The Back Garden in August

 

The Back Garden in August

Having seen the front garden, shall we check out the back garden?  This is the view of the back garden, seen from the back steps.  Two of the trees at the very back belong to my neighbors, but, they do draw ones eyes all the way to the back, don't they?

At the bottom of the steps, to the right, there is a pot of red stemmed lemon grass that is looking very lush at this moment.

Red Stemmed Lemon Grass

And to the left, growing in one of the pots with a blueberry plant, is a papaya seedling, that survived last winter and seems to have made it through this summer:

Papaya Seedling Growing in the Blueberry Pot

I've no idea if it will survive the coming winter, but, we shall see.  M would like to remove it from the blueberry pot, but, I'm afraid it won't transplant well.  I might have to buy a bigger pot and grow both plants together!

This is the newest addition to the back garden: a pot planted with the ginger I bought at the store on Monday:

Newly Planted Ginger Root

I purposefully selected two pieces of ginger that were showing signs of new growth starting.  I had read that store bought ginger, unless it is marked organic, is usually treated with a growth inhibiting agent, but soaking it overnight is supposed to help wash it away.  These were already starting to grow and I soaked them overnight, anyway, and planted them in this pot.  I am hopeful that they will grow.

The star of the garden, right now, is my moringa tree:

Moringa Tree

It was dormant for a long time, and I wondered if it was dead, but, in late May, I saw the first signs of new growth and it has branched out, flowered, and is now forming pods!  The leaves, flowers, and pods are all edible.

Nearby, the Asian pear tree is forming fruits:

Asian Pears

And the okra plants are still flowering and there are new pods forming:

Okra Plants

Just a few feet away, the star jasmine vine has spread over the homemade trellis quite nicely;  M pruned it, a bit, last week:

Star Jasmine Vine on the Homemade Trellis

Not too far from the star jasmine vine, the orange tree is having baby oranges forming:

Baby Orange

I water the back garden more frequently than I water the front garden, but, the avocado tree I grew from a seed is showing some heat stress:

Avocado Tree

Nearby, the plum tree is doing well, although something is eating its leaves:

Plum Tree

The nectarine tree is doing well, too:

Nectarine Tree
(And one of the loquat seedlings to the right)

Not to mention the peach tree:

Peach Tree

The Serrano chili plant growing under the peach tree is still producing chilies and I am waiting for them to turn red before I pick them:

Serrano Chili Plant

Elsewhere in the back garden, one could say that, "The bride wore white tulle and carried a bouquet of pink lilies"...

Fuyu Persimmon Tree
(and Surprise Lilies)

The Fuyu persimmons are getting burned by the sun before they can ripen, but, we draped the tulle over the tree to keep the birds from pecking at the fruit.

There aren't many flowers in the back garden, these days, but, these gazanias form a bright splash of color:

Gazania

My apple seedling is growing well; it'll be interesting to see if we get any flowers on it, next year:

Apple Seedling

Nearby, there are some tomato seedlings, which, I believe, grew from a rotten Berkeley Tie Dye tomato that I tossed:

Tomato Seedlings

I've no idea if they will survive the winter, but, M thinks we should pot them up and see what happens.  Maybe I'll have to figure out some kind of a greenhouse for them!  

Unfortunately, the pole bean vines are not doing well.  They grew well, but, then, it became too hot and the leaves got scorched.  I didn't get a good bean crop, either, and I am rather disappointed.  They were supposed to have been heat tolerant, but, obviously, it got too hot for them.  I think we will pull them out, in the next few days.

Pole Bean Vines

I was not the only one enjoying the garden, today.  This swallowtail butterfly stopped by to get a drink of water from the soil under the loquat seedling that had been watered, earlier in the day:

Swallowtail Butterfly

And this praying mantis was just hanging around (upside down) on the Asian pear tree.  I was intrigued to see how its wings resembled new leaves and how well camouflaged it is:

Praying Mantis

Thank you for visiting the back garden with me.  I hope you enjoyed it.