The Work That Almost Killed Us.

We spent last weekend plus Monday rotary hoeing the soil, mixing in sandy loam, gypsum...etc and levelling the ground. We were almost dead on the first day but subsequently it got better. We had some wonderful friends who came over to help here and there. Finally the ground is ready for new turf. Can't wait! This strip on the front lawn is going to have a little grass on either end whereas the middle will be used for vege planting. Existing soil seems good.

The whole ground next to the path is covered with weed mat since my new turf can only arrrive next week.

This the the back garden :

Lots of top soil (sandy loam) left so I have purchased a vege bed to put it in :

Though the soil does not look a lot, it is actually a lot! I spent 5 hours shovelling it into wheelbarrow and unloading it onto the front and back yard as I could not park my car in the garage since the soil is blocking the way. Weather forecast say it may hail on Saturday and I had better get my car into the garage for shelther. Surely not interested in getting dints on my car.

Tulips, Wisteria (Japanese), Lavender, Arum Lily, Kalanchoe, Protea, Sanorita

The white arum lilies are so pretty, especially when cut and placed in a tall vase on their own. Samuel counted 14 in bloom. Although they are considered a weed in many parts of Australia, they are well under control in my garden and nice to have :

I am running out of space for plants as my collection increases. The Protea (Special Pink Ice) on the right seems to be surviving its winter repotting. Its leaves were looking dry and yellow for a long while until I gave it some tender loving care of trimming and watering recently. I would be quite sad to lose it since it cost me quite many bucks and produces really gorgeous cut flowers. I have been thinking of planting this Protea and the Sanorita (left) on the front nature strip. This will free up my front patio space, allow them to grow bigger being in ground, decorate my nature strip and attract beautiful native birds. However I needed to check if they attract possums to my house because that would be a no-no...

This wisteria (below) that I bought was bare like a stick but have put on so much leaves now. I had researched on this vine and found out that it is so strong that it can uproot the tree it climbs, plus the seeds are poisonous (not good for my dog). I am so attracted to its glorious purple blooms (that attract bees). I wanted to return it to the nursery but when the leaves came, my heart relented and decided to keep it. I will keep in potted to prevent any ground issue with its invasive roots or pulling my patio support down. As for the withered blooms, Hubby had already delegated me to be the one cleaning them up when it happens!

The Avon View Lavender are blooming and attracting bees again :

My very first red tulip has opened!!! It is stout and pretty. The bloom actually opens in the day and closes in the evening, so I could snap a shot of it. Notice the conifer on its right (actually behind it) and the ivy on the left (which I planted as fence cover) :This is my first yellow tulip!

This is the small area on the right of the small gate where the tulip patch is :

And this is the area on the left of the small gate where the other patch is :

My kalanchoe trailing has been blooming gorgeously but then I realised that the succulent leaves were limp. I tried to repot it and found out that the plant was already root-bound. I repotted it anyway trimming away the sides of the root ball and giving it lots of seasol. I also took cutting and hope they will root and produce new kalanchoe trailing for me :

Gai Choy (Mustard Green), Silver Beet & Pak Choy

Weather's warming up and the leafy vegetables are doing well. The gai choy (mustard green) under the net are flourishing. I have harvested about thrice and it is time to harvest again : This large lone silver beet is forever doing well.

These two silver beets were slow to grow because of competition for sunlight and space but eversince I trimmed the lemon grass, they are taking off :

I have sown some more pak choy (green) and am now thinned and protected the seedlings that have emerged :

This pot used to be where the apricot moorpark was but now I have recycled it for pak choy.

This planter had pak choy that bolted to seeds so I removed them to replant pak choy.

A Beautiful Sight and An Ugly Sight

Last Satuday, our little family went to Mordialloc Beach for an evening walk and dinner. When we were reaching the car park, it started to rain. Samuel was disappointed that he could not play on the slides and rides at the playground. He commented, 'It's all God's fault for raining.' I did not really know what to say to him. He was being honest. I wanted to help him see God better so I was quietly pondering this over. In my heart for a split second I wondered if there would be a rainbow. True enough, my husband shouted out, 'Rainbow!' We scurried about snapping pictures of and with the rainbow. It's an awesome sight! One of the beautiful pictures I have snapped with my camera. I never got sick of looking at rainbows. It is one of those things that excites me. I was so over the moon being able to take a picture with a rainbow!!! My husband said to me, it seemed like this was better than striking lottery. Oh yes it is! As we strolled, I spoke with Samuel. I still did not have the answer to his comment but I gave him the model answer. I said that we may not understand why God rained when he knew that we are heading outdoors. However, He is bigger and He has his grand purpose and we may know why. We just have to trust Him that He knows best.

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Two days later, I woke up in the morning with the most wonderful answer. I realised that without the rain, we would never have seen the rainbow! Though we had to give the playground a miss, we got something better in return - the rainbow. Often in life, we do not understand why God takes away something which we think is good in our lives, or that He withholds something which we want so much. One good example is our miscarriage in March 2010. God does have his grand purpose though we do not understand. The lesson on the rainbow taught us that principle - Just keep on trusting God and his perfect character!

Our front and back lawn look unlike all other neighbours' whose lawns are green now in spring. It is brown and dead because we have applied glyphosate. Above is a picture of one area.

This picture above shows the strip right in front of my golden sheens. My husband has dug up the edges first as the rotary hoe cannot reach them. I intend to turn this strip into a planting strip. I have been busy searching and researching on all the possible plants :

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Vegetables : Kai lan (Chinese Brocoli), Tung Ho ( ), Heng Cai (Amaranth/Chinese Spinach), Snake Bean, Spinach, Burdock, Garlic Chives

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Herbs : Lemon Balm, Wild Thyme

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Edible flowers : Crocus Sativus (Saffron), German Chamomile, Evening Primrose, Foxgloves, Tiger Lily

My peach trees are both having peach curl despite spraying with Lime sulfur in winter. That's the normal leaves above and infected leaves below :

Carolina Black Rose Alive!!!

How exciting! I am totally over the moon as if I have struck lottery. That was how my hubby described me. My Carolina Black Rose Grape vine is alive! I found 3-4 green buds on it. A while ago, it looked like a dried forked twig and I have sort of lost hope that it would live. I will have to fertilise it and plan the support soonest, oh as well as protection against my golden retriever Marco. The pomegranate, which I have no clue about its name, is putting on beautiful red leaves. I plan to spray it with a mixture of pyrethrum and white oil in case of white flies or scale attack as last seasons.

I have propagated two pots of Aoenium. As I am clearing up more planting areas with my lawn revamp, I may need new plants.

Planted a little pot of coriander here in Patch C after the seeds germinated.

Most of the seeds - kang kong (water spinach), chilli padi, tomato silvery fir, cucumber, bittermelon - I have planted and pots kept in this plastic container (to imitate greenhouse environment) have germinated. It has been a really cold spring start and they are growing very very slowly. I wish I have a glass or green house to speed up things.

The pot of chives has also germinated. It is doing better out in the cold.

A new pot of thyme germinating too.

I had to remove growing pups from my original aloe vera pot as they were overcrowding the pot. This two are some of the babies I have removed. I think soon I can start some plant sale?