It's early spring here in the tropics and much of our winter veg have come to an end. All the tomatoes have finished now (we grow summer veg in winter) and the last remaining pumpkins are picked and been left to 'harden' in the very warm dry air outside. I'll bring them in once the rain and humidity return in the wet season.
The dahlias have decided to keep offering their gorgeous scarlet blooms, and the bottle brush trees (of which we have quite a few) are taking centre stage around the garden.
All the hibiscus are in flower again, though they do flower all through winter - but in spring they just explode with beauty. This is my favourite at the moment...
Hubby planted out some late (for our climate) radishes and cucumber three weeks ago and it looks like we'll get a nice spring harvest for the daily salads we enjoy.
We're still reaping from our beans, chilli and capsicums...
....as well as a variety of tasty herbs such as sweet basil (which is just now coming on as it loves the heat), thai basil, parsley, four varieties of mint, marjoram, rosemary, chives, coriander. Some are just taking off, some are winding down and others are going to seed. I save some seeds but the rest I leave to fall into the soil for next year.
Every morning I make a fresh mint tea with a few slivers of ginger. It's become my coffee replacement and though I miss the taste of a freshly ground brew of coffee my mind and body respond much better to the mint and ginger. It's quite delicious!
We find that marigolds will grow here all year round so after removing the spent zinnias from the planter stand hubby made me earlier this year I replaced them with new marigolds. I never used to like them, but I see them now as cheery little things, pops of sunshine. I've added them to many areas of the garden and they thrive but over our very long summer it will be lovely to have them in the tall planter where I can see them as I sip my early morning tea in the shade nearby.
Of course one glorious pop of vibrancy that every day blesses my need for colour is the large pink bougainvillea right near the planter stand and our potting table.
I love it when the chives go to flower, don't you? This bulb will be so pretty when it opens.
Fruits are coming along in the garden as well.
We recently potted a paw paw which doubled in size within a couple of weeks and added a blueberry to one of the raised beds to see how it would fair and it's already in bloom...
Our lemon tree and lime tree are fruiting and we find this very exciting as we re-planted the lemon tree out back when we moved here two years ago (it was a tiny withering thing in the front yard) and it did nothing, but these past winter months it has tripled in size with a lot of lemons and flowers growing at last.
The grafted lime tree was planted near the lemon tree late last year and it too has tripled in size, becoming abundant with fruit. Limes grow exceptionally well in the tropics.
I tend to neglect the pineapple plants because no matter what happens they just keep growing. The fruit was scorched the last two times they fruited but this year we've got them in semi shade and it seems to suit them.
In the same raised garden that we have the blueberry bush experiment I've planted kale and more ends of spring onions (green onions) which sprouted overnight.
I have another big pot of spring onions which I started the same way a year ago and they never stop producing, fortunately for us, and we eat from them most days.
I planted seaside daisies in pots early May as last year this was when they flourished, but this year they were not so happy. Until about two weeks ago. Then they picked right up so I imagine we'll soon have a beautiful display from the half dozen plants scattered around the gardens.
My rose blooms all year round because it's never cold here, but I did prune it back in mid autumn (April) and dug in fertiliser around the roots. Well, it grew back to full flower within weeks and just never stopped. I trim away all the spent flowers and add banana skins just under the mulch at the base of the rose and always a new flush of roses appears.
I've just last week trimmed off the spent flowers again, added nutrients, and here she comes again with another flush...
Now I do get asked what we eventually planted in that donated Royal Doulton toilet so now I shall tell you. After careful consideration we decided on lemongrass because whenever it's grown in the garden it becomes a huge fountain of cascading leaves with amazing fragrance. That cascade of leaves covers the base (in fact it reminds me of a green Cousin It from the old Addams Family show in the 60's!) so it will eventually cover the toilet. But for now it's an interesting conversation piece.
Hope you enjoyed the updated roam around our garden? I've got a new project to show you next time and a freebie you may like to stitch up, but as this post is already long enough I shall just sign off with photos of home yesterday when Blossom and the girls came to visit.
Cully May and Rafaella played in the cubby, fed the chickens and ate quite a few of Poppy's cookies, but after lunch they settled down to rest and watch an episode of Peter Rabbit....
...whilst very pregnant Blossom put her feet up a while and enjoyed another cup of tea with me, her blessed mummy.
What's happening in your garden this season?
Bless you heaps,
PS: I have just added quite a few more patterns to my Etsy Shop including complete issues of The Rewind Club! Go HERE to browse for your next stitching project.
14 comments:
It is almost fall here according to the calendar but the weather is definitely fall cool to downright cold. Nothing is growing as we have had frost and it is time to clean out perenials and cut back a few shrubs before winter.
I have Mums and pansies in pots along with pumpkins and squash. We still have tomatoes to pick. It's been very cool here but no frost yet. I'm sure it's right around the corner.
Thanks for letting us have a peek at your garden. We may be in the same country, but our planting/growing cycles are very different. Lemongrass in the loo is just perfect!
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for the garden tour ! It's fun to see how plants adapt, grow and recover and regrow! I had to smile at the marigolds :) I was helping someone in the garden a few years ago. She had bought a tray, 10 small, marigolds the day before so that I could plant them. When she brought them to me there wasn't a flower to be seen. Only 10 small sticks. The slugs had found them. We had to laugh at the speed at which these were " enjoyed" ! One of those moments one wishes there was a night cam recorder.
lemmongrass! great idea!
31 C expected today! Happens more and more in September the last few years. A few super Summer days !
hugs, take care,
Joanne
The dahlias are beautiful! I just love how the petals are curled around to form tubes! Bougainvillea is one plant I miss from when we lived in Western Australia. It's so colourful and cheery.
My sister decided to get an early start with our garden this year so that we can harvest before the heat of summer arrives. We currently have beetroot, radish, potatoes, beans and corn planted, with most of them already sprouting. The radish was seed that she collected from a plant that bolted and flowered earlier in the year. Some of the corn is from seed collected from previous plantings. The potatoes either sprung up on their own (one in the strawberry pot that has been re-potted elsewhere) or were from some heirloom ones gifted to me. We also have some strawberry plants flowering and leaves coming on the apple trees and loganberry vine.
Our garden is also full of spring flowers - tulips, anemones, forget-me-nots, love in the mist, and a whole bed of poppies in a variety of colours - just to name a few.
Your hibiscus flower is amazing!! I've never seen one like it before!
Blessings on you!!
Oh Jenny your garden is so alive and green. Everything is flourishing. We are just getting into Fall season here. My vegetable garden is spent. My largest chocolate mint has died back after all the rains we had. But all my other herbs are flourishing. My chives are all abloom as well. Im looking forward to fall and winter for it to cool off here. I am having major back surgery on the 22nd of this month They are removing the L$ L5 joint of my spine and replacing with a titanium rod that will be fused into place and my spine will be fixed back into proper alignment. This is a major surgery which will make me not able to stoop of bend or twist for a very long time. Please send some prayers up for me as I am gonna need it . With hopes this will end the cysts from being in my spine and almost crippling me yest again. This time I have 4 cysts there. I may not be on social media or online for a bit . Love you my friend. The girls look absolutely adorable. Take care of yourself .
Lovely pictures from your garden Jenny - so productive. It is unseasonably hot here and the garden is very brown and dry. We have a few beans that we are watering to keep going and a few tomatoes that need to ripen, everrything else is finished now. We used to grow cabbage and brussel sprouts for the winter but the plants need to go in during the summer and it is just to difficult to keep them shaded and watered. We do have some parsnips for later on but too early for them yet. xx
I'm finding more and more I'm keen on growing things. I've always had a green thumb, and always had some sort of garden and houseplants but here of late, I keep expanding and nurturing and rooting and growing more. And the more I grow, the more I want to have more to grow. Loved seeing your garden. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jenny, I love your garden. Having a lemon tree would be wonderful. Here in northern New Jersey, summer is almost over. The plants are drying up and winding down. I still have herbs growing on my deck which I will dry and keep for winter use.
I hope Blossom is doing well, and that you are doing better. I have thought of you and her often. Recovering from foot surgery that I had back in July is taking longer than I thought it would. Along with some other life changing events, I've been kind of down and haven't been leaving comments on my favorite blogs.
Thank you for sharing your life with us. You are an encouragement.
I'm living vicariously because we have nothing similar to your backyard paradise. It's wonderful to see the variety, colors, and all the possible uses for everything you grow, even if the use is simply "eye candy." I'm also glad for you to be able to continue to see your daughter and grandies during this pandemic. That's not possible here. It will soon be a year since I've seen mine - except for FaceTime - and that's MUCH too long to be apart.
Here, I have some things that bloom in the fall - some Gerber daisies, my Ch-Ching yellow rose which smells so sweet, and hostas, but mostly the leaves are just beginning to turn, and fall temps are coming in, for which I am very ready! I really enjoyed the trip around your garden. I love (yes, love!) bottle brush.
Greetings Jenny, Do you have a one page handout of what you offer beginning embroidery ladies? Website, Store, Blog, etc.? If not I can make one for a quilting group who are not allowed to quilt at their church. We are only allowed 10 chairs in a circle with no tables and we have to bring our own trays. Our 1st item will be a needlecase. I showed them patterns in my Jenny Notebook of past years. They loved the "Postcards from Heaven." They are so excited to learn. Thank you for all your inspiration over the years.
Caroline Weber
Secrets you removed our summer garden and just planted some peas, snap peas, broccoli and I'm waiting for soaker hose from Amazon for I can plant lettuce, spinach and kale. I've not had a lot of success with winter gardening but this is a new home and a new opportunity. I did grow a beautiful coleus from seed.
Oh Jenny your garden is so LUSH! I have a grape tomato plant in my living room that is just starting with tomatoes, very late but hopefully it will give us tomatoes well into winter. And basil - it's doing well in the living room too but I have no idea what to do with it, other than put it in tomato soup, lol. Love the picture of the girls, so darling!!!!
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