after reading many sites, I found a very helpful one from Florida (home of bad storms) and was reassured it was worth a try. Now we are  back to the point -  why would you bother. Well, the fact is I defy anyone to plant a new tree in a horse yard and find it still there in the morning -it`s like planting food - at ground level, or more to the point, putting a yummy meal in there for you know who. So, no tree - no shade or yummy leaves! That`s a bleak future for our boy.

 

We cut off one side of the forked branches to reduce immediate stress on the tree. Now my research said to leave as much bark as possible as all the plants stored energy is in the outer layers, so we trimmed the tree back with a chain saw by half. It was easily 15 metres tall and impossible to stand up with all that heavy leafy stuff. By this time, the horse looks like he`s going to explode, he`s eaten soooo many leaves. We then bought some structural timber beams and pegs, and used some shade cloth off cuts to wrap around the branches to protect against rubbing. Using spades and picks we carefully dug around the trunk, creating an area for it to fall back in when raised and trimmed any broken and damaged roots that were visible. Next, a call to a friend who has a `winch` on his 4WDrive, and with some extra muscles helping to guide it, pulled it up and into the renovated hole! Voila! Then some tricky staking and pegging to stabilise it. She was up and stable, now time will tell.

 

It doesn`t look much now I know - a  5 metre trunk really.

 

 

 

We piled up all the branches, now de-nuded by a very fat happy horse, in the middle of his yard, intending to burn the lot when it dried out, only to find a family of tiny blue wrens have moved in and set up home. Haven`t got the heart to move them on yet. We`ve had daily downpours of torrential rain for weeks since - a bonus if the tree is to survive, even though it is unusual for this time of the year here.

So is it working? Yes, so far so good. There is much new growth all over the remaining trunk and branch, so we will now concrete in a structural pillar to hold it in place for it`s future. It will probably never stand on it`s own again, but it looks like we saved it.

 

 

 

The things you do for your animals..... (plus I love it when I prove em all wrong!)

 

Do you think it was worth all the effort? I`ll keep you posted with the trees growth so keep an eye out. You never know, it might actually fruit for us a reward on day.

 

 

Come and have a look at our Open Garden weekend - Oct. 2014

It`s always a massive decision to open your garden to the public. We only do it every 2 - 3 years.

When people start coming through on the days and commenting on how much work it must be... well... it`s usually way more. I`m sure all creative people suffer when they show their craft. Will people like it? Is it up to par? Will they see it as I do? And so, we work right up till the gates open, beautifying, planting, raking, mulching and so on. Often I would begin my day straight after breakfast and not come in until dark. My sister came to stay and basically fed me cups of tea and cakey buns and kept house whilst I plodded on weed spraying, pruning hundreds of roses and raising seedlings and planting masses of colour. Spading edges! - the good old English way, is time consuming but looks so sharp and neat with flowing garden beds. Pity it doesn`t stay that way for long.

It was a great success, even though the weather got extremely hot - especially on the Sunday afternoon with temps reaching 38 degrees (celcius). My wonderful husband sat under an umbrella at the meet and greet table all weekend and cheerfully greeted about a hundred visitors, directing them to go up the path to the verandah and start from there. Many garden visitors are reluctant to intrude on your privacy- traipsing around verandahs and into green and glass houses, so we encouraged them to wander everywhere, sit in comfy chairs and go down all hidden pathways nooks and crannies. There is just too much to miss and of course the views from one side of a hot sunny garden bed are totally different from behind the same bed where it is shady and cool. This is usually where you will also find a garden sculpture, birdbath or something of interest to pull you in.

So come with me, blogger buds, and I`ll take you around Bloomfield Cottage for a look at her in all her glory. Here`s some of what our visitors saw....

So come on, up the driveway past the post and chain fence of Ballerina rose......

 Through the arbour towards the verandah and house gardens. These beds being closest to the house have the more fiddley colour co-ord beds full of roses, annuals and perennials.

The shady spots have the more tender plants like Anemones and pansies

While the hotter sunny spots are filled with Roses, Salvias, Perennials and Annuals

If you follow the verandah all the way around to the far side you will come upon our entertainment area where we had the morning tea, plant stall and the display from our local Rose Society                 in `Floating Rose Bowls` which was a great hit with visitors.

Psst - You may have noticed the tops of the topiary's hasn't been pruned :)

Well I had a White-tail spider bite on my ankle, and couldn't climb a ladder!

Some of the beautiful roses donated for the occasion by my local rose society friends.

After your cuppa and cake and a chat It`s time to explore further afield....

Remember! this is Rose season, and it`s shaping up to be a corker. I am expecting to exhibit my roses next weekend at our local Rose Show, and for a change it looks like I`ll have plenty.

  

Now we`re heading down towards the rose Beds and the Koi Pond. You will also find the dovecote where our fantail pigeons live and the bee hive.

 Mid Spring is a beautiful time in the garden, especially if you get good rain at just the right time, which is just what we got this year! It is hard to fathom the difference in seasons from last year. We had no rain all winter and went straight into bushfire season in Spring! Check out my post titled - `Spring went straight to hell`. I bet you`ll be shocked!

The pond is always a popular spot as the koi fish will keep you entertained while you rest on the shady park bench.

When visiting a large garden it is always wise to stop and take in the views from different areas around the property, sit at any provided seating to take it all in. There are many `windows` throughout  the gardens - views through framed greenery.

Don't forget the vegie patch.

 No visit is complete without patting our miniature horse Hunter

Well this is just about the end of your tour, hope you enjoyed it - I know our visitors did.

 See you next visit...

Macadamia Tree - Pinkalisious

I`ve got the prettiest Macadamia tree this year full of pink flowers....have you ever seen one in flower? Mine is almost like a pink wisteria. It`s called Pinkalicious, a cross between two Australian native species grafted onto a tough rootstock. The variety used in most crops has a lemon coloured flower, but I think the pink, which has larger flowering racemes is much prettier for the home garden.

 

It`s about five years old now and is about to produce it`s first serious crop - it`s certainly flowering like it means business

 

 

The bees are going crazy for it too. The tree is literally humming! I just hope we don't get any high winds that will blow the flowers off like last year. Once the flowering is finished and they drop off, the little fruits will begin to grow along the racemes. They take quite a few months to grow and when their outer shells are rock hard they begin to split and fall to the ground. That's when their ready. Only, you can`t get to the buttery crisp nut until you force the outer shell off with a crow bar and use a vise-like nut cracker for the next layer! Any wonder they are one of the most expensive nuts.

 

 

But who can resist a Macadamia nut. Raw, salted, honey, toffee or dipped in chocolate! In culinary delights both sweet and savory. What a versatile nut but if you have ever tried to crack one open you`ll know it`s not for the feint hearted!  You actually need a special tool for the job - a normal nut cracker just wont do it and a hammer, well they just shoot off in every direction. The vice-like apparatus, where you place the nut in a particular direction so the pressure cracks the incredibly hard shell as the vice is screwed closed, is slow going, so don't expect tree owners to part with them already shelled. your more likely to receive a bag of nuts still in their shells - your problem now

 

All in all, a very pretty hardy Australian native which makes a wonderful specimen tree. It has leathery foliage and just needs a handful of fruit and citrus fertiliser and of course good water.

 

 

Just a collage of my Roses

I thought this would be a great way to test a new collage app. So I`m going to show you some of the fabulous roses I grow here at Bloomfield Cottage. So, here goes......

 

 

Well, I`m pretty happy with that, what do you think? Lets try another one......

 

 

Oh yes, I`m getting the hang of it. Bit of mucking around on the computer but it seems a great way to add lots of pics in one hit. Alright, one more try..........

 

 

I`m sure that more collages will turn up in future posts - it`s a great way to show you more in a condensed way. Hope you enjoyed the roses too. Let me know what you think...

 

 

 

 

Pansies, Nemisia, Violets - My favorites

We are well and truly in the thick of winter now with 0 and 2 degree nights, even though the days have been quite sunny. Dry as a bone though. Pretty normal stuff for us here near the Blue Mountains - inland from Sydney. Always rains along the coast but we don't get a drop inland.

 

The garden is semi-asleep now and I`ve begun the laborious task of cutting things back to the ground so they can put new lush growth on for spring. All we need is Rain to get things going. The lawns suffer from early morning frost and lack of water and look yellow and sad. Dosn`t help that I weed- sprayed the lawn for bindii prickles and weeds, to add to the look of general `winterness`.

 

Soldier Boys - `Lachenalia` are a bright winter flowering bulb

 

 

These little fragrant violets always remind me of my Nans garden

 

 

All the trees have lost their leaves, the wisteria is asleep and the Roses are all bare stems and thorns that soon need their big annual prune. This is usually a massive task undertaken over the whole month of August. Shrub roses, pillar roses, climbing roses, groundcover roses - oh boy

 

 

Even so, there are plenty of flowers here and there to make a garden walkabout enjoyable still. My
orchids are flowering and the Camellia Japonica `Mine-no-yuki`. But the pansies - my absolute favourite garden flower, are all watching me with their little faces. I work in a plant nursery and bring home the prettiest ones I can find - along with heaps of other goodies. These are some of my favorites.

 

 

 It`s the time when lots of Daffodils emerge around deciduous trees and throughout the garden loads of pretty Nemesia and Linnaria self sow all over the place. I spend a great deal of time moving them about the garden late in the afternoons so they wont wilt. Being particular about the colours when they self sow, I pull out all the yuckie purple and yellow ones. It`s a hideous mix on the one flower so I yank em out when they first start to flower and only keep all the soft pastel colours. Yes, I`m that fussy with colours - they`ve gotta all blend just so.

 

These little guys don't look much, but they grow into the prettiest small plants full of tiny soft pastel flowers that last for months. And so it`s a bit of a dull time in the garden just now but I know that all my efforts will pay off when it warms up.

 

Thanks for visiting today. Hope you loved the pansies too. I enjoy hearing from you, so leave a comment if you like.