Hummmmmmmmmm last post on Sept 21!!! I have been very slack and lazy :(
It's a good job I keep a diary and usually remember to write in it fairly often!
I continued to gather strawberry plants, and now have about 50 of them, all in a bird-proof cage along the garage outside on the concrete. Some are on shelving and bigger pots on floor. It's working well and we can harvest enough for dessert about twice a week. Slugs are a problem but they don't get many, specially the ones that hang down over the sides of the pots.
I extended one of the vegie beds at the beginning of Oct, never enough room for what I want to plant. I put 2 hibiscus plants in there, plus cauliflower and cabbage seedlings that had been waiting for a home for AGES. Also some raspberry plants from the GA expo and Tootgarook market :)
I bought some clematis plants and some peonies from GE. One Clematis died and I have 3 out of 9 peonies alive. I give up on GE plants.
I also have started an iris collection as they are drought tolerant. I dug out some strappy leaved plants and grassy things out of one bed and replanted with irises and daylilies. The bed under the dying Silver Birch was revamped and had some goodies added and that too has Irises in it. They'll look nice next Spring hopefully. and the foliage will spread and fill the gaps!!
The potatoes are doing well, I've emptied 4 of the smaller containers and got about 5 kg, which isn't a huge return but I should have left them a bit longer-small new spuds are SO delicious though!
I cleared out the main vegie bed and have sown/planted lettuce, capsicum, mesclun, carrots, perennial Spinach, Lebaneses cues, artichokes and radish. Also silverbeet, rocket and basil. All doing nicely, radishes ready to gather.
The herbaceous border now has a mixed bag of flowers in it. Apart from the roses in sunken pots there are Peonies, Penstemons, salvias, Astilbe, irises, guavas, the plum (no fruit) the feijoa (WITH FRUIT AT LAST!) the Luculia, a Firewheel protea, delphiniums, and various cuttings of unknown variety but I'll recognise them when they flower!
I was VERY late planting out my tomatoes this year, and still haven't got any to pick apart from the occasional feral cherry tom.
I have some interesting varieties though, from a lady in Tassie who sent me seeds. They are - Black Zebra, Imur Prior Beta, Purple Calabash,, Sweet English and Mortgage Lifter. Plus 2 that have lost their labels Damn!
The Nectarine has more fruit on it this year, but I haven't netted it yet and last year's fruit wasn't nice anyway.
The cherries were lovely this year, really sweet and juicy as i left them on the tree a little longer than before.
The plum tree in the front garden had more fruit than previously but not enough for bottling and jam etc.
The mulberry is not doing the right thing again, don't know what's wrong with it. The fruit is falling off before it's ripe. Last year the fruit ripened but dried up on the branches and the leaves were sick.
The little lemonade tree has quite a lot of fruit on it, very small still, but it's exciting!
The lime had more fruit than before but some of that has fallen off.
The pear has but a few this year.
The fig has quite a lot as a second crop, the first one was a non-starter!
The lemon is getting really big and has plenty of fruit.
There's a little blueberry in a pot keeping the strawberries company, doing OK and giving us a few berries. I need more plants!
The raspberries are growing well and I got 2 berries and the blackbirds got 3!!
I bought a Jostaberry plant this year, it's a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry, growing well but I'm not expecting fruit for a couple of years.
This has been a dreadful year for the roses, I've done nothing but spray for blackspot, powdery mildew, rust, thrip, aphids,
Hibiscus beetle, RMV, and anything else you can think of. The blooms have been ruined before they open in many cases, and it's been very disappointing. The only comfort is that I'm not alone in all this! Many rose growers are saying the same. It's also to do with the rotten summer we've had up till today, cold and windy and not much rain either.
I will hunt for some relevent photos now.