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Happy New Year

Hello everyone,
I am more than still alive, am now proud grandmother of 3 and one more
anyday now.  We have waited so long for these blessed little creatures
to light our elderly years, I began to talk to my plants as if they were
my grandchildren!
How has our garden growing year turned out?   Rather peculiar weather
has thrown out rather odd effects.   Luckily, Tasmania, in the North
East, is only just on the edge of the El Nino effect - or so they say -
so I can only assume that the greenhouse effect is apparently changing
our weather pattern.

Hobart had an extremely wet summer, followed by a warm, dry Autumn and
Winter.   Spring brought some good "April" showers [August-September]
and now the weather pattern has become unusual in that we have had some
days up in the 80s which doesn't usually happen to well into the New
Year.   We have not had rain, to speak of, for several weeks.
And what do the poor plants think of all this?   They are puzzled for
sure, rushing into bloom, hesitating a brief while, then deciding it
must be Autumn and trying to close down for the year.  Some decide they
were fooled and try to reproduce again.   The ornamental Acers are
turning red already, the gardener has seen the roses and blossoms out
together, the bees are in a frenzy and one Queen Bee has managed to
bring her colony into a the roof, maybe into the chimney or even in the
heating ducts.  We tried lighting the fire and that didn't work.
The roses are delightful this year, I grow many Heritage David Austin,
and the flower heads are very full with good sized flowers.   Seeds
dropped by the birds of Papaver are rushing to compete with them and the
seedling whatevers [eg Amalanchier and Acers] dropped by the peafowl and
the wind anywhere, are racing through babyhood and becoming so tall we
will have to give them away, transplant or discard.   Trouble is if we
wait for Autumn, they may become mature adults if this keeps up!
Having been busy with the new additions to the family and Christmas, 6
extra family bodies are staying at the moment, the garden at Sandy Bay
has become a veritable jungle.   Must get out and cut the house out of
the garden! That Campanula, name starts with P and I haven't time to
look up the awful word, that creeps everywhere has put a blue haze over
the whole of the Town Garden and is even creeping up the walls of the
house to the roof line.   I am not stopping to look up the spelling
because if I don't go and rip it all out soon, it will creep through the
open windows and give me new wall paper throughout the house.   A bit
boring to have the same wallpaper in every room!
The various Euphorbias have responded well to our 1/2 degree rise in
temperature, keeping their colour well and seeding everwhere.   Primulas
are magnificent in the country garden [I know, non-medit] and var.
Pentsemons have turned themselves into unplanned hedges.
I am featuring the roses and Primulas in my Tasmanian Garden Journal
[photographs] in Suite101, if you use the bottom link on this email, go
to Tasmanian.   If you would like to see earlier changes in the garden
click articles at the side and you will get a list of my articles.  
Photos are taken during the preceding month in both gardens.
Now, having advertised myself enough [I am having great fun with digital
camera] I want to wish you all the very best for 1998 - may your plants
return your love and attention by giving you enormous pleasure and may
the year turn out to be peaceful for everyone and everything,
Regards

-- 
Gay Klok Tasmania
http://members.tripod.com/~klok/WRINKLY_.HTM 
http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/gardening.html
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/3411
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