Autumn has arrived!

Finally the heat of summer is behind us and I can get back into the garden.

The roses are in their last flush before winter

Is there anything lovelier than a garden full of flowers? The rose bush that I trimmed and tended and fed all year is giving its third gorgeous flush of white blooms.

The rose has finally bloomed

Luscious

And the little rose I bought as bare root stock last winter and which barely survived the heat of summer—up to 43 degrees on several occasions and above 35 for a month—has come into its own. The dusty orange-pink of the new blooms morphs into the pink of the mature flowers. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I see duranta grown around this area most often as a hedge, but I leave it as a yellow-green rambling riot of colour against the dark of the grevillea behind it. And the little purple flowers attract loads of gorgeous butterflies.

Frost protection / Peeper protection for the veggie patch

Snack time

I’ve also made a start at rejuvenating the veggie patch that we left to do its own thing in the melting summer. First stop: Peeper-proofing our precious seedlings.