Clivia
As one can see, the sun graced this beautiful plant enough time to take the photo. Each year they seem to multiply. It goes right against the advice of the experts. ‘Clivia are strictly for the sub-tropical areas.’ ‘They don’t grow in the Southern-Highlands.’ ‘They hate frost and you won’t see them for sale here.’
This year the frost has been merciless and even grasses have died. Yet, Helvi’s careful nursing of the Clivia by hiding them underneath the bay trees and away from open areas has paid off. We can look forward to weeks of flowering Clivia as we now have at least a dozen or so spread around both front and back garden. Not only do they survive our climes but seem to multiply while we are not looking.
Lobelia.
The Lobelia is a different story. They love it here and thrive on neglect. The primary colours are our most favourite. Amazing to think that all other colours come from combining red, yellow and blue. Black is not really a colour, merely the absence of colour. That’s why even a bright yellow tulip looks black inside a box. White is the combination of all colour.
The photo of the lobelia is another example of how Helvi gets it so right. It’s never a forced effort. Her gardening is always natural and doesn’t ever have this ‘planted look’ The Lobelia looks as if it came there on its own volution. Look at the lovely contrast between that and the succulent below it.
Another delight this week-end has been a movie; ‘The Ladies in Black’. Another must see film by Bruce Beresford. You must know he never makes a bad movie. This is again a masterpiece. Last week we saw ‘The Wife’ which we were knocked over by.
The ‘Ladies in Black’ is loosely based on a book by Madeleine St John named ‘The Women in Black.’ A very witty and heartfelt story of Australia in the late fifties and the influence of European migrants, especially Eastern Europeans.
Please, go and see it. But please-, refrain taking food inside the cinema. It is not that difficult to go without eating for a couple of hours. At the end of Ladies in Black we had trouble exiting our row of seats. A large lady blocked the exit and did not leave her seat. We waited for her to go but she did not or could not move. We finally climbed past over her. Perhaps she was waiting for a carer to lift her out. We don’t know what happened.
https://www.traileraddict.com/ladies-in-black/trailer
Tags: Bay trees, Black, Clivia, Ladies in Black, Lobelia, The Wife, Tulip
Oosterman Treats Blog 
September 23, 2018 at 1:32 pm |
The addition of flowers to a house helps make it a home, just as a dog or cat adds a special touch to an otherwise lifeless building or plot of ground.
The clivia and lobelia are quite lovely. Plants help soothe the mind and bring a certain serenity. I think life would be vey dull if there were no flowers to admire.
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September 23, 2018 at 11:01 pm |
You are right, Yvonne. We are influenced very much by what our eyes observe. Beauty trumps ugliness anytime and it effects on how we feel.
I sometimes think that a lot of worlds’ problems relate to visual insensitivity. Driving around all those roads packed with commercial signs and ugly car yards, mile after mile. How does one feel afterwards? Terminal commercialism that can make us angry.
There are people who actually prefer a bare garden and they keep things under control that might grow upwards. There mustn’t be any leaves littering the lawn or fill the guttering. Grass has to be kept to a minimum height and beaten down with all sorts of noisy equipment.
And then we wonder why, at times, they get in a car and explode in road rage and attack a pensioner who might be a bit slow driving off after the traffic light has turned green.
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September 24, 2018 at 2:19 am
I like one of your lovely thoughts. “Beauty trumps ugliness anytime and it effects on how we feel.”
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September 24, 2018 at 7:28 am |
Such beautiful photos of such beautiful plants, Gerard! Helvi’s loving care of the plants has worked wonders! 🙂
All of nature adds such joy to our lives! We are fortunate to have plants, flowers, trees, etc., in our lives! 🙂
Thank you for the movie recommend!
HUGS to you and Helvi!!! 🙂 Pats to Milo!!! 🙂
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September 24, 2018 at 10:21 pm |
Helvi has always made places more beautiful by planting trees and shrubs. The Finns are acutely aware of beauty in the form of nature and art. It is not learned or taught but seems to be part of their psyche. Look at their architecture and everyday utensils. They give form and shape to things that please the eye. That is if the eye is receptive to beauty. I sometimes think some people are oblivious to physical beauty.
You are right Carolyn. Beauty of nature adds to our joy and it is given with such abundance.
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September 24, 2018 at 10:56 pm
We have enjoyed our backyard native flowers more than ever this year. My latest is to dig deepish holes in the garden in which to throw all vegetable matter. I call them nutrient bombs, it’s amazing how quickly they fill up before being covered over. Tis the way to beat the mice and whatever foraging animals that call by, open composts don’t work in these parts (cropping area). Anyway Gerard, hello to you and Helvi. Cheers, Chris.
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September 24, 2018 at 11:35 pm
Hello Chris,
Nice to see you again. It’s been a while. We tried a worm farm but it was too slow and the maggots took over. Helvi too buries scraps of food and then uses the resulting soil to spread out over the garden. She wastes nothing and admonishes me for throwing the banana peel in the garbage.
Hello from Helvi too.
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October 1, 2018 at 3:11 am
Cheers to you and Helvi, can’t say the world is any saner since the Ellis blog days. I’ll try and stay in touch more often, always enjoy your (dry) humour Gerard….
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September 24, 2018 at 6:26 pm |
Helvi’s garden is so lovely. She surely has a green thumb.
Don’t know if we can find the movies, but they sound great. We have begun buying a movie if we can. It is difficult now to first get to the theater, and then to climb the steps to the balconey.
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September 24, 2018 at 10:32 pm |
The ‘Ladies in Black’ might not reach the US but ‘The wife’ surely is shown in the US. The main actor is Glenn Close and what a superb role she acted. I am sure it is available on video or on ‘demand’.
Our cinema in Bowral has 4 outlets and is friendly towards disabled patrons. It has a lift. It also has a food outlet which is responsible for the popcorn buckets available in different sized buckets. I can never get used to the rotten egg smell of this food wafting through the aisles. You watch a particularly emotive scene of someone breathing their last breath holding the hand of their beloved, and up wells that vile popcorn smell and the up and down munching movement of giant jaws in front of you!
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September 24, 2018 at 6:29 pm |
I can picture you struggling to get over the large woman. I know it isn’t funny, Gerard, but still I can help chuckling a bit. –Curt
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September 24, 2018 at 10:43 pm |
Yes, Curt. There must have been a problem. She was very large and we can only think she was wedged between the rows of seats whereby her large knees and bottom could not move anymore. She could have said something but she did not or could not. We were not the only ones wanting to leave.
The credits had long passed and the cinema was almost empty with the last of the patrons filing out. I could have waited but Helvi wanted to get out. We clambered over her and so did Helvi and others behind us. It was a strange experience.
She had an ice-cream and a bucked of popcorn during the movie, so…?
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September 26, 2018 at 8:13 pm
I think I would have crawled over the seats!
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September 27, 2018 at 2:56 am |
Ladies in Black is showing in one theater in Houston, but that’s a trip that requires something very special for me to make it: like an eye doctor appointment, or a whole day that can be dedicated to a museum or whatever. Three hours of driving for a movie’s not my idea of fun. But I’m sure it will show up nearer home at some point, and I’ll remember it. I did notice that the director is the one who was in charge of Driving Miss Daisy, and that was one of my all-time favorites.
The flowers are gorgeous. I keep wanting to read ‘clivia’ as ‘olivia’ — not for any good reason. Both are such beautiful plants, and the orange and blue combination is appealing. I smiled at your note about how the lobelia thrives on benign neglect. It’s important for the neglect to be benign, but there’s no question that’s often true in the garden.
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September 27, 2018 at 9:43 pm |
We are so lucky to have a cinema complex within walking distance. Right now, this small town is having the yearly tulip festival. This draws a lot of tourists from all over the world, especially Chinese.
They all love taking selvies and one can see many iPhones being held skywards on the end of aluminium poles.. Also, busloads of aged-care recipients. With many needing walkers which are stowed underneath the bushes in special luggace compartment.
I was pleased with my photo of the Clivia and glad you liked it. The neighbours might well think I am losing it as I often just stand very still outside, looking down at what might be new in the garden, and something new is there daily.
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October 2, 2018 at 1:35 am |
Helvi…I see on a visit to The AIMN site just now that your comment on the film ; “Ladies in Black” has been ‘anointed’ with approval by one of the cabal of acolytes to the blessed one!…But I have to agree with your analysis of those times of reluctant acceptance of “refugees” into Australia…of which my father was one albeit he came just before the 2ndww…but upon reflection, one has to compare the sophistication of both parties..ie; the incoming and the resident population and wonder on who truly was the “refugee”..
I did write a piece on it once..set in the mid-sixties…I don’t know if it was put up on The AIMN..: https://freefall852.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/come-saturday-morning/
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October 2, 2018 at 1:56 am |
Joseph Carli, Lord moves in mysterious ways…
Chris Hunter, thanks for the composting hints, still miss Ellis blog…
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October 2, 2018 at 2:13 am
I was thinking more of “K-L”….It is interesting these films now that are delving into the intimacy of gender relationships bringing a close-up of male/female power in marriage relationships…I was thinking of writing an article on the one subject most important yet most avoided in these relationships..ie: the enigma of eroticism between the genders…even in long-term marriages, where a subtle hint must sometimes be used to “encourage” intimacy…
I am a fan of Anais Nin as a serious commentator on such subjects and on the other hand I like Dorothy Parker’s wit and sardonic humour…While the males like to believe THEY are the arbiters of knowledge on this subject, I truly know that it is not so..anyway, it could make an interesting, if delicate, topic…a diplomats pen would be needed!.. Watch this space….
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October 2, 2018 at 5:50 am
Like them both, Anais Nin and Dorothy Parker…
On some sites you indeed need all your tact and diplomacy to navigate the pitfalls…sigh…
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October 8, 2018 at 8:00 am |
We did see ‘Ladies in Black’ today at our local cinema. It is really a superb movie. We arrived in Australia in 1959. This movie is set in 1959. It felt very real to us. In a way it is astounding how much Australian society has changed since then. And yet, some things seem to remain the same. We often had to laugh about all these cultural clashes. Still, a lot about Australia one could love right from the start. Nearly 60 years have passed since then. Of course there have been changes, quite a lot of changes actually. I think most Australians have been rather welcoming to newcomers then, and still are like this. Only our politicians do not want to know about this. Why is that so?
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October 8, 2018 at 9:52 am |
Glad you liked it, Uta. I felt that Australia was a friendlier place earlier on. Or perhaps memories play tricks. When I watched Alan Jones abusing Louise Herron yesterday on TV I doubt that would have gone unpunished back then. But perhaps I am wrong.
Have you seen “The Wife”? another very good movie.
.
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October 8, 2018 at 7:52 pm |
No, ‘The Wife’ we haven’t seen yet.
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