Along Came Summer

It took 12 months after the storm for the insurance company to get around to clearing the fallen tree, removing several dangerous trees and erecting a new fence. It was lucky for us that the tree did damage the old fence as that was the only damage that could actually be fixed by the insurance. That and the power cables that had blacked out the whole district for four days!!

By the  following summer - two years after the storm, the garden had taken shape and we were amazed at how quickly everything had grown.

A very satisfying start.

Liz Needle

February - A New Start

 I'm afraid my good intentions did not last long - February already. Still on with the show!

Instead of planting large trees and shrubs as we did before, I decided to go for perennials and small shrubs that would attract birds, bees and butterflies. I had fallen in love with the Salvia family and here I was with a large bare expanse of land just waiting for them. I was also keen to plant more roses and irises as my earlier ones were becoming either shaded out (roses) or over-crowded (irises).

Once the area was levelled and raked over, we shaped the edges, then laid some pavers through the middle. A few smaller plants had survived and I had planted bulbs during the autumn to give us some Spring colour  I didn't plant much that winter as it was cold and wet, but as the weather warmed up I started  choosing plants.

I put camellias along the back edge to give some wind protection and to my delight a lovely deep pink magnolia decided that it was going to live, though all that remained after the disaster was one broken trunk about 3 feet high.

By Spring we had some colour with some daisies, salvias and tulips.

With Spring here, it was time to visit nurseries and get planting in earnest. I had the bit between my teeth.

Liz Needle

January 2021 - Catching Up.

 With nothing else much to do (it is 38C outside today), I chanced to look back at my old garden blog and discovered myself enjoying these old posts. I haven't been blogging much this last year - too busy doing nothing much in lockdown and its aftermath - but I have been doing a lot of gardening, so maybe I will give this blog another chance. But first to catch you up.

Three years ago during a summer storm we had a huge Eucalypt come down and smash part of the garden - and taking out most of the local electricity supply for 4 days. I was really upset as it was a pretty mature area with large camellias, magnolias and other established shrubs. It took 9 months for the insurance company to come in, fix up the fence, cut up the tree and remove several other large trees that had been damaged and had become dangerous.  I really didn't feel much like starting again.

Before

After

Once cleared there wasn't much left of the old garden, but there was a large empty area - and what gardener can resist such a challenge? Certainly not this one. Besides I had just retired and after organising the rest of the garden, I had time on my hands! Actually can a gardener ever have time on her hands?

Time to go shopping!!

Liz Needle  -  linking with "Our World Tuesday"

Wild Bird Wednesday

A success story this week.  A couple of years ago I rescued a rainbow lorikeet from the edge of the road where it had been injured.  I am a sucker for this and just have to stop and pick up injured wildlife. Most often they do not survive, though we have had successes, especially with magpies. A couple of times when I rescued a lorikeet, I took them to the local 'bird' vet and was told that they would have to be put down as they had broken wings and could not be fixed.

This time however I decided to keep the bird myself, even though the wing was broken. We put it in a large cage where, after a time, it thrived altthough it could not fly. It seemed happy enough.

 We decided to find it a companion and were able to purchase a hand reared lorikeet from a pet shop. Well, for the first few weeks they fought!!!!  They hated each other!!  They screeched  at each other!!

Then, they gradually became friendly, then bosom mates. And now,  I actually believe they are happy!!!

Then, this year one of them laid a couple of eggs in a hollow log that Don had put in the cage. Totally unexpected!!!  Very exciting!!  Unfortunately the eggs finished up on the floor of the cage, but that was probably our fault as there was nothing in front of the hollow log to stop the eggs falling out.  Now we know that one of them is a 'lady' - albeit a very noisy one - we can re-organise the nesting arrangements.

But the pleasure for us is knowing that we have managed to give another life ( albeit a captive one) to a lorikeet that would have otherwise perished on the side of the road.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Wild Bird Wednesday - We'll drink to that

Each evening lately I have taken my chair and spent a pleasant hour watching the birds come down to drink at the birdbath and play in the nearby shrubs. I get quite snap-happy with my new camera. I had dreams of buying myself a better zoom lens until I looked at the price of them! Maybe when I win Cross Lotto!!

The little red-browed finches are frequent visitors

It is unusual to see a finch drinking with a Striated Thornbill.  And I though finches were small!!

Yesterday we had a mother and baby Thornbill

And then there were three

The New Holland Honeyeaters are probably the most enthusiastic users of the birdbath

And tonight we even had a visit from an Adelaide Rosella which is pretty unusual as they don't usually drink from the birdbaths.

As you can see, the birdbath is the place to be seen in the evenings at Lenswood.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

PS: Re last week's post. The apartment building seems to have been unsatisfactory on all counts as both couples have abandonned it.

Wild Bird Wednesday - A Soap Opera

It was a bit like "Neighbours" in our garden this week.  Last year we had a pair of galahs nesting in a big old gum tree in the garden and I was lucky enough to catch a shot of one of the parents feeding a rather large baby.

This year we have seen a pair of galahs and a pair of rosellas hanging around the same hole in the tree. One afternoon last week Don called to me to get the camera as it looked as if the galahs were nesting again. Sure enough there was one galah sitting on an adjacent branch and another trying out the nest. She would disappear into the nest for 5 or so minutes, then reappear, ruffle her feathers, preen a little then go back into the nest.

We were very excited at the thought of another nesting pair.  About an hour later Don called me again and to our astonishment there were two rosellas checking out the same nest. My son had snaffled the camera so I missed getting a shot, but I did get one the previous week when they were inspecting another hole (top left). They obviously didn't think much of that one because this time they were after the same apartment as the galahs.

This is all very intriguing - the battle of the nests?  Or maybe the old tree has multiple nesting spots with one shared entrance - like an apartment block for birds.

I will keep you posted if there are any further episodes in the fascinating soapie.

Liz Needle, linking with Wild Bird Wednesday.

More of the Eastern Spinebill

Either these little birds are getting more accustomed to my presence or I am getting better with my camera, but I am really pleased with these latest shots.

Liz Needle