I love my woodheap. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in chilly Tasmania and now live in the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath (aka BLEAKHEATH). Oh that promise of cheerfulness and warmth. It is also a perfect sun trap on our property in autumn and winter. Despite
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For years, in the centre of my Blue Mountains garden, I had a bowl of grape hyacinths sitting on an old terracotta pipe. It was an interesting feature; rustic and simple. However, as surrounding shrubbery grew it became shaded and half the bulbs failed to flower. One
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We are a competitive lot in the Blue Mountains of NSW. At a Blackheath outdoor pool, this little silvereye was training for the 20cm breaststroke event, and yes, struggling a bit. Keep that head up Mate! Oh the relief to get to the end! And an encouraging
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Honestly, blue wrens could take over my life if I didn’t keep strict control. I should really give them their full title; Superb Fairy Wrens (Maluras cyaneus). And yes, they are as delicate as fairies. Once I had a blue wren stained glass window made for the
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I have a great fascination for social history, and for our native, satin bowerbirds. Yes, there is a strong link between the two. When the adult blue/black male bowerbirds or the green juvenile ‘apprentices’ build their bowers they decorate them with anything blue they can find. For
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Blackheath duck pond is close enough to my garden to be my personal water feature. Hardly a day goes by without me wandering past it. The traction engine below was used to excavate the original dams, which evolved into the pond. The dams were used to hold
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Lonicera nidita is a type of honeysuckle used in topiary and hedging. It’s often known as box honeysuckle. Tiny birds such as blue wrens love to hop about in it…… and on it, searching for bugs. It will cope with frequent, light clipping and becomes dense and
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