Natural Habitat Garden a Year Later

The natural habitat garden has grown so much in the last 6 months ( refer to the previous blog).
It is looking like a natural bush garden and small birds and butterflies can be seen.

Landscaping with Rocks and Grasses

On the coldest day of the year - 12C a new garden bed was created.
Rocks, logs and grasses were to be used.
The rocks and logs were collected from the property and the grasses were lomandras and dianellas which are native to Australia.

The largest rocks were put in place first.

Some grasses were added and some logs.

A beautiful piece of red gum was a feature.

Finally smaller rocks and bark were added.

The finished garden was a natural bush garden.

Construction of Rock garden with Succulents

It was time to make a new garden bed - a circular rock garden with succulents. The weather forecast was for wind and rain so an early start was in order.
As well as the plants that were purchased, there were others which had been in the ground for four months and because of the wet season, were waterlogged and needed to be transplanted.

 

The first step was to mark out the circular garden bed. The diameter was 3.5 metres. Rolapak Ezy Edge was used and anchored in place with timber pegs ( which will be replaced by metal ones).

Rocks and a log were then collected from the property. It was then just a matter of adding a metre of soil, the rocks and the plants. A feature of the design was the log which was planted with succulents.

These photos show some of the fifty-nine succulents that were planted. They included echeverias, 

sedum, crassula, kalanchoes, sempervivum,, aeonium, and graptoverias

To finish the garden, local granitic rock was used forthe topping. It is a lovely grey color which tones in well with the succulents.

As a finishing touch, two potted succulents and a galvanised metal cockatoo were used as decorative features.

2 weeks later - 5 container pots of succulents have been added to the garden. Note the addition of crystals and the use of different coloured toppings.

Some updated photos of the garden.

Simple Arrangement with Oak Leaves and Branches

For this arrangement I have used some branches cut from an apple tree and some foliage from an oak tree. There is some interesting lichen on the branches. The vase I used is an off-white ceramic vase with a narrow neck.

Autumn in an Australian Native Garden

At this time of year there is not much color in the garden. Only three kangaroo paws are in flower.

The leucadendrons provide some autumn color.

Other plants in flower are the correas.

The grasses are doing well due to the good rains we have had.

Other Autumn flowering plants in the native garden are Banksia ericifolia

Diplopaena grandiflora

Some flower buds are forming on the Eucalyptus caesia

and on the Protea nerifolia

Magnificent Double Rainbow

Just ahead of a storm, there appeared in the sky an incredible double rainbow. Double rainbows are formed due to an optical illusion when sunlight enters a raindrop and creates two internal reflections before the rays exit the droplet. The colors were particularly vivid against the dark sky and the colors are reversed in the second rainbow. Nature in all its magnificence!

Unusual Western Australia Native Plant

My Diplolaena Grandiflora ( a grafted plant) has its first flower. It is endemic to Western Australia so it will be a challenge to get it to grow in Victoria. It is also known as the Wild Rose or Tamala Rose though it does not belong to the rose family. A showy upright shrub from 0.5 - 3 metres, it has clusters of red stamens in the center of the flower which is surrounded by pinkish-red bracts. The leaves are a soft grey color- a really lovely native shrub and a beautiful addition to my garden.