Sunflowers

This is the most successful of all the sunflower plants I have growing in different parts of the garden.  I have yet to put a net over it, which would be a shame, but the cockatoos come in droves.  Other plants that are grown close together are covered because they are so obvious to the marauding birds that would pick a flower only to drop it to the ground.

Sunflowers protected.

This sunflower seedhead is the size of a bread plate.  I hate to se it go to waste so it is getting some protection.

It would be nice to have all the sunflowers exposed but they would not last long with the number of birds that come to visit my garden.  I love to have them but not at the expense of my sunflowers.

meagre harvest

This season I cannot boast of a bountiful harvest but I have tasted some beautiful fruits and vegetables from the garden.  The sunflower I picked from the ground, rescued from a flock of cockatoos enjoying snipping off the flowers with hardly any stalk.  The tomatoes are sweet and juicy.  Not many flat peaches this year but the tree managed to put in sweetness into its few fruits.
I will be buying more manure to improve the soil in the garden and garden boxes.

This heritage bean grows in a biggish pot, facing North West and has produced a few beans.  I will let a couple to mature so I can keep the seeds.  I was given two seeds and they both germinated and grew.

I have planted more basil seedlings as the older ones are going to seed.  I hope to have fresh basils until the beginning of the frosty weather.

Summer colours

Finally some colours are appearing in the garden.  The grass is mainly brown but some old faithfuls, such as the Brazilian plume flowers and hibiscus are looking good.

Brazilian plume flowers

Hibiscus

This dahlia appears every summer.  It was planted by the previous owner amongst the azaleas.  I have not done anything to the corm, forgetting every year as, once the plant withers in winter the azaleas start to flower and I do not like to disturb the ground around them.

I bought this dianthus to add some colour to the garden and it seems to be doing well.  I will transfer it to one of the garden beds when it finishes flowering.

Petunias can cheer a garden up very quickly.  I hope the plants will overfill the pot to give a mass of colours.