dahlia

If you can stop snails and slugs from feasting on the new growth appearing from the dahlia tubers in spring, you will have a supply of fresh flowers in late summer and autumn.  Dahlias are hungry plants and need full sun to do well.  I have them in different parts of my garden and one clump is still flowering with only partial sun in the afternoon.  Today's high temperature (about 28 degrees centigrade) may encourage the dahlias to send up more buds.  From past years I have noticed that when the plants are fed and watered well, they will have a longer flowering season.  I will wait till next spring to make a better bed for the couple of dahlia varieties I have.  I don't know if I will look out for more as I am running out of space in my garden.  I still have a big lawn which I intend on keeping as it is so soothing to look on to the green grass.  In winter I may look at extending the garden beds, just enough for more flowering plants.

belladonna and lasiandra

The Amaryllis, or belladonna lily, sometimes known as the naked lily are looking pretty in many gardens and on the edges of paddocks.  They flower for a few weeks at this time of the year, and you can see them everywhere, some of deep pink and some in shades of pale pink and white.  They are so easy to grow and if you have a patch in your garden that is well drained and where you can enjoy the flowers in autumn, then put in a few bulbs in summer with the neck of each bulb at ground level.  The naked flower stalks shoots up and the leaves will follow later.  I will be looking out for more bulbs for next year as the flowers are so elegant.

The tibouchina or lasiandra as it is more commonly called is doing so well in my garden (and in most garden), because, I suspect, of the extraordinary amount of rainfall we have been getting.  It likes to be kept moist and grows best in full sun and needs some protection from winter frost.  My lasiandra bush gets the best part of the morning sun and in winter is protected by the Manchurian pear tree.  I must remember to prune it lightly to promote a bushy growth.  I have yet to try to grow it from cutting but I have been told it strikes quite easily from soft-tip cuttings taken during the warmer months.

hoya

When I moved to this house in spring 2008 I found a pot of hoya, barely 20 cm long.  I transferred it to a bigger pot, planting it in a rich mixture of potting mix, compost and some sheep manure.  It is under cover but gets the late afternoon sun and a bit of the morning sun, through a shade cloth.  Knowing that a hoya likes to be pot bound before it will flower I left it in its corner, paying it attention when the profusion of new vines require training along the porch post.  It is a very healthy looking plant and I don't expect it to flower, not until it is more pot bound.  I was pleasantly surprised early this summer when I saw a couple of flowers amongst the shiny leaves.  I have another pot of hoya which has been in the same pot for close to twenty years.  It is a mess, with vines, old and new tangled in each other.  I have to do something about this tangled mess as the flowers are hidden behind layers of leaves.  It is time for repotting and creating a framework for the vines to climb on.