It is winter

Today is officially winter - the 1st June. Although some would say that it is not winter until the solstice - is that 21 June????

There are not a lot of autumn leaves left - most blew away in the wind last week. Although there is still good colour in the wisterias, and the crategus is only just starting to colour. And the Spiketail. So there is still more autumn to come.

Today we moved a treefern - it is too cramped by the new fence, so it has gone over next to the house - there was a bare area begging for it. Near it is the tiny treefern that P found growing out of a piece of cut treefern designed to be an orchid board. Hopefully the two will grow almost together, like treeferns sometimes do in nature.

It is the second move for the larger one - Mum originally struck it from a packet of spores (!) at the house next door - about twenty years ago. When we built the new house she just had to take her two-treeferns with her. The other is still doing fine - the crown is way above the top of the fence (it must be seven or eight foot high), so it can stay where it is. With two other treeferns against the house (we cannot remember their antecedents - Mum thinks she got one cheap as a baby), it all makes a wonderful fernery.

Years ago I did hear that if you put half a cup of sugar a month in the crown and water it in, that it promotes growth. Must try it again when the new growth starts in spring.

And, I have just realised that some overseas readers may not be familiar with Australian treeferns. They grow wild in the bush, and when cut off at ground level, the trunk is just placed in the ground and they continue to grow from the top. So that is how this one was moved.

You can see one of mine behind the tank in this photo - that one is about five foot high.