Spring in full swing

You know spring is here when you can smell the Magnolias from the door! Something that looks as spectacular as this has to be pleasing to the senses.

Magnolia

Even when the petals fall, they look lovely.

Fallen Magnolia petals

The rest of the garden is also doing well. Oranges are ready to be plucked and the African daises are in full bloom.

Garden in spring

Here is what we harvested this season.

Kale

Spinach

Peas

Oranges

Sneak peek of spring

August is awesome in Melbourne, full of hope for us who are sun-deprived and heat-cravers! The days get warmer and more consistently sunny. Best of all is the activity in the garden with flowering weeds of Dandelion. These are amongst the first few to flower and are important for the bees who are coming out of hibernation.

Here are some pictures of what's happening right now.

The Virginian stock I planted last year, self-seeded and grew again. It looks awesome now!

Virginian stock

 One pea pod is developing now, lol! That would make a fine stir-fry.

Lonely pea pod

The last of the Hyacinth is flowering now.

White Hyacinth

I love the first leaves of deciduous tress. The pomegranate is showing signs of new leaves.

Pomegranate

The Daphne is spreading it's perfume in the entire garden, and looking pretty good doing it!

Daphne

Jasmine is just starting to flower.

Jasmine

As is the Magnolia. It also has a very strong scent.

Magnolia

The African daisies are really perking up their corner of the garden. On sunny days, the flowers open fully. They are as excited as us to see the sun!

Pink african daisy

Purple african daisy

Orange african daisy

The calendula have really kept the winter cheerful by flowering non-stop.

Calendula

And these are the last of my favourite flower - Jonquil.

Jonquil

Spring notes

The biggest news this spring is a lone lime in our 4-year old tree! Every year we get excited when we see the white flowers on the plant. Every year we watch in despair as they drop to the ground one-by-one. This repeats the next season. Until now, one lime, which we almost missed behind all the leaves!

Lime

In other news, Carnation was still happily flowering away. They are my favourite flowers! I planted the seeds in a pot, so they are a bit leggy trying to find the sun. But the flowers still looked pretty, even when not upright.

Carnation

Daisies are the really looked-forward to flowers. They turn up almost overnight and are such followers of the sun! We have them in three colours, so its hard to decide which colour is the best.

Orange daisies

Purple daisies

Pink daisies

Other flowers at this time are the Magnolia and the Eternal Fragrance Daphne. The Magnolia has such a strong perfume that even our next neighbour can smell it in her house! The flowering season does not last too long, only 2-3 weeks. The flowers itself are pretty delicate and the petals fall off with the wind.

Magnolia

The Eternal Fragrance Daphne lives up to its name. The first flowers bloom at this time of the year for about 3 weeks. Once they die down, the plant gives out new leaves and extends its scope. The next set of flowers will bloom in November, just in time for outdoor sitting season.

Eternal Fragrance Daphne

A little overshadowed by its neighbours, the Cherry Leaf Lilly Pilly gives out new leaves at this time. The leaves are a dark red in colour, giving the tree (or bush?) its name. The Lilly Pilly is quite small, only about 3 feet high compared to the other one that we have.

Cherry Leaf Lilly Pilly

The Hakea is quite tall now and successfully blocking our neighbour's from viewing our kitchen! In the spring, there are tiny feathery flowers all along the stem. In the tall tree, they look quite spectacular.

Hakea

And finally, a previously unknown succulent is standing quite tall! This was given to us by my parents when they visited us in April 2012. It came in two little tea cup sized terracotta pots. In the pots it got water sparingly. When we setup our succulent bed, we planted some cuttings. There it got water 2-4 times a week. Judging by the height, it obviously does well with water!

Update Jul 2016: This is Variegated Crassula sarmentosa

Variegated Crassula sarmentosa

P.S. The Jasmine is starting to make an appearance with some flowers. More later!

Jasmine

Fragrance in the garden

I love fragrant flowers. To me, the fragrance completes the beauty of the flower. Having said that, I do not like Rose but love Carnations!

Anyway, we thought fragrant flowers would be perfect for planting around our outdoor seating area. I wanted a mix of flowers that would lend their fragrance all year round. Most fragrant flowers flower in spring, so I had to do a bit of research.

Daphne Odora was the most popular choice for winter flowering. It flowers in the cold winter months when everything else in the garden is feeling a bit low! However, it is a fussy plant and needs lots of care. We bought ours in 2011, but it took two winters for it to flower!

Daphne Odora

Daphne Odora in flower

There is another hybrid Daphne called Eternal Daphne which flowers in spring and spot flowers during the rest of the year. This one is bred to be more tolerant of sunshine. We picked this one to be right next to our seating area.

Eternal Daphne in flower

Magnolias are fragrant too, but deciduous. I am not a big fan of deciduous trees, so luckily we found a fragrant Magnolia that is evergreen. It was also going to provide us with some more privacy is the garden.

Magnolia

Magnolia in flower

Another typical summer fragrance is from Gardenias. They love shade and have white flowers that give out a very powerful perfume. My only grudge with it is that they look ugly when they finish blooming (usually 2-3 days for each flower). Constant deheading of dead flowers is required to keep the shrub looking clean.

Gardenia

Gardenia in bloom

Finally, we wanted a climber to cover the trellis which demarcated our sunny area of the bed from the shady area. Jasmine seemed like a very good option. It climbs well and has fragrant flowers in the summer.

Jasmine

Jasmine flower