The Garden in Fall

I took a walk around the garden in the afternoon, today.  And took some photographs of the garden at the beginning of Fall.

Below is the approach to the front door (M has been itching to get a coat of paint on the metal screen door; I need to buy some paint, one of these days - better add that to my mile-long to do list!), and I will need to move the potted plants away before the October prayer gathering, since a couple of the aunts have walkers and the pots will be in the way.

Approach to the Front Door

But here is the main reason why I took the picture, above:

Roses by the Front Door

I have a rose that I am encouraging to climb up the lattice by the front door and it has decided to come through the lattice and bloom!

The from the other side of the lattice

I checked on the plants I bought at the dollar store and planted in the front garden.  One of the oregano plants is barely alive (you really can't tell that I watered these plants, just yesterday evening, can you?):

Oregano plant, barely alive

The other oregano plant is doing better:

The second oregano plant

The rosemary plant is also doing well:

Rosemary Plant and Osteospermum Seedlings

The blue salvia plants are doing well, too:

Blue Salvia

The blue salvia plants are growing under the pomegranate tree:

Pomegranate Tree

There are small pomegranates on the tree - they are fully ripe, but small:

Ripe Pomegranates

I should pick them before they start splitting.

Fall is the time for the garden to recover from the heat of the summer.  Some of the succulents I had planted in the front garden, especially the aeonium, show definite signs of being scorched by the sun:

Aeonium grown in the middle of the front garden

Aeonium under the living room window

However, these ones, grown in the shade of the euphorbia are doing well:

Aeonium growing in the shade

There is a lot of tidying and cleaning needing to be done.  As you can see, the osteospermum in the front flower bed is about ready to be cut back or pulled out so that new seedlings can come up:

Flower bed along the walkway to the front door

The middle lattice panel has a jasmine vine growing up it; I am hoping it will grow to cover the whole lattice, eventually:

Jasmine Vine

The lantana is doing well:

Lantana in bloom

This is a photograph of the back yard, taken from the steps outside the sliding glass door:

Back Garden

Do you see the white spot in the shade under the orange tree to the right of the photo, towards the back?  Look for the black box in the picture below:

One of the garden cats

The curry leaf trees are forming berries:

Curry Leaf Tree 

We use the leaves to flavor curries, to make a type of porridge (with rice) and various other dishes.  We don't normally use the berries, although they are edible and have a slight licorice like taste, to me.

There is another curry leaf tree behind the garage, near the shed:

Second Curry Leaf Tree

Which seems to be doing its best to form a grove of curry leaf trees around it, as it keeps sending up new plants from its roots, every time a root gets nicked, when weeding and so forth:

Curry Leaf Seedlings

"Ginger", another of the garden cats, was curious to see what I was doing, walking around in the middle of the afternoon, when any sane cat knows it is best to lie in the shade and nap:

"Ginger" wondering what I was doing

I try hard not to name the garden cats, but, several of them have been given names!

The lantana and plumbago plants by the side wall have weathered the summer sun; M will be cutting it back, a bit later, when the weather cools.  Once upon a time, they were separate plants, but they've become one intertwined plant!

Lantana and Plumbago 

The hibiscus plant got scorched in the summer, but it's recovering and doing OK, now:

Hibiscus

There are oranges forming on the orange tree:

Oranges forming

The euphorbia plant that is trying to take over the back garden:

Euphorbia

It is at least 12 feet tall!  It was grown from a small cutting that M gave me from his garden.  He says he's never seen an euphobia grow so big!  We keep pruning it and I've been planting the cuttings all around, since it is one plant that is growing well in my garden:

More Euphorbia - the wall at the back is about 6 feet high

The back corner of the garden, with the yucca tree in the back and the old rosemary bush in the foreground, with a Bauhinia (Purple Orchid Tree), growing in the middle:

Yucca, Bauhinia,, and Rosemary

The old rosemary bush is at least 20 years old and needs to be pruned all the way back, I think.

As you can see, there's a lot of cleaning up and tidying to do.  But, a lot of it needs to wait until the temperatures cool down a bit more.  Tomorrow's forecast says the highs in my area will be in the mid-to-upper 90s. 

Thank you for coming for a walk around the garden with me.  How is your Fall garden coming along?