Winter Scents

Daphne odora

The daphne has been scenting the car park this last week despite it being so cold. Daphne grows well here but in this garden is susceptible to root rot once it is mature. We let them struggle on for a while but pull them up eventually. I’m not sure if my enthusiasm for compost and mulch has contributed to the tendency to rot but it seems to usually be associated with breaking/splitting damage, possibly due to fully grown branches breaking in the wind. I have tried replacing the car park daphnes but they are vulnerable to theft – extraordinarily! On account of this I have started planting herbs instead and chef is now using them. Currently he is using the sage in our “Christmas in July” turkey stuffing. I am not keeping up with the demand for curly leaf parsley but have plenty of thyme in little hedges.

I have relatives who live in the English midlands on Woodbine Farm. Their woodbine is planted under the pantry window (if I remember correctly) and I have some planted by our front door at home. I took a cutting from home and it is now growing here too.

Woodbine (Lonicera fragrantissima)

Purple violets and white hellebore

We are encouraging the larger violets as ground covers. There is a small violet with a pinkish flower that spreads very readily from seed which we remove but the larger purple and white violets spreading mostly by runners make a good evergreen ground cover. Both the white and purple violets are strongly scented. I am trying to establish a couple of parma violets in the hope of even more winter scent.

Three houses that were here

Having accumulated some history about the houses previously here I have now lost the account that accompanied some of the old photos. The photos with lost information are of St Andrews and  a cottage previously facing onto Chambers Road.

Front view of St Andrews 1929 courtesy of Margaret Hughes

Front view St Andrews 1938 courtesy Margaret Hughes

 

 

 

 

 

 

St Andrews occupied the block on the corner of Fitzroy St and Chambers Road. The source for these photos is Margaret Hughes whose family were connected with the house. Margaret’s family also lived in the more modern cottage that faced onto Chambers Road.

Margaret Hughes and her brother outside the cottage facing Chambers Rd, courtesy of Margaret Hughes

This cottage I think must have been located to the left of the Chambers St access to the resort, with St Andrews to the right of the Chambers St entrance.

 

 

 

 View of Sospel 1950s
courtesy the estate of Hector Hood

Sospel side view 1950s courtesy of the estate of Hector Hood

While I am sure there are many photos of Sospel in various archives the ones we have come courtesy of the daughters of Hector Hood. Hood gardened for Lady Fairfax 3 days per week from 1927 until 1957 when Sospel was burnt in the bushfires of that year. The current dwelling now housing the Olive Tree Restaurant was built on the site of Sospel and there are still burnt timbers underneath it. This dwelling was built by an opthalmologist who owned the property for  10 years before selling to the resort consortium.

Front view of Olive Tree Restaurant 2016 (Resort roof behind)

July Flowers

We are experiencing some very cold weather. There is snow in the south and the strong winds are blowing in the cold air but no snow here.

Helleborus foetidus

The hellebores are beginning to bloom, the H. orientalis are flowering on short stems at the moment because it is so cold but the cold does not seem to be effecting our green hellebore – Helleborus foetidus. The Chaenomeles japonica is beginning to show a few blooms and our

Chimonanthus praecox

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) continues to increase it’s bloom numbers as it ages. We have identified another camellia. C. japonica “Debutante”.

 

Camellia japonica “Debutante”

 

Steelblue Ladybird

 

Steelblue Ladybird Halmus chalybeus

We found this beautifully coloured native ladybird as we were trimming back the hydrangeas. It is a beneficial insect controlling scale commercially but also predating aphids. It and has been exported to Western Australia, Hawaii, California and New Zealand to help control scale in citrus plantations. It is a very small ladybird, only 3-4mm long and really needs a macro lens for a good photo. It has the ability to completely enclose itself within its wing covers making it safe from ant attack.

 

Flowering at the moment we have Arisarum vulgare in the greenhouse and an Echeveria sp. on our experimental succulent wall. I would like to use the Arisarum as a ground cover but it does have weed potential so we have confined it.

Arisarum vulgare

Echeveria sp.