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.

Summer garden

The jacaranda is not its best this summer but still a beauty, overwhelming the blue and white agapanthus, still in bud.

Miniature agapanthus buds nestling against the jacaranda trunk.

Pink geranium intertwining through hebe bush.

Pierre De Ronsard rose with succulent

Bougainvillea doing well after winter pruning.

A sickly hoya plant manages a good flush of flowers.

Pink abutilon, much loved by birds.

low growing yellow abutilon.

Driveway garden doing quite well.

rhipsalidopsis

The spring cactus or rhipsalidopsis does not need any attention.  This year my spring cactus surprised me with a bunch of flower buds.  I don't know what I have been doing to the plant but whatever it is the gangling cactus decided to produce a show.  See picture below.

Cherries

The big cherry tree.  As for its variety, I have to check through my box of plant labels.

This smaller cherry tree is about half the size of the big one.

Green cherries from a few weeks ago.

Cherries, almost ready and must be protected from birds and possums.

Cherries, almost ready for picking.

Ravaged by possums

At this time last year this arch was covered in flowers from two varieties of roses.  At the moment there is only a single rose to be seen as the possums or possum have been eating the shoots.  I don't know what I can do about this.  Perhaps I will cover the arch with a netting that would make it more difficult for the vermin to nibble on the shoots.

With the shoots eaten away there is not a hope for the rose plants to develop buds and flowers.

This single rose survived the vermin.  I hope the buds alongside will survive to give some beauty in this ravaged spot of the garden.

The roses are back

A Mr Lincoln rose in full bloom.  It has a light scent.

The Mr Lincoln bush is right in front of the front porch and as it tends to grow up high it makes a nice display.  Buds and blossoms.

I would have to check for the name of this rose, pink and white and scented.

A couple of early white icebergs.