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Phew, what a week I have had, so far…the mornings are nice and cool and yet the afternoons are super muggy, humid and hot. We are still swimming in the pool and it’s a fun time of the year to be gardening here in Perth.
The calendar tells us that it is Autumn and if you have a close look around, there are some deciduous trees that are already turning golden hues and reddish tinges. My Cercis ‘Lavender Twist’ is all yellow and the leaves will fall anytime soon. I have planted a few Nyssa Sylvatica at various places in my neighborhood in the front gardens of friends’ homes and they have already shown us their sweet and very beautiful red leaves, just a few but enough to herald the change of season. The mornings are definitely cooler and the birds much more active in the garden, I think they are appreciating a little reprieve from the long summer.
This week we have the opportunity to “bring out our dead” which is what we call it when the council arranges to come and collect all of our green waste and also household junk sadly destined for landfill, though, I must say most of ours has gone hopefully to be repurposed by neighbors before it gets to landfill. So for me, that signals a time for a BIG post Summer prune and none of my plants is let off the hook, everyone gets a haircut!
We have a huge pile out the front of our place which is a very satisfying reflection of a big family effort. It will be gone next week, collected by a big truck that turns the green waste into compost and mulch.
I have even given the roses a summer prune which will mean that I have blooms in time for Easter. The moment can not pass without a trip to the nursery and some plant buying and so I have planted a new Floribunda ‘Seduction’ standard rose and underplanted it with Bidens ‘Firelight’ which is a super pretty combination. I ripped out a daisy that was badly affected by root-knot nematode and was starting to go leggy and no longer blooming enough to be saved. I’m much happier with the new little combination.
Photo. Credit Domus Nursery
Out the very front, beyond the picket fence, I have removed a single, very large Leucophyta brownii that had seen better days since it was damaged when we had our driveway expanded and has outlived it’s grey, delicate prettiness, so out she came. This was a big space so I have filled it with three Anigozanthus Bush Series ‘Bush Pearl’ which I have underplanted with a really lovely new Calibrachoa called ‘SuperCal’
Photo. Credit Domus Nursery
Everything has had another dose of Wetting Agent-this time I used the Richgro EziWet, it’s a liquid and I needed it to work quickly so that the new plants got good deep watering as the days are still very warm.
I really want big strong beautiful blooms throughout the garden at Easter time-in about 4-5 weeks and so I have fertilized with a complete slow-release fertilizer as well as some granular Sulphate of Potash.
I have also bought some lovely new Thyme, Basil and Parsley which I know I will use a lot during the Easter entertaining season. I potted these up into small terracotta pots which are on a metal stand just near our BBQ on the alfresco deck.
We pruned back a very large pink flowering Oleander (borrowed landscape from our neighbor) and also the Hibiscus Tileaceus along our back fence, in an effort to get them to thicken up rather than be just tall and spindly. They will get more light when our Liquidamber loses its leaves and will shoot again through the winter months.
There was also lots of leaf raking, deep hand watering and the testing out of my fabulous new bright orange sprinkler from Dramm. This is such an awesome product, tough and the coverage is amazing with various different settings depending on the space that you need to water-my new favorite toy in the garden! https://www.amazon.com.au/15022-ColorStorm-9-Pattern-Sprinkler-Heavy-Duty/dp/B000BQWPLA
I attempted to trim my neighbors’ Viburnum Tinus hedge until I was attacked by Polistes humilis or paper wasps and decided that the bites hurt a bit too much to continue stirring them up. So, half the hedge was pruned..sorry Bev and Rick 🙁
So that was our weekend in the garden…what are you doing at your place?
