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After the holidays - 1999

© John Bottomley

Last weekend, Sunday to be precise, we returned from a couple of week's holiday. We spent all of the time in Thailand and, as always, wondered at the orchids and the bougainvillea, growing in the wild. The natural vegetation is lush and the flowers extremely colourful. And the fruit! Have a taste of the many varieties of bananas in Thailand. The Kluey Khai is one of the most popular, eaten fresh or made into a dessert with syrup. You can ask for it to be deep-fried with a coating of flour to make Banana Fritters. The Papaya has a smooth taste and can be used as a tenderiser in meats and stews if used in its unripe state. One of the most popular fruits in Thailand is the Mango. The country produces possibly the best varieties of mango in the world, and the season is from March to June. We sampled all of the fruits mentioned above, and are now back in Western Australia catching up with the garden in the middle of spring. The local Shire have arranged a kerb side pick-up for garden rubbish and we spent the first few days back trimming bushes, lopping tree branches, and weeding. Guaranteed to make one realise that one is back home with a vengeance. It is amazing how much growth can be taken from many of the bushes, without taking away from the attractiveness of the total garden layout. Even the olive tree has produced flowers now.I mentioned some time ago I had planted an Olea europaea, a handsome drought resistant and frost tolerant evergreen foliaged tree. Where we are I don't think we have to worry about the frost resistant part of the equation. But, I will have to be careful to give the tree plenty of water during the dry summer months, starting right now. I mentioned in the last piece that October is when birds arrive in the gardens. We have noticed an increase in the number of honeyeaters flying around the place since we arrived back. Unfortunately we had a wild storm the week before we got home and lost one of the birdbaths. Although we have had twice the average rainfall during October, so far, I think it would be a good idea to replace the bath before summer arrives. It seems to me we still need to plant a few more shrubs that have a diversity of form and colour. Members of the Ericaceae group of plants seem to offer this variety. A family of versatile subjects, the Erica is found in Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom as heather, as alpine heath in Central Europe, and as a shrub in the dry savanna in Africa.

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