Sunday, November 03, 2013

November in the Garden

Today is a very special day - as this day, 14 years ago, we welcomed 'Salina into our world.  In fact, at this point in time 14 years ago I think I was dealing with my first major nappy eye-opener!!


Obviously she is well past that stage of life (as is her little sister) and has grown into someone I am pretty darned proud of - and she has a keen sense of humour.


We had her friends over yesterday for a beach visit and barbeque - this morning, we have had breakfast and been to the beach - there is a theme.


Although, apparently, her day also consists of some homework - as does mine...

Its hot here - very hot.  It has been hot AND windy approximately 80% of the last 3 weeks, and the garden is showing the effects of that, I am afraid.


 The front flower beds are desparately in need of some serious deadheading.  This bed is virtually all antbed, so one day the dream is to remove it and create a hedge and/or some sort of privacy in this area - it is evolutionary.


This bed, that was created completely from deadheading and random scatterings, is looking very sorry now that the sunflowers have been removed.  There are plans afoot to put an orange tree in on this side.


I love the hippeastrum, but the display this year is fairly paltry because they were lifted and separated fairly late.  I am going to try and leave them in situ for a season or so before the next lift.  That being said, I did manage to give away over 100 bulbs for others, with the instructions "they are compost if they don't strike" - but the strike rate is apparently pretty good out there.
 

It is anticipated that this corridor at the side of the house will get paved one day, with some shadecloth and potting areas under contemplation.  Another wonderful idea is to possibly move the fence/gate back to allow Ergon access (and more sun to some of the bed) - that is the great thing about a garden, the dreaming of possibilities.


Unfortunately due to the massive winds we have had for the last 2 months, my blossoming promise is basically three little fruit on my lime tree.  Fairly devastated about that.
 

The plan is that this bed will change the wind issues (and privacy) with the bamboo, and while it is growing like wildfire (as are the marigolds and borage) it will be a few seasons.  My Vietnamese  mint died and Eddie (the cat) is a serial offender in upsetting the hope for the eggplant as, instead of seedlings we find offerings...


Luckily the back corner garden is pretty sheltered, which means that it continues green and lush - snowpeas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, basil, marigolds and whatever else lands a seed there grow in abundance, although setting fruit is an issue with the lack of direct sunlight.
 

We still have hope of the corn - it was rather trammelled by the wind but V did straighten it after the last big blow and it seems to be steaming ahead.  

The chilli bush is prolific - we are currently at saturation point with chilli sauce and, while I will harvest and contemplate preserving these, the long-term plan is to demolish this bed and create a larger bed in conjunction with the corn bed.  The strawberries (that are feeling the heat) will be renewed once that renovation is complete.


 We harvested one bed and planted beans and beetroot - something I have since learned is a no-no, but we were saved from consequences by the complete failure of beetroot!!  The beans only have a 50% strike rate as well, so will revisit this garden again today and contemplate the next move.


The bed beside it, however, is going great guns, with both zucchini and cucumber flowering and setting fruit, the silverbeet being prolific and the self-seeded snowpeas already forming pods.  Love bonus plants!


While our vegetables have fairly well dried up now that Summer is upon us (although officially we are still 1 month off), we do get some pretty special floral displays.


We have 3 frangipani trees in our garden - the dwarf pink, the cream (above)  and a newly planted cream are all flowering their head off (the bit that  broke from the latter was shoved into a pot and is flowering also).


These sunflowers in the side bed are greeting each morning (and the neighbours) and just starting to get to the stage of droop and harvest - if anyone has any sunflower recipes I am open to suggestion (or you want some seeds - if it is legal to send them from me in Queensland to you - let me know)


The "herb" garden is still going well, although we are bereft of coriander (due to the spread of a voracious oregano).  We have pineapple sage, parsley, thyme, oregano, sage, chives and rosemary available to us in this hot little corner.

So - it will be spending a bit more time down in the garden (early morning and late afternoon) and praying for rain like crazy for the next month here.


Go visit Liz at Strayed from the Table to visit other gardens in The Garden Share Collective
 


20 comments:

Kelly said...

Sounds like a successful "beachy" kind of birthday. :)

I'd love to have a whole field of sunflowers, but perhaps not for the same reasons you like them. The dove sure do love them and I currently have no dove in my freezer!

The Life of Clare said...

I just stopped by from Lizzie's blog. Lovely to see what's in your garden!

jeanie said...

Kelly - I would be RIGHT THERE with you, except Galahs are pretty much inedible.

Thanks for stopping by Clare.

Gustoso said...

Lovely to see your garden. Thanks for sharing with us.

Unknown said...

My favorite tree ever is the Frangipani. It is not warm enough to grow where we are. They have the most divine fragrance! Your productive garden is great. You have a wonderful variety of produce growing. It seems that the weather over the last month has been harsh in all areas of Australia - either too hot or too cold... Have a great month in the garden I look forward to reading next months update.

My Yellow Heart said...

Thanks for sharing your garden and joining the collective. Wishing some rain for you!

africanaussie said...

I love all the colorful flowers in your garden, and you seem to have some pretty poductive veggie areas as well. Thansk for commenting on my post - I had no trouble hopping over to here. I think I am going to try cooking gozlemos now!

e / dig in hobart said...

hello from another garden sharer!
what on earth is it going to be like when summer is officially her? as you say, already so hot and dreadfully windy. the wind is the worst.
i'm envious of your hippie - i lifted (well, de-potted) mine last year and mum and i only realised recently we hadn't re-potted!! oops! they are such magnificent flowers.
and self-seeded vegies, herbs, anything - i agree, a real bonus!

liz @ strayed table said...

The weather has been mad, hasn't it. I am glad to see your garden is still going strong. I also had to stand my corn up straight after some bashful winds.

Andrea Mynard said...

Your garden and edible goodies look fab, despite your trials with weather. Particularly envious of you having enough chillis to make chilli sauce - as I look sadly at my dried up chilli plant on the windowsill!

jeanie said...

You are very welcome, LittleEm.

Kyrstie - where I lived in Brisbane we had a Magnolia - now THERE is a heady scent!

Thanks for the rain wishes My Yellow Heart - my boss today said it is meant to be a wet month, so to gods ear with that one.

africanaussie - you will not go wrong trying golzeme - tell me how you go!

e / dig in - I am going to try to get some variety in my hippies next year, but they show up EVERYWHERE including spots where we tossed them to do something about later!!

liz - has it been this windy this late EVER? I mean, you expect it in August, but it is crazy.

Andrea - we have now got 8 baby chilli bushes from the original one, so a dearth of chilli sauce is something I am unlikely to face. I am currently trying a new recipe - all going well, I may have some for giveaways in the future.

Helen said...

Wow, your sunflowers are uber tall! Mine are quite short and I can see the heads of some soon to be flowers!

Very impressed by your chilli bush, definitely what I'd like to inspire my seedlings to become one day, they're so small right now!

Louie said...

Our chilis are also producing well beyond what we can use so I have started sending bags home with anyone who visits :)

Hoping November has better weather for you.

jeanie said...

Helen - these are Giant Sunflower - about 5th or 6th generation from the original bought seeds - often the flowerheads seem almost ready to bloom before they get their growth spurt with this variety. Good luck with your chillies - we have had a few varieties over time, this cayenne originally cost me 50c in the bargain bin at Bunnings!

Louie - note to self - invite visitors to ply with chilli :)

Alex said...

It all looks so wonderful and summery! I would so love to see a frangipani tree in the flesh! Thanks for sharing.

jeanie said...

Alex - if you were closer, we could lop some and send it to you - as I said, the last one V planted was 2-3 months ago (it was in a pot prior) and a branch fell off - he shoved the branch into another pot and it too is flowering!!

Merryn said...

What diversity you have in your garden... never too many chillies I say :D There is such a large area to play with, for your trees, vegetables and flowers, you are lucky to be able to merge garden beds and plan for your gardening benefit.

Debby said...

I thought that I commented. Happy birthday to Salina. And what is an Ergon and why does it need access? Thank you.

Barbara Good said...

Hi and thanks for the garden tour. looks like it's been hit and miss for you like many of us. My seed germination rate this year has been pretty ordinary - thanks to a dog that turned my sunflower bed in it's own bed and a cat that decided my patch was the perfect toilet! Hope you get some rain soon, please come and take some of ours, I'm sick of the cold and the wet... and so are the kids, they're driving me nuts being inside all day long.

jeanie said...

Merryn - it will take some more soil and sweat to achieve it, but so hoping to have some decent beds in terms of size in the near future.

Debby - Ergon is the electricity company - they occasionally have to get in to read the meter.

Welcome Barbara - the weather is a fiend at times, isn't it? Thanks for visiting.