Spring Has Sprung!

Well, in the past week, things have begun to spring from the dull-looking plants in my garden. After over 3 months of renovations, back-filling and replacing of plants and pots, I've finally gotten the lawn to start growing.

Well, kinda!

Anyway, my Frangipani has pushed out its first leaves the fluorescents - and it's not yet November, when it normally does this. My Black Cherry Tomatoes have had their first lot of deliciousness... and the other 30 or so are about to ripen in the greenhouse. I also noticed the 'Sauce-Maker' tomato has put out its first little tomato and I squished my first pest on it - which I jumped into action and sprayed the plant with a washing up detergent and water mix... to keep the little buggers off! 

I was thinking of using White Oil, but on the can, it said it wasn't suitable for Tomatoes, so, I thought the detergent would be more environmentally suitable.

The Agapanthus are sitting up nice and high, ready to shoot out their flower stems - and I can't wait! they've divided again and I've got around 8 plants which have been dividing up with each other since I received the first one about 10 years ago from the neighbour over the back fence who thought it was a weed... when I was offered it, I jumped at owning one, seeing how expensive these plants are to buy new from Bunnings. And mine are purple!

The Camellia is looking wonderful too! It's really starting to grow. At first, I thought it was going to up and die on me. But when I had my Rose & Camellia Potting Mix, I knew I had to either buy one or the other... and a rose bush was going to be too fussy for me to care for, so a Camellia was it. Plus it was going to attract the bees to my garden in Summer... not a bad deal, right? 

I've yet to look around for more statues and garden ornaments to make it work in my favour of the literary garden... but I think I'll work it that way in time. First, I'll make it grow, and grow well. Then, I'll add the literary characters as time goes on.  

In the greenhouse, I've got lovely little pots of herbs growing so well, and have had to replace the Sweet Basil with Greek Basil, the latter of which grows the more you pick it. It's delicious with whatever you put it with - especially tomatoes and eggs, both of which are my favourite things to eat. 
And my Desert Rose is beginning to grow more and the Geraniums are starting to flower as well, with the protection of the greenhouse - so the possums can't get their little mitts on them. 

I do love Spring. It's when the garden wakes up from that deep sleep called Winter and lives again. The best thing about Spring is that I get to see it happen slowly every day I venture out into my garden.

New Additions

I've been really happy with my little garden and it's successful face lift. But I just can't seem to leave it alone from one day to the next.

I want to do more improvements to it.

And you know, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

I've still got the pavers to put down to the fence, then, I've decided to put down some stones in front of the greenhouse door - as the grass just isn't growing there, so a stone pathway looks like the way to go with that, so I don't leave a dirt path in my way there. 

I've scored new plants and cuttings in recent days though. I visited a friend of mine not far from my place and she her and family had moved into their new place a few months ago - and I left them alone to let them settle in. Well, I arrived with a great ice coffee and food from a locally owned coffee place and we chatted. 
Then, she offered up cuttings off her succulent garden out the back! And Wow! There was so much to pick from! I came home with Fire Sticks, Bread and Butter cuttings, tiny jades, Baby Fingers... all kinds, and I love them all! I just don't have enough potting mix to put them in all the pots I have. But that's a task for next week! I also scored a staghorn - a lovely one - and it's now hanging up on the back fence along with other plants I have up there. 

I've also got the greenhouse filled with plants too! There's the two new plants I scored from Bunnings: The Sauce-Maker Tomato - which isn't the most attractive fruit around, but it makes incredible tomato sauce! And I also had to replace my Sweet Basil with Greek Basil; the difference being that the Sweet Basil dies off and the Greek Basil is a perennial; which I should have bought first off. 

Well, I got into the back yard this morning, mowed the longer lawn, got out the pitchfork and pushed holes into the patchier areas and then hosed it heavily to get it to grow thicker. Let's hope the rest of the lawn catched up with the first lot soon and looks great! Until my next post, happy gardening! 

Decent Rain

Well, after a week of resting up my foot, and some decent rain, the garden is going really well.

I bought a box of grass seed - and this stuff has blue seeds inside it. Yates put out this seed with a coating on it to deter the birds and stop them from eating it! It doesn't poison them, it just tastes bad. And I've seen the birds try to eat the seed - they spit it out, looking at the ground as though to ask 'what the hell was that?' Funny though. I wondered how many times the company go it wrong before it only tasted bad; and really, I didn't want to know.

Well, the seed it taking off, and I've mowed it the larger area which is lush and green a few times - it's just a matter of the rest of it to catch up now. 

The greenhouse is really happening.

My Oregano is gorgeous is bushy, so is the Thyme; they look wonderful and are delicious! And the Black Cherry Tomato Vine has been clipped, so it can put all its energy into ripening the fruit its got. I'm looking forward to harvesting them all - but I'm wondering if I have to buy a new plant next year, or does it refruit? I'm going to have to find out when it all happens, I guess.

Well, I'm off to make a doctor's appointment. You see, I think I'm allergic to a bamboo mahl stick a fellow artist gave me today. First off, my hands began to bleed and I didn't think much of it... after wrapping it up in paper tape, I came home and showered to stop any other further allergic reaction I may have. However I'm starting to itch all over now - not a good sign. I really hope I'm not allergic to bamboo. Anyway, happy gardening.