By Beatrice Hawkins
Life has been getting in the way of writing about gardens for the paper but I have been enjoying observing the changes in the season and all the beautiful gardens around the area.
One of my favourite things at the moment are the spectacular red seed pods on the Chinese Rain Tree as I know it -Koelreuteria elegans.
I know it is a pest tree but it is oh so beautiful at this time of the year with the brilliant red paper balls.
Neighbours in my street have them, one each side of the road and this year they have fascinated me as they have flowered very differently. Usually, they both have a brilliant show of wonderful yellow blossom at the same time, followed by the red seed pods. This year the tree on the western side of the street that still gets full morning sun flowered profusely some weeks ago and the seed pods appeared as usual.
The trees on the eastern side of the street, that one would assume would have the same conditions, took ages to flower and the flowers produced were insignificant. It has however produced copious amounts of my favourite seed pods and looks really beautiful.
Another of my favourite flowers just now is the brilliant bougainvillea that are giving us such a lovely display. I do remember having them at another property and certainly was not a fan of their thorns.
The original purple one is my favourite although I do know some of the newer varieties have less vicious thorns and some of the bi colour ones are really lovely. I have seen them trimmed into balls of colour, pruned to provide a canopy and left to ascend high up in trees.
There is a beautiful specimen in a garden in Bracker road. A credit to the home-owner.
They are such versatile climbers. In Hughenden, where my son worked for a time as a stock and station agent, his front fence was a hedge of a variety of colours. It was a very effective fence no one tried to climb it.
The last of the autumn roses around town have been a delight and I’ve enjoyed seeing them as I’ve been driving around.
I have also been planning a trip to see some of the wonderful artwork on various water tanks and silos all over the place. I really think the council should have the ones up behind the railway station painted. “Rail, Roses and Rodeo” would be my suggestion for a theme.
Since being home lately and taking a bit of care, my choko vine has grown wonderfully. They do such a great job of covering a fence it had even escaped and gone up into the ornamental pear tree in my neighbours yard. I have removed it and have it corralled at the moment.
The gardenia near my front patio is flowering beautifully and the perfume is amazing. It is such a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the sun and a cuppa in the morning.
My daughter in WA has introduced me to a whole new field of interest. She has bought a banana tree that produces bright red fruit as well as one that bears pale blue bananas.
Now I only know of two types of bananas. Cavendish and lady finger! I had no idea that any others existed. I guess they probably all taste similar but just think how decorative they’d look? Unfortunately, I don’t have an area where I could successfully grow them otherwise I could be very tempted to try.
She has also just purchased a cardamom plant from a lovely elderly lady recently widowed with no children close and who has a yard full of edible plants and a head full of knowledge as to how to use them. My daughter has always been interested in this so a new friendship has been formed that will benefit them both.
Karen has just harvested the first of her sweet potatoes, and as you would expect after hearing about the bananas, she has them in all different colours. This new friend has shown her how to harvest and use the leaves as a green vegetable. She tells me they taste great and have all sorts of health benefits.
Sharing knowledge and plants as gardeners is such a useful thing to do especially when you are new to an area and not entirely sure what will grow.
We will have frost soon but enjoy everything while you can and enjoy the catalogues when it’s too cold to be outside.
