Winter Fecundity

The persimmons are almost finished, just a few left for the birds. Although, as we are in quarantine at the moment, for the Queensland fruit fly, I can't give away any of this fruit to anyone who is not also in 'zone'.

The persimmon leaves are all turning red, will be just beautiful in a couple of weeks I expect.

And the oranges! A totally bounteous crop! The best ever. Both these trees have been sprayed weekly by MPI for the fruit fly, so technically no longer organic. Thems the breaks....

Pineapple Sage Cuttings

 I needed to trim the pineapple sage, so I turned the bits all into cuttings.  These should root really well, pineapple sage seems indestructible.  Assuming it survives my cats, who are behaving as though it is catnip, not a sage.  I've had to stick the cuttings back in several times, and they are getting all furry now. Its also a good plant for late autumn flowering for bees searching for food.  I thought this might go along under the retaining wall, around other things - mass planting style.

More Autumn Flowers

 

 

I've started noticing what is actually flowering in my garden - all those plants (and there aren't many plants at all in my garden) that I must just be taking for granted, that have been there for so long I no longer appreciate them.

 

One of my favourites is rosemary.  A lovely winter cooking herb, with a nice lamb roast, or especially on roast veges, kumara and pumpkin.  But also lovely and fragrant in its own right, and those beautiful blue flowers!

 

 

I've picked some to put on my desk while I work.  I know the outside is not far away, but every little reminder of 'outside' helps, when your bottom feels like it has been glued to the chair for too long!

 

More autumn 'weeds'

 

 

 

 

Most plants flower in spring and summer, so in autumn there isn't all that much with colour.  Lots of dead seed heads and dying foliage but no actual flowers. 

 

But I have got 2 indestructible flowering plants on the go right now.  The red one is pineapple sage.  I first grew this from a cutting from a friend 25 years ago, and it has been transplanted all over the garden.  It does tend to get very bushy and quite large.  When my kids were little they liked to pick the flowers and suck the nectar at the base of the flower.  Can't say I have tried it though.  Its a herb, so can be used for a pineapple-y taste too.

 

 

And this one is a Japanese anemone.  Completely indestructible, even if you want to remove it, so needs to be introduced with care.  Very sweet and lovely flowers though (no, no scent), and makes a really good ground cover - in a tall kind of way.

 

So you want messy, in-tune-with-nature then?

 

My only operational garden at the moment is the tiny strip out the front of my house, between the house and the little hedge by the footpath.  In spring I planted it with everything I could squeeze in - 2 tomatoes, beans, sugar snap peas, capsicum, 2 types of basil, 2 types of thyme, radishes (didn't do at all well though), Lebanese cucumber, apple cucumber, lettuces.  Looked gorgeous for a while. Then everything grew, and it looked abundant and luscious..

 

 

 

Now it is autumn, and it looks .. well .. autumny. All the beans and peas have finished, the 'wild' stuff is taking over.  You can still see a couple of tomatoes.  Things are starting to die back.  And flower.  And go to seed.  So, this is how a garden looks, for real, in autumn.  Wouldn't win any House and Garden shows.  People on a garden tour would not be impressed.  If I had uppity neighbours (I don't, my neighbours are lovely) they would be leaning over the fence tutting.  I think that autumn messiness is all part of nature's cycles, part of setting seeds in the ground for next year.

 

 

One of the most prolific 'weeds' I have in my front garden is this pretty flower.  It arrived on its own probably 20 years ago, and has never left, reliably pops up every autumn.  It is a native NZ hibiscus, quite small and very lovely.  An excellent reason not to weed until it has finished flowering.