Strawberries

It's strawberry season, but it seems we live in a world where "bigger must be better".  I was surprised at the size of the strawberries available at the supermarket.

That's a dollar coin for comparison

Frankly, I can't discern any difference in the taste (for better or for worse), but I am worried what has been done to achieve strawberries of this size.

In the meantime, more conventionally-sized strawberries are around for as little as 99¢ (for 250g).

Spring

Spring's here!   We  had a couple of foggy mornings a few days back (actually, it was still winter then), but then the warm days got the plants into bud.  [Edit - image updated]

 

Autumn leaves

Well, I know it's winter now, but the autumn leaves in our area were, as usual, quite attractive (although they have since fallen). 



















Not so attractive were the leaves of the plane trees which cluttered up the area for a while.  Eventually the Council came along with a team and cleaned things up, doing quite a good job I must admit.

Botanic Gardens on an autumn afternoon

It had been a little while since we'd been for a walk at the Botanic Gardens, but it was a cool autumn afternoon so we decided to get some fresh air (and a coffee...!)  

Temple of the Winds

 
I was interested to notice that a punt is now operating on the lake.  I see that this is a recent innovation, offering "elegance and style".  Cost is $25 per adult, for a half-hour trip, apparently with commentary.

I hadn't realised that the Governor's flag is yellow

The Dog on the Tuckerbox

We drove to Canberra.  We were in rain most of the way, sometimes quite light but also heavy at times.    Yet a week ago we were all sweltering.

Impressive vegetation - nice to see

Two things struck me during this boring trip.  First, the trees planted along the highway in Victoria when it was duplicated are now reaching maturity, and so they form quite an impressive array, often for extended sections.   We regularly travel this route, and I suppose I've been aware of the trees, but on this occasion I became even more conscious of them.

The contrast after crossing the border is stark, although of course perhaps there were fewer trees north of the Murray even when the land was in its original state.   There are some plantings, so perhaps things will change as they reach maturity.

The Dog is there, but the shop has closed

Secondly, in the battle at the "Dog on the Tuckerbox" between Shell/KFC vs the more traditional wayside refreshment places there, Shell/KFC have won decisively.   Shell have a more prominent location, slightly closer to the highway than the smaller businesses, and they have now closed.

....and the business on the other side of the access road to the Dog has also closed

Wilting agapanthus

Obviously we all felt the effects of the hot weather in Melbourne over the past few days.   The usual issues arose, such as fires, air-conditioning units on trains failing (but so long as the fans still work, isn't it better to run a train that's not cooled rather than no train at all?), fears of power outages....and so on.

[Edit - updated image]

I was scheduled to attend a meeting in the city late one morning during the hot spell, but it was cancelled due to the heat.    Initially I thought this was a bit of an over-reaction, as the temperature mid-morning, when I would have been travelling in to the city, wasn't too extreme.  But by mid-day, things had heated up, so I decided the decision was probably for the best, after all.

Instead, I walked up to the local library.   It was full!    Clearly, the locals were taking full advantage of the  air-conditioned atmosphere!  I heard that the local shopping centre was also quite busy!

Stressed street tree - doesn't look good!

There's been a bit of an effect on some of the younger street trees, but hopefully most will recover (EDIT - although some, such as those in the image, look to be in a bad way).  Even the agapanthus in the street - not my favourite plant  - are showing signs of heat stress.  No doubt they'll survive.

The cemetery

There are a couple of memorials of significance to us in the Lorne cemetery, so each year we pay a visit. However, we weren't impressed this year to find that it has been transformed from a pleasant rural resting place to a something more akin to an urban landscape, as the paths, which were previously gravel, have now been paved. There are wide expanses of white concrete between the plots, quite changing the appearance. No doubt the change makes it slightly easier for funeral hearses to travel the last 50 metres or so of their trip – but at such a cost to the whole atmosphere! Just who is represented on these cemetery trusts (Lorne is administered by the trust based in Geelong)?   Did the paving really need to be quite so wide? Was anything thought given to softening the harshness of the bare concrete by toning it down by making it grey or some other tone more in line with the surroundings?
 

In addition, some eucalypts have been planted. Not such a bad idea, except that the variety chosen (E. caesia, or gungurru) has obviously been selected for its somewhat “weeping” appearance. The catch (so I am reliably informed) is that it's originally from the deserts of Western Australia, and is hardly likely to thrive in a location exposed to the salt-laden winds coming off Bass Strait.   And anyway, would not it have been preferable to have something from the local region?

The Garden Lights

We didn't need them, but we were checking out the Masters store, and they were "good value".   So now we've got a number of solar operated garden lights.  I'm still not certain whether they serve any useful purpose.......

After leaving them in the full sun for a day, we were disappointed that there wasn't even a glimmer of light when evening fell.   But closer investigation revealed that there was a little switch inside that needed to be turned on.

Then we had some heavy rain.   A couple of the lights
failed to operate the next night.  Well, we thought, they didn't cost much, so perhaps they're not completely waterproof.  However, a day or so later, after some warm sunshine, all was well again:   the warmth appears to have dried things out and the lights were all operating again.

Psyllids

We planted three lillypillies in the part of the garden that had to be cleared to enable the new fence to be constructed.    As it turned out, each of the three was a separate variety.

We were quite pleased with the burst of spring growth - but on one, many of the new leaves were suddenly affected by a whole lot of bumps.  I took a sample to the nursery, and the problem was immediately recognised as psyllid (Trioza egeniae).  Apparently this is tiny insect which sucks sap from the new leaves, causing little  lumps on the upper surface.

The nursery recommended cutting the affected leaves off and spraying the regrowth.    They also mentioned that there are lillypillies that not subject to these insects (and our other two seem to come into this category).

On reflection, it may have been better to have bought one of the nursery's tolerant plants and to have replaced our affected plant.   This is because the spray that he sold me wasn't cheap and apparently I'll have to apply it at intervals this year during the growing season - and perhaps every year (not sure).   Unfortunately, I didn't think quickly enough to do this, and anyway, the plant that is affected is the largest of the three.  Hence, for now, I'm in the trimming-and-spraying phase, but I'll be keeping an open mind about other options.

Botanic Gardens

It was a lovely sunny day, so we took ourselves to the Royal Botanic Gardens.  This was the first time we'd been for some time.    The were lots of people out and about enjoying the spring weather.   We climbed Guilfoyle's Volcano (previously, we've only walked past it).  It was full of water, and there are floating islands.   We read that the roots dangling beneath the islands help remove pollutants from the water.  Of course the design of the gardens owes much to William Guilfoyle, who took over from Baron von Mueller (who is sometimes blames for the spread of blackberry in Victoria, but even if this is so, it appears that it had already been introduced).

Floating islands in Guilfoyle's Volcano

But I digress.  We had a pleasant walk and also had coffee and scones and did some people-watching at The Terrace cafe.

But, where were  the swans?  There were a few ducks and other waterfowl, but no sign at all of swans.

Bridal photography

Strelitzia

Vista

A few ducks - but no swans

Gardening

It"s amazing what a difference a bit of mulch makes.   The weeds got away from us while we were travelling, so we called in some garden maintenance people. They pulled out the weeds, then wheelbarrows of mulch later.....it all looks better.  Hopefully a few centimetres of mulch will slow the weeds' re-growth?


  

Como Gardens

The weather was perfect and it was open day at Como Gardens at The Patch, so we headed up.  This privately-owned property houses historic gardens, a magnificent collection of vintage cars and a lot more.

The collection of vintage cars is said to be Australia's finest private collection of antique cars and auto memorabilia, and the garden has many bulbs, azaleas, magnolias and camellias.  It hosts two collections of plants, magnolia and prunus, which are registered with the Garden Plant Conservation Association.  In addition to a lake and a ride-on railway, there are wetlands, a forest walk, a stream (apparently containing platypus, but we didn't see any) and much more.



The funds raised from open days are all donated to the SES and St John's Ambulance.

 

Callistemon

There are quite a few callistemons in this area, and one in particular is looking really good at present.  However, those in our garden seem to be lagging behind.  The honey eaters enjoy it, too.

Jells Park

I was taken walking in Jells Park as part of my training regime, because our travel plans include some walking in Montenegro (for me).   Hence,  A and C have taken me in hand and insisted that I get some practice before I leave.    Last week, I had to climb the “1000 steps” at Ferntree Gully, and this week I was taken to Jells Park.   I hadn’t previously been to either of these locations, which of course are quite different.

Waterbirds

I have since read that the “1000 steps” are actually 745 steps (but it felt like 10,000), and they climb up One Tree Hill through the forest.  On the other hand,  Jells Park is a mixture of open areas and wetlands, including a lake, with some quite dense floodplain vegetation (eucalypts, melalucas and such like).  Sure, there's suburbia on one side, and the Eastlink freeway on the other, but within the park itself, these things feel a long way away. There are numerous waterbirds (in summer, there are even visiting birds from Japan and China, according to the signs) and although it was daytime, we could hear the frogs.

Following our Jells Park walk we went to Madeline’s, for coffee and some nibbles.  This is within the park itself, and is quite stylish, although you can also get takeaways to eat outside.

 

Madeline's

Street trees

I know that the local Council is far from perfect, but in one respect, it's quite good.  This is in relation to the planting of street trees.    It's quite conscientious about replacing trees that die or are vandalised, and regularly takes the initiative to fill in gaps.  The program appears to have been in full swing in recent weeks.

The Council's choice of trees used to baffle me a little, and I once asked at a ward meeting about this aspect.    It was explained to me that, while of course hardy trees are favoured, the policy is to plant trees that are consistent with the "as-built" character of the immediate area, and this meant that quite a number of varieties are used (including some tough plane trees!).


I was interested in the Council's comments on watering street trees - a little water is appreciated in dry weather but don't put too much on them.

 

Spring....

Spring can't be too far away.  The magnolia is out - and a daffodil, too!

Tamborine Mountain

Because our booking was in two components – one being “time share” (a gift - thanks, V!) and the other being direct with the resort (which we arranged to supplement the gift), a physical room change was required. Odd, but that's the way it is. At least we got a fresh set of towels!  So we're now in a different room. It's even more spacious than the resort room that we had, but the outlook is “courtyard” view (no real problems with that) and.....err....there's no door on the bathroom. We'll live with the latter (there is a door between the bedroom/bathroom area and the living area), but I just don't “get” what designers are thinking of when they come up with ideas such as this for accommodation that's used by a transient population. Sure, there may be people out there who go in for this type of arrangement, but surely it would be better to provide a door and let those who so desire leave it open?

Rain forest

We took a drive up the mountain to Tamborine in the afternoon. All a bit over-rated, we thought. We took one look at the “Gallery Walk”(a shopping strip!) and moved on, leaving it to the captive tour groups. However, we did the MacDonald rain forest circuit, which was good. Lots of dense sub-tropical rain forest, complete with muddy paths. Shortly after we completed the circuit, there was an extremely heavy shower. We were very glad not to have encountered this while in the forest, but unfortunately it dampened the idea of finding the lookout (although we had seen some great views on the way up).

We ran into heavy peak hour traffic on the way back. We were glad of our GPS – but for some reason we took a wrong turn. I'm sure that I followed the instructions.....so whether we were misdirected or whether I mis-heard remains an open question! And it certainly missed a turn close to our destination, but which I made anyway because I was sufficiently familiar with the area to know what had to be done.   So, even with the GPS, there's still room for human initiative - at least until the next generation of these devices arrives!