June 2007 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

Well, it looks like it's up to me to start the new thread for the Sthn hemisphere again!
Haven't really started taking pics here but just to show that we do grow some rare things, here's a pic of the way we deal with plant thieves!
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Given there were only a few postings in May I was just going to add to that one and perhaps get the subject changed or something? But this works as well.  Hopefully will post some more pics in the next few days.

[Lesley Cox]

Nice wee lad (or lass?) but are you sure that's not the thief?

[fermi de Sousa]

Lesley
"Tag" is a lad and a good guard dog while his dads were putting up a structure we bought from them!
Here's something he was protecting, a ledebouria species we recently got from Geoff Wilson a bulb collector/seller in Lilydale.
cheers
fermi

[Paddy Tobin]

Fabulous foliage, Fermi.

Re the dog - a Jack Russell terrier? Said to be all heart and no brains!

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Looks like a fox terrier to me, longer legs than a JR, but otherwise similar. Certainly all heart. Not so sure about the brains but loves to take part in EVERYTHING. Very officious and busy little dog. I love'em.

[Maggi Young]

I'll go with fox terrier Tag, too. Longer legs, longer tail held straight, long face, square muzzle, more thoughtful expression.... which means he'll think before he bites... not because he might NOT bite, but because he's thinking of where to bite that will cause most damage! Yes, great little dog. Ian has fond memories of having one as a pet when he was little.

[t00lie]

I had a smile when i read your comment about the Foxy biting----Maggie.

My brother is employed as a rabbiter further down the coast a bit.He breeds/sells Jacks and Foxys and runs about 18 to 20 dogs in a pack.

Rabbits on the run don't stand a chance ,(in my observations while out in the field there seems to be no thought at all of where to bite--such is the pack mentality i guess--just a mass of bums up ,tails wagging and fur flying--  (apologies to all animal lovers).Those rabbits that go to ground have a precarious future when the ferrets are released from their holding box......

Cheers Dave .

[Lesley Cox]

Our Woody was fearless in the chase for a rabbit. He'd go down any hole and dig and dig until he unearthed the inhabitant. Then he'd wriggle out backwards, bunny in his mouth and shake it until it was dead. He'd be covered in dirt, his poor eyes full of it but very happy. Sometimes he even got gorse roots stuck into his body as he ripped and tore them in the process so that he'd be bloodied too. He did bite me once, when deeply asleep on the sofa and I was silly enough to stroke his nose. Still asleep, he bit, quick as a flash but seems sorry afterwards as soon as he realised I wasn't an enemy.

Cain, the lovely dog, is all bark and no bite. Well not much bark either.

[fermi de Sousa]

Here's the lovely South African Lachenalia viridiflora, grown from Silverhill seed many years ago. The leaf damage is not from slugs or snails but a blasted pasture-pest called "red-legged earth mite" which is active in the colder months. They work together like thrips to rasp away at the leaf and flower surface till they make a hole right through to the other side!
cheers
fermi

[annew]

Talking of dogs, Maggi, how is yours that had a injured eye? And what great foliage on that Ledebouria - the markings are so regular it doesn't look real.

[Maggi Young]

Anne, Lily's eye is making terrific progress, thank goodness. She has some sight in it, it may never be 100% but she will have some use of it and, best of all, it is not hampering her or hurting at all. The council has removed the papmpas grass that she heurt her eye on and has given me forms to fill in for compensation... we'll see if anything comes of that. I think they acted so quickly to get rid of the trimmed pampas because they realised how dangerous it was to children. I imagine the photos i provided of the poor dog's eye must have concentrated their minds... the thought of a child with that injury is too horrible to contemplate really. Miss Lily thanks you for your kind enquiry, by the way!

The neat markings on the Ledebouria reminds me of some Aloes.

[fermi de Sousa]

It's the middle of winter here but the nerines are still flowering!
Well, at three types are still in full bloom. The main one is a pink version of what we call N. flexuosa "Alba" but I've never been sure about its name.
The second is one I got a long time ago as N."Splendens" and it certainly is!
The third is a light pink with small, crinkly flowers on a tall scape, so not N. masonorum or filifolia as far as I can tell; I seem to remember someone calling it N. crispa but I stand to be corrected!
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Very nice Fermi. They've certainly hung on this year. I still have a few in flower too.

Thanks to the Far Flung Friendly Fizzyo (or Fyzzio)- with Face Fungus

[Lesley Cox]

Winter has really bitten now. The south of the country is in the grip of some really horrid stuff, most roads closed, Dunedin and Queenstown airports closed and my own road out of home and into towm closed as well, not officially but the idiots who tried to negotiate it are now safely tucked up at their homes while their abandoned vehicles are strewing the road up Saddle Hill.  I awoke to these this morning. We've had a clearish but bitterly cold day (0degC) and it's now snowing heavily agian, there having been no melt in between times. Thank heavens for a large wood stack. I couldn't go to work this morning, and in fact, the Otago Farmers' Market which has around 55-60 vendors at this time of year, had 10, so I'm told, and about as many customers instead of our usual 5000. Happy days