Lovely Rains at Last!

Finally, we had 17mm of glorious soaking rain here in Bendigo. The poor Abelias and even the Cotoneasters were starting to droop and the tips of the Agapanthus plants were just starting to brown off - such tough garden plants just have to be able to survive without supplementary water in this huge plot of mine. So, the plants and I are breathing a collective sigh of relief!

Today it is a mere 19 degrees - glorious weather for gardening. I am planting a whole bunch of herbs up in my new kitchen garden, as I am running out of space for pots since I have started my autumn cuttings. The new garden is starting to look a bit like a garden at last, instead of just a huge mound of mulch and straw and manure. Spotted a few big juicy worms while digging up there this morning, so that's all good.

The lavender hedge around the sundial is settling in nicely - each little plant has easily doubled in size since being planted 2 weeks ago. Likewise the 2 Artemisias that will grow up to disguise the ugly side fence...

I also potted out 2 smoke bushes Cotinus in the shrubbery - one is the gorgeous Velvet Cloak; the other is a fluffy headed evergreen -  a smaller growing var of up to 2m.called Bystropogon Canariensis. Whew!!

Now all I need to do is work out where to buy some double white flowering Oleanders for the new front hedge/fence. I can get small ones online from Queensland - might have to end up doing this, but will troll around the local nurseries first just in case. I plan to plant a row of white Plumbago in front of the Oleanders for a cool white on white look. This double hedge will eventually produce a lovely sheltered microclimate for more tender plantings like Magnolias and Lilacs - well, I hope so anyway!

Back to work - still loads of salvias, lavenders, cushion bushes, Tuhlbagias etc to plant out before dinner!