Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Shadehouse broms, 1 by weed_woman

weed_woman wrote:
Were you guys on a Tv show in the last 12 months? I remember watching a heliconia flower growing business on a gardening or documentary show. They are the most gorgeous flowers! I took heaps of photos when we were in Cairns, but it was july and alot had finished doing their thing. Still plenty to look at though.
No, I don't know Craig and felicity. Maybe I should! LOL. I love flower arranging, and drop into the cut flowers forum regularly.
I have one daughter, She is 21 and has moved down to Sydney. She's a city girl. She is doing well for herself, has a nice partner, so what more can I ask for? Hubby has 2 girls to a previous marriage, one is 17, the other 19. We don't see them as much as we used to, because they work and have social lives, but they're also down toward Sydney.
So we have dogs as Children! lOL. A mother and Son pair of Staffies. They keep us amused! We did the chook thing for a few years, but spent more on food than we got back in eggs, and then there were foxes.......and, well, you can imagine the rest.
We moved up here from Sydney about 7 years ago, and were lucky to get in before the property boom. The house is way too big for us though, and alot of maintenance now that the shine has rubbed off! I keep thinking there must be a way to make the property work for us, but haven't found that ideal idea yet.
How large is your property? We are on 2 & 1/2 acres, which is ample when working almost full time. (lots of lawn mowing at weekends).
Heres the Kids (Lily and Leo) in the sun this morning. Just between, and to the back of them, is a small Mango tree with the Heliconia bihai poking up behind it. Its probly more like 2 metres high? The shade house there is the fernery, with a few orchids, ferns and tender things in it. The house up the back is the neighbours.