Glorious Ginkgo.

Well....I'm absolutely furious!!!!


While in LA the other day I'd taken some lovely photos of the glorious Ginkgo biloba trees gracing the streets.....and then my Iphone decided it had had enough!!!  And because i'm slightly techno challenged I forgot to backup my pictures before I went into a complete melt down and had to restore the phone to factory settings!  So.....pictures lost!


Anyway, enough about me....more about Ginkgo!


Also known as the Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo biloba is a unique specimen that has no living relatives! The tree has been widely cultivated since an early period in human history and has been used as a food source and as a traditional medicine. The trees have strange, somewhat erratic branches and the leaves are easily identifiable.

Leading on from my last post, Ginkgo's are deciduous...and interestingly enough are 'sexual'....some plants being male, and others female!  Their reproduction ritual is quite complicated....but needless to say it works as they've been on this earth for a very long time!                                     

Being deciduous, the leaves turn a beautiful golden yellow in the autumn before they fall.  Once widespread throughout the world, the Ginkgo in nature now grows only in a small area of China but has been naturalised in many countries in Europe and also in North America.


Ginkgo's are very tolerant to pollution and extreme weather conditions and have been used for years as street trees and as specimen plants in parks and gardens. They are so tolerant of 'extreme' conditions that 6 trees growing between 1-2 km of the 1945 Hiroshima nuclear blast in Japan have survived to this very day!


They prefer a neutral to acid soil and can grow in restricted soil conditions, are virtually pest resistant and rarely suffer from diseases. For this reason they make excellent urban and shade trees.

Because the Ginkgo leaf is so identifiable, it has been widely used in a variety of decorative applications such as jewellery, fabric and wallpaper designs and to adorn porcelain and pottery.


As a medicinal herb Ginkgo is thought to improve thought processes and memory loss in older patients and has been suggested as a treatment for Alzheimer's.                                                                      


The Ginkgo biloba is the national tree of China.


So if you live in a temperate area and your looking for a specimen tree to grace your garden, or to provide shade in the summer....consider the graceful Ginkgo.....and own your own unique piece of  horticultural history!

Undressed elegance....the case for deciduous trees!

Over the years I've been really fortunate to spend a lot of time in London. It's an amazing city of history and culture. Beautiful buildings, museums and galleries, and of course wonderful gardens and parks. Wandering through Hyde Park or St James Park is a delight at any time of the year....in spring the blossoms are bursting...in summer London is in full bloom.....in autumn the trees are awash with oranges, reds and yellows......and in winter it's positively 'skeletal'. But that in itself has its own beauty....the silhouette of bare limbs against a grey sky. Yesterday I wandered around the streets of Kensington, and even though it's now spring, the bare trees were quite fascinating.  

I love the patterns that deciduous trees create against the afternoon sky. Some trees have an multitude of branches that create a spider web of pattern, others are bold and bare and give a sense of strong rigidity.

Deciduous trees are used extensively throughout London for the shade they provide in summer, and for the architectural design element they provide to the landscape in winter. They are not so common in Sydney, however many streets in Surry Hills and Redfern in the city are planted with rows of Liquidambar trees which help to shade the old terrace houses from the hot Aussie sun in summer, then drop their leaves to allow the sun shine through in winter. If you travel to the Southern Highlands outside Sydney you get a true sense of the seasons with the colder weather turning the trees all the colours of autumn. 

If you live in Sydney and love the look of deciduous trees and find their bare branches in winter a sculptural element to a garden you could choose a species such as a Largerstroemia Sp., commonly known as the 'Crepe Myrtle'. In summer these trees have lovely lime green foliage and abundant flowers in white, pink or red. In winter the branches are completely naked, giving only a hint of what they were in summer and will be again next year! 


So with autumn now upon us and winter just around the corner, watch the changing landscape as the leaves start to fall, and appreciate the undressed beauty and sculptural elegance of deciduous trees.  

look at all the pansy's.......

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!!!!!   Gay, Lesbian or Trans-gender....no matter who you are...this weekend in Sydney, Australia, is a celebration of individuality and self-belief. It's about being proud of who you are, what you have achieved in your life and what you have to offer your community. I love the 'buzz' of Mardi Gras....all the gorgeous people,the happy feeling,the excitement and being so proud of who we are and everything we have achieved in our lives.


So I thought......(somewhat in-appropriately ...LOL)....that my flower of the week should be the Pansy!!!!!


Who doesn't love a Pansy?  Great shape....gorgeous structure and fabulous celebratory colours!!! (can't go past a combination of purple and yellow). The Pansy is derived from the 'Voila' family and is technically known as Viola x wittrockiana (as if you could remember that in your state!!!)

Pansey's are a strikingly simple plant...they love the sun, hate humidity, and will grow to a height of nine inches!!!!! 

But they really are a great plant for pots or hanging baskets. Being an annual you'll only get one season out of them...and it's best to pinch off the spent flower heads to keep them blooming for as long as possible. 

Pansy's come in an amazing variety of colours....all the colours of the rainbow!!!!

The markings on the flowers almost suggest faces smiling up at you through their petals......outrageous eye-lashes and bleeding lipstick (look at the yellow flower in the picture above..and the red one...and the blue... !!!) 

So 'Happy Mardi Gras' to everyone out there...all you 'Pansy's'. Just remember it's not only the beauty on the outside that makes you who you are...it's also the beauty within.