Spring is, without a doubt, my favourite time of year. The weather is perfect, the grass is green, and I get to enjoy the beauty of the few bulbs that were planted well before we bought this place. Now that my vegies are well under way I took the time out yesterday to appreciate the flowers and attend to a few small gardening jobs on my list. We are having an unusual heatwave (35 degrees expected today) so early morning and late in the day are the only times I can work outside.
It's lovely to see so many plants coming back to life after the floods and years of neglect. I can now walk around my house with that feeling of pride I used to have the first couple of years we lived here. Many of my flowering plants I grew from cuttings and by transplanting offshoots. I don't even know the names of many of them.
We are fortunate to have many bees here. I am not sure what variety they are but last year we even attracted a bee hive. Strangely enough they spent a few days starting to make it which was fascinating to watch, and then they must have changed their minds and left. The native lorikeets and parrots love this time of year too.
This is my favourite rose that is doing well now that the garden is cleared. It has many small buds and you end up with a whole bunch of roses on one stem. Very pretty.
I have been reading a lot about beneficial flowers that attract the good pests to have in the garden. I have made a list of Marigold, Alyssum, Yarrow and Queen Anne's Lace to look out for in the nursery this week. I am also looking for Calendula and Comfrey so I may order the seeds online.
I still haven't moved the mulch from the camphor laurel tree. The cherry tomatoes are very happy here.
One of my jobs yesterday was to pot my tangelo tree. I decided to see how it would go in a pot and am hoping it will hide the house pump which we moved upstairs after the 2012 floods. The hot water service sits beside it and are the first things you see when you walk upstairs. It has been very practical as the pump used to go under water every year if we didn't disconnect it in time. One of our first priorities after a flood is to get the water going to clean up so the expense in relocating has been worth it.
Little baby tangelos. I planted the tree with good potting soil and applied liquid fertiliser and mulch to give it a healthy start.
Not so healthy is this citrus tree out the front. I think it is a lemon tree and it has never produced any fruit. When I googled this problem I discovered that it is a form of wasp that attacks citrus. Fortunately the other citrus trees do not have any signs but this poor tree was badly infected. The only solution is to cut off every branch with the bulbous attachments and hopefully it will now thrive.
I rediscovered my aloe vera patch whilst watering and was amazed to find there was still some growing. The patch was completely covered in leaves and some sort of ground cover.
The end result. A nice little aloe vera patch amongst the gum trees. Words can't describe how much pleasure it gives me to see the garden coming together again. I remember we used to have a bench my husband made beside this garden. I would come out here and read or just sit and enjoy the peace, the dappled light through the gums very comforting. That bench is probably somewhere in the gullies, washed away with the brown tide. I am already inspired to recycle something to make another.
I need to remember to make time to capture those moments again. Mindfulness is a big part of my healing process, like being able to see the beauty of my little aloe vera patch which we will all appreciate when sunburnt or stung. I would not wish to view the world through any eyes other than my own...I am thankful of the opportunity to turn my farm and life around. I am getting there.
