When all else fails - post cat pictures. Over nearly forty years, we have had three of these plants in our yard. They are mobile plants and can be found not only in garden beds and pots but also are known to make their way up trees and to take over garden furniture. These plants … Continue reading In My Garden – Felis Domesticus
Gardening
In My Garden – The Common Marigold
We are in the middle of winter here and the garden is looking pretty sad. The lawn is soggy under foot, there is lots of greenery but many yellowing leaves. The white daisies are out and a clump of snowflakes (Leucojum) but they don't exactly raise the spirits when the sun is hiding. Today, I … Continue reading In My Garden – The Common Marigold
In My Garden – Pansies
Beautiful pansies Sometime you don’t know that you don’t know. I have always loved what I believe to be violas, to my mind miniature pansies. It is not so simple. Whatever they are, they belong the genus Viola of the plant family Violaceae. It seems that in the world of everyday English the names pansy, … Continue reading In My Garden – Pansies
In My Garden – Hellebores
Hellebores are evergreen perennial flowering plant, part of the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup family. They originated in both Europe and Asia and now have numerous varieties of hybrids. The flowers have five petal-like sepals surrounding a ring of small cup-like petals developed to hold nectar. They bloom through winter and spring with the sepals remaining on … Continue reading In My Garden – Hellebores
In My Garden – Birds (Native and Otherwise)
I live near the middle of a city covering an area of nearly 10,000 km2 of suburban sprawl, asphalt roads and footpaths - in the tatty northern suburbs of Melbourne, 200 metres from Bell Street, a major traffic sewer. Yet despite the concrete, asphalt and spindly street trees, nature still makes her presence felt. You … Continue reading In My Garden – Birds (Native and Otherwise)
In My Garden – Moss Rose
The Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora) is a small and fast-growing annual. Originally native to Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay, it is also found across South and South East Asia. It has a variety of names from Rock and Sun Rose to Time Flower (time fuul in Bangladesh) and Nine, Ten or Twelve O’Clock Flower (nau … Continue reading In My Garden – Moss Rose
In My Garden – Pittosporum tenuifolium James Stirling
Pittosporum is an evergreen flowering plant found across Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. Some species are no more than shrubs while others grow into trees of up to 12 metres in height. The leaves spiral around slender woody branchlets and are oval in shape, often with a waved margin. The flowers … Continue reading In My Garden – Pittosporum tenuifolium James Stirling
In My Garden (Almost) – The Aspidistra
Gardening sources describe the aspidistra as a flowering perennial plant; however, for most people it is a leafy pot plant that can survive in dark corners of either the house or the garden. The aspidistra is native to eastern and southeastern Asia where it grows in the shade under trees and shrubs. There are over … Continue reading In My Garden (Almost) – The Aspidistra
In My Garden – Fuchsia
The fuchsia is one of my favourite plants. They are most commonly grown in suburban gardens as small shrubs or in hanging baskets. The 'hardy fuchsia' (Fuchsia magellanica), though, can grow up to 3 metres in height in a frost-free climate. Most species of fuchsia are native to South America, but a few occur in … Continue reading In My Garden – Fuchsia
In My Garden – Lithops
This week it is more a case of On My Windowsill. Lithops,a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family Aizoaceae, are native to southern Africa. They are commonly know as stone plants or living stones. Lithops were discovered in 1811 by botanist John Burchell when he picked up what he thought was a … Continue reading In My Garden – Lithops
Catherine Meyrick 