This week's harvest

Not much harvesting going on here due to most of my food producing plants dying or struggling in the heat. I have however been able to pick some tomatoes and basil. These are the first tomatoes I have grown in years. The basil is doing well and I have even made some pesto.

Also we had two lovely visitors to the garden yesterday. Perching themselves above our pond they sat watching from this spot a good while. My children were thrilled to see them. Possibly hunting the Skinks that are abundant in our garden this Summer.

Is that a water lily flower I see?

I haven't talked about our pond for awhile. Probably because it is looking so bad. I got a pleasant surprise yesterday when I spied this bud peaking up from the murky water. Is that a water lily flower on its way? It looks like it to me. The lily has not bloomed in all the time we have lived here. I started messing around with the pond recently after it began looking sick. By sick I mean that all the Azolla died back and the water looked stagnant. We haven't had rain for weeks and the pond has no fish in it, so maybe these things have combined to make the pond unwell. Maybe it was lacking oxygen and the Azolla choked it further. I decided a few weeks ago to start again with the pond and I began bailing the water out and onto our dying garden. I stopped leaving enough water for the plants that are growing in the pond. This particular lily came out of its pot when I tried 'fixing' it awhile ago now. I just left it free floating in the water. Now that the water is so low the lily has anchored its roots into the sludge at the bottom and it looks like it might be happy there as it is about to bloom. It will bring a little beauty to this otherwise ugly spot.

Below are some photos of what the pond currently looks like. You can see how close the gums are in some of the photos. If you know the names of any of the water plants, please let me know.

 

 

They're alive!

My Kiwi fruit plants are alive. Well, three of them are. Unfortunately I lost a female plant. I was so upset when we arrived back from holidays to find them a shriveled mess. I watered them and nurtured them daily and it has paid off; new leaves are bursting from the stems. When I purchased two pairs my idea was to have a few in case one died. Well it did happen. Shame it wasn't the male plant that died, but oh well. I wondering whether the plants will be affected by this set back? Will they grow poorly now, or never be strong?

New leaves appearing

Female plant is slowly coming to life

The one that didn't make it

Welcome 2013

Happy New Year folks. When I last blogged I wrote about how dead our garden was looking, if only I knew what was yet to come. We returned from 2 weeks holiday interstate last week to a terrible sight in our garden. Someone had been watching over our guinea pigs and watering the garden while we were away, but it was no match for the terribly hot weather we have had and the lack of rain. I cried upon returning to find my Kiwi fruit plants shriveled and crisp. Some other plants did not make it either. My carefully tended seedlings were lost. Many plants had scorched leaves. I am not sure if these plants would have lived had I have been tending to them myself. After speaking to my mother in law I now realise how bad the conditions have been and that her garden has struggled too. It was such a big shock to return from a lush green holiday to our brown and crisp backyard. We have not a single blade of green grass here at the moment.
The beetroot, carrots and onions in our raised bed were beyond saving. I removed these plants and have re seeded the bed with more beetroot and carrots. The beans were terribly burnt as were the cucumbers. Some are still doing ok so I will see how they go. The corn produced some small cobs, but the plants look tired and spent now. I will try and grow some more. Before we went away I planted our cherry tomatoes in the patio garden bed. They are doing ok and some tiny flower buds are appearing. The tomatoes in our main bed look ok too. Lots of the small soft plants in the general garden that were only just starting have all died, pansies, foxgloves etc. The gladiolus seem to be going ok though, so I will start my post with photos of something that is actually living in my garden at the moment. Two have now bloomed and their lovely flowers are shown below.

Gladiolus

Pretty apricot colour

Bulbs removed from under the rose. Will put these in a new spot this year.

Bergenias doing poorly in the dry conditions.

What used to be a Helebore. Wonder if they regenerate?

That plant I am still yet to identify looking worse for wear.

What used to be the Arum Lilies. Do they regrow from tubors?

My rose only gave me two blooms this year. I think I need a lesson in pruning

Even the hardy Salvia is struggling

Sunburnt orange leaves

Another Salvia on death's door

My poor Camellia

Rose Campions at the end of the season. I have slashed the tops off these now.
They look daggy most of the year until Spring again though.

Dried out Kiwi fruit and a Californian Lilac. Yet to see if they survive.

Badly affected Weigela. Still some life in this one though

Lots of sunburn on the Pittosporums

Barely a leaf left on the Fuschia so I trimmed it right back. Hope that was ok.

My Magnolia seems to have survived both the snails and the sun

New buds on the way

My fears over the Kangaroo Paws have been laid to rest. New shoots on the way after cutting it to the ground as recommended by Angus Stewart

The tired corn. Most plants gave me one small cob each. Will need way more water and feed next time

Now for some photos of things that are surviving the elements in my garden and some new purchases from the end of last year and the beginning of the new year.

The Borage I planted in the Strawberry gutter is blooming

A few tomatoes from our two main plants

We planted Apollo and an Italian type

Remember that pot that had a number of seedlings growing in it? It was supposed to just have an Avocado

Along with the Avocado (out of focus in the centre) it contains a Pommegranate, pansy, aquilegia, eucalypt and one mystery plant

My lettuces! Two tomatoes grew instead

My cherry tomatoes growing well in the patio bed. Not many blooms though

Unidentified herb? Is this cat mint?

Pommegranate seedlings growing from the compost. I have dozens coming up now. Think I might see if the neighbour is happy for me to plant them into a hedge on our common land.

Two new Clivias I got at 40% off. One seems to be a pastel, the other red.

Our future living Christmas tree. Wooly Bush - Adenanthos

Lastly a plant that was growing so lovely at my Mum's in NSW.
When I saw them in Bunnings for $20 I had to grab one.This pot contains both a red and white plant.
Think I might remove my useless passionfruit and plant one there.