day lily

On this last day of the year the sun shines bright and the flowers are just loving the warmth.  The day lily, constantly blooming and dying is a wonderful contrast to the agapanthus and the different shades of green of the different foliage.

View from my kitchen window

These hot poker, buddleia and banksia are growing on the other side of the fence, in my outside garden.    I can see them from my kitchen window, and that was my intention when they were planted.  The hot pokers (kniphofia) are over six feet tall and that must be due to the sheep manure I scattered in the area.

roses

The first flush of roses is almost over but there are still some, looking pretty even though the wind and rain can make them quite bedraggled.

This pink Ballerina rose looks pretty with the deep red pelargonium in front of it.

The Pierre de Ronsard in the foreground, covers half of the arch straddling the footpath and in the background the standard white Iceberg looks healthy with more buds waiting to open.

 A close-up of the de Ronsard, also known as Eden Rose.

This flowering Mermaid rose bush is even taller than the fence.  This was grown from a cutting but I have not been successful lately in trying to get more cuttings to strike.

 The bees do love the flowers.

I am keeping a close eye on this mauve rose as the bush is so low and not showing any sign of growing taller.

This apricot rose is another low bush that is in danger of being swamped.

A typical red rose with a sweet perfume.

banksia

This banksia seed grew from flower bud since October (or earlier) 2012.  It took months for the bud to mature to an open flower and that was in December 2012.  It took months for the seed head to grow to this size.  There are a few flower buds slowly growing to maturity.  I expect to seem them ready for the birds in December.  Below is a picture of the bud, taking its time and looking beautiful in every stage of growth.

It is not a clear picture, but the candle-like bud is behind the hairy seedhead.

Poppies

All over the garden, inside and outside, the poppies are at their best.  Their delicate petals are so easily blown by the strong wind we have been getting but at the moment they are a pleasure to look at, the red, mauve and Californian.  These red poppies amongst the ixias are self sown, beneath the apricot tree.

The pink ballerina rose makes a beautiful background for the red poppies in the front garden, inviting passers by to stop and admire.

A self sown plant, standing tall amongst the gazania.

A row of mauve poppies in the outside garden.

Delicate petals of the mauve poppy, and beautiful crinkled leaves.

Bees enjoying nectar.

A very different form of poppy, the Californian, amongst the violas.  The Californian poppy self sow and some may regard them as weeds but I love to see them appearing at the most unexpected places in the garden.

Spring colours

This bit of garden bed is as crowded as the rest and is beginning to show the roses and lavender.  The globe artichoke is looking healthy but there is no sign of a bud yet.

A beautiful mix of azalea and ixia to greet visitors.

The bluebells are appearing all over the garden.

The gazania along the front fence were replanted after the job of painting the pickets was completed last autumn.  The manure and compost dug into the narrow bed seem to be working.

Two different colours of the gazania collection.

Spring garden

The ixias are blooming creating an instant spring feel to the garden.  The blossoms from the peaches and apricot are gone but the garden are showing off the different flowers at the moment.

This is but one of the few lavender bushes in the garden and the flowers are attracting the bees.  I will be taking cuttings and spreading the lavenders in different parts of the garden.  The English lavender is yet to flower.

The azaleas are still brilliant though some bushes are spent and waiting to be pruned.  They bring a cheerfulness to the garden and though they need a bit of attention, I would not get rid of them.

At the moment the crows are the constant visitors.  They drop by for a drink or to pick up twigs and sometimes to look for a feed in the garden bed.  The white cockatoos did some damage to a bed of poppies when they dug a few plants up.  Perhaps they were looking for worms.  I hate to think they were just being mischievous.

Jonquils

The jonquils have been in flower for a couple of weeks.  I have clumps of them all over the garden so it is always a pleasure to see the yellow or white flowers appearing in winter's bare garden.

A clump of scented white jonquils.

Winter vegetables

This broccoli survives the frost and is ready to pick.  There are three plants in this one pot and they are all looking good.  The broccoli in another pot, in a different part of the garden is struggling, with very small flowers, which I will soon pick and then move the pot to another position perhaps.

These bok choi are ready for picking but I will only harvest a few leaves at a time.  I may leave one plant to go to seed.  Bok choi is also frost tender but these were rescued by washing off the ice before the sun rose, which was a very unpleasant experience.

I don't know the actual name of this lettuce, given to me by a friend who called it a Japanese lettuce.  It is very delicate and gives me some greens after my other lettuces were decimated by the frost.

I planted more snowpeas as those in the garden box were badly damaged by the frost.  I hope this lot will provide me with some peas in a few weeks.

Yacon harvest

I dug up one patch of yacon today.  The tubers vary in sizes.  The tiny ones are left to be planted but I am not sure if they will grow any bigger as the leaves have died.

These tubers will be good cooked or eaten raw, perhaps in a salad.  There is a huge tuber which has been too long in the ground and is half rotten.

The pink offshoots will grow into new yacon plants.  Put them immediately into the ground after collecting the tubers and nature will look after the plants.  I will stagger the harvesting of the yacon as they are better preserved underground.

Another picture of the yacon stem, tubers and shoots.

Jack Frost

This morning Jack Frost did a bit of damage in the garden.  The burnt leaves in the picture are from a thriving borage plant.  The borage blue flowers attract bees so I have them growing all over the place.  I watered the ice away and it looks as if the plant may survive.

These lettuces could not be saved so they will be dug into the soil.  Fortunately I have a few other lettuces in more protected areas so all is not lost.  I have to start thinking about coverings for frost tender plants to avoid this kind of loss.

What's blooming?

It is cold and wet in the garden but I can still walk through to pick a few flowers for a posy.  Some flowers though are best left to be admired, such as this early flowering hyacinth.

Pelargoniums flower all year round and here my pink and red ones are looking cheerful.

A red lily brightens up a gloomy day.

Lavenders bring the bees.

Still a few roses braving the weather.

Rhus in autumn

The rhus is a highly toxic and allergy-causing tree.  When I first moved into this property I was careful with the rhus but so far I have not been affected even after pruning the soft branches and sawing the thicker harder wood.  It is a beautiful specimen in autumn and I hope the leaves will remain for another week or so.  I cut off the seeds and binned them but I have been finding so many baby rhus in the garden bed I have to make sure they are pulled out.

pomegranate

I picked two pomegranates from my outside garden.  I have two trees, one in the outside garden, a bit too sheltered by the crab apple tree and the other where I can see it from the kitchen window.  I was surprised to see the two fruits mature and the seeds are so sweet and juicy.

There is quite a history to the trees.  I brought them from my old garden in pots.  They have been in the pots for at least five years.  One grew from a cutting and the other from marcotting, which is taking a cutting while the branch is still attached to the parent tree.

The tree in my old garden was given to me by a friend who needed the garden space.  It could have been twenty years ago when my friend and I dug out the well established, tree, taller than both of us.  We managed to get enough roots and trimmed off the branches so the tree could fit into the boot of my Humber Super Snipe.  The tree was planted next to the compost area and it thrived.  Sad to say the new owner of my old house has chopped down the tree.  It gave me bountiful harvest but pomegranate is not to everyone's taste.

exotic harvest

This sugar cane has about a foot of cane that can be harvested but I shall leave it alone.  More suckers are coming up and I hope they will survive the winter.  The pot is north facing and quite protected so I hope they will live to see spring and more growth.

This pot of peanut plants was planted last October.  There are three plants squashed in this pot so the harvest is small.

These peanuts are exposed with the topsoil scraped away.  Now that I know it is possible to grow them I shall sow the nuts in bigger pots next spring.

The peanut harvest is small but promising.  It is possible to grow peanuts and the pest to look out for are baby snails that are eating the leaves.