Work is dominating my life at the moment and I have little time for anything else, yet we are fortunate that our kangaroo paws are leading the way in a thriving summer garden.
I’ve detailed my attempts at growing Australian plants from seed. While most failed, the kangaroo paw, the ones I really wanted most to survive, are flourishing now. I’ve even managed to give away a few to neighbors, which was really awesome! I hope to be able to spread the joy even further. All this is even better as I thought that I had killed my original kangaroo paw last year, but one of them remained alive!
And so is the hardenbergia, the native Australian wisteria. I’ve separated this into pots placed at various points along the fence at Kangaeroo Corner and the exposure to extra light has seen the rapidly winding their way around the fence posts.
A delightful surprise also came with the re-sprouting of a dwarf wattle, one of the many that had thrived in the growth pods only to succumb to the elements almost immediately upon moving outside.
Other delightful news from the garden include the thriving jacaranda, feared dead over the winter, but looking very healthy now, even though it did not flower this year. Maybe in autumn?
And there is the grevillea! We used to call it the stick because it lost all its leaves and we had given it up for dead. It is now thriving! We have three doing well and a cutting that looks like it might also make it, too. The most successfully flowering grevillea, which I had also feared was struggling over the cold months, continues to sprout flower after flower, which is magnificent.
And the silver banksia is showing signs that it may even flower.
Kangaeroo Corner is bringing great joy in the fleeting moments that I can get to spend there, mostly in the early mornings. The lawn could do better with the rainy season affecting it and the pigeons (well, Oriental turtledoves to be precise) are loving my futile attempts at re-seeding, which equates to a free feed for them if I can’t catch them pecking away and shooing them off.
Also starting to get blueberries! Go well with a morning yogurt.
Cycling remains a mainstay of well-being, but arthritis in my hands makes it too painful to ride for too long, so I am limited to fairly short rides.
Today, I’ll head off to a gathering of Brompton riders, which should be great fun and will be my first time to join this gathering since the pandemic.
