I have been thinking that my brother Tony should have his own garden blog. The posts featuring his garden are always among my most popular, but at least now that I have study and my overseas work behind me, I am able to visit more often and bring back lots of photos from his garden to share.
One of the tiniest flowers in his garden is a favourite of mine. I love the Native Violet
Viola hederacea, despite it having escaped from the garden bed to run rampant through Tony's lawn.
Another plant in Tony's garden that can quickly become a weed is the ginger or kahili lily
Hedychium gardnerianum. Originally from India, it grows to about 8 foot tall and has become a serious weed in New Zealand. In my state (Queensland), the authorities are trying to prevent it getting a foothold in the wild.
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| Ginger lily |
In contrast, the Eucaris lily
Eucharis grandiflora is in my mind a rare and special presence in the sub-tropical garden. It is a perennial with sweetly scented white flowers very reminiscent of a daffodil. I have been meaning to find a spot for this in my garden for a very long time, but don't often see them for sale.
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| Rose flowered Bignonia Podranea ricasoliana |
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| Crinum - love how these white blooms age to a deep pink |
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| A heliconia |
Apart from a sole representative inside the house, for once Tony's garden had no orchids in bloom, but they are far from forgotten. He is building a second orchid house for them.
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| A Miltonia orchid, I think |
No avocados this visit, but I grabbed some cherry tomatoes, sampled the tomatillos and blueberries, and eyed off the figs for next time!
Although the orchids are starting to be serious competition, the stars at Tony's are usually his extensive collection of bromeliads. There are always some in bloom.
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| An alcantarea |
I'm loving this soft velvety pink one. The tips of the leaves flush red when it's flowering. Tony said he has a pup with my name on it.
This is the one he was most proud of this visit - a tillandsia. Gorgeous grey-blue foliage with a purple flower emerging from coppery pink bracts.
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| Achmea blanchetiana - the same sunloving bronze-foliaged bromeliad that I have in my front garden |
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| Guzmania conifera |
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| I thought this was the same blue-flowered brom that I admired in my Christmas post , but I am assured it is different. |
Finally, I thought you might be interested in seeing a little more of Ballina itself. Here are some scenes along the river, and in my next post, I will share the lovely beach walk we enjoyed this morning.
The wonderful stainless steel fish sculptures along the river are by Ballina Public Artist Joe Stark.
