Wednesday, November 2, 2016

The Garden in November

It is a lovely, sunny, warm day, today.  A much welcome change from the last few days which were overcast and cool.  I took a stroll around the garden at noon, to see how things were.  The plants were happy after the recent rains and the back garden looks good, relatively speaking (I'm not showing the bare "lawn"), for the most part:


Pink Oleander

The two pink oleander trees look a bit scraggly, but they survived the drought and are blooming. 


Schefflera Berries

They almost look like grapes, at this stage, don't they?  I am going to pick some of them and plant them in a pot to see if they will grow.



Rose

Not too many of my roses survived, but those that did are trying their best to bloom again.  



Fallen Oranges

There were several more oranges that had split and fallen on the ground.  These are just three of them. 



Gazanias

I love how these gazanias have naturalized themselves in this part of the garden.  It almost looks like a meadow, doesn't it?  The ones we transplanted in the front flower bed didn't do too well and most, if not all, died.  But I am hoping that they might have self-seeded the flower bed and some of the seeds will grow.  Like this plant below, which is growing between two pavers!


Self-seeded Gazania Growing Between Pavers

Apparently, it found the ideal spot in which to grow and flower!


Lantana and Plumbago Hedge

The lantana and plumbago hedge which was cut back earlier is filling out again and flowering, much to the delight of the butterflies.

I had to wait a bit for my cell phone battery to recharge before I could take pictures of the front garden.  There are signs of things to come - some welcome:


African Daisy Seedlings
Promising new plants and flowers later on.


Paperwhites Bulbs Growing

Others, not quite so welcome:

Mushrooms
The fact that these mushrooms (and others) are growing so close to the roots of my roses is troubling, as it might mean that the roots are decaying and the plants are dying.


Another Mushroom Growing at the Base of the Rose Bush

The flower bed along the walkway to the front door is not looking too bad, with the African daisies making a ground cover:


Part of the Front Flower Bed

This portion of the bed gets some afternoon shade from the eucalyptus tree growing in the front garden.  The plumeria is leafing out nicely:

Plumeria

 I had three rose bushes growing in this flower bed, one in front of each lattice.  The one growing by the first lattice is surviving; the iceberg rose growing in front of the middle lattice seems to have died; but the red climbing rose growing in front of the third lattice is doing very well, with new leaves and several buds:


Climbing Rose

At the base of the climbing rose, there are more plants - dusty miller, African daisies, and one or two gazanias:



At the Base of the Climbing Rose

 The African daisies put on quite a show in the spring, but despite being drought tolerant, they didn't do too well in the hot summer.  Now, however, after the rains and the cooler temperatures of the past few days, they are beginning to revive.  Love the color of this African daisy:

Purple African Daisy

 But there are a few bare spots in this flower bed: 

 
Bare Spots in the Flower Bed

This is where my gardener and I planted some of the gazania plants from the back garden, earlier in the summer.  They did well for awhile, but only a few plants continue to survive (and they are not flowering, unlike the ones at the back).  I am hoping that some of their seeds fell in this bare spot and will eventually grow to cover it.  If not, I might plan a trip to the nursery and buy a few plants to fill in this space. In fact, this might be the one spot where I'll grow annual flowers purchased from the garden center on a regular basis.

The succulents we planted along the south wall are doing well:



Aeonium

 And a bit further down the wall:

Aloe
 Can't leave the front garden without showing my pomegranate tree, can I?

Pomegranate Tree
There are only five small fruits, this year, but I am happy to have them.  I will pick them later this week and keep to share with daughter when she comes down.



Pomegranates


That is this month's tour of the garden!  It is coming along, after the rain and the cooler weather.  The plan is to transform the front garden into more of a xeriscape with mostly succulents while retaining what seems to be growing well, and coaxing the back garden as much as possible.    

How is your garden coming along?  Do you live in a climate which allows year-round gardening?  Or do you have to prepare your garden for the winter?

12 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your garden tour especially seeing plants that are "exotic" to me.

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  2. You have a lot more growth than I thought you would have, that's great! I do agree that it looks like a meadow with the flowers and their leaves! It's very pretty. I love your roses too. And your front flower bed looks very healthy.

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    1. Thank you, Nathalie. Of course I didn't take pictures of the areas where there's nothing but dirt! Or dead plants. Focus on the positive! :)

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  3. Your garden is awesome! Is it still a growing season there? It's all dying back here. You must be really challenged with the drought, it must be tough to know what to plant. x

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    1. Thank you, Lyssa. It is a year-round growing season here. Now would be the time to plant bare-root fruit trees, spring bulbs, and cool weather vegetables (peas, broccoli, lettuce, etc.) I am not quite up to planting vegetables, etc., yet, but I've told the friend who does my garden to be on the look out for a couple of fruit trees. Another peach tree in case my little tree died over the summer, maybe a tangerine tree, and maybe even an apple tree. :)

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  4. I agree with Nathalie, you have lots more going on in your garden than I thought you would have with the drought.

    The only gardening I do, by design, is to plant up some flower tubs in summer and this year I added 3 climbers for a bit of height. I love flowers and plants but would be the first to admit I don't like the work a garden involves. xx

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    1. Your container garden looks quite lovely, too. I'm lucky my friend does all the work part of gardening! He does the digging and the planting and the weeding (and when I had a lawn, he did the mowing, too). I just water and pick the flowers and fruits! :D

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  5. Your garden looks so pretty.. The rain has really helped.. So happy for you. Have a blessed weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Judy. The rain was a blessing. We need more, of course. But there's no rain in the 10-day forecast.

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  6. Thank you so much for taking us all on a tour of your garden! You are growing so many things that take me back to my childhood including the plumeria, lantana, aloe and oranges. Do you use the aloe plants for medicinal purposes? We used to break off a small portion of it to put on burns or mosquito bites. I have never seen purple African Daisies before, they are stunning! I have lots of the white ones growing here that have taken over in some areas of the yard and have to be thinned out every year. As for our garden, we are working on clearing out all the dead stuff now. I am letting kale overwinter though and still have some cabbages that are growing.

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    1. I thought you might recognize the plumeria! I, too, grew up with them. So far, I haven't used the aloe for medicinal use, but it's good to know they are there if needed. I've another flower bed where I'm growing aloe - they were planted earlier this year but haven't quite established themselves, yet. Sounds like you are busy getting your garden ready for winter.

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