Hazel's Garden Haven

Hazel's Garden Haven My acreage garden "Woodlands" is located 30km SW of Brisbane where we experience hotter summers and colder winters than Brisbane.

Plants are my passion and, while the climate is sub-tropical, I do like to experiment with plants from other regions.

My Ceiba speciosa (Silk Floss Tree) is flowering again. A mature tree in flower is quite a magnificent sight. Mine has a...
13/04/2022

My Ceiba speciosa (Silk Floss Tree) is flowering again. A mature tree in flower is quite a magnificent sight. Mine has a few years to go but still causes a flutter when I see its flowers.

This is a deciduous tree native to the forests of South America. Branches are almost horizontal and flowers appear at the end of branches. I've read that it flowers when not in leaf but mine loses leaves some months later. The base of its trunk (to around 1m) is studded with large thorns.

Its common name relates to the fluffy material, similar to cotton or silk, that surrounds seeds contained in a large pod. This is only my second flowering. The first did not produce any pods so fingers crossed for this year.

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora (Blue Ginger) has been flowering for many weeks now. I think they appreciated all the rain ove...
13/04/2022

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora (Blue Ginger) has been flowering for many weeks now. I think they appreciated all the rain over the last few months - 1100mm so far this year. This Brazilian beauty is not a true ginger but does resemble ginger in its growth and habit. It prefers a partly shaded spot and the bees love to visit. Once flowering has finished, I cut the stems to almost ground level, place them on the ground nearby and cover with a little soil or compost to enlarge the clump. Also pictured is a nearby Miltassia (Lavender Kiss I think).

No gardening for a few days. More than 330mm rain over the last 4 days, still raining and more to come. Fortunately, the...
26/02/2022

No gardening for a few days. More than 330mm rain over the last 4 days, still raining and more to come. Fortunately, the house is on much higher ground than these photos of the gully, dam and overflow. Stay safe everyone.

These cute little flowers are Impatiens repens which has several common names including Golden Dragon Impatiens, Yellow ...
20/02/2022

These cute little flowers are Impatiens repens which has several common names including Golden Dragon Impatiens, Yellow Canary Impatiens, Creeping Balsam and Yellow Balsam. I bought this some years ago to plant in a double trunked hollow stump that stands about 1m high. What started as a small plant now cascades down the stump and covers nearby ground. It is rarely without a few flowers. Foliage is also attractive on fleshy red stems. It grows in a bright spot that receives a little filtered sun. In the other trunk lives Oncidium Sharry Baby with its matching burgundy red flowers and enticing chocolate fragrance.

The bright orange, waxy bracts of Juanulloa mexicana (Gold Finger Plant) last for several weeks whereas the tubular flow...
05/02/2022

The bright orange, waxy bracts of Juanulloa mexicana (Gold Finger Plant) last for several weeks whereas the tubular flowers only last a couple of days turning brown before they drop. I’ve read that yellow berries follow flowers but I’ve never noticed berries on my plant. Leaves are thick and leathery. It prefers the warmer weather and can be semi-deciduous in winter. It is a member of the Solanaceae family.

In my garden, this is a straggly shrub growing in part shade. I prune back after flowering but, given the chance, I think it would like to climb into nearby trees. In its native habitat of Mexico and parts of South America, it can start life as an epiphyte from seeds in bird droppings. Once seeds sprout, roots creep down tree trunks until they reach the ground where the plant then continues its life terrestrially.

For most of the year, the leaves of this Crinum stand erect as an attractive rosette. However, when flower stems start t...
21/01/2022

For most of the year, the leaves of this Crinum stand erect as an attractive rosette. However, when flower stems start to emerge in January, the leaves collapse and die back allowing the flowers to stand tall to almost a metre. I usually remove the leaves at this stage as dying leaves detract from the flowers. The pale pink flowers have a slight fragrance and, although they have a delicate appearance, the plants are very hardy.

I was gifted a couple of these bulbs many years ago and they have developed into a sizable clump growing in a shady spot under trees. I believe they are Crinum moorei (Natal Lily) and there is also a white flowering form.

Generally disease and pest free, this bulb (like many other bulbous plants) can be attacked by the Lily Borer which goes by many other names including Crinum Grub. I usually relocate butterfly and moth caterpillars but this is a particularly nasty pest that can totally destroy plants in a very short time, like overnight. As well as lodging themselves inside the leaves, they eat down into the bulb itself which can cause death to the plant. Over the years, I have had a couple of infestations to these Crinums as well as a couple of Clivias. My approach has been to squish every one I see and then drench plants and surrounding soil with diluted Pyrethrum. This seems to break the breeding cycle and has resulted in several years between attacks.

For many years, when removing dying "antlers" from my staghorns, I've brushed the spores against a nearby tree or sandst...
10/01/2022

For many years, when removing dying "antlers" from my staghorns, I've brushed the spores against a nearby tree or sandstone rock to encourage new plants. I noticed today that Mother Nature is doing a much better job than I ever could. There are dozens of baby staghorns around the garden.

The Stanhopeas or Upside-Down Orchids always put on a show for Christmas. Their fragrance is delightful and travels some...
24/12/2021

The Stanhopeas or Upside-Down Orchids always put on a show for Christmas. Their fragrance is delightful and travels some distance.

Merry Christmas to all who follow my page and thank you for your support during the year.

These tassels of dainty pink flowers belong to Phyllanthus cuscutiflorus or Pink Phyllanthus. Each flower is only a mill...
05/12/2021

These tassels of dainty pink flowers belong to Phyllanthus cuscutiflorus or Pink Phyllanthus. Each flower is only a millimetre or two in diameter but clusters appear all along the stems. Trees flower several times during the warmer months usually following rain. This is a small native tree with semi-weeping foliage to around 4m in height. New growth is attractive and pink/bronze in colour. I have several of these trees in my rainforest area where they receive filtered sun throughout the day.

I have my grade 6 teacher, Mr Stanley to thank for introducing me to the beautiful Cape Chestnut tree. A native of South...
22/11/2021

I have my grade 6 teacher, Mr Stanley to thank for introducing me to the beautiful Cape Chestnut tree. A native of South Africa, this wasn’t a common tree in the area where I grew up which made the mature tree in the school grounds even more special.

It was another 25 years before I saw another Cape Chestnut; this time a much smaller tree growing in the town of Muswellbrook, NSW. It was flowering at the time and there were also warty, woody seed pods similar to but smaller than a Crows Ash. I hastily collected some of those seed pods with great excitement. Nearly every seed germinated and 6 of those small seedlings are now mature trees.

This tree was fully deciduous just before new growth while others growing in harsher conditions are semi-deciduous. My trees flower at different times during the warmer months. Flowers are in large clusters, pink with maroon spots and are lightly fragrant.

Calodendron capense (often seen as Calodendrum capense)

This ornamental pomegranate (Punica granatum Andre le Roi) is one of the toughest, most drought tolerant plants in my ga...
19/10/2021

This ornamental pomegranate (Punica granatum Andre le Roi) is one of the toughest, most drought tolerant plants in my garden. It grows in full sun, on rock with just a thin layer of top soil and is never fertilised. It flowers prolifically but doesn't produce fruit.

Beaumontia grandiflora (Herald’s Trumpet) is a vigorous climber that needs strong support. Its large glossy leaves with ...
01/10/2021

Beaumontia grandiflora (Herald’s Trumpet) is a vigorous climber that needs strong support. Its large glossy leaves with prominent veins make this an attractive plant for most of the year. It can be semi-deciduous in winter. It belongs to the same plant family (Apocynaceae) as Oleanders, Frangipanis and Mandevillas that bleed a white milky sap when stems are cut.

I have two planted in very large pots at the southern end of the house where they don’t receive a lot of sun during winter. Mine flower early spring but I’ve seen others grown in full sun that flower a couple of months earlier. Flowers are large and fragrant and are said to resemble the Easter Lily, Lilium longiflorum hence another common name, Easter Lily Vine.

I have also seen this plant grown as a large scrambling shrub.

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Karana Downs
Brisbane, QLD
4306

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