Welcome! I am a stay at home mum of two gorgeous boys, proud owner of an online handmade store and an avid gardener. This blog records most of my gardening journey over a few properties. We have recently moved to a new permanent property and it's time to start gardening again! I enjoy time-out in my home garden looking at and photographing birds, insects and plants. It is also a haven for my sons and golden retriever. May you enjoy your visits here. :)
6 of my 12 Saffron bulbs from Tessalaar have finally emerged around the peach tree.
1 of the 2 Artichoke Green Globe has produced 4 new shoots.
The two Clementis The President seem to have taken the soil next to the small black gate fine.
Snow peas growing.
Protected my aloe veras from the coming cold.
I also planted some Mustard seeds (Biomulch) and Clover seeds in Patch F. The patch is empty now and the mustard and clover when grown, will be dug into the soil as nutrients for the soil.
My bittermelon plants are crawling up the trellis and have flowers but no fruit yet. I doubt I would ever get one this seaon since they only started growing December.
All 11 strawberry delight plants have done well and growing! They are all in styrofoam boxes which leak which is great because the boxes will not collect rainwater and drown the plants. Yeah more strawberries next season!!!
My thai basil are doing very well even with the cold rains. I hope I would be able to keep them alive through the coming cold winter months.
Chives (Asian type) have survived the dividing and re-planting. All I need is some support as the long leaves are falling all over the place.
The planter of saffron sativus crocus are growing. So far those 12 under my peach tree havent sprouted yet and I am beginning to wonder if I have planted them too dig. :(
Surprise find! Lots of coriander seeds have sprouted where the old coriander plants were. Very happy gardener here!
I decided to invest in a choko few days ago. I love to grow perenial fruiting plants, vegetables and flowers because I dont have to pay money to keep planting new plants. So I thought choko would be a good idea. It has gorgeous leaves, is perenial and bears fruits for dishes. This morning I found the base looking a bit different. Something is sprouting. I guess it could be the root. Many websites talk about choko planting but they never ever mention properly how to plant it. So I chose to place it in a bowl and see it sprout instead of planting it straight into the ground.
Love the beautiful architectural look.
My passionfruit panama red right out of our garage has survived attacks by slugs. It is now very green and growing. Got to figure out the supports soon because it is starting to climb.
The other passionfruit panama red is looking dreadful. The one above used to look like this after planting, so I am hopeful that this one will make it too. It is next to my front patio where lavender avon view used to be.
New artichoke green globe plants growing where the original plant is. Yeah!
I have protected my precious eggplant florianda with plastic. Feel so good after doing this job because I dont want my frost-tender plants to die!
Ermm...due to the mad weather, the jonquils under the plum tree emerged. Wonder what the result would be...
I have got calendulas growing here, along the fence behind the plum tree, next to the water tank. This is a very shady area and the soil is bad. Even though there is a layer of old weed mat underneath, the seeds germinated and are growing. I dont mind having calendula growing here to add some bright yellow colours. It has been a boring area and weeds easily grow here. Might as well have calendulas!
Bought a pot of galangal ginger from the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
I have divided and planted it in our back garden. :)
The two Clementis The President have transplanted very well. I mulched them today with oops! Uncomposted pine bark chips. Not sure if the leaves will turn yellow due to nitrogen draw-down. Have to keep an eye. Mulch is so essential esp in hot or windy situation as evaporation rate is very high. Cannot keep up with watering so best way to conserve water in the potting mix is by mulching or using water crystals.
Here's a not so well-taken picture of my red cyclamen. It is flowering like mad now in autumn. What a strange sight.
How winter protection on my property looks like. I use strong plastic sheets around stakes driven into the ground. And then peg them. The pegs must be really strong ones that wont come apart when strong winds blow. This protection is half-done. My chilli padis, thai basil, capsicum are going to take shelther here. Last year the chillies were well taken care of in this manner.
One lemongrass clump fully covered. Last year I did not do protection for my lemongrass and they looked really bad when spring came. They took a long time to revive and grew. So this year I am not taking chances.
11 pots of strawberry delight plants after dividing. I read that dividing should happen in winter but I decided to do it now. Let's see if they survive. So far not bad.
Giant leaves. Burdock in the raised vege patch. Hope to harvest soon.
The mother kalanchoe plant. Why? Because I have successfully propagated a baby plant from its cutting! Hooray for me!
The baby's looking not bad at all. It has put on a lot of growth from a tiny cutting. Looking forward to red bell-like flowers in winter.
I planted this whole clove of garlic in a pot of compost cum premium potting mix cum bulb fertiliser. Hope it will work to produce more garlic cloves. Fun! And a BSF friend gave some large chilli padis (the left is hers and the right is mine! See the size difference.) I planted the seeds of her chilli and shall see if I have any chance of growing this chilli in my garden.
That's the back sapphire lawn which I have sort of aerated. It looks a bit patchy because doggy uses it to pee and poo and this burns the grass!
On the fifth day after transplanting into a larger pot, both my newly acquired Clementis The President have their single flower buds open. Such a beautiful colour. It reminds me of both my blue Senetti which sadly died after planting into the ground.
Out of the all the figs (brown turkey) that I have picked this season, these two have those 'scar-like' marks on them. I believe this is known as 'split fruits'. Too much watering can cause this. Fortunately they have not split open yet and we still could enjoy eating them!
I am obviously not looking forward to finishing my figs on both trees. They are so delicious I wish I have more. Hopefully next year. I shall give the two trees a good fertilising with compost soon. By the way, we have decided to name one fig tree 'Figgy' and the shorter Flemings fig tree 'Big Fig'. The former is named by me and the latter is by my son.