Grass Trees 5 & 6... an Update

I think these plants are now approximately

3 1/2 years old + maybe 1 year...

I'm not sure, I bought them at a garage sale!

These two little ones gave me the idea to try

growing some more plants with the seeds collected from

Grass Tree No.1 growing in my front yard!

An altogether successful venture, both in achievement and results!

This is Grass Tree No. 5 which is still slightly

smaller the the one below!!

Grass Tree No. 6

If you click on this photo to enlarge you can see it has really started

to thicken in the center!

The leaves are very strong and the same thickness as an adult plant.

I haven't decided yet when to plant these two into the garden,

maybe another 6 months!!!

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This beautiful Blue Tongue Lizard

lives just behind our back fence... and came visiting.

No doubt looking for snails, bugs and other garden pests etc.

To read more about these lovely animals click here

After having a look at him we let him go back under the fence

and have seen him a couple of times since going about his business.

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Another lovely Green Tree frog

perched on the spouting...

Nearby an outside light draws small flying insects.

An attraction providing supper!

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Seeds

I have collected seeds from my Grass trees No. 2 & 7 in late 2009...

and I have possibly 100 seeds to Give Away.

If anyone would like to try raising their own little plants!

I am happy to send you some. (Australia only.)

Bearing in mind people...these plants take a long time to grow!

(Although the seeds can be fast to come up - 2-8 weeks)

Perhaps 20 each or less ... depending on response!

(I have no idea about sending seeds OS quarantine etc. so I'll stay out of that!)

I can't guarantee they will be viable seeds,

however I have an idea which ones look goer's by now,

the big fat ones!

Send an email to me with your name and address

and how many you would like!

clockyer@tpg.com.au

Once I have run out of seeds to give that's it.... till next time I get a new crop!

It seems a waste not give these seeds to someone to grow as

I cannot house any more little plants myself...

although I would love to,

I have enough already!

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1 Fatality to report!
I accidentally pulled a little plant out of it's pot ...

The plant had lovely long leaves hanging down and

I caught it on the lid of my rubbish bin!

And hoicked it out of the pot...

broken clean off at the bottom damn!!!

So there are

110 Grass Trees residing at this house!
102 of them seedlings!

Cheers Carol

Illawarra Flame Tree (N)

This beautiful Native Australian tree should be the choice
of local Councils instead of the Poinciana, (E)
although it is lovely! (see previous post)

A link to that great site Wikipedia... here
for more info on the Flame Tree

Our own brilliant flowering red tree has even
inspired a fantastic rock song!
Flame Trees sung by Cold Chisel
A link to Utube here!

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Bougainvillea (E).
This very attractive plant look wonderful decorating
the back fence of a nearby neighbour.
Another link ...hope it works!

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Another neighbour...
this Brushtail Possum jumped off the fence to
escape the human invaders (us) in his area!
The rotten apple he/she dropped was rather horrible!!
A beautiful animal!

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Grass Tree No. 7
This photo of a new spear was taken on the 25/7/o9.
It has taken 5 months for the spear to
reach the seed state you will see in the following photo.

(Click on any photo to enlarge.)
Here you can see the little seeds
still sitting in the opened pods.

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No Fatalities to report!
I have collected heaps of seeds from the two prolific
flower stalks mentioned over the last few months!
111 Grass Trees residing at this house!
103 0f them seedlings!

Cheers Carol

Flowering Trees in the neighbourhood.

Delicate flowers on this flowering tree.
I think? it is an Acacia of some sort!
Lovely to see on a morning walk.

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This Lovely Tree is a Poinciana.

Planted many years ago in a nearby council park.
Not native to Australia and in fact now classed as a weed!!!
You can follow this link to read more about
these beautiful trees from Madagascar.


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My New Baby Grass Tree house!

My Man of Work (husband) made this fantastic
purpose built home for my numerous seedlings.
I have moved them to the side of the house so
they can experience more natural weather conditions.
ie. in Aus ...drought and flooding rain!!!
However they do have some shelter from the
worst nature can throw at them
with their own shade cloth covering.

Here they are all lined up, getting used to the elements!

The shade cloth goes across the top
and can be rolled up or down and fits
into metal slots in the front. (left side)

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New to the neighbourhood!
There is another Grass Tree lover in our area,
this handsome plant has recently been planted
in a local front yard.
A conservative estimate would put this
tree at approx 20-25 years old.

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The Tally.
I had a re-count and discovered that I have 103 seedlings.
I must have failed to count some of the new seedlings
which sprouted earlier in the year.
So...
103 seedlings it is.
6 Adults in the garden.
2 youngsters in large pots.
= 111 Grass Trees.

Cheers Carol

Seeds Forming!!!

Grass Tree No. 7 is forming a sparse array of seeds.
This may be due to the flower stem's growth in the
winter months here in Australia!
Perhaps there were not as many pollinators.
eg. native or non-native bees or flies.

Grass Tree No. 2
is doing much better!
Forming a lot more seeds
than than the aforementioned GT.7
This blasts my theory of less bees etc.
It is possible this plant is just better at seed production!!

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Hippeastrum
Another lovely plant consisting of many bulbs ...
given to me many years ago by
our old neighbours. Remembered
with great affection every year
when they bloom.
Auntie Tilly and Uncle Bill

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Green Tree Frog
Litoria caerulea
This little frog lives in our water spouting,
moving around from pipe to pipe...
we hear her/him croaking from different
directions around our house.
The last time we had a decent rain shower
I nearly stood on him/her! and was I thankful
the animal relocated to the garden instead of the patio!!

A closer view ... the flash has lightened the photo!
(click on any photo to enlarge)

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The Tally
No fatalities to report,
my 98 seedlings are doing fine...
fertilised today with a half strength solution of Seasol.

6 garden Grass Trees and 2 GT pot plants
Cheers Carol

4 Weeks On... GT.7

These 2 photos taken on the 19 of September
and show the delicacy of the
Grass Tree flower stalk!
At the side is the previous stalk still attached.
Fairly soon little native bees, honey bees,
ants and some wattle birds will visit and
help with pollinating the flowers.
In the early morning the flowers
have large drops of a clear nectar!
(Please click on the photo to enlarge)

This close-up photo shows each individual flower.

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Grass Tree No.2

7 weeks on... this Grass Tree's
flowers have a quite different
look from the photo's above.
The flowers are thick and almost tangled,
so far almost all of my seedling have
come from this most productive plant.
Photo's taken 6/10/09

A crowd of flowers!
(click to enlarge)

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Hippeastrum

I found this bulb dropped on the footpath
by a weekend gardener
on a morning walk about 3 years ago.
Since then it has excelled in
beauty and size!

(what a find!)

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I have 6 Grass Trees planted in my garden.
2 small plants in pots (medium)
98 seedlings(no fatalities)

Cheers Carol