The garden is a constant source of joy. So here is an update. First a few things that have been beautiful, but are now past their prime. Starting with my pride and joy, the standard azalea. Joe and I repotted this, I thought at the wrong time, therefore thought we’d foregone this year’s flowers. It was not to be, they came, late to be sure, but as beautiful as everl.
They put on quite a spectacular show. These pictures were taken on 28 September; before all of the flowers were out.
But then came the wind and rain – a lot of both. This is what it looks like today – 12 October.
Still it’s beautiful in its prime, as were the hyacinths in their row of pots. I’ve moved them out of sight towards the back; leaving the foliage to continue to feed the bulbs so they remain plump and healthy for next year’s flowering. It’s nearly time to pull them up and put them in the garage for summer. Lots of rain will have been good for them. I’m striking impatiens to put in the pots, with some self sown lobelia, when the bulbs come out.
Another thing of fleeting beauty is my tree peony which has had two flowers this year. The first time there’s been more than one. It looks so dead when it’s dormant and then miraculously springs to life. I picked this first bloom and put it in a vase – a mistake as it faded very quickly.
This is the second bloom, left to live out its short life on the plant. It still doesn’t last very long, but is so beautiful.
Here is the full plant, safely sheltered under the red camellia.
Another first this year has been this plant which has fully flowered for the first time. I consulted my resident experts (Fran and Jane) and was told it is a Viburnum Plicatum. I’ve had two of them for ages without seeing these lovely blooms. Both plants produced a few; this is the one down the back, the other is alongside the northern fence. It must be all the rain or maybe just age.
Elsewhere some old favourites continue to give pleasure. These Calibrachoa plants have been terrific in my hanging baskets- they drape nicely and are very long-lasting. I have four. This one has been at its best – for the first time really. Looks great under the red camellia when both are in flower.
The two outside the front door have been the most prolific for longest. Here’s the closest.
And the second one (Goodnight Kiss). We admire these every morning at breakfast. Occasionally rushing out to shoo away Indian miner birds who are picking at them.
And lately, for the first time for ages, this one on the other side of the back door has flowered. Pretty peach coloured, which was meant to complement a peach coloured azalea nearby which has since been moved – and is currently swamped by other plants in the middle garden.
Here are some other pots along the northern fence. I don’t know the name of the yellow flower on the left – only that it wilts at the slightest dryness / heat.
The pansies are nice but I really like the black and yellow petunias (Midnight Gold) in the two pots on the right – which you can’t see very well but which are coming out for the second year running. Here it is close-up.
The cloudbush in the middle is reaching for the sky and will have one big bloom in a little while. In the meantime I love the colour and shape of the leaves. I’m trying to keep it from becoming too scraggly.
The ballerina fuschias are also putting on a show. I now have five hanging baskets containing these; all struck from my original two, purchased at the Melbourne Flower and Garden show years ago. They’ve just started flowering and will give pleasure for ages.
Here’s another pot of the same, with another in the background. I move them around so we can view this magnificent display for the longest time – nearly six months I reckon.
And here’s my second variety of fuschia – struck from my neighbour’s garden and pruned into two standards. Over winter they were hidden away but, about to flower, I’ve now retrieved them. Fabulous form and colour.
Here they both are – sentinels standing guard on our middle garden, which is flourishing in the absence of the Chinese Pistachio tree. The one on the right obviously had more sun in exile.
You can see in that picture some things about to burst into a profusion of colour. Including my snapdragons. It’s the first time I’ve planted these; all from seedlings at the nursery. This pink one flowered first; these are second and third stems with more coming. I picked the first and it lasted ages in a vase.
I’ve got two more coming – different colours. Perhaps not so striking. I’d call this cerise?
And this one – tangerine? I lost one plant which had lots of spikes coming. I’m not sure why, given these have flourished. I blame Otto though I didn’t see any evidence to support that theory.
Other flowers emerging are roses. Here’s a pink one – a pity I don’t have the names. It’s close to flowering. It’s going to be a bumper year thanks to the rain and a bit of food at the right time!
This is my apricot coloured David Austin, another whose name I don’t know. It’s the first to open up, with lots more to come.
I think this one, in the middle garden, is a Madam de Maison. Flowering a bit later; still beautiful.
And my faithful Graham Thomas which has always done very well – but is now, in the absence of the pistachio, turbo charged and in pride of place in the garden.
I’ve got more roses. The Just Joey, normally prolific, is later than the rest. There are another three along the side fence, and one out the front, which are looking promising. I’m also excited about my delphiniums; three of which are close to blooming. I have seven all up; purchased online from Tesselaar. Two are coming along nicely and two will flower later. In the meantime this one, Sweetheart will be the first to flower fully. Dusky pink as promised on the label and very pretty.
And this one will be the second to bloom, soon I hope. It’s in the middle garden. It’s called Cobalt Dream and its flowers should be coloured deep blue with a white eye. We shall see.
I had thought I wouldn’t get any hydrangea flowers because I seem to be out of whack with pruning. I like to cut them back heavily almost as soon as they’ve flowered. Which I’m told is the wrong thing to do! I did it with this, my oldest hydrangea, and now it only has one bud.
But its been feeding my ladybirds which I’m very pleased about. I love ladybirds!
I’m pleased my other plants, which, confused about which stems to cut and which to leave – I left well alone. They’re all from cuttings stuck directly into the ground and all have blooms coming. This one’s on the south side under Patrick’s lemon tree. I think it’s from Fran. I’ll be able to compare colours of some of them by looking at my earlier blog on hydrangeas which is here. This one should be pink.
This one is on the northern side and I suspect is from Mary, which would make it blue I hope. I’ve got about four here and more near the compost bins. I’ve been watering the latter plants to make them go blue – will see whether it works.
My oak hydrangea is also going to have lots of blooms, having only had one very large one in its first year in the garden. I’m looking forward to these.
Finally, I’m waiting to see whether some attempts to grow new things have succeeded. I’m pretty certain my neighbour’s sweet peas will have flowers – soon I hope. These have been grown from seeds she collected from last year’s crop.
And I think these two carnations are going to survive. They come from a beautiful bouquet from Tomfool Flowers, which is a great place for cut flowers and indoor plants. They were an amazing colour and I want to see whether that will be replicated. I can’t stop myself from trying to grow things! And my garden is too small – especially for carnations which are messy plants. We’ll see. They’re in a pot with potatoes!
My most ambitious project to date has been trying to grow new camellia plants. I started trying to grow from cuttings collected on a walk in August or September. They’ve been in a pot placed in a bucket over which I’ve placed a plastic bag ever since. I’ve used rooting powder, but not the right sort of soil for promoting growth. Still, early signs are that I might be successful with some. I’m leaving them for a while yet in my makeshift greenhouse until the weather warms up.
If I’m successful I’m going to try and graft them on to one of my existing camellias; starting with my self sown one that has pure white flowers. I have no room for another plant. I’ve already had a practice. I bought the grafting kit at the Garden of St Erth in July, so have used it to graft cuttings sourced from nearby friends. I was a bit late as it should have been done when the plants were dormant; mine were starting to sprout new growth. So I’m prepared for failure but pleased to have a practice – it’s harder than it sounds (on the instruction sheet) or looks (on the videos on the ABC’s gardening show). Here’s my first attempt.
The tape, and instructions, along with a grafting cutter and knife, came with the set. This is not looking good. I also had another self sown camellia growing in the garden, very small, but growing nicely. I lopped the top off and have grafted a cutting onto the top. We’ll see what happens – I suspect not a lot! Still it’s fun to try.
On the edible garden front, I am waiting anxiously for blueberries to ripen. The man selling blueberries at the Farmers Market told me a few weeks back to give my plant lots of food, which I did. He tells me they should be ready to eat at Christmas. We’ll see. They’re looking good now. I’m anxious about the birds, and rats, and possums and god knows what else.
On the vegetable front, we’ve already had a couple of my spring onions – sown from seed. We have more to come, including these. As well as some red onions; but they seem to be taking forever.
We’ve already had one meal of our own brussels sprouts – grown in the planter out the front. They were great! And we have had some carrots – both raw and cooked; with more of them to come. I’m pleased to see they’re getting bigger! While I was really pleased with the big turnip, we haven’t eaten it.
We are waiting expectantly for potatoes! The plants in bags out the back have been thriving. We harvest when they flower and wilt – some time in October I thought, but no sign of that yet. We have others in a pot out the back and also in the planters out the front. And I’ve given a pot to each of the children. We’ll be self sufficient in potatoes yet.
I’m now turning my attention to summer things. Like lettuce. I’ve still got seeds from last year. I start them off like this.
And then move them to bigger pots. Where they have to be protected from the birds digging them out, in their search for worms in the soil. The trickier thing thus far has been moving them into the planter out the front. I have to wait until they are much bigger.
And here are my first tomato plants. Self sown, so I thought I’d give them a go. I didn’t save any seeds from last year’s tomatoes but these look as though they’ll be okay. I’ve only got space for this many. I have no idea what dug the hole on the right hand side of the pot – don’t want to think about it really!
Joe has read (I think in Stephanie’s cookbook) that you can grow red peppers from the red pepper seeds you are chopping up. So at his request I’ve planted some from the pepper he cut up to cook this week. Another challenge – we’ll see how they go.
All this in my teeny, weeny garden! Thank goodness I’ve had it during these months and months of lockdown – of which we are heartily sick, and of which, hopefully, we’ll only have a week or two left. Here’s a view of the whole garden from our back door.
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