Boing!

One of my favourite experiences in our garden is simply to step out into it every morning, to see what's happening. In Spring I'm guaranteed to find something new every day. Just like me, it's alive and breathing (but unlike me it's young and pretty and growing fast). Oh well, I'm happy to settle for "it's great to be alive".

And so here's a photo-driven little posting of just some of the lovely things I found in our garden this morning.

I think we're at "peak native orchid" today. The show has been brewing for a few weeks but this morning all of them are on song. 

Pammy wants me to send her this close-up of a tiny native orchid bloom, taken with the camera about an inch away from the small but perfectly formed bloom. I think she can sense a watercolour painting coming on ...

Speaking of small but perfectly formed blooms, the first of our purple mint bush blooms made an appearance this morning. As I have three bushes and each is covered in flower buds, these are the first wave of what promises to be a few thousand more. Can't wait ...

And to finish off our purple patch, our potted common sage, the kitchen garden herb, has started to do its thing.

Just a few feet from the sage, also growing in a pot, the Thai lime plant is making good use of all the spring fertiliser I fed it with a few weeks ago. The young "double" leaves are the freshest green, every nook and cranny is filled with bum-like blooms and all is good in the fragrant, spicy Thai flavouring department.

A much quieter chap, the Turkish Brown fig looks such a treat as the morning sun shines through its new green leaves every morning. After its winter repotting, I am hoping for good things this summer. No pressure, though ...

Our Westringia 'Elizabeth Bough', covered in light pink blooms, cuddles up close with the astonishingly capable geranium 'Big Red', which flowers pretty much all year round.

And last of all, in a deep, dark corner of the garden when the sun doesn't get much of a look in, the yellow clivias have decided the time is right. I love how they know this stuff.

Hot properties

Any doubts that summer is on our doorstep are about to melt away today, with a maximum of 35°C forecast. So, early this morning I was out there with the hose, giving everything – especially the seedlings and the crops – a good soak with the hose. The garden was looking so nice, freshly watered in the morning light, that I thought an official 'mid-spring panorama' courtesy of my iPhone was in order. 

Click on the photo below and it should come up much bigger.

While watering the garden I got to that patch of bright red on the right side of the panorama, where our 'Big Red' geraniums hold court. "Do you need a drink?" I asked of them, and of course I knew that whether or not they had a drink, they'd still be a commanding presence this evening.

However, I am an inveterate garden-waterer, and so I gave the geraniums and their little pink-flowered mates, the two Westringia 'Elizabeth Bough' in front of them a good drink. 

This is the first year of flowering for these westringias, and they're putting on a delicately pretty show that teams nicely with its more raucous friends behind.

The common name of this native plant is "coast rosemary", named for the shape of the leaves, which do resemble rosemary in shape, if not in flavour or culinary uses.

This little thing will, if the label is correct, grow to about 80cm high and wide. We'll see ... as plant labels are more guesswork than science.

And so as this forecast hot day warms up, I know that the least of my worries today are these two waterwise beauties. I didn't really need to water them at all. Both plants can survive on Sydney's plentiful natural rainfall. It's just that I can't help myself. I love watering the garden ... it's pretty much the best thing about being in the garden in the morning.