I just relied on the natural sunlight coming through the sliding kitchen doors on the, I think, south side of the house. Seemed to be plenty of sunlight to sustain the rosemary. Granted, it didn't look like it would have outdoors, but I managed to keep it alive until I could take it back outside where it's now doing well. Thank goodness. Rosemary is one of my absolute favorites. Ranks right up there with basil and garlic. The three to me, make a perfect marriage. Until you've have rosemary/garlic smashed potatoes with dressed with fresh basil, you haven't had smashed potatoes! On the other hand, I found out our neighbor, right across the fence, left his rosemary in the ground all winter, and his plant now looks wonderful. Could have been due to a mild winter (thought there was a slight snow). But I don't think the ground ever froze. I'm seriously considering picking a good spot in the yard, as my neighbor did, and replanting all my container rosemary and let it be what it wants to be.

I actually planted a whole host of different plants to see which would survive better. Everything from correa, alpinia, viola, ziera, NSW Christmas Bush, callicoma, podocarpus, melaleuca, davidson plum and a yet to be planted Wollemi Pine. All are doing quite well. The soil is deep, sandy, reasonably good moisture, but also well drained. Hope this helps.

MM, yes I am rather partial to the Miners, they seem to be everywhere at the moment. Below is a couple of photos of the Heron chicks, not very good photos as I had to crop them a fair bit. I think they will be flying soon, I saw them testing their wings today. I should ahve pointed out that the flowers on the Christmas bush were taken some weeks apart. They start out with tiny white flowers and then the sepals turn red. Bev: There's nothing quite like the sound of birds in your own garden is there? Alison: We used to pick them for Christmas decorations too. I know what you mean about the concrete etc, I returned to my old home a couple of years ago, sort of wish I hadn't as all the bush was gone and the creeks filled in and houses built where they once were and where I spent many happy hours as a child.

Hi beebs, It is my understanding that the reputation of Eucalyptus for limb-shear has been extrapolated from the few to the many. As a general rule of themb, the eucalypts which make good building material are also good strong trees in the paddock, and don't deserve to be lumped with the widowmakers like river redgum and the angophoras. Ironbark is one of the strongest, and a tree you could trust where, for example, you might trust an English oak. Do you want to go with dry sclerophyll plants such as melaleucas and callistemons, ar are you more interested in a rainforesty look? Dry sclerophyll plants burn like a bomb, whereas the "dry rainforest" species tend to be a bit hard to set alight. They are also usually good at growing in a crowd, even in the difficult situiation of under eucalypts. Pittosporums are notably fire-retardant, and are lovely civilised things to live with - not to big and amenable to pruning for thicker growth or size control. Members of the Sapindaceae family are particularly deep rooted and get down below the eucalypt roots to a space of their own. They include Alectryon, Arytera, Atalaya, Cupaniopsis, Diploglottis, Dodonaea, Elattostachys, Guoia, Harpullia, and Heterodendron - plenty of good shrubs and small trees there. And all those dry rainforest things are drought hardy and never need watering after their first six weeks. Hoveas also have a reputation of preferring the under gumtree site. Another gem worth trying is the little Ironbark orchid, Dendrobium aemulum, which you can usually get from nurseries, and might like to attach to the south side of your tree. Trish