Well that's a stupid question for us gardeners, isn't it? Whilst we love the harvest, and might enjoy the quiet winter time when there's not much to do (unless you're somewhere where you can plant all year round, like me), Spring is the bomb. The flowers are out, the pollinators are buzzing, and the spring and summer crops are going on.
The orange and lime are setting lots of flowers, and they smell beautiful. I'll have to thin them soon. The other orange and lemon aren't doing that great, and there are some suspect leaves missing. What do leafcutters look like? Unless it's a possum....
Aside from the lavender, I have some other purple flowers, and the salvia in the semi shade is just coming into bloom now (good to know, as I do have some shade in my garden that I need to think about) as is the culinary sage in the top half of the garden. This close up makes it look delightfully fluffy! @friendlymoose, does the green count as negative space here? I really must get out the proper camera and do some solid 'neg space' shots - been thinking about it at least!
This nastursium is such a gorgeous colour that I've emotionally rejected the paler yellow one in the other part of the garden. Everyon is suprised at that fact it's climbing, as we are so used to them trailing the ground. Fact is, if you want to cover a wall or the ugly wire of a chook enclosure, this is your girl!
I think this is nigella - I shook out some seeds and forgot about them. I'm dying for them to flower as I hope it's a yellow nigella instead of the more common blue. I'm so guilty of forgetting what I planted.
Here's an unexpected pretty flower - the pinkish flowers of a purple carrot! I dig purple carrots so hard (see what I did there?) - the colour is SO vivid. But the flowers are so pretty I'm leaving them as a feature, and I'll collect them later to share with the neighbour.
The kangaroo paw is such a gorgeous one - look at the various details in this flower. They do itch if you get pollen on your skin though, so can be a pain to keep under control, but these are a dwarf variety, flower pretty much all year, and are more manageable.
I was talking to someone here the other day about how awesome potatoes are to grow. They might be cheap, but they are pretty tasteless when you get them from the supermarket. I did dig these in slighly, and kept mounding them up with dirt, compost, manure and straw but they grew so fast I couldn't keep up. Again, forgot what variety I planted - I'm HOPING purple, because I'm such a fan of purple veggies!
How pretty are these strawflowers or everlasting daisies? They're native to Australia - there's a yellow dwarf variety growing in the bush near us. There's heaps of green foliage on them which has been providing a nice backdrop. I'm pretty sure the inside of these are bright orange, and am waiting to see.
There is also a single red one growing up. It was in a pot so isn't as healthy but the leaves are deepening now it's in the soil. They'll self seed as well.
And of course, the pink lavender - aren't they pretty?
You know, traditional wisdom say Melbourne cup day is the day the day to plant tomatoes, but I want them by Christmas and my garden is a very warm north facing microclimate, so I planted this a few weeks ago. It's doing fine - so I hope to get tomatoes much earlier this year. I've staggered plantings as well, and I took my lead from the soil, where compost tomatoe seedlings were popping up.
There is a lot more going on in my garden that I'll cover in subsequent posts. I'm enjoying getting in there every day and doing bits and bobs. THey say you eat an elephant one bite at a time - it's the same with a garden in spring. A little each day and you get there in the end.
