On Saturdays I finish work earlier and have a bit of extra time before it gets dark, to see how the garden is faring. Today I took the camera out, because I happened to notice between car and house that my new Grevillea Dorothy Gordon has its first flower! How exciting... it's a new release and I can't resist Grevilleas in the pink/purple colour range, especially when they promise a long flowering season! It's so great to see one in real life, and loaded with nectar too. Worth every cent, don't you think?
One job done, I went to explore the back native garden which is coming along nicely after removal of a rampant Kennedia nigricans (lovely but too big for my space) that had swamped a few of the smaller plants. There are a couple of empty patches of ground now, and I'd noticed when weeding a few weeks ago that there were heaps of white curl grubs in the soil. They eat roots you see, so most people know them as lawn grubs, who munch the roots of plants or grass below the ground until the plant gives up and simply dies. If your lawn is affected, it can simply roll up like carpet once the roots are all eaten.
The culprits are larvae of the pest African Black Beetle Heteronychus arator, who is often attracted to backyards with solar lights or security lights on during the night. They congregate around the lights, and lay their eggs in your garden, lawn or plant pots.
I was really excited this afternoon to have my exploring interrupted by a huge black insect with shiny blue wings flying at me- enter the Black Flower Wasp, Discolia soror! At work we used to call these Blue Bullets, which describes their size, shape and colour pretty well.
They seem oblivious to humans and fly around you unafraid and at great speed, eventually landing on the ground. If you're lucky, like I was...you might see her start digging in empty patches of ground, and come up a minute or so later. The beautiful part is, she's hunting for curl grubs to lay her eggs on, so her babies will eat them for me. As the saying goes... my enemy's enemy is my friend...
This is the first time I've seen one here, and I'm hoping it's because of the flowering natives I've planted for the birds and bees to feed on (these native wasps feed on nectar as adults and are also useful pollinators). Hopefully as my garden grows I'll attract plenty more so I don't have to use any nasty lawn grub chemicals!
As an extra nerdy treat, I also saw this wasp which I think is the male Hairy Yellow Flower Wasp Campsomeris sp, resting on my lemon grass. It performs a similar function, but I haven't seen them before at all. Will have to do some more research, the biodiversity here is increasing all the time!
Winter is such an interesting time in the garden- as much as I hate the cold, I love the brightness that come from seeing the deciduous trees back to their bare bones and the extra sunlight that finds its way through. Not to mention the free mulch you get if you collect up all the old leaves! They are absolute gold and should never be wasted by throwing them in the bin or the burn pile!
This month has been a big one for me, as I have done some shedding of my own and resigned from my job of 4 years working in a display garden nearby. As sad as it has been, I know it's just another season in my life that needed to make way for what is to come next. I'll be doing work that is closer to my heart, at a nursery that sells nearly all native plants to home gardeners, farmers and some bigger revegetation sites of old coalmines and farmland. I'm really excited to get to know better all the plants that grow naturally around the area, what their needs are and how they can be best used. I am happiest when I'm learning something new, especially when it's contributing to the bigger picture of conservation and rehabilitation. And driving to work past the mines and power stations makes me glad to be helping the environment in my small way.
So be prepared to be introduced to the lucky plants I bring home to our little patch of earth, I always struggle to control myself around interesting plants and now I am surrounded by them every day! oh dear!
As if I needed any encouragement- a few weeks ago I picked up a couple of dwarf apple trees to plant- a Granny Smith and a Pink Lady, which should pollinate each other. They are lovely bare skeletons at the moment and I can't wait to see them burst out in spring. Maybe the anticipation of spring is the best part of winter!
This month was also my birthday, and I was lucky enough to be given a beautiful weeping Grevillea bipinnatafida. I haven't decided where to plant it yet as I'm not sure if it can be next to the pool fence or not, but I will take a nice picture when it finds a permanent home.
The veggies are pumping and the first snow peas will be ready within a week, we have been eating carrots, kale and silverbeet regularly and the broad beans, broccoli, fennel and sugarsnap peas are making good progress. I can't wait to sink my teeth into them! The first asparagus spear also came up this week- a sure sign that spring is not far away!
P.S. I upgraded to a better camera this month, so if anybody actually noticed the better quality photos, I'd love to know!
