Self care by growing a garden

[Adge]

Hundreds of Butterflies sounds lovely @Shaz51

My Web search said that so many different trees (species) are called "Rain Tree".

So I could not find out which Rain Tree your Mum's is.....

There are a Dozen different possibilities...

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[Shaz51]

this is the flower @Adge , @Former-Member 

[Adge]

Nice one @Shaz51 Spectacular flowers.

I found it! "Samanea saman"

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This is the Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin) - with similar flowers to your Mum's Rain Tree @Shaz51

Different plant.

I grew several of these from seed - sadly they only reached a few feet high, & never made it to flowering.

They are so beautiful when flowering - apparently there are avenues of them in UWS in Sydney.

[Former-Member]

Having a crisis proof garden has been back in my mind  @Shaz51. Choosing plants I enjoy that don't need mollycodling.

Small jobs continuing in our garden. Planted out 2 lots of the gladioli which are now flowering, transplanted some veltheimia bulbs and did a bit more weeding.

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Any plant (at my place) that required mollycoddling - has long since passed away @Former-Member

& has gone to the Garden in the Sky (or happy place for plants).

Sadly that included some long-term favourites (of mine).

What's left are the "Bullet-proof" varieties - or those that got their roots down far enough, to reach the water-table (groundwater).

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[Former-Member]

Plant placement can make the difference between some plants being aesthetically pleasing or not. I look at maintenance as things like whether or not regular hair cuts are needed, how often will plants need to be divided, do they self seed nicely or take over if left to their own devices    @Adge 

[Smc]

I love Wooly Bush @Adge, even without the flowers. The foliage is so deliciously tactile. 🙂 I have a young one in a pot, and am carefully protecting it after discovering the hard way with a previous plant that the wallabies also consider it "delicious". Grrr...

Our garden club went to a native plants nursery a year or two ago. One of their head nurserymen was giving us a talk about plant varieties, and specifically about growing local natives for revegetation. Early in the talk, he'd picked up a pot of Wooly Bush to show us... all through his talk he was standing behind the pot and running the stems through his hands... so when he got to the end and asked if we had any questions, I piped up with "Does it start purring if you stroke it for long enough?" and one of the others asked "How many hours per day do you need to pet it?" 😛 We're a cheeky lot...

[Adge]

Well, funny that you mention it @Smc....

Stroking the Woolly Bush leaves (petting it) was exactly what I was doing earlier - before attaching that photo.

I just couldn't help myself, so soft & furry....

Yes, I've heard that kangaroos (& wallabies) do find Woolly Bushes delicious (irresistable)...

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[Adge]

I used to grown these Strawflowers (Xerochrysum bracteatum) in Pots, for years - when I had no backyard.

They produced lots of seed, & I re-planted the seeds every year (to grown new Strawflower plants).

They grow really tall (40cm heigh) - they're so tough (hardy) compared to other Everlasting Daisies (which usually died on me).