Wood ducks waiting for rain

Wood ducks waiting for rain, originally uploaded by maxful.

The next four days are predicted wet. Storms. Hail. Flash flooding. I'll accept anything after the longest five month dry period on record. Thank the lord, our property has town water. So many friends paying to cart water. Can't wait for the sound of rain on the iron roof.

vale Barney Greer

We lost a good friend and very talented man today. Miss you Barney.

Those showy Vandas are at it again

A forest of Vanda orchids once flourished in Noosa's hinterland as part of a commercial cut flower business. Gone but not forgotten. Queensland's Sunshine Coast is perfect for growing Vandas. They fly free as a flutter of colourful butterflies with sunlit days, and cool evening breezes.

Taking cuttings from the old dismantled nursery we transported cascades of the unnamed stock on to recycled bridge timbers located back of our orchid igloo in Cooroy Gardens. They stand tall against a commanding backdrop of rainforest trees lining the creek that circles three sides of the property.

With minimum fuss and very little hand watering our 'orphans' have flowered brilliantly in a rather dry summer season. Perhaps lacking the lustre of the pampered named varieties inside the orchid igloo, these guys actually promote more blossom as they struggle their roots into the cracks of the upright old bridge timbers.

Air flow is important to these old Asian imports. But how will they cope with the rising temperatures of climate change? For that matter, how will we?

Click in to see the full gallery of our Vandas growing wild.

In ancient China the orchid represented ‘loyalty’. Probably still does. And this nobile (type) Dendrobium orchid has been ‘loyally’ flowering every spring for three or four years now. Perched high in the fork of a Melaleuca paperbark tree it has survived drought, flood, summer, winter, and a host of other setbacks to continue on every spring with a burst of virginal white blossom. Such a sweet orchid. It is the 'alba' form of the more flamboyant magenta Dendrobium nobile which famously flowers right across India, Assam, the Himalayas, Burma, through Thailand, and on to Vietnam. No self respecting Australian garden is complete without its piece of exotic Dendrobium nobile. So too most temperate-to-tropical gardens of the world. Sure. I've seen them flower bigger and better than this little guy – but you have to admire those who live on struggle street and still manage to come up smiling.

Big Bird at Noosa.

It's spring. It's all sunshine and good times. We're expecting a bumper season. Come on over to play.