General Chat

Berona, the bulbs only need the initial cold snap to stop the dormancy of the bulb, they don't need continuous cold.

Now that the bluebells have been in for several years, they just come up automatically.

The only problem is that the blooms don't last as long as those in cooler climates.

You'd be suprised how may areas in and around here and Perth have Tulip Festivals each year.

Allan

No Tec,
It doesn't1 I'm still wearing my hat, scarf and gloves!
What's a wattle? I've never heard of it.

Well you must know daub and wattle Tec

I love the perfume of the wattle.

It always reminds me of a childhood Christmas when my mother either bought some Mimosa, or had some given to her.

We had a Cootamundra Wattle in the back garden but it was blown down in a gale a few years ago. There were always plenty of bees around it.

Allan

Pat a wattle is a yellow flowering tree, or shrub, depending on the variety.

The flowers can be like tiny powder puffs or also catkins, again depending on the variety

As Berona said, they are absolutely stunning planted as roadside specimens

Allan

I do know daub and wattle Linda - we don't see mimosa in the flower shops now - have you seen any in recent years Linda?

Pat...........wattle is what we know as mimosa.

Tec

I ggogled wattle. I thought it was a flower but it's a tree and I've never heard of wattle and daub. That's something to do with fencing. I've learnt something tonight ! x

Thanks Allan,
I like the blossom trees best.

I haven't seen any Mimosa for a long time Tec My sister has some of the original wattle and daub in her house, thank goodness it wasn't destroyed in the fire

I had forgotten about wattle fences Pat

Anyone seen Sue to-day? CC seems to have disappeared too. I know my memory's not what it used to be. Have I missed something?

It would have been awful if the wattle and daub had been destroyed Linda, an interesting feature of any old property.
The walls on the first and second floors of this house are lathe and plaster - incredibly strong, and very messy to dismantle as I discovered when I extended the bathroom.

Tec

Wattle is a pesty weed over here and we are supposed to get rid of them:

this from Wellington City Council:

Wattle is an evergreen shrub/tree, which establishes quickly and displaces native plants. . WCC will work on controlling wattle and sycamore trees next financial year, but the small seedlings are very wide spread. Pull these out by hand and expose to the sun. Wattle seeds stay dormant in the soil for years, so this will be an ongoing task!

We have dunnies Allan and out in the sticks we have longdrops, there is one in the South Island up in the mountains and as it takes in such wonderful views there is no door on it.

Persey

Hi Perse. I can't help myself - I have to ask - what is a longdrop? My mind is boggling!

The view from the one in the mountains sounds lovely, but I think I'll give it a miss. There are times when I like my privacy!

It seems strange to hear Sycamore being named as a weed to be pulled up Perse.

Tec, as this is a modern house, the walls are just dry lined plaster board. That makes it incredibly difficult to attach heavy things to the walls

Haven't seen Sue yet Berona, CC had a rendevous with a baked potatoe some time ago.

Hi Perse, Our Local Authority have been ripping out miles of rhododendrons here in recent years.
They went all along the verges and edges of the forest and looked wonderful in the Spring with their amethyst sp flowers.

Tec

Good morning Persey.

One of the smaller flowers that I like and which we have in the garden is Allysum which we have in the border.

Every year it self-seeds. It was only this year, when we were trying to make up our minds about what we wanted to do with the garden, that I got some leaflets from the Ag. Dept that I saw that Alyssum is not recommended by that Dept, as, although not yet classified as a weed, it has that potential.

Berona, Sue has not posted today.

Hello all - sorry I'm late.

We've been to the local markets and then breakfast. It's lovely at the moment but it's going to get hot later in the day so it was the ideal time to go out. I didn't buy anything although I could have. There were loads of books as usual and some china bits and pieces. I also found a box of old cutlery $10.00 for the lot but it was mostly mismatched and there was nothing of real interest to me. I also saw an old cane chair but on closer inspection it was in bad condition and wasn't worth trying to repair.

Nice to see you Pat. What are you reading?

Sue xx

An excerpt from a bach on Rangitoto:
The long drop is often located well away from the bach and is often the fear of many a child at having to visit it by candlelight or torch in the middle of the night, I know I used to freak-out and would rather hold-on till morning. The bach toilets vary in design and comfort, with some having lockable doors with windows to the three walls and hole in the board. A few of the long drops were built over a large cracks in the scoria that went down far enough for them to be cleaned by the high-tide waterline, but as the topsoil has slowly increased and filled in the ravines they no longer work. The long drops work well when not in constant use but after a large gathering over summer they can get rather rank. I myself enjoy sitting on the bog looking out a the pohutukawa and piwakawaka early in the morning, it is a unique experience that many people miss out on with these modern fandangled flushing toilets with their sanitary washbasins and soft 2-ply toiletpaper

Inother words one sits over the hole and it goes a long way down and is left to gradually disintegrate. Some of them now put chemicals in them to assist this along but not in the days when I was a kid.

A piwakawaka is a fantail in case you wanted to know.

Pxx and good morning/evening everyone

Hi Sue,
I've just stsrting reading "Stay In Your own Back Yard" by Joan Jonker. It's set in the 1930's Liverppol. The boo I've just finished was Warning Signs by Stephen White. It was a psychological thriller set in Bolder Colorado. That was quite good. I'm going to give that book to one of the girls in work who lived in that place for a while.

What's wrong with soft 2 ply toilet paper!?!

Sue xx