It's a jungle in there!

I've been slack on keeping my greenhouse tomatoes pruned and they've grown out of control. Looks like a jungle in there! Anyway even if I was on top of the pruning this greenhouse is still too small for growing tomatoes. I need a bigger greenhouse but I don't have the space for it..

Fruits of my labor

We managed to harvest some produce from our garden today. There's heaps of bush beans we pick for dinner tonight, green and yellow. We also found some cucumbers for salad too. Some may be a little curvy but I bet they taste better than the ones you buy in the shop. These are the fruits of my labor!

Tommy Toe tomatoes

Tommy Toe tomatoes are a favourite with everyone. Eat with salad or just by their own we can never have enough of them. Can't wait for them to ripen up.

Tigerella tomatoes

I found this Tigerella tomatoes from CERES so I thought I'd give it a go. The fruits are medium sized but the colour when ripe can range from red to yellow with stripes on.

San Marzano tomatoes

We had some San Marzano tomatoes growing last year and we were not disappointed. So we decided to grow more of them this year. The fruits come in roma shape tomatoes and are great in any dish you're cooking.

Riesentraube tomatoes

This year due to the the wet spring weather, some of my outdoor tomatoes suffered from early blight. However the greenhouse tomatoes are doing well because they are sheltered and warm. Though I haven't got any tomatoes ready for eating yet, I thought I show you some of the varieties I got growing; this is called the Riesentraube tomatoes, origin is Germany I believe and the fruits come in clusters of cherry size tomatoes.

Chilli Caysan seedlings

My chilli plant from last year has survived the winter and now is doing well into its second year. It's even self seeded tons of seedlings and I have heaps to give away. Let me know if you like some. They're the Caysan variety and are mildly hot.

Bonica eggplant

Just a quick update on my summer crops; most are still small so not much to eat yet. However I am looking forward to having this eggplant for dinner soon. This year we decided to plant just one eggplant, last year we had plenty and were almost sick of eating eggplants everyday so I think one plant should be enough this year. We planted the Bonica varieties because the fruit is big so there's plenty to eat!

Today's lunch

My lunch today will comprised of quiche from down the street, cucumbers from the backyard and strawberries from the front yard. What are you having for lunch?

Showy cacti

I can't remember where I got these cacti from but they sure have multiplied with showy display every year. All they need is some water with plenty of sunshine and stand back and watch them do what they do best; showing off.

Avon Rose

The Avon Rose growing in my front yard is a hybrid tea rose with good fragrance and long stem blooms. The dark red flowers hold their colour well even in hot weather thus making it one of the better cut flowers.

Lili Marlene Rose

While we're talking about floribunda roses, another favourite is Lili Marlene. Surprisingly they look very much like Icebergs roses but red. They do attract powdery mildew quite easily unlike the Icebergs.

La Minuette Rose

La Minuette Rose is a nice little floribunda rose which will do well in a decent size pot. White with hot pick edge blooms are great for bouquets.

Double Delight Roses

Double Delight Roses are a favorites in our household for its perfume and lovely two tone color of white center with red outer petals. So that's why we have a few bushes growing together because they look spectacular en mass in bloom.

Camp David Rose..I think.

This is Camp David Rose..I think. That's because I've moved my roses from one place to another that I may have gotten them mixed up now, especially if they're similar in color or types. Well I'm 90% sure its Camp David because it has that blood red color, lovely sweet fragrance and tall hybrid tea trait.

Bearded Iris Silkirim

Another of my favorite bearded iris would have to be Silkirim. Nice isn't it? Too bad they don't last very long..so enjoy while we can.

Princess Alexandra of Kent Rose

Another rose I bought on the weekend was Princess Alexandra of Kent, a David Austin Rose. It has large flowers of a warm, glowing pink. They are full-petaled and deeply cupped in shape, all enclosed in a ring of outer petals of a softer pink; creating a most pleasing effect. And the fragrance is magnificent!

Blooming marvelous!

Blooming marvelous!  We're having a few hot days so all the icebergs are blooming their heads off. Any hotter and they'll burn.

Harvesting Garlic

Woohoo! I'm harvesting my garlic! These are the first lot of garlic I've ever grown so I'm really excited. I can't remember the date I put them in the ground..probably around March so they should be ready by now. Traditionally you should plant garlic on Australia Day and harvest them on Melbourne Cup Day but I go with my instinct so here they are. I'll keep them in a cool dry place and they should keep for some times.

Burgundy Iceberg

I succumbed to my temptation; I bought another rose bush on the weekend! Its the Burgundy Iceberg I was telling you about. So now I have the whole Iceberg Roses Collection from the white iceberg to blushing pink, brilliant pink and now finally the burgundy pink.

Broad beans update

Finally we have some broad beans we can harvest. They sure take a long time to grow but now they have pods growing everywhere so we might just keep them for a little bit longer.

Joyfulness Rose

Another favorite rose of ours is Joyfulness; a hybrid tea rose with long stem and big blooms. Excellent as cut flowers so the flowers usually last longer as cut flowers rather than leaving them on the plant at the mercy of the weather and pests.

Bearded Iris Burgundy Bubbles

Here's another of my bearded iris collection and its called Burgundy Bubbles. It has a strange strong smell, not a bad smell but kind of like chocolaty?

Groovy!

All my hippies come out to play. Peace, Love & Groovy Baby!

Bearded Iris Sound of Gold

Bearded Iris is another one of my favorites to grow in my backyard. They're easily propagated from rhizomes but the only drawback is that they only bloom in spring. Some may bloom again in the cooler autumn weather but they're generally not continuous flowering. I have eight varieties growing and this one is Sound of Gold, the only yellow one I have.

Christian Dior Rose

The Christian Dior rose is a classic long stem hybrid tea red rose with strong perfume. However I think nowadays there are better looking roses out there that smell even better. So maybe they need to come up with a new and improved Christian Dior Rose if it has to live up to the name.

Woburn Abbey

The Woburn Abbey is a floribunda rose with striking coppery orange to yellow blooms and fragrance. Because it is a floribunda it grows quite well in a large pot which is helpful for me because I've run out of room in the ground for everyone!

Sheer Bliss Rose

A hybrid tea rose, Sheer Bliss can grow as tall as me! Its fragrance is not over powering and the pale pink petals tend to get blemishes quite easily. Long stem flowers make good cut flowers for indoor.

Flamingo Rose

Flamingo Rose is a typical hybrid tea rose with perfumed scent. The color resembles the bird of which it got its name from and quite fittingly I might add. One of my favorite roses in the front yard.

Blue Moon Climbing Rose

This is my Blue Moon Climbing Rose I have growing on the south facing wall of my backyard. Though a prolific flowering rose I have hardly many roses each year all thanks to the possums who come along the fence in the night and eat all the flower buds before they get to bloom.

I have struggled for years to overcome this possum problem; I've tried all kinds of remedies I could find on the web but they all have limited success. From deterrents to electronic devices I've tried them all. Still I found the Poss Off deterrent by Beat-A-Bug to be most effective. I have to keep at it everyday though and a bottle of Poss Off is very expensive.

Fragrant Delight Rose

The name says it all; this rose is indeed fragrant as the name implies. But I still prefer Fragrant Cloud in term of the level of fragrance is concerned. Nevertheless a good floribunda rose to have on my front yard.

Brilliant Pink Iceberg Rose

The next Iceberg Rose growing in my front yard is the Brilliant Pink Iceberg. The pink is much stronger than the Blushing Pink Iceberg and it has the similar sweet smelling fragrance as all the other Iceberg Roses. Next on my list is to get the Burgundy Iceberg Roses!

Mr. Lincoln Rose

If there's one rose that is perfect for its fragrance as well as making good cut flowers its Mr. Lincoln Rose. This long stem rose was named after Abraham Lincoln and it has been around for many generations. It is still as popular today as it was bred so many years ago. If you're just going to grow one rose in your garden make it Mr. Lincoln.

Blaze of Glory

Here's Joseph's Coat at its best. Most of the flowers are blooming in all its available colours. Quite a spectacular sight on the front fence capturing glances from passersby on a daily basis. Like a blaze of glory.

Blushing Pink Iceberg Rose

This is the Blushing Pink Iceberg Rose, the only difference from the normal Iceberg Rose is that it has just a slight blushing pink in addition to its white petals. It has the same sweet smelling fragrance and leaves. Some people prefer this to the normal one just because of the pink hue..do you?

Princess of Monaco Rose

Now this is a nice one; Princess of Monaco rose. Though the flower isn't large like Chrysler Imperial or Just Joey, it has very lovely creamy white with pink edge petals. It doesn't have a strong fragrance but a slight sweet scent. The flowers do not respond well to humidity and will ball up and rot so best to cut them to bring them indoor to enjoy them.

Iceberg Roses

Iceberg roses are one of the most popular roses in any Australian garden so its no surprise that I have some growing in the front yard. They're easy to grow, quite disease resistance and flower prolifically for months. No wonder its still more popular than ever. Beside the white, nowadays they also come in different shades of pink and on my bucket list is to grow all of them!

Just Joey Rose

One rose that resembles Brandy is Just Joey. It has the same apricot colour, same size blooms and similar sweet smelling fragrance. In fact I couldn't tell them apart if not for the plant structures. Just Joey plant is more bushy while Brandy is tall. I gotta say they must be related.

CERES

CERES is my favourite park in Melbourne, its a must go for any organic gardeners. I was going to get some tomato seedlings but ended up wandering the whole park checking what people are growing in their allotted plots . Entrance is free unlike the Collingwood Childrens Farm which I think its a rip off. Do check it out if you're in East Brunswick.

Brandy Rose

The Brandy Rose is one of my favourite hybrid tea roses. The plant itself grows tall and the apricot colour blooms can be as big as your palm. They make good cut flowers but their fragrance is very light. I plant it for its colour not its smell.

David Austin's Radio Times

Here's my other David Austin rose; Radio Times. It has the ruffle petals and sweet smelling fragrance typical of a good David Austin rose. David Austin roses look like old roses but they are anything but. I used to dislike them because I was biased against old time roses but nowadays I do like them so I may get more David Austin roses in the future!

Native orchid?

This caught my eyes the other day at Collingwood library. I think its a native orchid though I can't be sure so I stand corrected if anyone knows what it is. It seems to be on every streets in Melbourne right now because councils like to plant tough hardy plants like natives so they can look after themselves. And they flower well also.

Red Hippeastrums

I got this red hippeastrum from my mother-in-law when she was moving house. I just love the brilliant crimson red colour. Plus they multiply quite prolifically so I end up with many more plants. They're easy to grow, pretty much disease resistant except the snails love them too. Great spring and summer plants to grow in containers in sunny positions.

Camellia Japonica "C.M Hovey"

This is Camellia Japonica "C.M Hovey" that I bought from my local Bunnings store last autumn. I needed a shade loving plant to fill a spot where it doesn't get much sunlight so I hope this will do. Before that I had a Kumquat tree growing there and sadly it died of s slow death. I hope this will do better.

Bearded Iris

I bought this bearded iris years ago from a nursery up in the Dandenongs. It came in a small plastic pot and there were just a few plants in it. Now I have them growing all over the yards, they can get quite weedy and I had have to give some away for friends and family.

Though the flowers don't last long and easily damaged by wind and rain, I still like the flowers. Bearded iris comes in so many kinds and colours there's too many to choose from. I'm trying to cultivate other colours as well as this one. They're easy to grow but flowering season only last a few weeks in spring. The rest of the year you have to put up with their strappy leaves.

Arab's Eyes

These are Arab's Eyes or Black Pearl Lilies. Whether they look like pearls or eyes is up to you. I have them growing quite prolifically all over the yards and they've naturalized quite happily in. They're very hardy and can be left for many years in the ground. Grown from bulbs, flower only in spring and die down in winter but they never cease to amaze me.

Gerberas are popping.

As the weather warms we're getting more gerberas popping out now. All you need is sunshine and warmth and the rest will take care of themselves. That's the wonder of spring.

Red Gerbera

Here's the other gerbera I have which is crimson red. I have a problem with spiders on this one; they like living on the flowers! As usual I have problem with snails too because somehow they find the leaves rather delicious so the leaves look a bit messy with torn bits here and there. Other than that the flowers are quite amazing in spring.

Mary Rose..maybe.

I bought this rose from my local Bunnings Warehouse years ago. It was missing its tag so I couldn't be sure what kind of rose it was so the man at the nursery sold it to me at a reduced price. But judging by its flowers,  leaves and fragrance I believe it's David Austin's Mary Rose. I can't be 100% sure but close enough. When the whole plant is in its full blooms it can be quite a sight, typical of a David Austin rose.

Camellia Japonica

Camellia Japonica is one of the easiest shrubs to grow in any garden. Just give them a sheltered spot and they should do well for years to come. However the flowers though pretty are not long lasting. Their petals will brown off and fall off the branches in just a few days. I captured this white camellia in my backyard when it was at its best. By the time you're reading this, the flower would have probably be gone by now. So enjoy them while you can.