Hana

Guard rails!! What a brilliant idea. I left the shelves flat to allow light to the orchid roots, but I can definitely install rods to hold the pots steady. Thank you

I suspect I’m going to have to “cage” this bench. Blackbirds just LOVE to scratch in bark and none of my potted plants are left alone

🌱🪶 I have a dilemma. I built a custom orchid growing/display bench on my balcony. Birds (presumably blackbirds) have uprooted and/or knocked over orchids. Made a heck of a mess. However one is building a nest in the back corner. How do I protect my orchids without making an avian family homeless?

At midnight, the world became a lonelier place as a voice of gentle authority and wisdom fell silent. For my whole life I’ve had a “spare” Dad providing guidance when I was lost. Love when I couldn’t love myself. Vale Uncle Graeme and thank you.

In about two hours, the neighbours will all be drooling so much they’ll forget I’m the “eccentric next-door”. Even if my reputation is not redeemed, we’ll be replete with Beef ‘n Guinness stew

Our brief, intense Autumn has played her part, now it’s time for Winter’s players to take the stage. Fungi breaking down the leaf carpet so that Spring can shine in turn. 🌱

Wait .. there are people who don’t decorate with plants?

Spent my day off cleaning up some very overgrown pots in preparation for winter and found these gorgeous Schlumbergia happily showing off 🌱

Yum

There are citronella scented pelargoniums, not native, but reasonably effective. Tiny yard so standing water is hard. In touch with local wildlife experts re bat boxes

They’re unusual here too, which is why I felt so fortunate that someone had taken the trouble to find one as a gift

Know your enemy. These are Mealy Bugs. They suck the life out of our botanical friends every bit as hungrily as a vampire would us. 🌱

I love Dendrobiums and this one is a real beauty

A Zygopetalum orchid I was given as a gift around 10 years ago. Her perfume is just as gorgeous as her blossoms 🌱

Sounds perfect

I’ve just received my mosquito dunks and plan to set up a couple of “doom buckets” over the weekend. It’s going to be hot, so the straw will break down very fast.

We don’t have Hummingbirds in Australia. We do have nectar feeders though and some of them are beautiful, so I’ll definitely be looking out for them!

Close up of Monarda flower bract showing how enticing the blossoms are for butterflies and bees

Musk pink Monarda blossoms

I want to see more #butterflies and #bees in my life. I’m told that Monarda/Betgamot is enticing for nectar feeding bugs .. kinda attractive to this human too! I love that the flowers look like tiny open mouths giving winged visitors a convenient landing pad to rest on while they feed 🌱

Knowing the name does make me feel better. I always have to know the name of plants, but somehow don’t go beyond “pretty/useful/helpful” or “damned pest” with insects. From now I’ll see Xmas Beetles as “Gold Scarabs” and how cool is that??

I LOVE dragonflies so I’ll research the appropriate plants now. I already plant to encourage lady bugs, butterflies and hover flies/ wasps. Wonder if I can persuade insectivore birds ..

Thank you. Entomology is not my forte, so I appreciate the identification.

Why thankyou.

Aren’t they? I’ll see if I can find some of the bigger iridescent gold ones to show you.

In Australia we have gorgeous #beetles that appear at the beginning of Summer. Christmas Beetles .. a sort of living decoration in golds, purples and this green one I found while weeding 🌱
#nature
#simplejoy

Hahaha brilliant

Angostura is the essential ingredient for some delicious mocktails and fruit punches. My favourite

I once lived close to a creek. Big garden, lots of shade, even small ponds. Very few mosquitoes because we also had colonies of microbats, lizards and insectivorous birds. Not here in this topiary and astroturf wasteland

I have removed any standing water except for bird and dog feeders. As far as I can tell they are not breeding here, just feeding here. It’s so bad the poor dog has taken to pooping on the back doorstep

Question for my fellow nature lovers. How do I control the (literal) clouds of mosquitoes that make enjoying the cool shady places impossible? I can’t bring myself to stand still long enough to post a visual representation of how many blood suckers I’m dealing with