October in the Garden

I shared where our garden was up to when we returned from our holiday in mid September, back here.  Things have progressed just a tad since then.

Firstly, the lemon tree is now covered in flowers and the bees are loving it.  It is in the trolley, as it still goes into the potting shed of a night in case of frost.  When you open the door there is a delightful citrus fragrance.

Next, the wisteria.  This is where it was at, back in mid September.

Then in early October.

Just look at the length of those flowers.  We planted this in the winter of 2019 and there were no flowers for the first couple of years.  Last year there were just a few.  This is the first real show we have had.  We were astounded at how long the flowers are, and yet what a very soft mauve colour.  We should be able to train the plant to completely cover the frame Mick built this summer.

And now.    It amazes me how quickly it changes.

It provides beautiful dappled shade to that part of the garden during the warmer months, while letting in the winter sun during the cooler months, which is what we had hoped for.

The side of the house is also looking nice with the lavender attracting many more bees.

The ivy planted under the anvil took several years to actually do much, but now has really taken off.   The plan was for it to cover the metal plinth that it sits on.  It has finally exceeded that and we will have to cut it back.

The veges have got a move on too.  We are now picking our beetroots. Roasted fresh beetroot tastes so much better than tinned.

We bought tomato plants as soon as we arrived home and got them started in the potting shed.  Boy, have they rocketed away.  They all have flowers on them.  I reckon we will definitely have tomatoes by Christmas this year.

The new asparagus have stuck their nose out of the ground.  For the next couple of years we will just let them grow to the fern stage, before finally getting to enjoy them in the following years.  Apparently, they will keep going for about twenty years.

Our zucchini and eggplant have been planted out, as well as the bean and corn seeds.  This is the first year we have grown corn here, as we have not had the room, until Mick created the new vege beds late last year.

Frost is still a very real threat here at this time of year, so we watch the weather forecast keenly to see if we need to cover the tender plants.  There was a frost in the middle of the month, but fortunately we had everything covered. We are continuing to cover the new veges most nights.

To finish up, let’s take a bit of a wander around the flowers.

The bees are loving the lavenders and bottle brush.

Some old favourites.

Everything is right at its peak now.

When we bought this house there were several lavenders in the garden.  They have done lots of self seeding and we have planted out quite a few.  Mick popped one in a pot this year and it has come out a really pink colour.  I suppose those freak changes are how new cultivars are started.  Anyway, it is quite pretty.