Fayes' Botanic Obsession

Faye · **Posted:** Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:11 pm

The day just kept getting better, a walk in the bush unveiled for the first time in 5 years a clump of donkey orchids, aaah there goes that heart feeling again. Absolutely awesome! :joy:

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With spring here the native wildflowers are bursting in to life, just like this Cowslip or sun orchid!

Faye · **Posted:** Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:26 pm

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This is a white eared honey eater that was taking nectar from a plant closeby. We have another one just set up residence amongst the sugar snap peas in the aquaponic system. I was going to do a big harvest today but didn't want to upset mother, especially if she thinks she might want to lay some eggs there. Might be time to invest in some closed circuit monitoring or something along those linesWell on a slightly more productive note, the potatoes are going nuts, so today they finally got a top up of lupin mulch as well as a sprinkling of me ol' favourtie, the sheep manure. Love that stuff. They also had a drink of fish water, after harvesting 2 trout.[
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Faye · **Posted:** Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:40 pm

Well today I decided to finish potting up the last of the bromeliads, the spiky ones. Here is a sample, love the colours and they are waterwise too!

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So during the process of lokking for a pot I I hear Russell, Russell.
I thought to myself, there is no Russell here, so I went for a closer look.
There was a big bobtail with a dead and dried up frog in its mouth. I ran to the house to get the camera but by the time I returned he had moved on and fisnished eating the whole thing. He continued to burp and gulp while I took his photo though! Apparently they digest things a little quicker than snakes.

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Anyway I carried on and found a pot for the last of the broms and low and behold it had a nice plump redback spider in it, as you would probably expect. So out came the camera, this time with the macro lense and I began taking shots at my new model. Here is just one, hope you like it!

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No wonder it takes soo long to get anything done around here, just so many distractions, Aaagh!

gnash · **Posted:** Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:55 am

Great shots Faye....we had a bob (russell) in the yard yesterday as well....feed him the GF's strawberrys and sent him on his way

Burnsy · **Posted:** Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:08 pm

Faye wrote:

Anyway I carried on and found a pot for the last of the broms and low and behold it had a nice plump redback spider in it, as you would probably expect.

We have lots of them too, the chooks love them :clap:

Also got the big fat black ones, can't remember seeing them around as a kid but they seem to be everywhere up my way now, anyone know what they are?

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:00 am

Where are you, Burnsy? I have a lovely fat black lizard in my garden, living under my studio. It stays very still while I work in the vicinity. I was wondering what sort it was too. I thought it might be fat because it was about to produce a family. Can someone tell me whether lizards have live young or do they lay eggs?

Burnsy · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:52 pm

I am in Kalamunda and lizards lay eggs.

Faye · **Posted:** Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:24 pm

The most awesome start to today, found a friendly lizard that didn't mind having a photo taken, a caterpillar about to turn into a pupa. Left Laure home with instructions on videoing the event and getting the larva turning into a pupa. And then took photos of eggs and found that a bay caterpillar emerged almost before my very eyes, woohoo. Here are the first photos.

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Just wait till you see the USB microscope shots, I felt like a doctor taking an ultrasound, so cool.!

Faye · **Posted:** Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:26 pm

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Got my new toy working (USB microscope)and wondered why the second egg was damaged and then low and behold, there was a little pair of eyes looking up at me, a very special moment. The baby has started eating and I guess will develop colour as the day goes on.

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The eggs are clear and ribbed amazing work of nature.

Faye · **Posted:** Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:31 pm

Fauna of the friendly kind, though yet to be identified. It pretended it was like a stick and this photo was a closeup, less than 10cm, the perfect model. I think it is not the first time that it has met with my rake, judging by the look of its stumpy new grown tail.

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Snags · **Joined:** Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:52 pm **Posts:** 234

Lialis burtonis

http://www.stewartmacdonald.com.au/blog ... ss-lizard/

Faye · **Posted:** Sun Dec 26, 2010 8:23 pm

Thanks for that Snags.
Why is it that sometimes we buy things and ignore them until its almost too late to save them. I bought a beautiful white mulberry tree, left it in a pot for 6 months, then watched it fruit and get heaps of leaves and then watch the leaves sorch in the heat and dry winds and continue to stand it upright for days, almost weeks before deciding to plant it on one of the hottest days of the year? Not really smart, I know.

It did make me think about the plants you you can establish in the hottest part of the year. For example, if you were starting an edible garden here in Perth now, the fastest growing plants that I woulld suggest include banana, mulberry, passionfruit and sugar cane. I am pretty sure that with the correct soil conditioning and three times a week watering (if you have a bore) I reckon that you would get fantastic results. We shall see. I can't show you the photos of the mulberry tree yet, cause I would be too embarrassed. Why not plant pumpkins in the same planting hole as they will cover the soil and reduce the heat radiating up. Tell you what, the birds can't wait for those watering days and if I hand water they like to shower in the trees. :wink:

Note to self-Remember Rule # "Only buy what you are going to plant today"

Faye · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:30 pm

Well only 1 week after planting the white mulberry tree, most of the branches are showing signs of shooting. They have received hand watering on the days the sprinklers aren't allowed to go on and I have mulched with pea hay.
The plum tree has done well this year and the bird netting was a must, though unfortunately we did trap a bird. (It was released unharmed.) When we were putting the bird net on we noticed a monarch butterfly caterpillar had found it's way almost to the top of the tree. We have have another monarch butterfly, Aaah isn't that beautiful.

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