SoS 8/2/19
I’ve had nothing much to talk about with my gardens due to the ongoing heatwave and drought. My garden began to close up on itself, plants ceased flowering, leaf edges became singed, and in fact my plant kingdom felt like I did. Badly in need of a cool change.
We finally got one on Wednesday – not so much a ‘cool’ change as a wet one. We received 40 mls of rain on the coast and 14 in the Matchbox Garden in the city. OH and self have had five days in the city, during which time we cut back and generally tidied up. It’s amazing how that tiny microclimate has kept itself moist and cool. So much so I was prompted to open plant catalogues.
But back to our bigger and more productive garden.
I arrived back here late yesterday and I discovered the veggie garden was prolific with snap peas, zucchinis, beans, carrots, beetroot, lettuces, parsnips, eggplants, radishes, and many herbs. In the background is a netted and happily laden green gage tree. We’ve already cleaned off the cherry plums next to it. The quinces are hanging in there, the nectarines have split with the rain and most of the apples from the aged trees have fallen.
We had earlier decided to let the pak choy continue to flower as it was good for the bees, along with basil and rocket flowers.
I noticed that the sunflowers had begin to bloom – a bee bonanza.
Many cabbage white butterflies also inhabited the garden and have in fact, through the larva stage, demolished all the pak choy leaves.
I might add that the veggie garden has only managed to survive the heatwave with rather a lot of expensive water. But the food we’ve eaten has been little short of gorgeous!
But back to the catalogues. I’ve placed an order for:
White sea daffodils…
White (because I love white) and saffron crocuses (for the threads)..
Black and white tulips…
Grape hyacinths…. A mixture of white with a whisper of the softest blues and mauves. A waft of cool colours that attract off the page in the hottest summer Australia has had.
And because I fancy I might like a shock in my white garden, I saw this Virichic tulip and was rather taken with it. In a tub, somewhere.
And that’s my six+ for this SoS. We’re expecting more heat this month, so it’s between me, water and a mulch of lucerne hay to keep the garden happy.
Please pop over to the Propagator to get a global gardening fix. It’s such wonderful weekend reading.
I’m browsing bulb catalogues as well.
It’s that time, Barbara, isn’t it?
I have major vegetable envy! Despite the drought and the butterfly invasion, your garden looks lovely.
Hi Granny! This year’s amazing in the veggie garden. I’m unsure why. You’d think the heat would have knocked everything down like it has in the flower garden. Mind you, my tomatoes are useless.
No chance of getting into the garden here, the ground is sodden, very wet and windy !
But just think, Libby. When I’m in the depths of winter, you’ll be enjoying beautiful bulbs and envious flowers.
Your garden looks wonderfully productive given the hot summer you have had. Our bulbs are just about to come up on this side of the equator and I can’t wait.
We allow the garden to sleep, well-fertilised and mulched right through winter. It may be why it is productive. But it was slow to take off this year and we think we will shut it down until Spring 2020, dig it over hard, bring in new compost, put in a manure crop and just leave it fallow. My problem will be not being able to go out and pick veg just before cooking dinner. 🙁
In the depths of grey here your veg garden made me yearn for Spring even more. Lovely
It’s coming, Dorris. Just as autumn is approaching us… 😉
What lovely choices for your garden…and so many fresh veggies. I am enjoying these photos of your garden early this morning whilst waiting for our furnace to come on and heat the condo again as the biting cold has returned again – back at -20 C.. I can already hear my Mum’s voice telling us to “Hurry, it’s so cold!” when we take her for her hair appointment later this morning lol
Ah Judy! You frighten me with those cool temperatures!
Prue, I don’t mean to. Hearing of your frightfully hot temps along with the fires really concern me…have they managed to get the fires under control?
The fires are now at advice level, Judy, after the rain earlier in the week. But the problem is that the wilderness areas have a lot of peat which can keep burning underground. If the right conditions occur, there may be flare-ups. The loss of rare wilderness and of tourist businesses closer to the towns has been enormous. But you know what? My heart breaks for the farmers in North Queensland with the terrible floods. Thousands and thousands of cattle will be lost from drowning or pneumonia. It’s a tragedy. What a strange land we live in – horrendous floods in the north of Australia and fires in the south.
Bulb catalogues! Funny. I guess it is that time for you. My tulips are just poking their noses through.
It only seems like yesterday that you all began ordering yours!
That White Sea daff is a strange looking thing but I have to say I’m pretty drawn to it. I can’t recall seeing it in a catalogue in the UK but I think I’ll look out for it.
I’ve never seen it before. It’s like a cross between an Australian spider orchid and a daff for me in its shape. All that remains now is for for me not to kill it!
The veg garden looks amazing, especially given the heat. Love the colour of the sunflower
Isn’t it amazing? It comes from a packet of mixed micro-green seeds. (I love micro-greens as they pop up in 7 days and one can be very arty and scatter them across a plate of dinner at night and pretend one is in a restaurant!) This mix was sunflower, rocket and purple basil.
Oh that Sunflower is a dazzler.
I was shocked when the bud opened as I really was expecting just standard yellows. The 40 mls of rain has paled it off quite a lot but it’s still beautiful and the purpose is to draw the bees which it’s doing. The state’s bees have struggled through the summer as the island’s wild blossoms burned in shocking wilderness fires. I wanted to see as many as possible hovering in my garden.
Oh, I like the black and white tulip plans, Prue, even though I didn’t see a photo. I’ve had a love of black and white combinations in flowers for a few years, and those will certainly not disappoint! Your sea daffodil looks fascinating as well.
Hopefully, I can grow them out to show what they look like. I was filling up my 6’s so quickly that I had to eliminate the picture of the tulips. I will be honest though – in our gardens, the spring winds are appalling and the first year I grew tulips, they had so much promise and then they were all snapped off in the equinoxial gales. Same the following year. I’m hoping I might at least get a tub or two of them this year. I shall move them round the garden on wheels if I have to, because I love tulips!
That tulip is a stunner
Isn’t it striking, Helen? Here’s hoping I can grow it to maturity!