Perfect summer day
The clouds are gone, the cold snap on Monday just a memory yesterday and today are picture perfect summer days.
Clear skies and the temperature in the low thirties, not too hot to stop us doing things but just right. Tonight is the neighbours Christmas party for our area so it couldn't be better. As the drought has been the dominant weather feature since we moved here we sometimes forget that the climate is one of the attractions of this area for us. Apart from about two months of summer where the temperature can remain in the high thirties for days on end, the rest of the year is very pleasant indeed. Lovely autumns, real winters and a long spring. So far this year we are enjoying a very mild summer as well. We have not even thought of putting an air conditioner on yet and of course there has been a flood so we have plenty of water. What a change. This time last year we were carting water from town and spending about two hours a day watering all the little trees and shrubs we had planted. We did manage to keep most of them alive and now they have really taken off. We can actually see the beginnings of our windbreaks.
These are the Leighton Greens we planted as tube stock in autumn 2009.
The Oleanders have also really grown and are flowering. Oleanders have a bad press as they are poisonous. It was quite difficult to find some to buy. They are a really useful and attractive tree in this area. Ours should eventually form a hedge and I plan to underplant with agapanthus.
This Smokebush has been struggling along for over two years now but you can really see its potential. I will try and propagate some more of these as I like the contrast of the burgundy color in the garden. They will grow a few metres tall so will look splendid against the blue sky.
Instead of watering this summer I am weeding, mowing and cutting things back. Gardening is such an unpredictable adventure.
Clear skies and the temperature in the low thirties, not too hot to stop us doing things but just right. Tonight is the neighbours Christmas party for our area so it couldn't be better. As the drought has been the dominant weather feature since we moved here we sometimes forget that the climate is one of the attractions of this area for us. Apart from about two months of summer where the temperature can remain in the high thirties for days on end, the rest of the year is very pleasant indeed. Lovely autumns, real winters and a long spring. So far this year we are enjoying a very mild summer as well. We have not even thought of putting an air conditioner on yet and of course there has been a flood so we have plenty of water. What a change. This time last year we were carting water from town and spending about two hours a day watering all the little trees and shrubs we had planted. We did manage to keep most of them alive and now they have really taken off. We can actually see the beginnings of our windbreaks.These are the Leighton Greens we planted as tube stock in autumn 2009.
The Oleanders have also really grown and are flowering. Oleanders have a bad press as they are poisonous. It was quite difficult to find some to buy. They are a really useful and attractive tree in this area. Ours should eventually form a hedge and I plan to underplant with agapanthus.
This Smokebush has been struggling along for over two years now but you can really see its potential. I will try and propagate some more of these as I like the contrast of the burgundy color in the garden. They will grow a few metres tall so will look splendid against the blue sky.
Instead of watering this summer I am weeding, mowing and cutting things back. Gardening is such an unpredictable adventure.
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