pin cushion protea

  • Kangaroo Pause

    So much is going on at the moment, it’s been hard to take the time to stop and smell the roses, or at least some kind of flower, but I’ve been able to take a bit of a pause this morning. It seems almost certain that my current career path is over, but where it leads to remains a mystery. Prospects are not exactly hot, but who knows what fate has in store? There’s plenty to love about life at the moment as the glorious weather continues in the ominous lead-up to the rainy season. This morning’s ride was clockwise in a loop I normally ride counter-clockwise, and I thoroughly…

  • Princely Reward

    Nature, and Mrs. Kangaeroo, provided a princely reward for patience and perseverance as the little prince protea I had been nagging for months to have removed from our garden because it had died actually sprouted and proved that it was as alive as my spouse had been saying it was. To be honest, I’m not that keen on the proteas in the garden, even though they’re delightful plants and the flowers are exquisite. That’s because I see them as being quintessentially South African and not really part of an Australian-themed garden. But in Japan, proteas and other leucospermum are lumped together with Aussie native flora as “native plants,” and Mrs….

  • Budding

    Spring has well and truly hit and an unexpectedly wonderful day full of sunshine has the Kangaeroo Corner garden and its Aussie plants poised to explode into color as one tree after another buds. Jacaranda leaves are sprouting. And the native hops are ready to show their funny flowers. At least the most fragile hairpin banksia is growing for sure. I suspect the more settled hairpin banksia is growing, too. I wish this would grow faster and give me greater confidence that it is, in fact, growing. The coastal banksia is also growing, albeit with some disconcerting yellowing of its leaves. And the garden’s big star, the grevillea, is right…