Wednesday 30 April 2014

April is for... sitting pretty - Take 2

It's that magical time of year when there isn't near enough hours in the day, the mornings are cold, and the sunsets are stunning on the drive home from work. We've had plenty of rain and everything in the garden is taking off, including the new veg I managed to get in the ground. Red cabbage, Tuscan kale, beetroot and snow peas are poking out and helping ease that transition into winter, not my favourite season.

I hate being cold, and we've managed to get our hands on a fireplace, but will need to pull down a wall and polish the floors before it can be installed. Patience is a virtue!

My patient waiting for a garden seat has finally paid off - the special one we've had on layby for about 2 months is finally taking pride of place in the back corner of the native/bird garden. The cast iron should warm up nicely in the afternoon sun and I'm looking forward to having many a warming cup of tea in it, surveying our little kingdom.

 
The native garden has another new addition as of this week, as I've finally managed to get hold of a Callistemon White Anzac - a lovely white bottlebrush that only grows to about 1m. Celebrating Anzac day in my own way, I planted the little Aussie charmer in the moist strip along the side fence.


 

I'm hoping for a quiet month in May, and plenty of time to sit and enjoy the growing gardens. Here's to winter!


Saturday 19 April 2014

Photo of the week - Lady and the tramp


 
In amongst my vegetables, there are lots of little creatures going about their day. Just a little bit of patience is all it takes to get a glimpse into their busy world. My favourites to watch are the lady beetles, members of the family Coccinellidae. They are all rounded, most are yellow,orange or red, and have a number of spots on their wing-covers. In my garden, there are 2 common types: the small orange beetles with 2 large black blotches, and the larger yellowish beetles with many small spots.
 

Coccinella transversalis
 
"28-spotted Ladybeetle" Epilachna sumbana

The first is a friendly little fellow, and seems to hang about feasting on the occasional aphid or scale, or the mildew that grows on the leaves of my zucchini and squash. The second actually eats the leaves themselves. My simple rule of thumb for ladybeetles is: A few spots is good. Lots of spots is bad. If in doubt, I tend to think of Cruella DeVille. Even the babies don't look as friendly! See:

 
 
I'm sure in this case you can guess which is the unfriendly visitor just by looking, but if you were in your own garden, just have a look what they're doing. Beetles go through a number of larval stages so it's sometimes difficult to tell who is who, but the tell-tale scraping marks on the leaf are a good sign that this is a leaf-eating beetle.
 
The good news is that in general, they don't eat much. I don't spray the 'bad' insects at my place for fear of scaring off (or killing off) the good ones. If you have a healthy balance in your garden, a few nasty beetles aren't an issue and will only result in a few unsightly half-chewed leaves. Their populations can boom quickly if the weather is right, but birds generally catch up pretty quickly. I have a few larger shrubs and trees growing between the veg for insect hunters to gather in, and as they grow I'm seeing more birds all the time. As always, variety is the key!
 
 
And for those that are curious, my apple tree is still flowering away... sigh...

Saturday 5 April 2014

Photo of the week - Spring has sprung?

 
The weather this year has been so strange, with a mild yet dry Summer, finished off dramatically by truckloads of rain. Understandably, some of my plants are a bit confused. This is my lovely Pink Lady apple tree, which seems to have been tricked into flowering in Autumn instead of Spring. I won't ever complain about having too many flowers, but I'm slightly concerned that it won't flower in Spring now after using its flower buds, and maybe I won't get many (or even any) apples. Most fruit trees begin to form flower buds many months ahead of time, and may not do this again until next growing season. Add to this the fact that I need 2 apple trees to pollinate each other, and we find that if this tree doesn't flower again, my Granny Smith apple won't have any fruit either! Thankfully we have a Spring every year, and hopefully the weather will be more stable next time around. In the meantime I'll make sure I appreciate the flowers for what they are, not just what they could have been!