The first of the glorious winter shades. These blush pink beauties are the first of the doubles to flower. They were a welcome hello to the winter school holidays when I was teaching.
Enjoy the season and keep well.
Vintage camellias
mountain homes
Lilac time
Sixteen years ago today we moved into our mountain home and greeted by this gorgeous lilac. Still flowering today. Love this time of year! 
Hot pink
These hot pink geraniums are putting on a show this summer.
Cats and Camellias
Hello everyone!
Camellias to go
Cold winter brings out these pink beauties.
Poor wombat
This morning we discovered our poor resident wombat had been hit by a car. We live on a dirt road and it can be quite slippery but everyone is aware of this lovely boy making his slow pilgrimage each night. He had three burrows on our property. We are all devastated.
Wombats are nocturnal animals and lack the reflective eye shine that most animals have when headlights appear. They move so slowly and sometimes look like a large grey rock on the side of the road. They are adorable, everyone loves them. We will miss this fine creature. Be careful when you drive at night and early mornings. We love our wombats here on the mountain.
Mountain Perils
Living on the Mount can be serene and immensely beautiful, however, it can also be very perilous. A silent kangaroo – camouflaged; a wombat hole, deep enough to fall in to and….
</athis sight which greeted us a few doors down the dirt road….
A shallow root system and high winds toppled this tree onto its owner’s driveway missing their “For Sale” sign and water tank! Take care this winter, everyone on the Mount!
Mystery plant identified
You may recall in my recent post entitled Spring or Autumn, I had purchased a plant which I thought was an orchid at a local garage sale. Having scoured the gardening books, I could not identify it. However, with the help of some of plant loving friends, we have a definitive name. It is Haemanthus albiflos – or as the name suggests, blood lily, the albiflos denotes the colour – in this case white. A few friends of mine went to that trouble to taking the photos to the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria who declared it, the white variety, was quite rare and generally expensive! It would develop a yellow centre and produce red berries – apparently it drew quite a crowd! Here are the latest photos as it sits on our back deck.
The horticultural notes also told us it was of South African origin and needed well drained soil and kept well watered in summer, allowing a rest period. That explains why it flowered when I left it under a large tree and forgot about it! Will survive to a minimum of 10-15 degrees. Considering we get down to zero Celsius here on the Mount, I will have to keep it sheltered.
Compared to this early photo, it is blooming quite well as our begin temperatures begin to drop. Quite an unusual specimen.
Happy Valentine’s Day from a secret friend
We have a tall, dark, 6 foot stranger living in our garden. We thought we heard him a few weeks ago. We thought we saw him a few days ago. Then today, here he was staring straight at us. He kept looking at us as we stood in shock. He had never been so close before. We were a little frightened at his stillness. He was hungry and thirsty; he was big and strong. He looked straight at us today, on Valentine’s day. He even left a few deposits!
Due to the recent bush fires in our area, kangaroos are coming closer and closer to houses seeking a little fresh grass. Colin came out to look; Whitey cat was too use smelling the flowers to notice.
See you later big guy, but please don’t surprise me behind the camelias!
Deep Winter Blooms
Up here on the Mount, winters are very interesting indeed. While the rest of the surrounding area is bathed in sunlight, here we wallow in mist and cloud cover. It’s not so bad really. I love the cold and especially the distinctive half-light of the mountain. Ten years ago it was during July when we first saw this house and garden. It was the the shimmering droplets of rain on the trees and winding pathways which attracted us the most.
However, the mountain is ever changing. Just when we think it cannot get any greyer, the garden invites us to admire its unexpected colour. In deep winter, bursts of colour illuminate the low light.
This little begonia has been flowering for months. However, apart from this. The natural cycle from dormancy to delight begins.
The weeping apricot which we see from our lounge rooms window has begun to transform itself.
Further down the path, this giant, pink camellia has burst into bloom.
Yes, it’s all pinks at the moment!
Hellebores are coming to life. They are the true winter rose!
More pink camellias.
But wait – I spot a red one!
Tulip bulbs are ready of go!
The view from the back yard deck in winter.
Despite the lack of sun shine, the vegetable patch seems to be thriving, albeit it, slowly.
To our northern hemisphere readers, enjoy your wonderful summer. As we keep the heaters running and the wood chopped here on Mount, we can glimpse the preludes to Spring.
How’s your summer or winter experience?
crabandfish garden 