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Monday 3 January 2011

My unkempt garden....a heaven for flutterbys...

...and other critters;

Yesterday the garden was alive with damsels and dragon flies flitting and dancing, the rain and wet must have activated these wonderful insects. Butterflies were flitting restless from flower to flower...a humming world belonging to the insects

Pink Justitia plumes.

Yellow Brugmansia;

Only pathways are mowed; I leave the long grasses seeding for the small birds. Many small creatures take refuge in the unmowed grass in the meadow.


Nature's way; white spider and bee, not a happy meeting;

The fluffy stars of the native Lemon Myrtle; Backhousia citriodora;


Vanda orchid climbing up a Pittosporum tree. Two tall Pittosporum trees growing near each other both have died. I don't know the cause of it.

My pride and joy; A rare Atherton Tree Waratah, Alloxylon flammeum; Protea flowers of vivid red are produced in late spring.

Fungi growing on old stumps;
African Tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata, growing amidst native Australian trees. Between the trees a glimpse of the EcoVillage opposite our property.


Seedpods Ivory curl tree, Buckinghamia celsissima;


White flowered Chinese fringe tree; Chionanthus retusus;

Believe it or not:

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." Marie Curie


Part one of My unkempt Garden;

Photos TS

19 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Titania! Thanks for these nice shots of your unkempt garden.... so many nice foliages in different patterns, size and colour. It's wonderful to see white fringe flower tree also. I googled to have a closer look of the Atherton Tree Waratah flower... the form is quite unusual and pretty at the same time :-D You have so many wonderful shrubs in your garden.

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  2. What a wonderfully free garden, I can just imagine that it romps and plays when no one is looking. It certainly does look like a magical place for butterflies and other creatures.

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  3. Piękne lato u Ciebie, piękne kwiaty, pozdrawiam serdecznie :)

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  4. You have got a very interesting garden. Titania, I wish you all the best and happiness in 2011. Hopefully you are not suffering from the rain like my daughter in Queensland or bushfires like some southern states . You asked about the "oliebollen"if we have ice-wine. No, that's too cold, we drink coffee or tea, and Glüwein (hotwine) or champagne when the clock strikes twelve. We also have apple turnovers. Only I didn't had them this year, for I wanted to introduce the "oliebollen" to my four Polish guests. BTW yesterday I was visited by two Greek bloggers with their husbands and children. They are lovely people and I had the feeling that I had known them for a long time! I'll post an entry about this visit on Thursday!

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  5. The rain is starting to drown some of my plants and it turns others into rampaging jungle. I've had enough! The shot of the spider and bee is awesome.

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  6. Your 'unkempt' garden looks like a tropical paradise! So many lovely plants. garden wildlife must be very happy!

    Thank you for sharing your beautiful memories of the gentian in the Swiss Alps. I found that very interesting.

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  7. Hi, beautiful and interesting garden.. i liked..
    Greetings..

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  8. You unkempt garden does not look weedy and unkempt at all. Love the capture of the spider and bee, and that Alloxylon flammeum is gorgeous!

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  9. Really enjoying your unkempt garden pictures. That vanda orchid is so beautiful. Love the combination of the plants in the last picture.

    Want to wish you a Happy New Year, and a great joyful garden year of 2011!

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  10. Such beauty of flowers, foliage and fotos, T... love all that un-kemptness ;) It makes me yearn for spring... only 2 months to March. ;)

    Thank you for being a part of my 2010. Happy New Year! may it be filled with good health and many blessings.

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  11. Ein wundervolles neues Jahr wünsch ich dir...und ich finde es so schön...das du mich mit deinen otos an eurem Sommer teilhaben lässt. So kann ich den Winter durchaus aushalten ;-)

    Liebe Grüße aus dem noch verschneiten Münsterland (GER)

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  12. Unkempt is good, particularly when you have the space. I am always fascinated to see plants like Justita and Brugmansia (which I have grown in a conservatory) growing outside.
    Good to see a glimpse of summer too!

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  13. Glad to know you are unaffected by the flood....

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  14. It is a beautiful garden, i call ours as "biodiversity garden". Unkempt garden connotes a bit of negative tone, but actually i think some gardens should really be kept like that, and everything there is happy. I love your growth and the species growing and thriving there, to me that is what beautiful means. BTW, thanks for visiting my post, i hope you come again.

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  15. The essence of an unkempt garden is a matter for discussion since Nature, is an example of it.

    What not many gardeners achieve is creating such composition,
    while editing and selecting what/where is to be planted.

    I do not see it too often. The smooth transition
    in the interaction of the chosen vegetation, reaching the natural effect with implicit aesthetics.

    If the dead trees passed away from the canopy down, root rot could have
    been the culprit. But the age factor has to be considered, a matter of life cycle.

    Refreshing post, keep it unkempt, please.

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  16. So much diversity, no wonder the butterflies and dragonflies flock to your garden. It seems the more "unkempt" a garden, the more wildlife likes it!

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  17. An amazing garden indeed! I like so much the stars of the native Lemon Myrtle.

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  18. Titania, thanks for stopping by my blog post on the hatching baby chicks and leaving a comment. I do have a question though. How long did you feed that mixture to the baby chicks? And how did you cook the yolk?

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  19. A bit late to comment - dunno if you are still blogging on? great articles about wisteria and love that you keep long grass for small birds and other critters! we have bees on wisteria but they seem to have brown furry thoraxes (thoracic??) not yellow. In Nsw mid north coast at Elizabeth Beach. Thanks and bloom on!

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