Thursday, January 26, 2017

Come into the Garden

Now that the rain has stopped and the sun has shone for a couple of days, I decided to take a walk around the garden to see how my plants are doing.  So, to slightly misquote Alfred, Lord Tennyson,  "Come into the garden".



The Bed of Lantana in the Front Garden

I am hoping the lantana will grow a little bit with all the rain we've had.  The dusty miller and snap dragons I planted last October are doing well in the front flower bed along the walkway leading to the front door:

Front Flower Bed

 The side yard is full of "weeds"!

 
Weed-filled Side Yard

The back garden is greening, nicely:



Back Garden


Going around the garden in a more or less anti-clockwise direction, starting from where the above picture was taken:


The poor camellia is all but dead!  I'll keep it to see if it responds to the recent rains.  One never knows!

The Camellia

The jasmine vine I pulled out from behind the shed and potted up is growing:


Jasmine

 Self-seeded African daisies at the base of the curry leaf tree:

African Daisies

The paperwhites have grown quite well:



Paperwhites

 The hibiscus plant has many new buds and new growth:

 
Hibiscus

I've several clumps of crocosmia growing along the side wall:


Crocosmia

They were growing here when I bought the house but my mother didn't like them (the leaves have a tendency to fall over and look untidy) and she had my gardener dig them all up.  But, every year, one or two bulbs that managed to escape being dug up would come up and, after her death, I allowed them to grow.  Anything that has proven it will grow in my garden despite being actively discouraged at first and then benignly neglected afterwards, has earned a right to continue growing!  There's a small sapling growing behind this clump of crocosmia (the light grey stick of a trunk; it is more visible in the picture above) is another such plant that we dug up year after year and kept returning, year after year, until I stopped trying to uproot it!   



Close Up of Crocosmia Flowers


The rosemary bush is full of flowers and the bees are enjoying them!


Rosemary




Spot the Bee?

Along the back wall, the euphorbia is putting out new growth, too:

 
Euphorbia


It's not the popular "sticks of fire" euphorbia, but the growing tips are a bit orangey:




Euphorbia


Some of the back garden's "lawn" is a mixture of plants other than grass!   I guess one would call them "weeds", although, some of them are edible plants.


Wild Camomile Seedlings

Henbit is also edible and the bees love the nectar of the pinky-purple flowers (barely visible in the picture, to the left):

Henbit

My poor little peach tree.  I am hoping it is just dormant and not dead!  We'll find out in another month or two. 




Peach Tree

 It is time to prune the rose bushes, but they are still bravely flowering!
 


The Last Rose of Winter?



Not Quite!

And nearby, the gazanias are going a bit crazy!  They are drought tolerant, but obviously enjoy getting some rain.



Gazanias

The sprengeri ferns have enjoyed the rain, too, but there seems to be another jasmine vine growing in the middle of this clump:

 

Jasmine Vine and Sprengeri Fern


The lantana hedge along the other side wall:
 


Lantana


And what I like to call my "meadow" - mostly overgrown grass, mixed in with a patche of day flowers (Commelina), gazanias, two "wild" roses (growing from the root stock of of the tea roses that have died) and a bed of a type of amaryllis, which are also known as Belladonna lilies or "naked ladies".



Amaryllis/Belladonna Lilies in Foreground

My poor gardener friend can't mow this area because everything is growing together and he doesn't want to damage the gazanias, etc.



More of the "Meadow"


The back garden from a different angle:  the circles used to be full of rose bushes.  Now, we want to transplant the few that are still growing into one flower bed and let the others revert to grass.



Former Rose Beds


Or, maybe I can grow some vegetables in one of them?

 
Potential Vegetable Bed?


Thank you for walking in my garden with me.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! 



14 comments:

  1. It's nice to see everything flowering everywhere! I'm in awe of your rosemary. Mine has only ever had 3 or 4 tiny flowers on it at the most! It may need more water than I thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Nathalie. Rosemary is supposed to be drought tolerant, but I guess most plants thrive when they get enough water.

      How are you feeling today? Better, I hope.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for taking us for a walk in your garden! It's nice to see things growing. Everywhere in mine is grey, dull and dead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure, Sharon. But your garden will green up and come into life in a few months when spring arrives, I'm sure. Then you'll have to share pictures of your garden with us! :)

      Delete
  3. Everything is so pretty and green. Even weefs look great when they're a vibrant green. So nice to see how lovely everything is after the rain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Carolyn. Yes, love all the green after so many months and years of brown!

      Delete
  4. So many interesting plants. I hope your camellia comes back. My parents had a huge one in their yard in England and I wonder if subsequent owners of their house have been enjoying it.
    It is funny how you can't simply can't kill some plants and shrubs (our forsythia is a case in point, chainsaw-proof!) while others are quite finicky. Hoping your little peach tree is going to perk up in the spring.

    My rosemary is sitting beside me in a pot as I type. I nip sprigs off it from time to time to put with lamb steaks or chicken. I love the smell of it on my fingers after I do this.

    Bushlady

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A garden is a constantly changing place, isn't it? Some plants thrive; others don't. My gardener says his peach tree already has flowers, so I have a feeling my peach tree is dead! But I shall give it a little more time to see if anything happens. He has also told me he will bring me a replacement camellia plant, if mine doesn't survive. I just wasn't well enough, last year, to cosset some of these plants and the drought didn't help. But, it is an opportunity to plant some new plants and move forward!

      Delete
  5. Oh BLess, your garden is so green and pretty..You can definitely see how much the rain is helping the gardens.. Everything is wet/muddy/sleeping here.. I look so forward to spring and the green coming back..
    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Judy. Will you be planting another large vegetable garden, again, this year? I am thinking of putting in some vegetables this year - hopefully I'll be able to keep them watered and growing over the summer! Hope you have a good start to your week, tomorrow.

      Delete
  6. I love your garden! Every time I see a picture of your Lantana I can "smell" it in my mind. I think I may have a bit of an obsession with it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Debbie. I imagine you grew up with lantana in Hawaii?

      Delete
  7. It's amazing how things respond to a decent drink! I suppose in recent years, the drought has returned, however.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There have been better years and not-so-good years since then. Our average annual rainfall is just under 15". The winter of 2018-2019 was a good year for rain and we exceeded our average annual rainfall by about 4"! Winter of 2019-2020 was good, too, as we received average rainfall. This winter, however, we have only received about 4" of rain, so far, and the rainy season ends in another month or so.

      The poor camellia bush died and has been removed. That particular peach tree died, too, and was replaced by the current peach tree. The garden continues to evolve.

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Your comments are much appreciated. Please comment in English. Thank you.