Garden theme - Outer Space

My daughter said that she would sometime like to have a topiary tree clipped to look like a rocket on a launchpad. I think there is a skinny juniper called 'Skyrocket' but probably it wouldn't have enough foliage around the base to make proper fins, so if she wants a realistic looking rocket topiary she might have to make a wire frame.

We thought there would need to be some other space-theme elements in the garden so the rocket wouldn't look out of place, and we amused ourselves furnishing an imaginary Space Garden.

It needs a flying saucer - this could be a metallic birdbath or fountain on a slender pedestal, with a ring of LED lights around the rim.

The flying saucer needs surroundings that suggest alien worlds. What about a ground cover of black mondo grass with Allium cristophii (ornamental onion) floating star-studded globes above the black plain? Or a gravel garden planted with 'Living stones' (lithops)?
And cactuses - they often look like aliens. Elephant's Foot also looks suitably intergalactic.



(Photo shows an alien family slightly bemused by the Earth garden they are visiting.)
















Ornaments are practically mandatory. Anything is possible, from an orrery to a garden gnome in a space suit. An Aeolian harp to play the music of the spheres... A fountain with a ringed planet made of glass spinning on a swirl of water...

What plants could we include? Sunflowers, of course... maybe decorated with stick-on eyes, ears and antennae so they look like extra-solar tourists. Moonflower vine. Star jasmine. Lunaria, for its moon-shaped pods. Cosmos. Aster. Rocket. Jupiter's beard. We would love to include Venus's fly trap, not only because of its name but also because it looks so spacy, but it wouldn't survive in the open garden. Maybe the garden can feature a special habitat, an interplanetary Wardian case, to accommodate Venusian visitors.

It was fun to play with a few ideas for a space-themed garden. If anyone has actually made one, or would like to add to the lists of plants or ornaments, the Impatient Beginner would like to hear from you.

Daffodils and Gazania ground cover

Well, we didn't win Tattslotto so it looks as if we will have to do without our two-storey garage/greenhouse.

In any case, there will be changes in the garden. The big windstorm reminded me of the danger of the gum tree near the house. The tree will have to be removed - with regret, because the birds and possums will miss it.

In the space vacated by the gum tree I intend to plant two or three wattles of a sort that do not grow tall ... Acacia podalyrifolia if I can get it in Tasmania. I love its round silvery leaves.

While digging an extension to the bulb garden I discovered an old concrete footpath buried under a layer of three inches of topsoil. No wonder the grass never grew well there! I'm not up to the job of removing the concrete (as the previous owners weren't) and more topsoil is not an option, so I am thinking of other choices. I would prefer a ground cover plant so I want to try Gazania rigens var. leucolaena over the buried concrete.

This gazania is tough and drought tolerant. I hope it will be able to cover that difficult spot where grass can't grow. If it is successful, then I will extend the area that it covers into the bulb garden. In time it can form a silvery carpet out of which the naturalised daffodils, narcissus, freesia, white nerine and zephyranthes appear in their season.

I bought a bag of twenty daffodil bulbs to start the new extension to the bulb garden. They are simply described as "yellow" so I expect they are the typical golden-trumpeted daffodil. Today I will finish digging the ground, plant the daffs and add some cuttings of the silver leafed gazania. I'm looking forward to spring.

Wish list - Greenhouse on top of Garage

We have an old fibro-cement garage. The walls are cracked, the roof is a rusted ruin, the floor is uneven. It needs to be replaced and my husband has been looking at prepack steel sheds to see whether one of them be a suitable replacement.

I would love to have a greenhouse, especially one with electricity and water connected. If I had a greenhouse you would always know where to find me! Alas, our suburban block is too small to have both a greenhouse and a garage. Dear Husband is correct in saying we need a garage, and it makes sense to build a slightly bigger garage than the existing one so he will have space for his woodworking tools. It makes sense, all right... but I wish...

I had a flash of inspiration. Could we put a greenhouse on top of the garage? Have a two-storey combined garage/workshop/greenhouse? I loved the idea immediately. Imagine it - a possum-proof vegetable garden - a warm sheltered spot for the hydroponic tomatoes and cannas - electricity for the hydroponic pumps - a safe pond space for Katherine's fish. In my imagination I have already begun to design it. The staircase annexe can incorporate a water tank to store rain runoff from the roof. There can be solar panels along the north-facing knee wall.

Obviously such a building would cost considerably more than a simple steel shed. There's the rub. Our pension income is limited (particularly worrying now that financial institutions seem a bit tottery) so we won't be able to afford it unless we win Lotto. I am on my way to buy a ticket now!