Garden Mid January 2018

So far we only had few days of hot spells this summer. In the last few days, the much welcome rains had made the garden fresh and alive. Took few shots of flowers in the garden. Hibiscus and second batch of roses add more colours of the garden.

Roses do better in mild weather. This summer, with much less hot days, they are blooming for the second time. One photo of a couple of standard roses was from son’s place.

Rose ‘Abracadabra’

We are very busy right now helping our son to move into his newly bought home which is around 30 km away from our place. The pebbles layered garden bed around the house is bare, and my task is to select and grow some ornamental plants.

Garden Early Winter 2017

Cold start of winter. Today was mainly overcast with few sunny breaks. The gardens are still reasonably fresh and colourful thanks to the enough rainfalls. Now  I can hear the coo-cooing sound of the turtle doves while some other garden birds are chattering softly.

Along the footpath: The pear tree is bare but the rest of the plants look fresh. Crassulas  and  the Thryptomene bush are all blooming. Hibiscuses are still flowering though the blossoms are smaller now.

Garden – Last Month of Summer

I cannot believe that now is February and next month will be Autumn already. Summer this year has been quite mild here in Melbourne so that we hardly feel it. Hopefully the Autumn months won’t be too warm which is not very good for the orchids, as they need cooler nights to initiate blooming.

Rose ‘Peace’ si Mawar Perdamaian

Diawal musim semi saat ini di Melbourne sini, cuaca yang tak ramah dengan banyaknya hujan dan angin dingin, tidak membuat pohon bunga mawar Peace Rose kami enggan berbunga. Sebaliknya ‘Mawar Perdamaian’ ini malah mulai berbunga setelah selesai beristirahat selama musim dingin. Satu bunga sudah mulai mekar dengan warna kuning bersemburat merah muda.

Bagi mereka yang suka menanam bunga mawar, pasti mengenal Hybrid Tea Rose yang diberi nama ‘Peace’ (Perdamaian) ini. Jenis mawar hibrida ini memiliki bunga yang besar cantik memukau. Kombinasi warnanya kuning lembut dengan semburan warna merah muda di pinggiran mahkota bunganya memberi kesan ‘adem ayem’ buat yang melihatnya.

Garden Mid Summer 2016

The two months of Summer, December and January’, here in Melbourne have been quite mild, with only few hot days. The last few days of rains have made the garden look more alive with various new blooms. Even the lawn suddenly has started to look greener.
The two pear trees are full of fruits, and we always share them with wild Lorikeets. Now I can hear their noisy chits-chats and squeaks.

Pears and Rainbow Lorikeets:

The Beurre Bosc pears are hanging heavily on small branches,

Roses 2015

 There’s so much to appreciate about my life every single day, and I make a big point of taking time to smell the roses and noticing how lucky I am. I never want to take that for granted…… (Josie Maran)

 Rose ‘Peace’:

This year, the ‘Peace’ rose bloomed very early in Spring and I did not take any photos. The big and perfumed flowers are soft yellow with a splash of light pink around the edges. It always flowers every year and these are some photos that I took the previous year.

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Garden Mid Autumn 2015

Autumn 2015

Right now the ground is still wet from the storm early this morning. The very frequent lightning strikes and rumble of thunders woke me up. In general, autumn this year is mild and cool, plants look fresh and many are still blooming. The Hibiscus are still flowering and some of the roses are showing off the remaining autumn blooms. Some of those that flower in autumn are making themselves ready to bloom, like for examples the lucky jade Crassula ovata, Thryptomene and Zygocactus. The dwarf Nandinas have turn into vivid maroon bronze colour, while the Miltonia orchids are in full bloom.

Roses in My Garden

The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

(Quotation written by: John Boyle O’Reilly)

 

I have to admit that I am not a rose person. Growing roses for me is just that every garden should have them. Many people say that a garden is missing something without a rose bush or two.

Though some rose plants can survive neglects and extreme conditions such as long drought, but I find that most of them need certain degree of care. Pruning, fertilizing, taking care of pests and black spots are necessary in order for the plant to grow and produce well. Lately with so many rains, black spots have become really troublesome.

Yes, rose blooms are truly beautiful, but I hate the sharp curvy thorns, even the leaf stems are often thorny. Ouch, ouch….! They really hurt my fingers.

Anyway, these are the roses in my garden. Most of them I know the names but few of the old ones that we bought long time ago, we have lost the recollection of their names.

A Rose for World Peace

When my Peace rose blooms profusely in Spring this year, I was really captivated by it’s beauty. Then I started to wonder why they named this particular rose “Peace”? Was it to remind us of peace? Then later on I looked for the answer online. How perfect is the name for such beautiful flowers with the softest colour blend. 

For those who like roses, should grow a Hybrid Tea Rose called “Peace”. With the cultivar name Rosa “Mme A. Meilland”, this hybrid tea rose has stunningly large and beautiful flowers. The colour is light yellow and cream with a hint of pink on petal edges. It was developed by a French horticulturist  Francis Meilland  during the years of 1935 and 1936, by cross pollinating and grafting some rose hybrids.

When Meilland saw that Germany started to invade his country during the WW II, he sent few cuttings of this new rose to friends in United States, Turkey, Italy and Germany with the hope of preserving it. Later on when the war ended in 1945, Meilland made a special request  to a war hero Field Marshal Alan Brooke to use his name  for the rose. However Viscount Alanbrooke declined and suggested a better name “Peace”. Since then Rosa Mme A Meilland  has a trade name “Peace”.

Every delegation for the first meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, were given Peace roses with a note that said: “We hope the ‘Peace’ rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace”

Since then it was no doubt that Peace rose has become the most beautiful tea rose ever. It is available both in standard or climbing form.  The very large bloom was sweetly scented and it is fully double with more than 50 petals. It is disease resistance with strong and vigorous branches and has very attractive dark green leaves. The long stems will be perfect for cutting flowers

This new year of 2009 has been tainted by yet another troubles in  Gaza. Let us hope that the efforts for peace negotiation work.  To follow the purpose of the naming this historical rose, let us all remember the horrid  of all wars to mankind and let us all pray for Peace of Our World……………….