A little break from the cold weather...

I was lucky enough to go on a (well deserved) holiday to sunny Brisbane in July, and it could have only been made better if I was able to bring the Willow Glen Gardener's up with me! I had not been to the sunshine state in over 15 years and had never spent any decent time in Brisbane so I was delighted to have the chance to see what a beautiful and clean city it was.

The view from Mt Coot-tha

We were blessed with perfect weather, blue skies and temperatures into the 20's every single day and so we had lots of time to explore the mass of parks and public gardens that are spread throughout the inner city.

One of the public pool areas at Southbank

As well as being an entertainment hub with hundreds of restaurants and cafe's, the gorgeous 'Southbank' has literally kilometers of manicured parklands stretching along the Brisbane river with an array of children's playgrounds and "aquativity" aka incredible lagoon style (free to access) public water park that I am assured is filled to the brim with adults and kids alike throughout the Christmas summer break!
Southbank parklands is also is home of beautiful 3 story high Nepalese Pagoda, a gift to the city from Nepal at the 88' world expo.

"Spectacal Garden" at the Roma Parklands

The Roma Street Parkland and Spring Hill are located in the north of the city and are an absolute must see if you are in Brisbane, perfectly manicured gardens just bursting with flowers and forests of tall leafy trees make it easy to forget that winter even exists.
'Fern Gully' with it's canopy of tree ferns and misty boardwalks lets you experience a sub-tropical rainforest right in the heart of the city and the large open parkland and amphitheater draw crowds of people in for special events throughout the warmer months of the year.

Photo's from the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha

We headed over to Mt Coot-tha which is the highest point in Brisbane, After soaking in the  breath taking view from the lookout and having an obligatory ice cream at the cafe, we headed down to the base of the mountain where we found yet another garden spectacular the "Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens".

The 52 hectares is free to visit and showcases the largest collection of Australian rainforests in the world! Much like a more colourful version of the National Botanic Garden in Canberra, there are a variety of 'zones' including a fernary, a steamy tropical greenhouse, tranquil Japanese garden and a bonsai house which is lovely, but still not as good as the one at the Canberra Arboretum!

Place your bets!

I have to admit the highlight of my time at the Botanic Gardens was when we were strolling through the 'arid zone' admiring giant cacti, we stumbled upon two big lizards having an all out territory war right in the middle of the foot path! Completely oblivious to the masses of people and prams surrounding them the lizards tussled and hissed putting on quite a show for their delighted spectators! We finally tore ourselves away after watching (and videoing) for about 10 minutes and they were still going strong!



So all in all, if you feel like escaping the thick frosts and icy winds of  the Windellama region for a while, then I highly recommend a holiday in balmy Brisbane to ward off the winter blues, but I warn you, it is hard to come back again! 

Article by Katie

August 2017 Meeting - TRUFFLES!

Washing our feet

We were all very excited about our local Willowglen Gardeners’ invitation to visit Tarago Truffles and the day dawned with bright sunshine after 24 hours of (well-needed) non-stop rain – a big relief, especially for our hosts Denzil & Anne. Denzil led us to the edge of their well fenced Trufferie & asked for volunteers to "sizzle" but sadly there were no takers so he turned off the electric fence after we took turns to swish through the foot bath – no dirt, mud or alien germs allowed. Denzil planted the Trufferie in 3 stages from 2002 to 2009. 

 Acorns & sterilised truffle spores are planted into a pot & form a symbiotic relationship – then the small trees are planted into the ground after 18 months. First truffles are expected in 4 years after planting. Holly Oak & Old English Robur Oak are used & hazelnut trees planted between each oak tree. Tree roots need sun & frost – open canopy between trees, sprinkler for each tree – 13 million litres of water used per year. 

Denzil & Dusty

On to the hunt! After Dusty the dog has indicated a truffle, Denzil digs carefully with a spoon so as not to damage the truffle. The truffle smells earthy but surprisingly also sweet. Wazza, John, Carolyn, Jude & Irene all took a turn of lying on the ground sniffing the truffles after Dusty indicated. (What photos? hehehe...)

 

We returned for morning tea & our usual chat about members’ garden experiences this month. Wazza has a common birthday shared with all horses, and today was the day – happy birthday Wazza & all the other horses! Wazza’s lemonade tree suffered badly from our recent -10oC temperatures. Jude said a wombat ate all their broadbeans despite being grown in a mesh covered garden and now they have about 40 roses to prune – a mammoth task – we’ll call her Rosie in future.

Heads down, bum's up!

Best wishes go to Jackie as she recovers from even more hospitalisation & treatment and to Doug who still drove daily to hospital although suffering a very painful knee injury. Joy said a chainsaw took to John’s leg but he’ll survive. 

Her limes are perfect but yellow skin (only green inside) and her lemons have no juice. Bridget’s lemon tree not producing despite following all suggestions.  

Katie's lemon's on the other hand are amazing and growing out of control so if anybody would like some, please let her know!

Wazza suggested keeping the pots of citrus trees on large saucers full of water. Joy introduced Anne (our new Canberra member) who needs to move 2 large tall standard roses growing across the driveway. Wazza said to cut 2/3rds of roots and also 2/3 of tops, soak in seaweed solution 2 weeks before & after the move. Carolyn said John chainsawed the old gnarly roots of the old rose bush they moved – it’s in clay & gravel and now doing well. She is picking bok choy but “the roos are growing fast”.

Tony & Sandra have a small problem – a wombat goes under the fence & the dog goes out through the hole but their garlic is growing well. Irene’s broadbeans look good, Lloyd sold 3 wethers – and one has just given birth to a brown lamb (strange but true). Kevin & Margaret’s lemon was burnt by frost but carrots & parsnips growing  well (need fresh seed, keep it moist, don’t plant too deeply). David’s MG garden is going well & the VW garden is nearly done but the Holden FX frame needs to be replanted (we’ll be able to see all this at our Christmas party). He’s reduced their rose pruning because he reduced the roses from 30 to 4. Liz-Ann & Peter grew ginger successfully in the Blue Mountains this year and are happily cooking with it.

After our lunch (Anne’s delicious cauliflower soup, which Denzil topped with fresh truffles) Anne talked to us in the Truffle Shed about how she cleans, grades & packs the truffles. Our heads were full of the delicious aroma of the black truffles – much sweeter than the truffle farm we had been to in Provence a couple of years ago.  We then toured Anne & Denzil’s gardens – their citrus & other fruit trees are heavily covered with shadecloth to protect from frost. Anne said that Denzil is reorganizing her veggie gardens, with garlic growing well. Denzil has made very high raised veggie beds which gave us all ideas of how to save our backs. Wazza invited Anne & Denzil to our Christmas party, where they can sit back, eat & drink and chat with everyone about gardening or the world (just not politics), whichever appeals more.

Thank you to our friendly hosts, Anne & Denzil, for your warmth, hospitality & generosity. We really appreciated this opportunity and highly recommend the experience to you all www.taragotruffles.com.au . The Truffle Festival is still on around the Canberra region until the end of August www.trufflefestival.com.au . 

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 5th September at 10am at Ni & Alan’s place.

Article by Liz-Ann   

April Monthly Meeting

Jackie & Doug greeted us with a nice warm fire on a cold & wet April day – thank you for such comfort before our hurried walks around your beautiful gardens in between showers of rain.

Our beautiful hosts, Jackie & Doug

Doug has made afirepit from old machinery, surrounded by garden seats, one of which is completely covered with thick lichen. Such a rustic garden corner and their garden of cosmos & roses is stunning.

Irene & Lloyd said they’ve had no zucchinis, squash or marrow due to flocks of birds attacking them (the veggies that is, not themselves). They have now netted their veggie garden from rosellas and the climbing beans are growing well. Jude &Wazza have produced some large pumpkins & huge zucchinis.

Liz-Ann stops to smell the roses

We welcomed Kevin and Margaret from Windellama, who said that their roses are finally beautiful after too much wind & hot sun nearly ruined them. They have had heaps of squash, zucchinis, a proliferation of beans and a bumper crop of figs.
They are hoping for a good crop of lemons with lots of them on the tree.
Katie’s family are still feasting on their crop of giant watermelons (one of which won at Tarago Show).

A bit of rain didn't dampen spirits

Caroline & John have just had to dig 200 large curl grubs out of a small trailer load of damp mulch (they fed them to the neighbour’s chooks) – almost more grubs than mulch. They’ve had heaps of beans, small green capsicums & huge zucchinis, but tomatoes have not been good this season.

Peter H said his main garden problem is that all of the many clumps of sparaxis bulbs in the backyard grass at home in the Blue Mountains have been dug out and eaten by what we believe are bandicoots – hard to believe our (very) old house is classified as being in a “wildlife corridor” between the highway at the front & the railway line at the back with a road between it and the bush.

Jack the horse

These pesky little critters have had to scurry across the road & the railway line to feast on the treasures in our backyard, leaving large holes and husks of bulbs everywhere. (Then to top it off, the very night we returned home a possum crashed through a skylight and we spent the rest of the night trying to get him out of the house!)

Now to Jackie & Doug – last month it was the Olympic athlete kangaroo jumping over their 6’ high fence and this month it’s Jack the Killer Horse. Jack was seen (from a distance) to kill a rabbit that was eating his feed – by holding it up in his mouth and shaking it up & down wildly. Jack put the now dead rabbit down when ordered to but then picked it up & repeated the shaking. Now as much as this does not sound too good, at least it was a faster death than baiting.

Jackie & Doug also have problems with magpies destroying their lawn – the maggies are creating large holes digging it up searching for curl grubs.

Hmmm....

In another garden area Doug has made a firepit from old machinery (see photo) and put some garden benches around it – one completely covered in fuzzy lichen – very rustic. They have had lots of tomatoes with more green good sized ones still hanging in there under cover of the shadehouse.

Ni &Alan had a good crop of apples – they picked them before the birds realized, haha. Shirley said wombats are enjoying her grass and stripping her roses – she’s now put them in the greenhouse to recover. Even the tops of her not very tall ballerina apple have been eaten.

Peter S said that following their “world-wide success at the Tarago Show” with their tomatoes, they are now left with lots of odd shaped tomatoes, but they still taste OK. He’s had to dig out some trees to make way for their utilities room, which is essential towards the completion of their house. Irene suggested moving planting locations for tomatoes each year or change the soil in pots, to ensure tomato problems do not continue in the same location.

Some of us had been to the funeral of Tarago’s Marianne Ronayne the previous day and we remember her fondly. Caroline had dug out irises & salvias for us to share and Irene brought us ‘evergrowing’ onions & hollyhock bulbs. Thank you for your generosity and for sending us back out into the cold wet weather to plant them.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday 2 nd May at the National Arboretum in Canberra, Forest Drive off Tuggeranong Parkway, Weston (parking fees apply). We will meet there at 10am for morning tea before exploring and maybe bring a picnic lunch or buy lunch at the café. Our garden club is all about friendships and everyone is welcome to join us whenever you can.

We're Back!

Hi Everyone, I would like to apologise profusely for the two year hiatus and thought it was about time we resurrected the old blog again for 2017!

If you have any pictures from our meetings, tips, stories, ideas or thoughts you would like to share on here, please email them through to me at willowglengardenclub@gmail.com.

Cheers, Katie