Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Back Garden in March

Just a quick tour of the back garden on a March afternoon; this is the view of the back yard as you step out from the sliding glass door in the family room, which is a couple of feet above the ground.

The Back Garden: Looking Straight Ahead

The vegetable plot is towards the left of the picture, with one of the garden cats keeping an eye over everything.  The Asian pear tree is planted in the square bed towards the middle.

Looking to the right along the side wall:

Looking to the Right

Come down the steps from the sliding glass door and the first tree to the right is one of the curry leaf trees:

Curry Leaf Tree

Next to the first curry leaf tree is a bottle brush tree that grew from a seed from neighbor T's tree!  It's called that because the flowers look a bit like the brushes used to wash babies' bottles!

Bottle Brush Tree

A bit further down, this feijoa (pineapple guava) tree, growing right next to the wall; the orange tree (which can be glimpsed in the photo) is growing in front of it:

Feijoa (Pineapple Guava)

The corner between the side wall and the rear wall - the big pine tree at the very back is a neighbor's tree:

Corner of the Garden

There is a mixture of plants in this corner, including yucca, schefflera, and Euphorbia tirucalli (pencil plant), a bauhinia (orchid tree), a huge rosemary bush, and crocosmia along the side wall and foreground.

Rosemary Bush

The rosemary bush was planted from a cutting my mother received from a friend's garden.  I think it is at least 25 years old, if not more, and has a twisted trunk that defies description:

Rosemary Bush Trunk


I didn't take a photo of the plants along the back wall, this time, but, they include more of the Euphobia tirucalli, two pink oleander shrubs, and a pine tree.  At the corner of the back wall and the other side wall (between my garden and neighbor T's garden) is the telephone pole which can be seen in the photo below.  I planted two lantana plants and a plumbago plant along that side wall and over the years, they've grown into a mixed hedge that M needs to cut down at least once a year to keep it under some control!  This area of the back yard is behind the garage and the garden shed and has been neglected.  But, we planted the Fuyu persimmon, here, and we will try to clean it up a bit, over the coming months.



Lantana/Plumbago "Hedge" and Persimmon Plant in Foreground

Just to the left of this "hedge" is the garden shed and the back of the garage, with another curry leaf tree (and lots of little curry leaf seedlings - suckers, actually, as they come up from the roots of the main plant):

2nd Curry Leaf Tree 

This is another area of the garden that needs clearing - there are some purple Martha Washington geraniums growing here and a sprengeri fern that is trying to swallow up the shed!

Come around the corner of the garage, which is a detached structure, and you can see the three lemon trees growing along the side and my mini vegetable plot in front of it:

Side of Garage with Lemon Trees and Vegetable Plot

The lemon trees are starting to flower:

Lemon Flowers

Vegetable Plot:

Vegetable Plot

Broccoli Plants



Broccoli Close Up!

The vegetable plot is in front of the peach tree, where little peaches are starting to form!

Baby Peaches!


Nearby, the new nectarine plant has flowers (picture taken last week - the flowers are mostly spent, by now):

Nectarine Flowers

That is the back garden at the beginning of March.   Hope you enjoyed your tour of it!

I am grateful for:
- My garden
- All the hours of enjoyment it has provided and continues to provide
- All the fruit trees and edible plants growing in it and the harvests it provides
- This morning's blessing of a shower of rain and water for when it doesn't rain
- M for all his hard work maintaining the garden

Today's joyful activity was doing this garden tour!

20 comments:

  1. It's looking lovely. Mine is like a muddy mess just now but hopefully that will change as we move towards spring.
    I wonder if my lemon trees will ever grow as big as yours? X

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    1. Thank you, Jules. I hope your lemon trees, too, will grow well - I keep these trimmed so that they don't get too tall!

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  2. I didn't realise your garden was so big. It's looking lovely and it's great that it produces plenty of fresh produce for you. I love the flowers on the nectarine - very pretty.

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    1. It's a fair sized garden, isn't it? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the nectarine flowers attracted some bees! The peach tree attracted a lot of bees, but, I didn't see any on the nectarine tree! But, maybe next year!

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  3. I enjoyed the tour of your garden very much. A couple of questions. What is your annual rainfall? You seem to grow a lot without a lot of rain. And how big is your lot?

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    1. Thank you, June. Average annual rainfall is just under 15 inches; so far, for our current rainy season, we've had just under 5 inches! I water the garden 1-2 times a week in winter and 2-3 times in the summer (and have the water bills to prove it!) The lot is approx. 7,100 sq. ft. (50'x143')

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    2. You grow a lot for the amount of rain you have.

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    3. But it all needs to be watered regularly. During the drought, when we had a lot of water restrictions, I couldn't water as much, and a lot of the plants died.

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  4. Thanks for taking us on a tour of your garden. That Rosemary bush trunk is really crazy! I hope your garden produces lots of good stuff for you this spring :)

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    1. My pleasure! Thank you for coming along on the tour! :D The rosemary trunk is like a living sculpture, isn't it?

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  5. I enjoyed seeing your garden and I loved the nectarine flowers. I hope that all your young trees thrive as they will give more shade and add to the beauty of the garden.
    Well below freezing here today, but sunny so we can't complain.

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. The nectarine flowers are pretty, aren't they? I am hoping that all the new fruit trees will survive and thrive!

      Brr! It's cold over there! But, at least, it is sunny. :)

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  6. What a beautiful garden! Thank you so much for the tour. And now I am back to my citrus envy!

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    1. Thank you, Anne. I wonder if you could grow citrus as a potted plant where you are? You'd have to bring it in during the winter, but, it might be something to try?

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  7. Thanks for the tour of your garden. It looks so wonderful. There are so many plants and flowers. Have you lived in your house long? Was there a garden there when you moved in or is it something that you planned and had put in? It must take quite a lot of work!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Sharon. I've lived in this house for 29 years. The lemon trees, calamondin tree, and the feijoa trees were here, as well as an orange tree that had to be cut down. The previous owners kept the plantings to the edges of the yard and left the middle as a lawn. That lawn has all but disappeared, now!

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  8. I too love the nectarine blossom. I hope the tree bears fruit ... although if it does I'll have another reason to envy you! (You can keep your peaches - not so keen on those!)

    The tangled stems of the rosemary are crazy! I had quite a big rosemary in my old garden, but not like that. It grew so big that I vowed not to have another, but G gave me one at the weekend, a houseplant which she said will need to go out at some stage. I laughed and said that it would be kept well in check!

    Thank you for the recent comments on my blog. I've read them all and will sit down properly with them over the weekend. Hope to carry on reading more of your blog too; just a bit behind on things at the moment!

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    1. I'll virtually share the nectarines with you, if I get any fruits!

      You could keep the rosemary clipped like a bonsai. :)

      No rush about reading and commenting or, even, replying to my comments. At your convenience! :)

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  9. I always enjoy one of your garden tours.
    It is nice you have nice masonry walls for your garden. We have wood fencing and the fences are old - a combination of ours and the neighbor's go around the perimeter - and the wind and harsh weather really ages them. I noticed the other day some winter damage we need to tend to and try to extend the life a little longer.

    I never realized curry trees grew so large. And your vegetable patch looks very full and lush. The broccoli is coming along well.

    Those rosemary roots are really something. If you ever get a photo prompt for "tangled" you could always snap a picture of them. lol

    Where is Snowball?

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    1. Thank you, Debra. Glad you enjoyed the tour. :) There was only one wall when I bought the house - there other two sides had chain link fencing. But, eventually, the neighbors put up walls and I much prefer the privacy they afford.

      I prune the curry leaf trees every so often, but, I like the shade they provide, too.

      Oh, the rosemary bush will be very appropriate for "tangled"!

      Snowball was hiding! She's outside the sliding glass door, right now, as I type this, though, eating the kibble I have put out!

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