Re: OT: Garden talk with Trish (was) Re: While you stitch - who's watching the Olympics

Jangchub wrote:

(Cringe) thanks for changing the header. I got carried away and didn't think to!

Yesss! That's what it reminds me of: the flowers look just like those of Datura (Devil's Apple). Same family, eh!
Until ten or so years ago both plants were called Datura. Since
plants are classed by their flower parts and since Datura face up and
Brugs hang down with slightly different flower parts (sex organs) they
renamed them, but both are in the family Solanacea.

Ah yes! I've looked them up in my plant books. Your Brugs are lovely and I had no idea they actually came in named varieties. D'you mind letting me in on the differences between floral parts? Like you, I've done the taxonomy thing and am interested to know.

I would love to see wild Cockatoo's. I have a Macaw. You have to
watch this on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkw6XBCktqE
Mumblegrumble. I can't do YouTube just at the moment. I've got a trojan called Vundo and it's slowed my system down to a snail's pace. I'm supposed to be formatting my drive as we speak, but got caught up watching the scanty equestrian coverage on telly. LOL!

Try to save the link.

'kay.


Yeah, they're Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. Great big fellas that weigh a kilo or two and hit the roof like a ton o'brix!
Yeah, big blimps of things! They are so wonderful and so LOUD. In
captivity they need a minimum of four to six hours a day of direct
contact, nuzzling, cuddling, grooming, cooing, shmoozing and love.
They are very needy of a mates. I believe they mate for life and are
monogamous. I have a chart to stitch several different kinds of
Cockatoo's. I was going to buy one until I was afraid I wouldn't be
able to provide the care, but as it turns out I spend at least that
much time with Mika. She is an emotionally healthy girl, thankfully.
It can go wonky and parrots will pull their feathers out and do
horrible mutilation to themselves if they are not properly treated in
captivity.

ROTFLMAO!!! Oh I wish I could get a decent recording of the flock of two hundred or so that flies over our place every arvo. They are *deafening* in full cry!!! They do mate for life and are wonderful companion animals so long as you're willing to spend the time with them. Tragically, most are kept in disgustingly tiny cages without the room even to extend their wings.

My Dad was given one years ago. We hadn't realised this bird had been caught from the wild and, of course, was never going to be tamed. Over time Ignatius (the cocky) actually chewed off one of his feet from distress. I finally convinced Dad to let him go and it was not long before a friend who was greenkeeper over at the university playing fields remarked on seeing a one-legged cockatoo among the flock that lived there. Thank goodness Ignatius survived! Many don't.

Oh, and another story, since you're interested in cockies. My DH's uncle is a real animal-person. Aside from breeding and showing Bull Terriers, he has the biggest flight aviary I've ever seen. It takes up the whole of his backyard, probably a third of an acre in size, and is filled with all kinds of native shrubs. In it, he keeps his collection of native parrots, mostly cockatoos. He has the lovely grey and scarlet Gang-gangs, the coconut-ice-coloured Major Mitchells (endangered these days), White-Tailed Blacks from the far west *and* the pièce de résistance is a pair of Palm Cockatoos from far northern Queensland.

Palm Cockies are the biggest of all. They're nearly a metre long and glossy black with an *enormous* black bill. They have a patch of scarlet skin on their faces and this glows brightly when they're excited or 'talking' to each other. They make a hilarious sound which is exactly like an adenoidal person saying 'Hellowwwwwwww'. Like all Cockies, they're really funny to watch in their antics as they climb about the treetops and munch up everything they can get their beaks on.

Of course, that's the downside of cockatoos. They rather enjoy destroying things. There's a Silky Oak tree at the back of our place that's virtually been stripped bare and nearly ringbarked by the cockies. Not only that, but they'll perch in a great white cloud on people's TV antennas and shred the cables that hold them in position. They also like ripping shreds off the telegraph poles. If you've got a big flock, it can do pretty major damage.

But I don't care! They're amazing! I'd love for you to see our flock wheeling across a clear blue sky with the sun shining through the pure white feathers and revealing the sulphur tinge in their armpits! They're so big and so wild and yet so trusting when they come down to eat. They turn their heads sideways and eye you with a comical knowing look. They chatter among themselves like a swag of old ladies at a stitch-in. And then, the lookout will squark a warning and they'll all be off in an instant with a great flurry of wings and cries. It's sad when they go.

I've gotten a photo of the ones on our roof, but I can't post it till I sort out my computer woes. I'll let you know so you can have a look at them.


We have honeyeaters instead. They're mostly just nondescript little yellow and brown birds that eat nectar from the flowers, but we have a local population of wattlebirds, which are much larger examples of the family. They're very noisy and quite funny to watch as they rumble each other in the blossom trees. We have a nice little thicket of such trees in the reserve at the back of our place, but I'd like it if the W'birds visited the yard as well. We'll see...

I'll try to update my blog with photo's of the hummingbirds at our
feeders.

Oh yes please! I think I'm as partial to your hummingbirds as you are to our cockies. I can't imagine what a teenyweeny hummingbird must be like and it's one of my dearest wishes to see one in the flesh!


Hmmm... have you ever tried doing orchids? They're *so* fun to grow and bring such pleasure when they flower! We have a lot of native ones which are mostly very small plants with tiny white or cream-coloured flowers. I like those. But I have to say, I'm also a sucker for the big showy cattleyas and miltonias and especially the moth-orchids (phalaenopsis) which are my absolute favourites.

I tried, but I didn't give it enough time. I am not sure it is warm
enough to support orchids in the winter even in the greenhouse. I
keep it cool at night...around 40F which may be 5 degrees C. I'm
terrible at conversion. I love the small ones and the cattleyas. I
murdered some paphs! Too much water.

Eurgh! We've all done that and learned a hard lesson! Why not have another go when you're feeling more confident? I'm going to!

I have several canna's. 'Pretoria' 'Tropicana' 'Striped Beauty' and
others. The 'Striped Beauty' is in the pond. They grow very well
here in TX also. Reliably perennial without digging in our USDA Zone
8b. This summer is killing everything as it has not rained one drop
since early May and it has been over 100 degrees for almost six weeks
with little relief at night in the 80s. Convert if you wish. It's
HOT.

Very wise. Since my garden's just being started from scratch, I'm hoping to put all the water-loss things in place from square one. Shade trees are important over here and something to resist the hot westerly winds as well. That's where my casuarinas come in - they're not so dense that they'll block out the sun or rain, but will break up the wind a bit and provide the dappled shade I want. Fingers crossed!

One good thing about a summer like this; it teaches me that watering
when we have normal rainfall is not necessary. Some plants out there
are growing and flowering beautifully. One such plant is Caesalpina
Pulcherrima L. common name, Pride of Barbados. It needs NO water.
Also the Cassia, mesquite, bay laurel tree (20 feet tall) and so many
others. So, this summer what dies, goodbye's! I do not plan on
replacing anything with anything other than a nice layer of mulch. If
some natives pop in, fine. Out back needs a good thinning anyway.

LOL! Same! The only thing is, while Oz natives are great at doing without water, they do tend to be kinda grey-green and all the same. There is nothing on earth that holds a candle to a beautiful rose or camellia, I find. I can keep the roses hopping along with careful watering and lots of mulch, but the camellias just shrivel in the hot summer. They live on the shady side of the house and DH is talking about putting up some shadecloth to try and break the wind down a bit. Hope it works.

Our street is a very old one and all the houses are very small and very close together. We have about six feet of clearance between our house and the ones on either side. I put the camellias on the Dark Side so there'd be something a bit more interesting to look at through the side windows. The neighbour's wall wasn't terribly inspiring! LOL!

We have Anole lizards, fence lizards and gecko's. You can only
imagine my face when our Geico gecko turned out his voice and he was
an Aussie! Now he's a smart a$$. Still very cute. Our gecko's are
Mediterranean imports. We rescued two out of the house a few nights
ago. They could not have been more than half an inch long. Must have
just hatched somewhere in the attic. I don't mind them up there. No
bugs, that's for sure.

Yeah, I don't mind sharing the house with the wildlife. DH sometimes struggles with it a bit and he did draw the line when a rat got in and gnawed our network cable! (NB. I'm not all that partial to rats meself, really) Our snake has long gone and we really do miss him. He must've died of indigestion, I think, since we *never* had mice while he was with us. Do you feed your geckoes? Apparently, they can become quite tame if you're patient.
.

Loading