Spring has definitely sprung and I think all of us are feeing a bit tropical...thought it would be nice if we go downunder to visit our GardenBuddy Steve...But guess what??..He's visiting Canada right now as this is being published. We miss you Steve and hope your holiday is going well...Hey, I wonder if he really does say, "G'day mate!!"
"G'day welcome downunder to my little bit of Oz. I'm writing this sitting in
the back garden in the warm autumn sunshine listening to the parrots
chatting away in the tall eucalypt trees that line the back fence of my half
Acre block. Luckily there is still some of the original forest left on my
Property and these giant trees bring the wildlife to the garden and offer
Welcome shade in the heat of summer.
We live on the east coast of Australia about 120 miles north of Sydney which
Is about as close as I want to get to the big city. Sydney is a beautiful
city to visit but I'm a country boy at heart and am more at home on a farm or
fishing rather than battling peak hour traffic.
We are blessed with a fantastic climate here year round and never get a
frost which enables me to grow just about anything, the rainfall is usually
reliable and the temperature ranges from 60F in winter to 90F in summer on
Average. I live in the town of Port Stephens which is a tourism and fishing
port. Many people come from all over the world to go whale watching and big
game fishing. We have the best beaches in the world here stretching for
Miles and mostly deserted so it is an outdoors life style. My town is in the
Hunter River Valley which is famous for its wines which are exported around
The world. There are over a hundred vineyards which attract many tourists.
The port of Newcastle which is about 20 miles south from here where I work
Is the largest coal exporting port in the world.
I can't recall being interested in gardening until I was married at 21 and we
built our first house. It must have been in my genes though, because my
father is a great gardener and is still going strong at 80 with fantastic
annual shows on a grand scale with plants that he loves to grow from seed. He always has
enough left over for my needs.
From the start I had great ambitions in the garden and as soon as we moved
in I took three large trucks and 6 large men on a drive for 100 miles to
collect very heavy rocks from a friends farm to build rock retaining walls
some of which were 50 feet long. The rockery incorporated a waterfall and
fishpond which looked very natural as the rocks were covered with lichen.
Some of the rocks needed three men to lift them. This first house backed
onto a farm where we had our own horse and we stayed for 25 years.
Our new house is 5 years old but some of the trees I planted when we first
moved in are now over 30 feet tall so the gardens are well established but
there is plenty of room for more.
I have tried to make the pool area into a tropical oasis with many palms and
Tropical plants such as Bougainvillea, Coleus, Crotons and Plumeria. We have
A BBQ in this area and an expanse of lawn for entertaining.
Because the climate is temperate to warm I don't concentrate on any one type of
plant and all beds of the garden have mixtures of plants from all corners of
the globe. I guess it's what you would call informal planting.
I have about 46 large palms of various species and succulents, pines,
natives and of course roses, camellias, annuals and perennials. Here are some
Of my natives Bottlebrush, Wattle and Pandorea enjoying the Aussie sun.
The camellias brighten up the shady spots in winter both Sasanqua and
Japonica varieties. I have about 30 of these and they have selfsown and create
many new cultivars.
