AURICULAS, A GREENHOUSE, THE GARDEN AND A VISIT TO THE BEACH

After a month of rushing around, the suggestion to go to the beach for the weekend wasn't really tempting as all I wanted to do was stay put.  Once we got there however,   it was like balm to the soul.  Perfect weather,  quiet empty beaches and that wonderful sea air.  After three nights,  I returned home really refreshed.

We experienced an extremely cold winter this year  and because I have so many plants in pots,  some of which are tender,  we decided that a small greenhouse would be a welcome addition to our garden.  Our builder, Wes has taken on the task of building it.  We have decided to site it beneath a huge Hymalian Cedar in the corner of our garden.  The Cedar is an old tree and we will need to get an arborist in to trim out all of the dead wood.  I'll post some photos once it is installed.

The plants that really suffered in the winter were my Auriculas.  Known to be tricky,  they really hated being outside during the icy months.  The European growers keep them in the greenhouse until they flower and then bring them out until Autumn.  The pleasure of seeing some of them flower this year has been enormous!  Soon, it will be time to divide them up and re-pot them.  Their flowers last on the little plants for ages and they are so beautiful.  Watering them is also tricky.  They dislike getting their leaves wet,  so a watering can with a long nozzle is the answer.  This takes time!!!  

The summer garden is slowly emerging.  The foxgloves are flowering as well as the Iris.  The Clematis blooms have opened and I'm hoping that the roses will start this week.  The Aquilegia are lovely and seem taller this year.

The other news is that I've finally had the living room wallpapered.  Subtle, but lovely I think.

This gorgeous Orchid lasted for four months!

Have a great week everyone!

TULIP FESTIVAL IN BOWRAL

Spring played hide and seek here in the Highlands before finally arriving a week ago much to the relief of the Tulip Festival Organisers in Bowral.  

Bowral has celebrated the Tulip Festival for the past 55 years.  The design and planting plan varies from year to year and the gardeners usually plant in excess of 60 000 tulips, much to the delight of the thousands of visitors each year.  

Getting the tulips to flower at exactly the right time each year is a challenge.  Spring arrived very early last year which meant that many of the tulips were almost over by the time the Festival opened.  Despite the cold spring this year,  only a few tulips failed to open on cue.

The planting design and colour choices this year are a bit too dramatic for my taste.  Hundreds of people would disagree it seems!  See some of my photos below.   

Last year's tulips in my own new garden.  The Parrot tulips in the pot were spectacular again this year.

This photo is from last year's Festival.

Below are a few photos of the green and white parrot tulips from my garden.

Wishing you all a great week ahead.

HAVING FUN WITH SPRING BULBS

Just when we think that Spring will never arrive and the garden seems lifeless, the trees so stark and the perennials are nowhere to be seen,  there is a way to hurry Spring along!  

We all get desperate for signs of new life in the garden and unless we have planted bulbs, the wait for Spring and Summer can seem endless.  The Southern Highlands has had a particularly cold winter  this year and we have even had snow!!  This has meant that the bulbs have been slower in making their cheery appearance in the garden.   

I've always loved seeing photos of bulbs flowering in bowls indoors but I have never tried doing this myself.  

The whole concept of 'forcing' bulbs rather terrified me and I wrongly believed that it is very difficult to get right!  I was unsure about timing, whether or not to refrigerate  or how to plan when they should flower!  In the end,  I simply planted them late.   Those I wished to bring indoors were planted into plastic pots.  I think the 'forcing' happens when they react to the warmth inside the home!   Obviously good light is important indoors, or if not, a daily stint in the winter sunshine outside will do. 

When I returned from my holiday,  the bulbs planted in my garden pots had all popped up and some were flowering.  Those planted in the plastic pots (for indoors)  were behind, as they had been kept in the shade.

Flowering bulbs in the sunshine

The bulbs planted in plastic pots.  These were kept in the shade.

On the 28th July,  I transplanted lots of Paperwhites and a few tulips into bowls and small clay pots to bring indoors.  

 I then gave them a soft shower of water, mainly to clean up the pot.

The Paperwhites grew very tall indoors and I was careful to take them out most nights.  This might have helped them to last longer.   I didn't really water them much!  We got to enjoy all the indoor bulbs for a period of 5 weeks.  The Tulips are still going strong but the Paperwhites started toppling a few days ago!  I enjoyed moving the bowls all over the house and I am already planning which bulbs to use next year.  Imagine Crocus or Liriope in a small delicate container for the bedrooms...

I placed all the containers on this bench overnight

Below are photos of the various containers and the growth of the bulbs during the weeks spent inside.

I ordered red tulips with white edges to plant in a pretty red, blue and white bowl that I have.   The Tulips were planted deeply in a wooden box at the same time as the others  and were also kept in the shade.  I dug these out and planted them into the bowl and brought them inside.  The Tulips were in good light during the day, but I still took them outside occasionally for sunlight after they started peeking out of the soil.  Once they started flowering, however,  they have remained indoors and have flourished!!

I was amazed at how quickly they grew!  

and grew...

and grew!...

I have also been thinking of potting Violets or Lilly of the Valley to bring inside!  

Happy gardening everyone and for us in the Southern Hemisphere,  I think Spring has definitely arrived!