Rosa 'Oklahoma'

Rose Hybrid Tea 'Oklahoma'

This is a big rose with a rich velvety dark red colour and a delicious fragrance. It grows into a tall vigorous and healthy bush, so it comes highly recommended.
The radio station I listen to when driving to work is featuring songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Oklahoma this week. I like the (DVD) version with Hugh Jackman in the male lead role. It is a real classic and timeless......'Oh what a beautiful mornin'...

Lilium longiflorum, November Lily

Lilium longiflorum

Common names for white lilies vary depending on where you live. This species which is from Japan and Taiwan is also called the Christmas Lily in cooler climates and Easter Lily in the Northern Hemisphere. The Madonna Lily which is also white and trumpet shaped is a different species entirely, Lilium candidum. It is native to south east Europe and the Mediterranean and is often depicted in Christian religious art works connected with The Annunciation as a symbol of purity. It also has significance in the Jewish faith as well.
A third white lily, Lilium formosanum from Taiwan, flowers later in February or March and is a common roadside 'weed' along the east coast. The flowers of this species are on tall stems up to 1.5 metres and have a slight flushing of purple on the back of the petals.
The November lily requires no special treatment as far as garden conditions are concerned. In poor soils it will still flower but only on short stems. It seems to thrive in both sun or semi shade. The flowers below were photographed this morning and were growing amongst roses and other mixed flowers.

The Annunciation ,(1608-09) Caravaggio
Museum of Fine Arts, Nancy, France

Convent Thoughts,(1850-51)
Charles Alston Collins,(1828-1873) British Painter
The Annunciation 1850Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Tate Gallery ,London

Rosa 'Gemini'

Rose Hybrid Tea 'Gemini'

This modern rose has delightful shading and is a mixture of pink ,cream and coral colours.

Other famous 'Gemini' are....

The Holden Gemini 1983-85 TG

Gemini VI in orbit 257km above the earth

Tom Tom Club

The organic tomatoes are blushing

In a couple of weeks I will be able to start picking the first ripe tomatoes of the season. In the meantime it is tempting to use some of the still green ones in a few recipes . Cooking with green tomatoes may have evolved in cool climates where the last of the unripened summer crop had to be used up before the first frost killed the vines. Some interesting recipes for 'greenies' are included in the Lee Bailey book from 1992 Tomatoes (Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York) He includes a green tomato and apple pie which uses equal quantities of both fruit, with added lemon zest for what he describes as a very distinctive flavoured pie.I have not tried making this but I like his cornmeal coated pan-fried green tomatoes which are delicious with sausages and eggs for a big Sunday breakfast. In Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion there is a similar breakfast treat of 'green tomatoes and red onion with thyme and wine vinegar' (page 661) in the chapter on the herb thyme.
Green tomatoes are also traditionally used in the making of pickles,chutneys and relish which according to Richard Beckett in his book Convicted Tastes 'have long been used in Australia to relieve the tedium of cold meats such as corned beef and lamb'. Jars of green tomato pickle or chutney can still be bought at school or church fetes though it is sometimes wanting of an appealing colour. Most early Australian cookbooks such as The Golden Wattle Cookery Book and Homestead Fare include recipes which work well today. A more recent book, only 30 years old, A Beside Cookbook by the late Sheila Scotter , former Vogue Editor-in-Chief, includes a fantastic Chutney recipe and one which is guaranteed to retain 'a lovely green colour even after years in storage. What I like about the ingredients is that it includes 12 chillies.

Calothamnus quadrifidus

The one sided bottlebrush flowers of Calothamnus are often hidden or sometimes close to the ground.

Calothamnus quadrifidus
(From the Greek kalos, beauty, and thamnos, a shrub)

Race 5 on Oaks Day at Flemington on Thursday of this week was for grey horses. The All Greys run over 1400m. was won this year by Outlandish Lad. Grey horses are beautiful and so are grey leaved shrubs.

The genus Calothamnus from Western Australia was first collected and described in 1806 by French explorer Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardiere in his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen. His name is more remembered for the lovely native grey tussock grass Poa labillardieri (and his name really does slip off the tongue after you say it a few times.)
While many Western Australian plants can be difficult to grow in the eastern states ,this one is fairly reliable and will tolerate a wide range of soil types. It copes well with cold and frost and just requires some occasional tip pruning to keep it in shape .Under favorable conditions it forms a well rounded shrub to 2 metres.

Landscape Panorama

Coastline in North Wales

I came across this slide amongst my photos
"Life is beautiful. All that is dark and ignominious will disappear. All that is beautiful will triumph"
Dimitri Shostakovitch. (1906-1975)

Leucanthemum x superbum, Shasta Daisy

Leucanthemum x superbum 'Mount Everest'

The Shasta Daisy is a robust spreading perennial of garden origin which is hardy from Tasmania to Queensland and can be grown in both coastal and inland gardens. There are many notable cultivars including the diminutive 'Snow Lady and equally small 'Little Silver Princess' as well as fringed petal varieties such as 'Shaggy Gem' and 'Crazy Daisy'.
In warm climates a clump can be divided up at any time of the year and roots will often form on above ground stems making it a very easy plant to propagate. The flowers are good for cutting and removal of old flower stems will ensure a long flowering period well into Summer. Pests to watch out for are snails and slugs which can hide amongst the lance shaped leaves and occasionally the leaves are susceptible to fungal spotting especially during humid weather . Generally however they are trouble free and easy to grow in sun or semi shade in average garden soil.
2017 update: After growing them for years I have let my collection go.

L X s 'Esther Read'

L x s 'Shaggy Gem'