The Bribie Islander

HELLO ALL AND WELCOME BACK TO THE FIRST ISLAND GARDENS OF 2021. TODAY WE’RE LOOKING AT THE EXCITING AND EASY PROJECT OF CREATING YOUR OWN TROPICAL GARDEN.

In October, my beautiful partner and I bought a new home together. The first request I remember was “let’s have a tropical garden” and when you love someone so much, of course – yes is a wonderful word. Between you and me, a tropical garden is exactly what I wanted too.

Firstly, we cleared the old shrubs and started from scratch (first photo). We then removed some of the sandy soil and brought in a 20cm layer of fresh, fertilized garden soil on top of a whole bunch of extra fertilizer in the form of chicken poop pellets. This was much to the delight of all our neighbours, isn’t that right May? Also delighted was one of our puppies Rebel – the photobomb queen pictured here.

There are so many plants that can be used to create a tropical garden. To keep it simple, I’m going to focus here on the plants that I’ve been able to find easily in the Bribie area.

Many tropical plants need a fair bit of shade. To help, we’ve chosen some partially established golden cane palms. They can be kept short, meaning no hard-to-reach seed pods in years to come. I also love them because they are so versatile. Left unattended for years, they become unruly but with only occasional maintenance, they can be shaped to whatever configuration you desire. We want a few tall stems to cast shade and not so much of the bushy lower-centres that many people prefer for screening. In our case, the fence provides privacy anyway and being able to see the fence behind the plants adds depth to a fairly narrow garden space. A lickety-split philodendron is near the left. It can grow to 2 metres, casting shade when the lower leaves are trimmed. Just like its smaller cousin the xanadu, it’s lush, lime-green foliage is a nice contrast to the reddish calatheas and cordyline on either side.

Coleus, mini-agapanthas, portulacas, a money tree, dark cordyline and small purply ficus all adorn other spaces here. A bird of paradise (strelitzia) is being added soon. You may have noticed we put a lovely rojo congo there just behind Rebel. It needs more shade than it’s currently getting so I’ll move this one and think about planting a new one there when the palms get bigger. And inspired by one of my customers – thanks Dee – we’ve trailed plants over and between the rocks. Dichondra (both green and silver), some sun-tolerant ferns, bromeliads, gypsophila (baby’s breath), violet and red-flowering vincas, swedish ivy and other presently mysterious plants found at markets all have their place in this space.

Turf is coming soon, which will complete this area. Happy days. See you in issue 133 on 10th February. Thanks for reading and as always, happy gardening.

A s a child in England, I never had a holiday, and only went to the beach on one occasion, which involved a long day trip from the early hours until late in the evening. So when my family moved to Sydney seeking free education and to escape post-war rationing, everything was different. My Pop worked for the Transport Department six days a week, so Sunday was a day to relax with fishing, water-colour painting (for Mum) and swimming. We would divide our time between Forty Baskets Beach on Middle Harbour, and the northern beaches recently made famous by a Covid outbreak.

Forty Baskets was only accessible on foot at the time. Most people took the path near the water, but sometimes we would climb the hill and pursue the path through the heathland, enjoying the wild flowers along the way. One time we passed close to a couple in flagrante delicto and had a good giggle – don’t tell Mum!

One trip to the northern beaches was particularly memorable. Suburbia was expanding there at the time, but we were lucky enough to see a koala in the wild before its home was destroyed. On the way home, driving through what was still bush, we encountered a bush fire. It was clear that it was under control, so we continued and got home safely. But that night we drove to the Roseville Bridge and watched the fire on the hill opposite – an amazing sight from a safe distance. Every year my school friends would recount where they had been on holiday, but the best I could rake up when asked by my teacher to write about it, was a day trip to the zoo, or museum, or perhaps somewhere like Jenolan Caves. But in my last year of high school, most of the family finally got away from Sydney, for our first holiday.

With the prospect of the children leaving home in the near future, Mum and Pop had purchased a piece of land at Gerringong, just south of Kiama. They never did build there, and sold it just before the prices started to rise – it is now completely built up. But in 1959, it was still mainly pasture land. Pop hired a caravan, which he parked on the land so he and Mum could have their holiday in comfort. We were left at home for the last week of term, under the supervision of my elder sister who was 19. She had a job, but the rest of us took a free train trip on Dad’s holiday pass and spent a few days on the land. We had to put up with a tent and li-los for our first holiday, but fortunately the weather was fine. Accustomed to being free range, we kids spent our time exploring the locality or playing board games, though most days we would persuade Pop to drive us to the beach to enjoy a swim. Our most memorable discovery was that the well from which we obtained our water supply, contained a dead frog!

It was only a short holiday before we caught the train back to Sydney. Today’s teenagers would be disgusted with such simple pleasures, and no theme parks to visit, but it was our first holiday and we loved it. But the idyllic after-glow took a dramatic twist when we children arrived back in Sydney to a note from our big sister – she had run away from home!

WHETHER YOU HAVE A TATTOO OR NOT, HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT TATTOOS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW!

► The oldest known tattooed human skin to date is found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, who was estimated between 3370 and 3100 BC. His body was found in the Alps and had 61 tattoos of simple dots and lines using carbon ink.
► In 1891, the first electric tattoo machine was invented and patented by Samuel O’Reilly. The tattoo gun stemmed from Edison’s electric pen when O’Reilly added needles and an ink reservoir.
► A tattoo gun can puncture the skin between 50 and 3,000 times per minute, penetrating the skin about one millimetre deep in the skin to the dermis.
► One of the oldest recorded tattoo ink recipes consists of Egyptian pine bark, corroded bronze, vinegar, vitriol, leek juice and insect eggs.
► The word “tattoo” is one of the most misspelled words in the English language. It is commonly spelled as “tatoo.”
► Gregory Paul McLaren holds the Guinness World Record for being the most tattooed person. He is 99.9% covered, including the inside of his eyelids, mouth, and ears.
► The world’s richest tattoo artist is Scott Campbell, who charges $2,000 for the first hour and $200 for each additional hour, only working on the weekends.
► In 2005, Kimberly Smith tattooed “GoldenPalace.com” on her forehead to pay for her son’s tuition, making her the first person to have a tattoo for advertisement.
► Musician Tommy Lee set a Guinness World Record when he became the first man to be tattooed mid-air (on a plane) in 2007.
► The longest tattoo session (multiple people) is 60 hr 30 min and was achieved by Aleksandr Pakostin (Russian Federation) in Vologda, Russia, on 12 September 2019
► When starting an apprenticeship, aspiring tattoo artist usually practices on fruit. Grapefruit, oranges, and lemons are the closest texture to human skin.
► The most expensive tattoo in the world costs $924,000. It is done with half a carat diamonds encrusted into the skin instead of ink. No one has ever had it done.
► New Zealanders are the most tattooed people in the world. This is mostly due to the island’s Maori who still get traditional Polynesian tattoos.
► In Soviet Russia, some prisoners would get tattoos of Lenin and Stalin. This was not a form of support, but in case they were sentenced to death, guards would not shoot them because it was illegal to shoot at images of their national leaders.