05 Jul
0
28
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 5th July 2026
Hello everyone, welcome again to this supposedly bi-monthly newsletter that didn’t make it for June. Please see Rats Ringbark Trees and Using Fruit Protection Bags and Sleeves to Protect Saplings and Young Trees be..
04 Jul
0
47
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 4th July 2026
This post complements this earlier one, in which I listed three ways to propagate sugarcane: in water; planted vertically in soil as with a cutting; and buried shallowly and horizontally in the ground.
There I also..
04 Jul
0
39
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 4th July 2026
Back in March 2026 I wrote about an aerially-rooting and shooting sugarcane stem of Cultivar 1, which you can read about here.
That post ended with this photo, of the original stem in two pieces which were then pot..
03 Jul
0
70
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 3rd July 2026
As with the Wollongong Botanic Garden’s Kawasaki Bridge, hubby’s wonderful vegie beds too are succumbing to our climate — and these were constructed from hardwood and treated pine!
(And if you reeled in horror at t..
02 Jul
0
128
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 2nd July 2026
The Wollongong Botanic Garden’s Kawasaki Bridge is being repaired!
Maybe “replaced with a replica” is more accurate, as the traditional Japanese wood it is currently made from sadly just doesn’t hold up to our clim..
02 Jul
0
73
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 2nd July 2026
The previous post here mentioned my discovery that rats ringbark trees, and how they went for some young figs, citruses, and eventually, the jujube trees.
As I had done here and here, I found myself reaching yet ag..
02 Jul
0
72
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 2nd July 2026
Did you know that rats ringbark trees?
I did not until very recently, when discovering this young fig late one evening, bark stripped and even the top of the trunk, which had growing leaves, removed:
copyright © K..
01 Jul
0
87
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st July 2026
Continuing with the theme on how these fruit protection bags and sleeves with their handy drawstrings make them more versatile than ‘just’ protecting fruit, I also find them useful for protecting seeds.
This is the..
01 Jul
0
80
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st July 2026
These fruit protection sleeves and bags with their handy drawstrings are far more versatile than ‘just’ protecting fruit. (And they are superb for doing that.)
Recently I found the large sleeve ideal for drying fru..
01 Jul
0
48
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st July 2026
Fruit Salad / Fruity / Potpourri Sage (Salvia dorisiana)
Family: Lamiaceae (the mint family: includes mints, basils, sages, oreganos)
Genus: Salvia (includes sages and rosemary)
Botanical/Binomial Name: Salvia do..
28 Jun
0
57
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 28th June 2026
“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”
This gorgeous thing is one of our many local equivalents of the majestic oak — a baby Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) shedding its seed coat. The Norfolk Island ..
12 Jun
0
92
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 12th June 2026
This complements the Update: An Effective, Homemade Rodenticide post.
Please also read about Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) and their threats to wildlife and pets here.
The problem with the ..