growing food

 All through the year I can pick silver beet, rainbow chards, parsley and other herbs, except the seasonal basil. Now I am picking broad beans and snowpeas.  The cherries, apricot and peaches are growing and I have to inspect the apple trees for signs of successful fruits.  The two rhubarb bushes are doing well, with all the rain we are getting and the tomato plants are looking healthy.

young apricots

the small cherry tree, laden

cape gooseberry

broadbean

snow pea

rhubarb and tomato

My wild sanctuary

 The grass is growing longer and the mower man is not allowed to come and trim the grass and weeds which are beginning to look unsightly.  I have used shears to trim the edges of the garden boxes, so the self-sown poppies can be seen when their flowers are ready to open.  This morning I took a picture of the first poppy to open.  

My outside garden is packed with colours.  The bluebells, echium and euphorbia in shades of blue and lime green are most prominent at the moment.

bluebells

blue echium and lime green euphorbia

pristine white of cherry blossoms

a tomato seedling

a chilli seedling

sparaxis and African daisy

lavender, azaleas and camellia underneath the jacaranda tree

azaleas, a brilliant show of colours

pink abutilon, a favourite with birds

low lying pink Geraldton wax flower

tiny but pretty mauve orchid

violets, tiny and beautiful

bushes and trees with new growths

tree fern

in a corner between the lemon tree and the protea, enough room for the compost bin

Chilli and Cape Gooseberry

 

Hot chillies, cape gooseberry and a stray violet which I accidentally picked while tidying up the sprawling cape gooseberry bush.  The ripe fruits I found on the ground, and the unripe, green gooseberries in their green lanterns were on a branch I accidentally cut.  They will not go to waste as I can use them in a fresh sambal.  They are quite tart.

This variety of very hot chilli ripens in winter.  They have to be protected from the frost or I would end up with burnt chillies fit only for the compost heap.

The Cape gooseberries do not ripen at the same time.  The ripe ones drop onto the ground and I have to remember to look for them.  

winter into spring

 The blossoms and the flowering bulbs are telling us that is spring is here, even when some days the temperature is more winter-like.

Within a few days the tightly closed buds have blossomed into masses of delicate pink petals.

Tall nectarine tree in the outside garden

apricot blossoms

I call them star flowers, the bulbs dividing and spreading without help.  

The grass can do with a mowing but I must wait for lockdown to ease when the mower man will tidy up this unkempt lawn.

signs of spring

 

daffodils, a sure sign of spring

first blossoms of the flat peach

the Manchurian pear blossoms

a couple of grape hyacinths amongst other bulb plants and of course the oxalis and a self sown fennel

the bird of paradise brings colours to the garden

flowering succulent

the emu bush

winter into spring

A busy winter garden

The early mornings may be cold enough for frost but when the sun shines the plants thrive, bringing flowers for colours and green vegetables to eat.  The masses of oxalis are thriving and I try to pull them out when I am in the garden.  The strangest plant in the garden is the blood lily, or haemanthus coccineus.  Its short-stemmed red flower graced the garden in March and when that died down the broad leaves of the lily began to grow.  At the moment the leaves are swamping the leaves of bulbs around it.

On the north facing front porch, enjoying the sunshine are the cyclamens and orchid.  The orchid has been with me for twenty-four years and I have divided them over the years.

The pink camellia is growing taller and I must remember to prune it down when the flowering is finished.  I can enjoy the flowers from the house.

The zygocactus is starting to flower and so is the lobelia and they are in hanging baskets.

Low down at ground level are the violets and the bergenia.

The lemons are beginning to ripen.

The leafy vegetables are doing well.