december flowers

My laxa vine is in full bloom!  It's a bit hard to tell from this photo but they're along the top of the fence.  I wish the vine covered the fence a bit more fully, but the flowers look and smell lovely.

My new calla lily has flowered.  It was from a random colour mix and I was hoping it would be a tropical orange, but instead it's the standard yellow.  Actually I think it's a slightly softer shade of yellow than the standard colour, and I like it nonetheless.

Finally, my space race orchid has opened all four flower spikes!  They look so festive at this time of year with my Christmas decorations.

The spikes are a lot shorter than last year, when they were well higher than the foliage.  I wonder if it gets more light in my house than where they were grown.  Next year I'll keep them in a darker part of the house when the spikes are forming and see if that encourages longer spikes.

a few flowers at last

Really starting to get some late spring flowers coming in.  The lavender is looking great and the bees are already enjoying it.

I've decided on this summer's annual for the west bed - lobelia this year, a mix of mostly dark blues with a bit of light blue and pink.  They don't look like much now but they should become little thick cushions of colour eventually.

And most excitingly, my Chilean jasmine (mandevilla laxa) is starting to bloom!  I love the crisp, white flowers.  They've got a very delicate scent.

what's up on the porch?

Here's an update of what's progressing along this spring.  My trays of seedlings have been very productive; my Mona lavender cuttings all too although to be honest I haven't actually decided where to put them yet!  My melon seeds both germinated (though I'll only plant one) and my second lot of basil has sprouted.  I planted two beans directly in the pot but neither came up, I think I planted them too deeply, so I'm glad I started one in a punnet.  I've started a second one too and this one went into its pot after I took this photo.

I started more basil because I had a spot I could put a second plant, but I may need to replace the first one.  Either slugs or earwigs have turned my little seedling into this!

Looks like I may need to buy a punnet if I want basil anytime soon. 

Speaking of the Mona lavender, this is what it looks like this year.  It's still fairly compact but I may need to tip prune it this summer, it's gone quite bushy.  No flower buds yet, I think it flowers in the height of summer.

This little surprise greeted me on the porch recently.  My other succulents have all flowered before but this is the first time the jelly beans have flowered.  Not a terribly exciting flower but still pretty sweet.

And just off the porch, my chilies are powering away.  Unfortunately they're really tiny at the moment, I'm not sure if that's the cold or that it's not getting enough sun just yet.  But the latest batch are a bit bigger and they're certainly potent!  I've already been using them.

And this isn't really on the porch,  but my Chilean jasmine has its first flower buds!  They're still tiny but I can't wait until they open.

chilean jasmine and drimiopsis

I've had someone write a comment asking how my Chilean jasmine (mandevilla laxa) is going, so here's an update.  I decided to put in another plant there on the right, it used to be obscured by the fig tree but the fig to a big cutback this winter,  So to give you some perspective, that's what they all looked like last summer, and on the left you can see how far the rest of them have grown over the winter.  They're fairly tidy in that they only want to grow along the wires I've set up for them, but I do wish they'd fill out faster.  I wonder what time of year they flower?

And here's an update on my little drimiopsis maculata.  They're not a common bulb but I saw some growing in the neighbourhood and managed to find some online.  I adore their spotted leaves, and so far the clumps have multiplied quite vigorously.  I panicked about 6 weeks ago when they all dropped their leaves before realising that they have a very short dormancy period just before spring.  These are their brand new spring leaves, which eventually lose their spots.  But at some point they'll also put out lovely spikes of white flowers.

what's going on in july?

Winter's a pretty quiet time in the garden, especially this year as I haven't grown many winter veg.  I did get my first harvest of kale the other day though - went into a lovely minestrone.  The snow peas are also starting to produce nicely but no pictures of them.

My Chilean jasmine is hanging in there in the cold.  It doesn't like it - it's dropped a fair few leaves - but it's also putting out fresh growth at the tips so I'm optimistic for the summer.

And finally, the first stirrings of spring are beginning - my fancy daffs are just starting to emerge.  They're still just tiny shoots so I circled it in the picture - not that you can see it anyway!

I do have some major pruning projects happening, and a complete re-do of the patio, but I'll save those for other posts.

new climbers

Over a year ago I planted creeping fig on the western fence to cover the ugly corrugated metal.  It got to the point where the climber looked like this.

I was getting frustrated at how slowly they were climbing upward and how much they were forming little clumps on the ground.  But when I had a closer look I found out why.  Turns out the little grabby-pads on their leaves can't grab metal!  So they can't actually climb up the fence.  Gee.  Wish I'd known that 18 months ago.  What a waste of time and money!

So I did a bit of research and decided on Chilean jasmine, Mandevilla laxa.  It's a hardy, shade-loving vine with small white flowers that should form a nice dense cover.  So far they've shot up quite quickly, despite fighting off heaps of aphids.  I've strung some wire across the fence in a zig-zag to give them something to climb on.  They climb by twisting their stems around things, so I think I need to string up more wire if I want a thicker cover.

Let's hope by next summer there's a bit of a lush cover and some lovely white flowers!