'Comtesse de Labarthe' NOT

I've never seen a pink flower on my CdL. I'm thinking it is 'Madame Joseph Schwartz'. Sometimes it will have a light pink blush but it is mostly white. It's slowly turning into a lovely plant too.

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Simon

Yep possibly 'Madame Joseph Schwartz' which is often sold in oz as "Mme de Watteville"

Gary

PS Complete any projects over Easter? All I did was clean the place up a bit, built a couple small walls and a pit of fence.

I'm in the process of clearing tussock grass and blackberry off a large slope infront of my house so I can extend the rose gardens. That's been occupying most of my time and energy. I'm about a 1/4 of the way through it and have discovered muscles I didn't know I had (and they continue to make their pressence felt ). Once I get the grass removed I need to roundup the area and then try and work out how to keep mulch on a 45° slope There is a place near here that sells rolls of weed matting that is heavy like felt made from jute. It's biodegradeable but will cost a fortune to cover this slope. You can also buy rolls of heavy duty gal. chicken wire that is only about 30cm wide. I was thinking I could peg this wire in low fences around the contour of the slope at periodic intervals and then mulch between the low fences so it can't wash down the hill. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. You can see the slope here in this photo taken from the back paddock back towards the house.

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It stretches from the far left to the right edge of the house and down about 10m... keeps me off the streets anyway

Simon, your house and garden look lovely.
I really love the fern trees in your gully or creek .
Can't make out your Tussock Grass but would Fusilade (spelling?) kill it ?
Blackberry, if you can't dig it out. How about cutting it down to ground level and the moment you have cut it paint it with round up.
Instead of the expensive weed mat have you thought of old carpet or underlay ? you may be able to pick up for nothing when people are recarpeting or from the tip. It works a treat on any area of the garden that you dont want weeds to grow but you do want worms to breed. You just cut holes in it for your plants. Sooner or later the carpet will break down or you can pull it up when it has done its job.
I hope this helps.

The area is a BIG area. It is 10m wide and the entire length of the house. I'm not sure I'd ebe able to get enough LOL. The fusilade would work once I get it cleared but the grass growing there is not your standard grass. It is a type of pasture grass the farmers use around here that grows from a small bulb and I need to remove all these bulbs because roundup does not kill it. What you suggest with the blackberry is what I'm doing. Just cutting it off and as soon as it reappears I paint it with undiluted roundup.

Simon, have a look at All Stake Supply who are major suppliers of products like rolls for directing water etc so think they would have something cheaper. Have you thought of using straw bales across the slope and building up behind them with vegetable matter and household scraps. You might be able to have a no dig compost only beds backed up along the back of the bales. Would encourage great worm activity

Try to find the council green waste works and have a chat to the guys about supply without noxious weeds. Race horse stables are a good supplier of quality composting material.

Don't know that straw bails would stay on the slope either... I have trouble walking up it. My dogs would be in it if I used kitchen scraps... I use the deep litter from the two chook coops imstead. It's a really big area some 10m wide by near 40m long... that's a lot of kitchen scraps

You know.. I haven't seen a single set of stables aroound here... never thought of that till now... there's on in Devonport I think... but nothing local.