Crepe myrtle

The crepe myrtle are still at their best at this time.  I see them when I am driving around in the suburb.
I have a white flowering variety growing in a pot.  On my nature strip there is a mauve one and from my verandah I can see my neighbour's pink variety.

white crepe myrtle

mauve crepe myrtle

pink crepe myrtle

Sweet corn and white squash

two pots of sweet corns facing north

a mature cob ready for picking

I bought a pun net of sweet corn seedlings and decided to plant them in pots.  The pots were placed in a very sunny position.  They are doing very well and I shall be picking the mature cobs.

white squash being grown for the seeds

The squash grown for seeds have grown and besides it is a smaller one which I shall pick soon.  A pity that so many of the squash grew to a certain size, turn yellow and drop off.

Sun ripened fruits

Peach

Cox's orange pippin apple and damson plums

A few of the sun ripened fruits from my garden.  Hopefully they will be more plentiful in the future.  The peach tree was attacked by leaf curl mites.  It was too late to do anything so I fed the tree and watered it well and let the affected leaves drop.  It seemed to work.  The few fruits that grew and were not taken by possums and birds were just gorgeous.

Roses

The roses are back.  I cannot label them as I am not very good with remembering names.  Enjoy the colours and shapes.  I love my early morning walk through my garden and also at dusk.  You can see the changes in the colours just from the changes in the lighting.

 and a beautiful perfume

always prolific

two tones

girly pink

sunset colours

striking contrast

amongst the vegetables

brilliant red

brightening up the garden bed

Some vegetables

I have picked a few cherry tomatoes and I am waiting for the Roma variety to ripen.  The vegetables I have been picking most are the different Chinese greens and the chards.  They are so versatile in the kitchen and so easy to grow.  The same can be said for the basil which I have plenty of.

Chinese greens and chards

Pot of basils

The white squash is doing well and one of the squash has grown to the size of a saucer.  This I will allow to mature for the seeds.

White squash

I grew some sweet corns in pots and I can see cobs forming.

Potted sweet corns with a sunflower amidst them.

Last of the flowers

Sometimes we forget that flowers will die and the colours and shapes we enjoy so much will disappear from our garden scene.  Fortunately for me, there are always others budding and blooming. This spring my hoyas have been flowering very well.  I have three pots in my garden.  Two are sheltered by the jacaranda tree and one sits in the corner of the back verandah, with the hoya trained along the post.  This particular hoya was so prolific but I did not get a single picture when there were so many flowers hanging down looking so unreal.  I took a picture of this last hoya, wending its way on to a fern leaf.

The ever so tall budlia bush/tree can be seen from my kitchen window.  Over spring I enjoyed watching butterflies making the most of the nectar.  The other day all I saw was the last few purple flowers with the rest looking unsightly deadly brown.  I took my saw and secateur to the bush and brought down the limbs that were at least double my height.  There will be new growth.  In cutting down the budlia I brought more light to the Granny Smith apple tree and the elderflower tree which have enough berries ripening for me to make some cordial.  I picked the remaining budlia flowers and put them in a vase which I left on the front verandah.  That attracted a colourful butterfly.

Cucurbit

I think, vegetables from the cucurbit family are quite easy to grow.  They can be prolific, given the right conditions.  I have growing in my garden, white squash, cucumber and zucchini.  There are some pumpkin seedlings from the compost heap and these I have put in a large pot and hopefully I may get a pumpkin or two out of them.  I have placed the pot in a sunny position and there is room for the vine to grow along the fence.  The roots can wander out of the pot into the ground.

Cucumber vine with flowers and a baby cucumber.

Cucumber, burpless, ready to pick.

There are baby squash beneath the leaves.  I will pick some small and will leave one to grow to maturity for the seeds.

Zucchini, a bit slow but I have picked a couple of tender young ones.